~~~~~~~~~Prologue~~~~~~~~~

As the rain continued to beat down upon the pavement, 17-year-old Midii Une absent-mindedly made her way through the empty streets. One hand desperately held on to the only thing keeping her dry: her umbrella, while the other clutched a small object around her neck. The young ex-spy was so caught up in her thoughts, she never noticed the same black car passing her by on the street for the third time that night. Her mind was elsewhere at that point.

Two years. It had been two years since that god-forsaken war had taken the only family she had left away from her. Two years when “Trowa” had abandoned her to travel to earth in one of those Gundanium Mobile Suits. Two years when her life was to drastically change, maybe forever….

The petite blonde found herself in the local park. Strange, she hadn’t remembered walking here…but then again, she had no original destination to begin with. Glancing around, she found the park to be void of any other sign of life. It was quiet and peaceful, save for Mother Nature’s intrusion. Midii found a small park bench not too soaked by the rainfall and sat down.

Putting the umbrella down, she allowed the gentle rain to soak her. Tiny droplets of water trickled down her face, mixing with the few tears already beginning to fall. A light shower plastered her soft, golden hair to her face, while her clothes clung to her body from the moisture. Through and through, she was completely drenched, yet found the experience more of a pleasantry than an annoyance. Rain storms like this always helped her remember…each memory playing like a movie in her mind of the young girl’s past. Slowly, Midii closed her eyes and allowed the rain to continue pouring down upon her, as if it alone would wash away all her sorrows, drown her misery, and cleanse her soul.

Concentrating so hard on the silence, the blonde-haired girl was surprised to sense another figure walk right up to her and sit down. Her instincts kicking in, she quickly pulled back in alarm, only to relax when familiarity took over, allowing the girl to recognize the person before her.

“Valerie?” she asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Hello again, Midii.” Her chestnut-brown hair was much shorter now, and had a few streaks of gray in it, but there was no mistaking those deep-blue eyes and gentle voice. The middle-aged woman smiled at the young girl from underneath her dark-red umbrella.

Allowing a smile to spread across her face for the first time in nearly two years, Midii quickly engulfed her foster-mother in a tight embrace. Valerie returned the gesture, calming down the young girl as she continued to gently sob, even through her smile. She of course didn’t mind the fact that Midii was wet to begin with, getting her all wet in the process, even with the umbrella.

“I can’t believe it’s you!” Midii exclaimed as the two pulled apart, wiping the tears from her eyes as she spoke, “I haven’t seen you in so long!”

“Well, we have been busy, my dear; Charlie and I moved to the colonies soon after the war ended, and came back to Earth for a vacation.” The older woman explained. The two proceeded with an in-depth conversation about the last four or five years, ever since they had gone their separate ways. Valerie told the younger girl about her husband’s new business, even though she was desperately trying to talk him into retirement, as Midii told her all about her own latest job position and the apartment she was staying in. All the while, laughter and smiles filled in the spaces between talk until Valerie brought up a question.

“Whatever happened to Nanashi, dear? You two were always inseparable, whether it be play, work…or even going for walks in the rain like…this...” At the mention of his name, Midii had immediately went silent, a solemn look on her face. Misunderstanding, Valerie took her silence as a symbol for the worst. “Oh, my…don’t tell me that he…” she began, before Midii cut her off.

“No! At least, I don’t believe so….” Knowing that she would probably have to tell the older woman sooner or later, Midii went into detail about that past few years of her life, about the Gundam, Operation Meteor, and the last time she saw him. All the while, she held tight to the object around her neck. Valerie noticed this, and motioned towards it.

“What a lovely cross.” She commented as Midii allowed her to examine the object she held so dear: a small, golden cross with emerald outline. With a far-off look in her eye, and a smile tugging at her lips, Midii explained just how she came to receive it

~*~Flashback~*~

Telling her to close her eyes, he gently placed a small, velvet box in her hands. She gasped at the sight of what was inside.

It was a small, golden cross, similar in almost every way to the one she had given Nanashi five years ago, only this one was much more beautiful. The label inside read ’18 karats’, and the cross was outlined with an emerald border…the same emerald shade of his eyes.

“Oh…Nanashi…” she breathed as he took the necklace out, pushed her hair back gently, and tied it around her neck.

Nanashi smiled at her shocked expression, something he did only for her. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you like it.”

“No…I love it.” She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly as he held onto her waist, tears streaming down her cheeks from both joy and sorrow. “I’m going to miss you, Nanashi.”  

“I’ll miss you, too, Little-Middle-Midii.” He whispered, using the nickname he had long ago given her. Normally, she absolutely hated being called that, but tonight, the name never sounded so wonderful. “But remember; as long as you wear that cross, I’ll always be with you, protecting you.”  

She looked up at him. “I’ll never take it off.”

~*~End Flashback~*~

Valerie smiled as she watched her foster-daughter remember one of her most precious moments in time. The expression on her face confirmed something the older woman had suspected for so long, but was never quite sure of until now. Of course, she had always known the two children to be extremely close, and knew they loved one another, but…

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you Midii?” she questioned, though it came out more as a statement. Though a tinge of pink was visible on her cheeks, Midii nodded her head in response.

“Yes… I am.” Was all she could say. Looking up, she found a motherly grin on the brown-haired woman’s face.

“Then I’m sure you’ll see him again someday, when you least expect it.” Came the reply as she gently brushed a few wet strands off the younger girl’s face that were obstructing her vision. As she did so, Valerie snuck a glance at her watch, “Oh, my…I didn’t realize the time. I’d better be going now.” Standing up, she gave her ‘daughter’ a quick hug, and kiss on the head before turning to leave.

“Goodbye, dear. I hope to see you again soon!”

“Bye, Valerie.” Watching the older woman disappear into the night, Midii felt a sudden wave of relief flow over her. She always looked up to Valerie as a mother, seeing as she never had on of her own, and trusted whatever she said. It was then the blonde-haired girl noticed the falling rain had ceased. Figuring it was time to go home, she grabbed her umbrella and headed towards the entrance of the park.

Just as she reached the metal gates, an uneasiness washed over her. Her spy-instincts were beginning to kick in, now that her mind was clear and focused. Surveying her surroundings, Midii just blamed it on the chilling air that was now settling in. After all, who would be after her? She carried no money with her, and it’s not like she had a rich family…or any family, for that matter. Shrugging that little voice in the back of her head away, she opened the gate and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

The young girl was no more than ten feet away from the park entrance when something struck her from behind, knocking her to the ground. Clasping desperately to her necklace for comfort, Midii struggled to keep awake, but in vain. The pain was blurring her vision with every second; the blow had been hard. Soon, a darkness overclouded her sight as she slipped into the world of unconsciousness.

The last thing she heard before passing out was a rough, male voice mutter, “So, Agent Une…alive all these years after all….”

And then everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~Part 1~~~~~~~~~

“Staring out into the rain again, eh Trowa?” a voice came from the doorway of the work office. Taking his eyes away from the glass window, the young man, just recently 18, came face-to-face with his long-time best friend and host for the evening, Quatre Winner.

“It helps me remember.” He replied in his usual calm voice before looking back outside. A crash of thunder struck as a bolt of lightning illuminated the dimly-lit room, bringing out the dark shadows of every corner.

Throughout the war, the two young boys had quickly become good friends. Much of this was due to Quatre’s gentle-hearted personality, much of it was the fact that they, in a way, needed each other. Quatre was the reliable friend Trowa had come to depend on, much as Midii had been in the past. In fact, Quatre reminded him a lot of Midii…perhaps that was one reason why he had put his trust into the slightly-younger boy. On the other side, Quatre looked up to the quiet, brown-haired boy much as an older brother (something he never had…yet probably may have wished for, what with a childhood having 29 sisters, and all). Yet it was times like these that Quatre was the one to play the ‘older’ of the two, comforting his friend while he faced the many demons, shadows, and figures of his past.

Leaning against the doorframe of the room, sipping his tea, the younger boy remained silent for a minute or two before attempting to get Trowa to open up. “What is it exactly you’re trying to remember?”

“Midii.” The answer came quickly, but not sharply. Quatre was familiar with the name, as he had heard Trowa mutter it many times before, but knew little else about the young girl from Trowa’s past.

“Anything in particular about her?” His amnesia attack during the war had stripped away many reminiscences of his past, and although most of his memory had returned long ago, certain aspects were still fuzzy, even to that very day.

Trowa remained silent for many moments, before turning his gaze away from the window once more. Regaining his composure, he chose to change the subject, “Tell me more about this Federation up-rise.”

Sighing in defeat, Quatre finally entered the room and rook a seat directly across from his quiet comrade. Placing his teacup in a dish on the coffee table, he turned on his desk light and pulled out a file from the drawer.

“Sally and Wufei are looking into it as we speak. Apparently, members of the Federation who had escaped into hiding are out looking for ‘traitors’…those who turned their backs on the Federation while the war was going on, and perhaps a few other targets. Mostly for revenge purposes, I guess. Cases of disappearances have been turning up around the colonies for the past three weeks or so.”

“Casualties?”

“None to knowledge; kidnappings and nothing more. No bodies or evidence of anything other than abductions have been listed. Though that’s not to say we actually know what is happening to these people once they’ve gone missi-” the telephone ringing interrupted the blonde youth mid-sentence.

Sitting back in his chair for a moment, Trowa went deep into thought. Once again, his failed memory nagged at him. He faintly recalled something about the Federation when he was younger…but what?

Quatre, on the other hand, was currently on the phone speaking about the latest report in the disappearances. With an urgent look in his eyes, the young blonde boy jotted down the important details, thanked his comrade, and hung up. Then, he turned back to Trowa with the information.

“That was Wufei on the line. Apparently, a woman around age 50 years reported a kidnapping in Desa Park tonight—about a hundred miles from here. She was able to get a clear identification on the car, and a rough description of the kidnappers, though she was a bit hysterical when she contacted them.” He explained to his older friend.

“Is it Federation-related?”

“Not sure. Wufei wants us, along with Heero and Duo, to meet the woman at headquarters so we can speak with her personally. He and Sally are too busy with patrolling, otherwise they’d join us.” Not soon after the Marimea incident had four of the five Gundam Pilots joined up with the Preventers unit, each for his own reasons. Quatre was too often caught up with business to follow suit, but rarely did he miss out on an important mission such as the one at hand.

Trowa thought about this for a moment. Did this have anything to do with the recent Federation-related abductions, or was it a regular kidnapping?

“Did the person give her name?”

Quickly, the younger boy flipped through his notes before replying, “Yes…her name is Valerie Demannor”

“…come again?” Trowa asked, a hint of shock in his voice.

“Valerie Demannor. Do you know her, Trowa?” but before Quatre could even finish his sentence, Trowa had already grabbed his coat and was heading out the door, his younger comrade right behind him. That nagging voice in the back of his head, where all his lost memories were hiding, was still bothering him about something. Some piece of information he knew, but had forgotten.

He knew it had something to do with the Federation. And whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

************************

Midii awoke, only to find herself in a dimly-lit room, her hands tied behind her back with thick rope. Her clothes damply stuck to her skin from being out in the rain as she had, making them very uncomfortable. Not to mention her outfit consisted of an emerald-green, spaghetti-strapped tank top shirt coming up to just above her waist, denim capris, and a light, denim jacket. Despite the darkness, the young girl couldn’t help but squint in pain as she tried to focus her vision clearly. Her head throbbed from the blow she had received and she shook from the chill that came with her wet clothing… not to mention her stomach ached from hunger—she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch that day.

The sound of a door opening brought her attention directly in front of her. Attempting to stand up, Midii found herself roughly pushed back down to the ground.

“No one asked you to stand, Agent Une.” A harsh voice spoke up, no doubt from one of the two men in front of her. He made sure to accent the word ‘Agent’ as if it were an insult.

“Who are you?” She asked, both scared and furious at the same time.

“Who are we?” the second person replied, harshness also in his voice, “Why, I’m surprised you’ve forgotten us already, my dear Ms. Une…after all, it was I who trained you in the first place.”

Thinking back, the young girl gasped when recognition came to her. “Cane?!?”

“Ahh…so you remembered my name after all, you little traitor.” The man identified as Cane spat out.

Midii remembered him well; he had been a close friend of her older brother while the war went on. When Derek (her brother) and her mother were killed in a surprise attack, and her father became ill, it was Cane who had taken Midii and her two younger brothers in. Unbeknownst to them at the time, he was really an agent working for the Federation. When they found out the poor family’s predicament, Cane, 15 at the time, was ordered to train Midii into becoming a spy for them…in return for care of her family. He was pleased at the turn of events, and the little girl had no other choice but to cooperate.

“How could I forget? You kidnapped me and my brothers, and ruined my life.” She spoke in a cold, venomous tone as she recalled her experience with the man before her, now in his twenties. In response, he backhanded the girl so hard she flew into the wall to the left of her. Blood began to trickle from where a ring on his finger had apparently caught her skin, while her head pounded furiously from the hard blow.

“Tsk-tsk-tsk…no appreciation whatsoever. You had better watch yourself and your tone, Midii,” he spoke as if he were doing nothing more than friendly teasing her, “you’re on thin ice with the Federation already. Wouldn’t want them to order your execution for pushing them overboard, now would we?”

“What do you want from me?!?” she screamed out, more furious than anything else at this point as her head continued to throb.

“It’s very simple.” The other man spoke up, a slightly deeper, yet just-as-harsh voice as Cane, “the Federation doesn’t appreciate our spies betraying us. You’re lucky; considering the fact you were only ten at the time, they’ve decided to go easy on you.” This was said in a taunting manner, as if it was nothing more than a joke to them.

At this point, Midii knew that they were talking about. The day of the attack on the mercenaries…the confrontal towards Nanashi about her betrayal…the gunshots….

“But-” she began, before the second man cut her off.

“But how did we know you were still alive?” he finished her sentence for her. Cane took over by answering her question.

“Easy. At first, we didn’t. Just as you assumed, once the gunshots were heard and the transmission ended, we figured that boy must have killed you. End of story, and you. But then a few weeks ago, one of our loyal,” he made sure to put an emphasis on the word ‘loyal’, “members spotted a young girl walking home one night in the rain who looked very similar to you. Imagine our surprise. We wanted to be sure, so we’ve been following you around, making sure we had the right person. As soon as we had a positive ID, we waited until you were alone before putting our plan into action.”

Midii was left speechless at this point. She bowed her head in defeat towards the two men, not wanting either of them to see the tears threatening to overflow. The young girl was frustrated, confused, and bewildered at the same time…to say nothing of the fact that her head, cheek, and stomach ached horribly, or that she was beginning to shiver from her wet attire.

“You and the other traitors like you will be severely punished for your abandoning the Federation. Although,” he continued in a slightly lighter, yet still cold, tone as he walked over to where the girl was sitting up sideways against the wall, “I have much influence in the Federation, and if you were to get on my good side, let’s just say I might convince them to alter their judgment on you.” As he said this, he brushed a strand of her wet hair by her face, lightly twirling it around his finger at the same time. In response, Midii jerked her head away, in both fright and disgust.

“Fine. Have it your way, my dear Midii…” The man stood up, glaring down upon the girl at his feet. Over time, she had definitely grown from the frail ten-year-old he had trained some seven, eight years prior to the rather attractive young woman she was now. Her clothing, damp as it was, clung to her body tightly, revealing a very… mature figure. Throwing in one last insult, Cane heartlessly kicked her to the ground once again, before turning back to his comrade.

Not wanting anything more than for the men to leave her alone at the moment, she allowed them to smugly grin in triumph over her for a moment or two before they finally exited, slamming shut and locking the metal door behind them.

Only then did Midii allow herself to cry

Nanashi, she thought through her tears, where are you? I need you! Why did you have to leave me?

The young 17-year-old cried herself to sleep that night, shivering from lack of warmth, her thoughts filled with the brown-haired, emerald-eyed boy she missed so dearly, and wanted to see again. Midii was so terrified and exhausted, she failed to notice the fact that her necklace, the one he had given her over two years ago, was gone.

************************

“Ms. Demannor?”

The middle-aged woman looked towards the voice, and came face-to-face with a young man around 17 years old with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a comforting smile. At the sight of him, the woman relaxed slightly. She had seen the other two guys who had worked here: one of them appeared so cold it frightened her, while the other was a bit too…well…perky-yet-menacing would be a good way to describe him. This young man, however, appeared much more pleasant to speak with.

“Y-yes…that’s my name, but you may call me Valerie”

“Hello, Valerie. My name is Quatre Winner. I’m here to talk to you about the kidnapping you witnessed. What can you tell me?” he spoke up as he took a seat directly across from the woman.

They were sitting in one of the Preventers’ interrogation rooms, though the lights were turned up, and the setting a bit more pleasant than usual. It had been decided that Quatre would be the one to question the woman, being described as the best ‘people-person’, while the other three looked on from behind the one-way mirror.

Valerie, like Wufei had mentioned, appeared a bit frantic as she did her best to explain what had happened. “W-well…I had just walked off after meeting up with her at the park and talking for a little while. It had been so long since I last saw the dear, and it was nice meeting up with her again. But then I realized that I had forgotten something, and went back looking for her. I called her name, but I guess she didn’t hear me because she walked right out of the park. Just as I reached the front gate to the park, I saw two men attack her! She wasn’t even ten feet away! The poor dear was struck on the head hard, and went down unconscious!” tears rimmed the woman’s eyes as she recalled what had happened. Giving her a tissue, Quatre gently asked if she would describe the men she had seen. In the other room, Duo was taking down the information while Heero and Trowa listened intently. Neither Duo nor Heero noticed the look in Trowa’s eyes: one of recollection.

“Let me see… One of them was very tall, over six feet, and had pale skin, red hair and freckles. The other man was slightly shorter, and looked much younger…around his early twenties…with dark-brown hair and lightly-tanned skin. They both wore all black and had on sunglasses. The dark-haired man was the one to hit her. Oh, I hope she’s all right!”

“Don’t worry; I’m sure she’s fine.” Quatre did his best to calm the frantic woman down. A few more minutes into the questioning, and Valerie was able to give them all the information she possible could. Well, that is, except for one final question.

“Can you tell me the name of the girl kidnapped?” Valerie looked up in surprise; until now, she hadn’t even realized she had yet to give the name. The woman had been so nervous, even in the young man’s presence.

“Midii’s her name. Midii Une.” At the sound of the name, Quatre’s eyes went wide. In the other room, Trowa’s did as well.

“D-Did you say ‘Midii Une’?” The blonde-haired man asked, quite surprised. In response, Valerie looked at him a bit strangely.

“Yes. Do you know Midii?”

Regaining his composure, Quatre responded, “No, but I know someone who might…. Will you give me a moment?” Getting a nod from the woman, he proceeded to get up and walk into the adjourning room in search of Trowa.

Meanwhile, in the next room, the brown-haired man visibly flinched in surprise when he heard Midii’s name spoken. Both Duo and Heero noticed this, and looked on at their comrade with curiosity.

“Something wrong, Trowa?” Heero spoke up, one eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, Barton, what gives?” a very-curious Duo added in. Trowa didn’t respond; his eyes were focused directly ahead of him as he stared into oblivion, deep in thought.

Midii?!? But why would the Federation be after her? What does she have to do with…

~*~Flashback~*~

Not bothering to get up or even turn to face her, his voice broke the deafening silence surrounding the pair.

“How much did you get?”

Though his life of a trained soldier had left the young boy all but void of emotions, a clear trace of hatred could be detected from that one simple question. Midii shivered slightly, not from the air around them, but from the coldness of his tone. She stood her ground, however, not willing to let him see her fear.

This time, he turned to look her straight in the eye as he spoke. “Well?”

“Enough so that my three brothers and sick father will be able to eat for a while…” she replied, trying desperately not to let her voice break. Her long, blonde hair fell in her face as her deep hazel-gray eyes looked directly into his. The young girl’s knees buckled under her as Nanashi stood up and walked right up to her. His gaze diverted from hers as they rested upon the object hanging by a chain from her neck.

“That device around your neck is a transmitter, isn’t it?” he asked, already knowing the answer. Before Midii could even reply, he continued, “The Federation could hear every move we made.”

~*~End Flashback~*~

…the Federation… Trowa’s head snapped up at once as his memory played the tell-tale scene in his head. That’s what had been nagging him this whole time; he remembered! Midii had been a spy for the Federation long ago, but abandoned…them…and…hid….

Without a word, Trowa stood up and stormed out of the room in a sea of confusion, much to the bewilderment of Heero and Duo, who had been watching the man with curiosity the entire time.

Just as the two young men watched their comrade walk out, Quatre walked in through the opposite door.

“Hey, Trowa…” he began, before noticing that Trowa wasn’t there. Giving a questioning look to the other two, Duo responded by jerking a thumb towards the exit.

“Just missed him; he stormed outta here in quite a hurry at the mention of the girl’s name. If you ask me, that guy couldn’t get any weirder.”

“No one asked you.” Heero stated, before turning to Quatre, “Do you know what’s wrong?”

Looking out where Trowa had left, the blonde boy shoot his head, “No, but I’m going to find out.” And he headed out in search of his friend.

“You know, this setting seems just the tiniest bit familiar.” Duo spoke up, indirectly speaking to Heero, “When a certain someone hastily ran out of the room at the mention of a particular female being kidnapped….” and he gave the Perfect Soldier a knowing smirk, being greeted with a glare in return. Though he wasn’t sure, Duo could almost swear he saw a very faint tint of pink appear in the young man’s cheeks. Maybe it was just the rooms lighting, perhaps?

Walking around for a time, Trowa desperately tried searching for a vacant room. He needed to clear his head. Finally, he found a small waiting room with absolutely no one in it, walked in, and sat down. Replaying the last few moments in his mind, the young man contemplated over what exactly was happening.

Midii…she’s an ex-spy…that’s right…and… now the Federation’s after her, no, caught her. His mind reasoned. What am I supposed to do? I don’t…I don’t know…. I thought she’d be safe if I left her on the colony, but now…

The young man was so deep in thought, he never heard the sound of a certain blonde coming into the room after him.

“Trowa?” at the sound of the voice, Trowa’s head shot up in surprise only to meet eyes with Quatre’s. Recognizing his companion, the brown-haired boy resorted back to his thoughts, all but ignoring the boy in the doorway.

“Trowa, you have to talk to me.” Quatre spoke up again, a stern yet kind evident in his voice, “As much as I know you’d rather keep quiet, I need to know.”

The young man lifted his head up to look at him once more. Quatre was shocked to find his comrade’s normally emotionless expression now one of worry, confusion, and…something else.

“Why would be the Federation be after Midii?” he tried once more. This time, his efforts were rewarded.

“She was a spy.” Trowa spoke up, just barely above a whisper. Surprised, Quatre blinked at the statement.

“A spy?”

Sighing lightly, Trowa nodded, and began his tale. “For…for the Federation. Eight years ago, when we were just ten, she worked for the Federation, unwillingly, as an undercover spy. That’s…how we met….” And for the first time in his life, Trowa began to speak about his past. Listening intently, Quatre walked over and pulled up a chair directly across from the slightly older boy.

Trowa told him everything. The mercenaries…the cross…the gunshots…everything that led up to the time he first stepped foot into the Gundam, only because there was no need to continue the story at that point. All the meanwhile, Quatre was left speechless.

“…and now, the Federation has her.” He finished Trowa’s story with the obvious fact. Wordlessly, Trowa nodded. He, himself, was still pretty much in shock at the whole situation. It hadn’t completely registered in his mind yet; to be honest, he didn’t want it to.

Quatre watched his friend with a bit of interest in the next few moments. He saw the rare emotions flickering across the older boy’s face. Being somewhat tuned-in to other people’s hearts, the blonde boy easily recognized the expression for what they were. He couldn’t help letting a tiny smile appear on his face as he recalled seeing the look Trowa’s eyes held now once before.

It was the same look Heero had had during the Eve Wars, when he had first discovered that Relina was being held on Libra.

************************

Cold. So very, very cold. Midii awoke in a shivering frenzy the next morning…or was it morning? The girl had lost all track of time since the first time she had awoken in her new room. It was dark in her little prison, with no windows aside from the tiny view-hold located on the door. And she had been given no blankets, no pillows despite the stone-hard floor, no nothing to keep the young girl warm throughout the night…even if her clothes were still wet. Even now, they stuck to her skin from the dampness in the air.

Sitting up, the girl easily recalled her situation as the painful memories of the previous night still played freshly in her mind. She tried to stand, but found herself too weak to do so, as her knees bucked underneath her from lack of strength, having her collapse back onto the floor. All night, after she had finally gotten to sleep, nightmares plagued her as they would with one in her position. And all of them featured Cane.

Midii shuddered, both from the chill and the thought of his name. To think, at one time she had had a little-girl-crush on the older man, five years her senior. He had always seemed so nice, so pleasant to her (not to mention, she admitted, he was awfully cute); almost a replacement for the loving brother she had lost. But now she knew the truth; knew exactly who “Cane” was. And to be frank…it scared her half to death.

As if on cue, the cell doors opened to reveal the man in question. Midii shrunk back a little when she recognized him, and a little more when she realized he was alone. Though she couldn’t identify the item in his left hand, the one in his right was unmistakable: a knife. Wordlessly, the man walked straight up to the younger girl and around behind her back. She squinted her eyes in fear, believing he was about to kill her, and tried to scream…but her throat was so dry that nothing more than a squeak came out. Then, all of a sudden, the girl found her hands to be free of the rope that bound them.

Her first reaction was to pull them in front of her to rub the wrists, as they were already red from rope-burn. As the burning sensation went down, Midii next turned her attention to the man standing right before her…a glass of water in hand.

“Here, drink this.” Cane spoke up, reaching down to hand her the glass. Nervously, the girl extended a shivering hand out to take it, but pulled back in hesitation. Cane stifled a small laugh at her actions.

“No, it’s not poisoned, drugged, or tampered with in any way…though I commend you on your instincts. A little slow, but that’s to be expected, given your condition. Just take the water and have a drink; you’re pretty dehydrated.” His voice and words were much kinder than they were the night before. Without another word, Midii accepted the glass and began to sip the cool liquid slowly. She quietly sighed in relief as the water flowed down her throat, moisturizing her dry vocal chords and slowly re-hydrating herself. As she did, she kept one eye on Cane at all times. The man couldn’t help but laugh again.

“I don’t blame you for not trusting me, but you must understand Midii; I have a rep to keep in this place, and how do you think Abel,” he referred to his red-headed accomplice of the previous night, “would’ve taken it to see me acting so kindly towards a prisoner?” he tried with reasoning her, but still Midii did not trust him.

The young blonde was obviously too weak at this point to even attempt to stand, so Cane chose to kneel directly in front of her instead. Looking straight into her eyes, he noticed her shivering (as well as her still-damp clothing), and placed his hands on her arms, rubbing them slightly to warm her from the friction.

“You’re freezing, girl.” He motioned towards her shivering, which only increased as he touched her, but slowly subsided as time went on. But still, even in the silence, Midii found she could not speak…or would not. So Cane chose to keep the conversation going for the two of them, trying to get the girl to loosen up.

“You know, I see you now, and it amazes me how much you’ve grown, Midii.” This got the girl’s attention as she turned to face Cane, not sure what he was getting as just yet. Her half-empty glass still in her hands, she clutched onto it instinctively, still a little nervous.

“I remember when I first started training you. It was eight years ago, you were about nine or ten, I was fifteen at the time.” He looked at her, a smirk on his face, as she looked at him, a confused look on her. “You sure have changed…for the better, might I add. What are you now, eighteen?”

“Seventeen.” She whispered, her voice still shot and hesitant at who she was speaking to, “I’ll be eighteen next month.” She could have sworn she heard him mutter something under his breath like, “close enough,” but chose to ignore it for the time.

“Do you regret giving it up, Midii?” Cane suddenly asked, drawing a questioning look from the girl. “I mean the spy life. All the adventures we had, the life, the privileges…the fun.”

“…why do you ask?” her voice was a bit raspy, but the man easily heard her question. He stroked her arms slowly, letting the jacket to slide off her shoulders, allowing him to rub her skin gently. Her shivering had nearly ceased, indicating she was warming up. Little did Cane know she shook now only from his touch; she still didn’t trust him completely, and felt very hesitant about the situation, even with her mind aching from the previous night blocking most of her reasoning. The next words he spoke filled Midii’s mind with alarm.

“I could give it back to you, my dear.” His words were a bit deeper now, his voice rising slightly in volume, his tone hardening. “It’s like I said before; you play your cards right, and you could be right alone beside me, living the good life…and I guarantee you, it’s a very good life.” He leaned closer, speaking the last part of his sentence directly in her ear as he slowly stroked her shoulders, thumbing the straps of her shirt.

Midii tensed up in fear once she figured out his motive, and drew back sharply. The minute she struggled out of his grip, her fear turned to anger as she threw what was left of her drink directly in his face.

“What was that for?” he nearly shouted, wiping his face in frustration. He stood up, towering over the girl, but still she glared up at him with a cold hatred look in her eyes. He glared back, though not as hard seeing he was trying to get her on his side. “Come on, girl… it’s not like you’ve got a boyfriend, or anything.”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” She spat out, reaching for her necklace…only to find it wasn’t there. Drawing her attention away from Cane for a moment, she looked down in shock, only to find her most precious possession gone. The man noticed her bewildered expression, and chuckled a little.

“Looking for that cross of yours? It fell off while we brought you here. That’s what happens when you struggle.” He next turned his attention back to the previous topic of conversation, “Now what’s this about having a boyfriend? I know you’re lying, Midii…we’re been watching you for weeks, and never seen any boyfriend.”

Midii clenched her teeth in anger and looked up at the man, tears blurring her vision. She refused to answer him…didn’t have an answer, really. “That’s what I thought; a lie.”

Once again, he bent down in front of the girl, taking her chin in his hands so they’d meet eye-to-eye, “What’s wrong, Midii? When you were younger, you would have loved the attention I’m giving you now. Admit it; you know you want me…” He was greeted with a hard slap in the face, and responded by throwing her roughly to the ground. Midii, leaning shakily on her arms, looked up at him and spoke in a cold, venomous tone, just barely above a raspy whisper because of her voice.

“Not if you were the last man on earth.” Growing furious, Cane raised his hand to slap her, but paused when another idea came to him. Smirking evily, the man lowered his arm and looked directly at the younger girl at his feet.

“Very well, Midii…. You’ve just signed your own death warrant.” Without another word, he stormed out of the room, shutting the door tight behind him and locking it.

Midii just stared at the closed door for a moment in shock before breaking down into tears. She was tired, sore from her injuries, afraid…and still, thought of her green-eyed love, a closed fist over her chest, where her missing necklace once hung.

Nanashi, she thought, I need you. I’m scared, Nanashi, and she recalled what his name was now, softly calling it out as she slipped into unconsciousness from lack of energy.

“Trowa…”

Outside the room, Cane angrily leaned his back against the door, one hand to his reddened cheek. He heard the girl’s plea through the peep-window on the door.

So, Trowa’s his name, eh, he thought, I’ll have to remember that…

“Ooh…you got shot- down, Cane.” A voice came from his right. Looking up, the man came face-to-face with his partner, Abel, a smirk on his face from his comrade’s apparent failure.

“It’s her loss, the bitch…” he replied, before standing up-right and turning to his left. He proceeded to walk down the long hallway to the end, where a door marked “Authorized Personnel Only” was located. Just as he was about to turn the knob, Abel ran up behind him.

“Don’t you need orders from the Federation to do that?” he asked, apparently nervous as his friend’s hasty actions as well as sudden cold attitude (he normally only gave it to his victims).

“I was given the order this morning, but figured I’d give her one last chance. Guess she didn’t want it.” He replied, before stepping into the room. Sighing in relief, Abel followed him comrade into the control room for each cell’s air supply, shutting the door behind him.

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E-mail ~J.C.~