Disclaimer – I own nothing. Nothing!

A/N: I had an idea one day. And I said to myself, "Self, this is a good idea." So I ran with it. I have recently been re-intrigued with the tales of Robin Hood. I was going to write and AU fic with the Gundam Wing characters as Robin Hood characters, but it's already been done, and very well (See: "All Along the Watchtower" by Goldberry) But I just couldn't get it out of my head. The tales of Robin Hood are both imaginative and impressive. So I got the idea of writing a Gundam Wing story, which relies heavily on the elements of Robin Hood.

This story is like a modern day version of Robin Hood.

For Richer or Poorer.

"Heero, is that the sky?" Duo Maxwell pointed up, violet eyes wide with wonder. His companion, decidedly annoyed, stayed silent. "Heero, I mean, is that the real honest to God sky?"

Heero Yuy, knapsack over his shoulder walked through the airport parking lot, the braided pilot in tow. He kept his gaze forward. If Heero had learned anything from the five years he had spent with Duo, it was that sometimes it was best to ignore him. Scratch that, it was always best to ignore him.

"Seriously, are those clouds?"

"People are staring at you."

"I'm just saying, Heero. That's the sky. It's blue. Those are clouds."

"Yes."

"I haven't seen the sky for five years, Heero. This is big. This is a breakthrough. Everything is new. I'm like a newborn baby."

"You're certainly as loud as one." Heero muttered under his breath. Duo didn't hear him.

"It's like I'm learning things all over again."

"When do you learn to shut the hell up?"

After five years on Mars with Heero, Duo had learned to take his biting insults with a grain of salt. At 21 years old, Heero still didn't quite have people skills. "I don't learn that for another few months." He quipped.

"Great." Heero muttered. The two men walked out of the airport parking lot and onto the sidewalk. It had been five years since the two had been on the Earth, or near civilization for that matter.

"Where to first, Heero?" Duo asked, with a side long glance. "Preventer? Should we find somewhere to live?" Heero shrugged at both suggestions and kept up the steady pace as he walked down a flight of stairs towards the city "Should we go and visit Relena?"

Heero stopped mid-step. Duo, who hadn't expected the pause in Heero's step, faltered and nearly crashed into him. "I'll take that as a no," Duo muttered, stopping to catch his breath. "God, if I knew saying her name would send you into an instant state of paralysis - "

"Why don't you just shut up?"

They walked down the stairs. "Fine." Duo ignored the insult and followed his companion. The walked in silence down the sidewalk, as Duo quietly surveyed their surroundings. "This place is deserted." He muttered. The buildings around him were indeed empty, but they were also broken down. Heero stopped and followed Duo's gaze. The decayed buildings were doing well to be standing. Glass from the windows had been blown out from a battle long since over. Doors had been ripped off, frayed curtains blowing through the fragmented windows. There were chunks of debris on the sidewalks. The roads were strangely absent of cars.

"Where are we?" Duo asked, as one curtain was ripped by a strong gust of wind. It flapped and flew through the current but finally gave up and floated back to the Earth. It landed at Heero's feet.

"I don't know."

"Well, wherever we are, we should leave. This place is giving me the creeps."

The kept walking. The hum of a motor caused them to look up. A bright yellow taxi was slowly approaching them. Duo stepped into the street to flag it down. The vehicle stopped, and its doors opened. Heero and Duo climbed into the backseat.

"What the hell are you boys doin' way the hell out here?" the cab driver asked loudly.

"Where is here, exactly?"

The cab driver looked at Duo quizzically. "You're in New Port City… did you know that?"

"Of course I knew that," Duo's voice had a hint of malice in it, but it left as quickly as it had appeared. "I meant, where are we? What are all these buildings?"

"You're in the financial district, buddy." The driver put the car into gear and stepped on the gas, causing the two men in the backseat to jerk around a bit. "Well, at least what's left of it. During the war, this part of the city was pretty heavily hit. And when ESUN took over, they started to rebuild. Of course, they rebuilt all the expensive places first. They neglected the financial district. So it fell into disarray. Now it's just a breeding ground from criminals and thugs."

The man stopped at a red light. He turned to face his passengers. "You guys aren't from around here, are ya?"

Duo smiled. "How could you tell?"

"Well first of all, you're walking around in the financial district. Secondly, you don't know a damn thing about this town." The light remained red. However, the car was alone in the road.

"So no one comes into the financial district?"

"No, not if they value their lives. Or their money." The light turned green and the cab driver pressed the gas. "What is sad, is that this used place used to be beautiful,"

"This used to be the Sanc Kingdom." Heero spoke up. The driver was startled by his voice and swallowed thickly.

"You're right. But after ESUN was formed, they eliminated all the borders. Now we're just the Earth Sphere Unified Nations."

"There used to be houses here." Heero spoke quietly, but Duo heard him.

"Forgive me gentlemen, but I never asked where you two were going. I was just so alarmed that there were two guys in the financial district. Where are you headed?"

"Does the Vice Foreign Minister still work in the capital building?" Heero asked.

"No, he works a few streets over."

"He?" Duo cut in. He put his hand on the shoulder of the driver.

"Yeah, the Vice Foreign Minister, Allan Dale."

"Where's Relena?" Duo asked, as more of a question to Heero than the driver.

"Relena Darlian? She's the Foreign Minister. She was appointed so a few years ago. Jesus, where have you guys been? Living under a rock?"

"Something like that…" Duo responded, gaze leaving the driver and focusing on the scenery. He could tell that they had left the financial district. There was a smattering of people on the sidewalks. The trees were green and bountiful, and their taxi wasn't the solitary car on the road. They were back into civilization.

"I can take you there if you'd like. To see the Foreign Minister. Although it's hard these days to get in to see her."

Both Heero and Duo ignored the driver's comments and avoided each other's gaze. So much had changed since they'd left the Earth five years ago. Duo sat in the car, violet eyes clouded over in thought. They had left as heroes, promising a gallant and victorious return. Five years ago, Heero, Duo and a group of others left for the Mars Terraformation Project. Upon their return, it would have seemed as the vibrant planet would have no place for them.

On the other side of the backseat bench, Heero was lost in a different sort of thought. Long ago had he put aside worries of the world accepting him. He could settle anywhere and make it home. The problem was exactly that, settling. Heero and Duo were sent home from the Terraformation Project as a reward but neither of them saw it that way. For Heero, it was a punishment. He was now condemned to a normal life.

The car stopped and the man turned to face his passengers. "Here you are. The Capitol Building. Good luck, fellas." They paid the man and stepped out of the car. Duo and Heero looked up to find an enormous building bathed in ivory. There were steep columns and impressive pillars in the entrance, discreetly telling everyone who entered that they were entering a place of knowledge and power. The marble steps were strong and numerous. The building had to be old, or at least built to look like an antique.

"Heero?"

"Yeah?"

Duo looked around at the multitude of people going in and out of the building. "People are staring at me."

"Duo, you're a man with hair down to his ass. People are going to stare at you."

Duo opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it. The two walked into the building and headed for the main desk. The woman at the main desk smiled without any humor. "Can I help you?"

"We're looking for Relena Darlian's office." Duo asked.

"25th floor."

v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v

The doors opened and the first thing Duo noticed was that the wallpaper was pink. He almost laughed out loud. The girl was twenty-one years old, and the wallpaper in her office was pink. He looked over and saw Heero's grim expression. Apparently he was the only one who found humor in the situation. At the end of the hall, they reached a young girl at a great mahogany desk. She looked up and registered their presence. Duo smiled and waited for Heero to speak. He looked over at his friend and found his face absent of emotion. Duo sighed, it looked like he was going to do all the speaking this trip.

"Hi, we're here to see the Vice… I mean the Foreign Minister."

"Names?"

Duo smiled. "Let's just say we're old friends."

The young girl arched an eyebrow. She shook her head. "The Foreign Minister is busy all day today. You can come back tomorrow."

Duo snorted. "Look," he looked down at the desk for her name. He found it on a tag on her desk. "Marietta. We're old friends of the Foreign Minister. I know she'd like to see us if she knew we were here."

"Well, she doesn't have time, whether she'd like it or not."

"Why don't you go in that door, and ask her if she has time?" Duo's voice was strained, threatening to lose its congeniality.

"Now." Heero ordered. It was the first time he'd spoken since entering the building.

The girl's face turned a frightening shade of white, and she bit her lip. "Look, I can't. I can't let you in there when-"

The sound of the door opening cut off the young girl.

"It really is a shame you won't let me accompany you, Miss Darlian. I think if you came, that would make the event more bearable." The voice belonged to a young man, who had his hand on the door handle, as he reluctantly walked out of the Foreign Minister's office.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid I won't be able to attend, Mr. Gisborne. It is a shame." Relena Darlian, sporting a dark blue suit coat, white shirt and dark blue skirt, replaced his hand on the door handle with hers. The young man still stood in the door frame, making it impossible for her to close the door.

"Perhaps we can see each other another time," the young man smiled thinly as he turned to leave. He looked up and saw Heero and Duo and stopped walking. He stood a little straighter. "Can I help you gentlemen?"

Relena, already halfway back into her office, opened the door farther. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise as she saw her guests.

Duo's eyes never left the visitor's. "We're here to see the Foreign Minister."

"Concerning?"

Duo shrugged. "It doesn't really concern you. We're here to see her." Duo pointed at Relena and winked.

Relena smiled weakly through her shocked state, but covered it quickly as the man turned to look at her.

"Who are you gentlemen?"

"Who are you?" Heero's harsh tone grabbed the attention of man, whose grave green eyes landed on the former Wing Zero pilot.

"I'll ignore your rude manners and answer your question." The man replied with a smirk. "My name is Guy Gisborne. I'm the Chief of Police for this town." He was tall, at least as tall as Heero. He was a young man, in his mid-twenties. He was dressed in blue slacks which matched his blue collared shirt. The only evidence of him being a Police officer was the badge pinned to his chest. To be his age and the Chief of Police meant that he was probably talented … or that he knew someone. His hair was dark brown with stunning green eyes that bore into Heero.

"Duo Maxwell," Duo introduced himself with a watchful expression. Gisborne's stare left Heero's severe face for a moment to register Duo's introduction. He didn't acknowledge it as his gaze wandered back to Heero.

"And you?" He asked, question pointed towards Heero.

Heero's deep blue eyes were hard and unwavering. After a few moments of silence, Duo answered for him. "That's Heero. Heero Yuy."

A smile found it way to Gisborne's face, and his upper lip quirked up. "The former Gundam pilots. Home from the Terraformation Project no doubt" He remarked.

Heero scowled. His hands balled up into fists. His eyes stayed locked with Gisborne's. How he wanted to wipe the smirk off of his face. There was nothing stopping him. He had a clean slate. He took a step towards the smirking so-called Chief of Police.

"Mr. Gisborne, aren't you going to be late for your meeting?" Relena's voice broke through the strained silence. Gisborne's eyes didn't leave Heero.

"Yes. I am. Welcome home, gentlemen." His watchful eyes knew much more than his face gave away. Gisborne turned away from Heero and Duo and towards Relena. She quickly recovered and stood up straight, with a thin smile in Gisborne's direction.

"Goodbye, Relena." He took her hand off of the door handle and brought it up to his lips. With a soft kiss on the back of her hand, he turned and walked to the elevators, strolling confidently.

Relena looked down and took a deep breath, not exhaling until she heard the elevator doors close, confident that Gisborne was gone. Reluctantly, she looked up at the two men standing before her.

They had grown. Both had gotten taller, but it was more than that. Their bodies were more fitting to their ages. Heero was still muscular, but seemed to fit better into his clothes. He did look out of place in the building, and even more foreign without his black spandex and green tank top. He stood tall and proud in khakis and white button up collared shirt. She found it too difficult to look at Heero at the moment, so she looked at Duo.

Duo looked comfortable in his own skin, and in his black slacks and black button up. Instead of the priest collar, he was wearing a white tie. He still sported the braid, which amused Relena. His expression had begun to defrost when he too realized that Gisborne was gone. His eyes met Relena's, and a smile crept across his face.

"Princess!"

His jovial outburst brought her back to reality, it seemed. Her eyes narrowed in pain. She opened the door. "Hurry, get into the office." They did as she asked, Heero more reluctant than Duo. Relena turned to the girl at the desk. "Marietta, hold all calls. No calls whatsoever. Alert me if someone comes to the desk."

"Miss Relena,"

"I know. I don't have long before they catch on."

She shut the door and leaned against it. Duo was surveying his surroundings, looking around her office, nodding. "Nice digs, Princess."

She smiled weakly.

"Until we catch onto what?" Heero interrupted anything that Relena was going to say. Relena finally swallowed and looked at Heero. There was an inexplicable emotion in his eyes, and she thought he might have been hurt. However, there was also suspicion in his gaze.

"You guys don't understand what you've done." She walked around the two men to her desk. She stood at the chair, and looked at them. "I can't talk to you for very long. They're going to catch on."

"Who?" Duo asked.

"The man who just left. His name was Guy Gisborne. He's going to go tell Senator Prince about you. And that isn't good. You guys can't stay here."

"What's going on?" Heero's voice cut like a knife, and Relena closed her eyes. When she opened them, she locked her gaze onto Heero's. They looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity. A piece of golden hair fell into her face, and she looked away, pushing it out of her face, effectively breaking the standoff.

"There's too much. I can't tell you now. You have to leave." She walked away from her desk and towards the door.

Heero grabbed her wrist as she walked past, and she stopped. "I'm not leaving until I know what's going on." The words came out harsher than he had intended, and as an apology, he loosened his grip on her wrist. She lifted her chin and looked into Heero's eyes.

The words seemed caught in her throat.

Suddenly three seemed like quite a crowd. Duo looked away, feeling like he was witnessing a very personal moment.

"You need to leave. I can't explain it now. But I can explain it later. Can you come to my house tonight?" Her voice was low. Duo could hear what she was saying, but it seemed like the words were intended for Heero.

"When?"

"Tonight. Around ten."

Heero let go of her wrist. Relena quickly walked to the door, eager to leave the situation. She cast an apologetic look towards Duo. "I'm so sorry," she whispered to him as she opened the door.

The two men walked out of her office, Heero without a second glance.

v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v

"What the hell just happened?"

Heero stood quietly in the elevator, staring at his reflection in the gold plating.

"Heero, what in the hell just happened?"

There was no response. Heero's grim expression didn't waver as Duo stared at him, awaiting an answer.

"Heero-"

"I don't know, Duo. But there's something wrong. There's something very wrong."

"Where do we go now?"

"Let's go see Une."

v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v

A/N: It's been such a long time since I've written Gundam Wing. I forget how much fun it is to write for.

If you're not familiar with the story of Robin Hood, you should go look it up. It really is a great story.

But in case you ARE a giant fan of the story of Robin Hood, it's important to tell you that I'm not going to follow it exactly. Since I'm modern-izing it, some things will fit, and some things won't. The most important elements of the story will be here, but there will be some things that probably stray away from what you've read.

I hope you'll stick with the story. I have some great plans for it.