The Truth

The Truth

By Vixen Schmixen

Rating PG at the moment

But I am a sassy lemon authoress…eheh heh

Heero shifted uneasily against the wall he was leaning on. Why did she have to do things like this? She KNEW anti-pacifist militia patrolled the skies around Sank, so why couldn't she have used another mode of transport other than her jet? He glanced over at the jet. It was a beautiful aircraft, no doubt about that, but…

Heero squinted as a fighter ripped across the sky thousands of feet above. Dangerous. Too dangerous. She was notorious for taking risks, but usually only on her own. By doing this she was endangering all of the crew as well. He'd thought she was intelligent. She'd proven she was intelligent, but to go and do something like this…

Heero caught the eye of the other civilian lookout, standing by the landing ramp. He saw the same disbelief in his eyes. This wasn't a risk, this was recklessness, and it wasn't like her.

It was dark inside the plane, and neither Heero, nor any members of the small crowd gathered could see into the plane. As a matter of fact, all the spectators were on the left side of the plane, and he couldn't see around the other side.

Strictly speaking, he wasn't supposed to be here. No-one had asked or ordered him to come, but it was making use of his training by being there. He was dressed casually in a blue T-shirt and black jeans, with his distinctive mop of chocolate-brown hair hidden under a baseball cap. The cap had been Duo's idea, but it had been a good one. He couldn't afford to make himself stand out.

It wasn't his job to protect Relena anymore, but it made him feel needed. She was an innocent, a civilian. Heero wished for an instant that he had someone who understood him. Yes, Relena was in awe of him, but it wasn't the same. She hadn't been through what he had to become who he was. He assumed she'd been born the way she was. No, he should be thankful that no-one else had ever had to suffer the same things he had.

'Look!'

'There she is!'

'Minister Darlian! Minister!'

The cries rang from the audience like a litter of puppies begging for attention from their mistress. Relena was flanked by the head of her bodyguard and the Vice-Minister, Paulo Hoseas, a tall arrogant Argentinean man.

Relena waved to the crowd, smiling, then began to board the plane, but before she had taken one step, she spun around and gripped her head bodyguard in a hug.

'Hey!' protested the woman, but then returned the hug with a smile, before asking, 'what was that for?' She was surprised to see the beginnings of tears in Relena's eyes.

'You've been a great friend, Hilde, and I just wanted to say thank you.'

'You're coming back, right?' Hilde smiled.

Relena nodded, 'Hope so,' she grinned, then waved one more time to the crowds, who cheered their leader, before the door slid closed. There was another bang, which Heero assumed was the boarding stairs being uncoupled.

Heero sighed a small sigh. Halfway there. No-one had shot her. Now the damn plane had to get to wherever it was going. He and Trowa had gone over their plans several times. They'd wait until the plane was several kilometres into its journey, then follow it under cloak, just to make sure nothing could get close. They'd done it dozens of times before, but this would by the most dangerous time.

The jet gently left the airstrip and was soon enveloped in cloud.

Heero caught Trowa's eye again and motioned for him to rejoin them back outside. Trowa nodded, and began to walk towards him.

Suddenly Heero spotted something odd. An air-stewardess was walking away from the airstrip as well. One he'd been sure was on the plane. She was wearing a distinctive yellow bracelet. As she passed him without a backward glance, Heero dismissed the notion. How could she have possibly have got off? He may not have been able to see the other side of the plane, but he had been able to see under it. He watched as the airport staff began to pull the boarding stairs back into the garage ready for the next flight. Trowa rejoined him.

'Nice outfit Yuy,' he muttered. He was wearing an airport uniform.

'The cap? Duo's idea. We'll just see the plane out of the militia zone, then…'

Screams had suddenly erupted from the remaining crowd. As Relena's jet broke out of the low-lying cloud that was hugging the coastline and began to speed up as it flew over the sea, a small fighter, which had obviously used the cloud as cover, was tailing it.

Heero and Trowa could do nothing but watch.

It wasn't a normal atmospheric fighter. It looked like a V(acuum) model, meant for space combat, but still deadly within the Earthsphere, in close range. Its laser beams tended to diffract due to air resistance, but its superior speed made up for that.

This model was different from others that Heero had seen. It had the raking forward twin buster cannons; one on each side, but it also had several extra features. It was midnight blue, unlike most others models which were white, with a distinctive crest of spikes on top and jutting out at the sides. These quickly retracted and the fighter began to close in on its prey.

The jet attempted to accelerate, but it was hopeless. The fighter's first shot ripped open the fuselage. The second only acted to magnify the huge ball of flames that the jet had become. The third and final shot knocked the hind section clear of the rest of the plane, igniting the fuel in the tanks.

The orange blast illuminated sixty horrified disbelieving faces. Not a single large part was visible of what 10 minutes earlier had been a jet full of people. Smoke began to drift up and away.

Children began to cry, and hugged their mothers, and the men looked shell-shocked.

Heero's face showed no emotion. Trowa's didn't either.

'We didn't contemplate this…' began Trowa, but Heero interrupted.

'…but we should have, and now its too late. She's gone, they're all gone.'

They turned and began towards their car, neither one believing what they had just witnessed.

Relena Darlian was dead.

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Vixen: *growls* No the fic isn't over damnit! No lemons yet, ooh aah *Gloucester farmer* I come from Glaaaaaaster, aaah. *coughs* anyway, so much more to come! Email me! Lemon underscore goddess at hotmail dot com or lemon_goddess@hotmail.com