Why Me?
"Zechs you've been abnormally jumpy today," Lucrezia Noin told her friend in concern. "Are you alright?"
"Noin, do you ever get the feeling you're being watched?" The tall blonde's eyes flicked to the tops of the New York skyscrapers. "Like someone is just hell bent on your not seeing another day?"
"All the time." She said wryly. "Just before someone tries to kill me."
"Who would want to kill Noin?" Duo Maxwell snorted. "One of the world's most likeable people-aside from myself of course."
"Come off it Maxwell," Wufei smacked Duo in the back of the head. "The only thing you're good for is giving our position away to every soldier in sight."
Noin laughed at Duo's hurt expression. "Ouch Wufei. That was harsh."
"You just have to know how to handle the baka," Wufei replied smugly. Duo's jaw dropped.
"I'm going back by Yuy," He huffed. "At least he doesn't make fun of me." And matching actions to words, he went back and stood by Heero.
"That boy is definitely a piece of work." Zechs laughed. Noin also smiled, glad to see Zechs back in a good mood.
*
High above them, a dark haired soldier fitted a scope onto the end of a sniper rifle. "If I time this right," He thought, raising the rifle to his shoulder. "I can take out Noin and Merquise at the same time. That'll really put a crimp in Sanq's government. And then all that's left is to take out Relena." He looked down the scope. "Come on Merquise, get just a little closer to your girlfriend, that's right, now walk forward, just a few more feet."
*
"But think about it," Noin was saying over her shoulder to a solemn Heero. "What if OZ would never have been formed? How much different the world would have been!" The Perfect Soldier nodded gravely. Fortunately, the nod brought his head up enough to notice the glint of the sun against the metal of a gun barrel.
"Lucrezia, down!" Heero tackled Noin from behind just as a shot sounded from above. The bullet meant for Noin's head and Zechs's heart ripped through Heero's upper left shoulder. They tumbled to the ground with a breathless thud and were joined a mere second later by Wufei and Zechs.
"What the hell?!" Noin rolled to her knees, gun out and cocked, searching for whom had fired. Zechs also was up and looking, just a moment slower than Noin. "Heero! You alright?"
"Fine," Heero grunted, his firearm clutched tightly in his right hand. "Fan out everyone! The shot came from the above right!" Duo, Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre all headed in the prescribed direction. They were down a moment later, herding the would-be assassin at gunpoint. Noin was kneeling beside Heero, pressing at the wound in his shoulder with the torn off sleeve of her dress, trying to stanch the blood.
"So I brought down the wrong man hmmm?" The soldier shrugged. "Oh well, better luck next time."
"He's not dead." Noin ground out from between clenched teeth. "You hit him in the shoulder."
"Well, I'm glad I at least hit someone." The assassin smiled at her. "I really didn't want to have to go to trial and explain why I completely missed everyone. It would have been nice if I would have killed you and Merquise like I was aiming for though."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you." Noin said coolly. The would-be assassin smiled and bowed.
"Not at all miss," He said jauntily as the Gundam Pilots escorted him away. "Next time." Noin sat hard on the blacktop, no longer able to keep up her charade of cool disinterest.
Zechs reached his hand toward Noin. She took it and squeezed hard, her breath starting to come in ragged gasps now that adrenaline was wearing off.
"Noin, you ok?"
"No," She started to shake, ever so slightly, and Zechs pulled her to him, rocking her back and forth as silent tears streamed from her cheeks. She clutched his shoulders hard and buried her face in his chest, trying to get her strained emotions back under control.
Heero Yuy watched the pair with an irrational surge of jealousy. While everyone thought they had him pegged as liking Relena (who was more of a sister to him than anything), only he knew the truth.
He loved Lucrezia Noin.
He had loved her since he saw her on Antarctica for the first time, the day she had shown that she knew the workings of honor and let him fight Zechs. She could have made that whole duel very difficult for both parties involved but she didn't. And after, when Heero had joined the Preventors, her unquestioning acceptance-and later, her seeming enjoyment- of his presence blew him away. He was so used to people hating him for the things he did that his feelings for her merely deepened. Her cheerful temperament, her strength, and her feminine nature (which Noin used at a much better level than Relena. Sometimes Relena was so feminine that it made Heero want to shoot her.) stirred something in him.
That was about the time he learned of her feelings for Zechs.
It came as a huge blow to him. He kicked himself later for not noticing all the signs but he realized how hurt Noin would be if anything ever happened to Zechs. Heero was determined that nothing would ever hurt her. From that day on, he made sure that Zechs as well as Relena was under his protection, though he was very careful not to let Zechs or Lucrezia know that. And since Lucrezia rarely left Zechs's side herself, Heero got to see her more often than usual, which suited him just fine.
"Noin, it's ok. We're ok," Zechs soothed. "We've had assassination attempts before."
"But none of them ever came that close," Noin replied. "If it hadn't have been for Heero." She whirled around. "Heero." But he was gone.
"He's tough Noin," Zechs smiled at her. "I'm sure he's fine."
"I know," She sighed. "He saved our lives, Zechs."
"I know." He replied, taking her hand. "Now, let's get you home ok? You'll feel better after a long, hot bath."
*
Zechs was right; a hot bath did feel pretty good, Noin had to admit as she soaked. A knock at the door rang through the quiet bathroom.
"Come in Zechs." The tall blonde obliged, handing her a cup of tea and keeping one for himself as he sat down on the lowered toilet seat.
"Better?" He asked with a smile. She nodded.
"Much." She sighed. "I'm sorry I lost it back there."
"Well, when someone tries to kill you, it's not exactly a thing you walk away from unscathed." Zechs replied. Noin shrugged.
"You did."
"That's because I'm used to it." He quipped. Zechs saw Noin's pensive frown and he reached down to brush the back of his hand against her cheek. "No one should want to kill you Noin."
"Whatever Zechs." She laughed. "I say the same about you, you know."
He laughed at that too. "It's nice to be loved."
She reached up and took his hand. "I do love you, you know."
"I know." He knelt by the tub and kissed her. "I love you too."
Usually Zechs's kisses had the power to make everything feel all right for her again, but tonight, it wasn't working. She broke away from him with a sigh.
"Noin, what?" Zechs asked with a frown. Noin tipped her head, trying to think of what it was that was making her so unstrung.
It came to her a second later.
"Heero." She got out of the bath with an almighty heave. "I think I should go check on Heero."
"Why, Noin?"
"Something feels off." She replied, slipping through the door to the bedroom, toweling herself off briskly as she went. Zechs followed and pulled the towel away from her.
"You aren't going to have any skin left if you keep that up," He said before patting her dry. She smiled at him, at his tenderness, and hugged him.
"I'll be back soon." She threw on the clothes that she had laid out for herself and, grabbing the first jacket she found she was down the stairs and out the door.
*
Heero made his way carefully, silently, down the alleyway to his home. The bullet from the assassin's gun had passed all the way through his body so the only danger his wound presented him was if it began bleeding again. So it wasn't that he was thinking about.
He pushed the door open with a small, internal sigh. He had prided himself on never needing anyone, so why in the hell couldn't he get her out of his mind? Her touch on his shoulder had been gentle, so gentle, and the emotion in her eyes unmistakable. She had been worried about him.
The thought floored him. Someone was worried about him? But he supposed that wasn't anything new. Duo worried about him, and the rest of the Gundam gang. Relena worried about him but he tried not to think about that. It just made things more complicated.
'Tea,' He decided. 'A cup of tea will make me feel better.'
Making his way to the kitchen, Heero put his entire soldier training into forgetting the one person that made him FORGET he was a soldier. So therefore he wasn't paying attention as he walked through the doorway.
He was soon after.
"Make a move Yuy, and I'll blow your Zero crazed head off." The husky voice was completely unfamiliar to Heero, as was the hand holding the gun to his head. He seethed inwardly at being caught unawares like this, but he kept silent. "You shouldn't have interfered. Noin and Merquise are gonna die whether at Jace's hands or somebody else's. No doubt. You should have just left well enough alone. The girl wasn't worth your life."
"Now there's where you're wrong." Heero said with steel lining his voice. "She's worth my life, your life, and the life of everyone on Earth ten times over."
"Isn't that precious?" The gunman chuckled. "Wittle Heewo's got a girlfriend. It's too bad you won't live to proclaim your love." Heero heard the click of the gun's hammer and he steeled himself for the blow.
BANG!
It took Heero a second to realize that, yes, a gun did go off but no, he wasn't dead. The gunman, however, was.
"Well, there we go." A cheerful voice came from the shadows and Heero froze. "We're one for one."
"Noin?"
"In the flesh." She blew gun-smoke from the barrel of her sidearm with a smile.
"I'm glad to see you Lucrezia." Heero's lips quirked up in a brief return grin. "And I owe you my life."
"Naw, we're even remember?" She stepped over the body of the would-be assassin. Heero noted with faint amusement that she didn't step OVER the body as much as she stepped ON the body, showing her utter contempt for the dead man. "And I am hereby serving you notice that you will be staying where I can keep an eye on you. I.e. the guest room of my house."
Heero paused at that. "Won't Zechs mind?"
"Oh don't you worry about him," Noin winked at Heero. "He'll go along with whatever I say."
"But I don't think."
"Heero Yuy." Noin's voice was faintly admonishing. "I didn't ask what you thought. Now get your stuff together. We're leaving."
Any other woman and Heero would have refused. But Noin? He started upstairs.
Ah, the things we do for love!
"Zechs you've been abnormally jumpy today," Lucrezia Noin told her friend in concern. "Are you alright?"
"Noin, do you ever get the feeling you're being watched?" The tall blonde's eyes flicked to the tops of the New York skyscrapers. "Like someone is just hell bent on your not seeing another day?"
"All the time." She said wryly. "Just before someone tries to kill me."
"Who would want to kill Noin?" Duo Maxwell snorted. "One of the world's most likeable people-aside from myself of course."
"Come off it Maxwell," Wufei smacked Duo in the back of the head. "The only thing you're good for is giving our position away to every soldier in sight."
Noin laughed at Duo's hurt expression. "Ouch Wufei. That was harsh."
"You just have to know how to handle the baka," Wufei replied smugly. Duo's jaw dropped.
"I'm going back by Yuy," He huffed. "At least he doesn't make fun of me." And matching actions to words, he went back and stood by Heero.
"That boy is definitely a piece of work." Zechs laughed. Noin also smiled, glad to see Zechs back in a good mood.
*
High above them, a dark haired soldier fitted a scope onto the end of a sniper rifle. "If I time this right," He thought, raising the rifle to his shoulder. "I can take out Noin and Merquise at the same time. That'll really put a crimp in Sanq's government. And then all that's left is to take out Relena." He looked down the scope. "Come on Merquise, get just a little closer to your girlfriend, that's right, now walk forward, just a few more feet."
*
"But think about it," Noin was saying over her shoulder to a solemn Heero. "What if OZ would never have been formed? How much different the world would have been!" The Perfect Soldier nodded gravely. Fortunately, the nod brought his head up enough to notice the glint of the sun against the metal of a gun barrel.
"Lucrezia, down!" Heero tackled Noin from behind just as a shot sounded from above. The bullet meant for Noin's head and Zechs's heart ripped through Heero's upper left shoulder. They tumbled to the ground with a breathless thud and were joined a mere second later by Wufei and Zechs.
"What the hell?!" Noin rolled to her knees, gun out and cocked, searching for whom had fired. Zechs also was up and looking, just a moment slower than Noin. "Heero! You alright?"
"Fine," Heero grunted, his firearm clutched tightly in his right hand. "Fan out everyone! The shot came from the above right!" Duo, Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre all headed in the prescribed direction. They were down a moment later, herding the would-be assassin at gunpoint. Noin was kneeling beside Heero, pressing at the wound in his shoulder with the torn off sleeve of her dress, trying to stanch the blood.
"So I brought down the wrong man hmmm?" The soldier shrugged. "Oh well, better luck next time."
"He's not dead." Noin ground out from between clenched teeth. "You hit him in the shoulder."
"Well, I'm glad I at least hit someone." The assassin smiled at her. "I really didn't want to have to go to trial and explain why I completely missed everyone. It would have been nice if I would have killed you and Merquise like I was aiming for though."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you." Noin said coolly. The would-be assassin smiled and bowed.
"Not at all miss," He said jauntily as the Gundam Pilots escorted him away. "Next time." Noin sat hard on the blacktop, no longer able to keep up her charade of cool disinterest.
Zechs reached his hand toward Noin. She took it and squeezed hard, her breath starting to come in ragged gasps now that adrenaline was wearing off.
"Noin, you ok?"
"No," She started to shake, ever so slightly, and Zechs pulled her to him, rocking her back and forth as silent tears streamed from her cheeks. She clutched his shoulders hard and buried her face in his chest, trying to get her strained emotions back under control.
Heero Yuy watched the pair with an irrational surge of jealousy. While everyone thought they had him pegged as liking Relena (who was more of a sister to him than anything), only he knew the truth.
He loved Lucrezia Noin.
He had loved her since he saw her on Antarctica for the first time, the day she had shown that she knew the workings of honor and let him fight Zechs. She could have made that whole duel very difficult for both parties involved but she didn't. And after, when Heero had joined the Preventors, her unquestioning acceptance-and later, her seeming enjoyment- of his presence blew him away. He was so used to people hating him for the things he did that his feelings for her merely deepened. Her cheerful temperament, her strength, and her feminine nature (which Noin used at a much better level than Relena. Sometimes Relena was so feminine that it made Heero want to shoot her.) stirred something in him.
That was about the time he learned of her feelings for Zechs.
It came as a huge blow to him. He kicked himself later for not noticing all the signs but he realized how hurt Noin would be if anything ever happened to Zechs. Heero was determined that nothing would ever hurt her. From that day on, he made sure that Zechs as well as Relena was under his protection, though he was very careful not to let Zechs or Lucrezia know that. And since Lucrezia rarely left Zechs's side herself, Heero got to see her more often than usual, which suited him just fine.
"Noin, it's ok. We're ok," Zechs soothed. "We've had assassination attempts before."
"But none of them ever came that close," Noin replied. "If it hadn't have been for Heero." She whirled around. "Heero." But he was gone.
"He's tough Noin," Zechs smiled at her. "I'm sure he's fine."
"I know," She sighed. "He saved our lives, Zechs."
"I know." He replied, taking her hand. "Now, let's get you home ok? You'll feel better after a long, hot bath."
*
Zechs was right; a hot bath did feel pretty good, Noin had to admit as she soaked. A knock at the door rang through the quiet bathroom.
"Come in Zechs." The tall blonde obliged, handing her a cup of tea and keeping one for himself as he sat down on the lowered toilet seat.
"Better?" He asked with a smile. She nodded.
"Much." She sighed. "I'm sorry I lost it back there."
"Well, when someone tries to kill you, it's not exactly a thing you walk away from unscathed." Zechs replied. Noin shrugged.
"You did."
"That's because I'm used to it." He quipped. Zechs saw Noin's pensive frown and he reached down to brush the back of his hand against her cheek. "No one should want to kill you Noin."
"Whatever Zechs." She laughed. "I say the same about you, you know."
He laughed at that too. "It's nice to be loved."
She reached up and took his hand. "I do love you, you know."
"I know." He knelt by the tub and kissed her. "I love you too."
Usually Zechs's kisses had the power to make everything feel all right for her again, but tonight, it wasn't working. She broke away from him with a sigh.
"Noin, what?" Zechs asked with a frown. Noin tipped her head, trying to think of what it was that was making her so unstrung.
It came to her a second later.
"Heero." She got out of the bath with an almighty heave. "I think I should go check on Heero."
"Why, Noin?"
"Something feels off." She replied, slipping through the door to the bedroom, toweling herself off briskly as she went. Zechs followed and pulled the towel away from her.
"You aren't going to have any skin left if you keep that up," He said before patting her dry. She smiled at him, at his tenderness, and hugged him.
"I'll be back soon." She threw on the clothes that she had laid out for herself and, grabbing the first jacket she found she was down the stairs and out the door.
*
Heero made his way carefully, silently, down the alleyway to his home. The bullet from the assassin's gun had passed all the way through his body so the only danger his wound presented him was if it began bleeding again. So it wasn't that he was thinking about.
He pushed the door open with a small, internal sigh. He had prided himself on never needing anyone, so why in the hell couldn't he get her out of his mind? Her touch on his shoulder had been gentle, so gentle, and the emotion in her eyes unmistakable. She had been worried about him.
The thought floored him. Someone was worried about him? But he supposed that wasn't anything new. Duo worried about him, and the rest of the Gundam gang. Relena worried about him but he tried not to think about that. It just made things more complicated.
'Tea,' He decided. 'A cup of tea will make me feel better.'
Making his way to the kitchen, Heero put his entire soldier training into forgetting the one person that made him FORGET he was a soldier. So therefore he wasn't paying attention as he walked through the doorway.
He was soon after.
"Make a move Yuy, and I'll blow your Zero crazed head off." The husky voice was completely unfamiliar to Heero, as was the hand holding the gun to his head. He seethed inwardly at being caught unawares like this, but he kept silent. "You shouldn't have interfered. Noin and Merquise are gonna die whether at Jace's hands or somebody else's. No doubt. You should have just left well enough alone. The girl wasn't worth your life."
"Now there's where you're wrong." Heero said with steel lining his voice. "She's worth my life, your life, and the life of everyone on Earth ten times over."
"Isn't that precious?" The gunman chuckled. "Wittle Heewo's got a girlfriend. It's too bad you won't live to proclaim your love." Heero heard the click of the gun's hammer and he steeled himself for the blow.
BANG!
It took Heero a second to realize that, yes, a gun did go off but no, he wasn't dead. The gunman, however, was.
"Well, there we go." A cheerful voice came from the shadows and Heero froze. "We're one for one."
"Noin?"
"In the flesh." She blew gun-smoke from the barrel of her sidearm with a smile.
"I'm glad to see you Lucrezia." Heero's lips quirked up in a brief return grin. "And I owe you my life."
"Naw, we're even remember?" She stepped over the body of the would-be assassin. Heero noted with faint amusement that she didn't step OVER the body as much as she stepped ON the body, showing her utter contempt for the dead man. "And I am hereby serving you notice that you will be staying where I can keep an eye on you. I.e. the guest room of my house."
Heero paused at that. "Won't Zechs mind?"
"Oh don't you worry about him," Noin winked at Heero. "He'll go along with whatever I say."
"But I don't think."
"Heero Yuy." Noin's voice was faintly admonishing. "I didn't ask what you thought. Now get your stuff together. We're leaving."
Any other woman and Heero would have refused. But Noin? He started upstairs.
Ah, the things we do for love!