The Broken Road

Chapter 1: The After-life

Heero sat in his room, typing at that insanely rapid pace of his, a smirk on his face.

"Watcha doin', hot stuff?" came a feminine voice from the couch. She'd been absorbed in his tv for at least an hour by now. He'd tuned out the noise of whatever trashy reality show she was watching- Survivor: Pluto, or something- and his full attention was on his computer.

"Hn."

"Baby, come watch tv with me," she instructed, turning to glance at the back of his head. "You're all work and no play."

He ignored her for the time being. She would get over it as soon as the commercial break ended. Then she wouldn't harass him again until the next commercial break. It wasn't that he was a cold person, not at all, his focus simply rested somewhere else for the time being, and Heero hated distractions. Besides, this wasn'twork. He wasn't sure if it classified as play, but he definitely wouldn't file it under "Mission" in his brain.

"Honey, you never pay attention to me anymore. You're so busy with all this work, trying to graduate in record time, and you're neglecting me," she harped, muting the tv- as if it distracted him from listening to her. The nerve.

"I'm not doing school work," he muttered in his deep, matter-of-fact voice. She huffed angrily and came around the couch to look over his shoulder.

"What the hell is this?" she fumed.

"Gloria-" Heero began, but his hypersensitive girlfriend wanted none of it.

"I support you every dayin your efforts to become a neuro-surgeon! I've respected your need to study, your need for solitude, and your need be an ass. After all we've been through! After all I've put up with, you're cheating on me?" she screeched. His cell phone vibrated and he answered it.

"Heya, buddy!"

"Duo, now is not the-"

"Is that her?!" Gloria wrenched the phone from Heero's hand.

"Who do you think you are, you skank?! Really! NOBODY knows Heero better than me. You think you can replace me with your loose lifestyle and just crawl into bed with my Heero?! When he won't even let me in bed with him, yet? How DARE you?! I swear you better flee far away because if I EVER catch your skanky-hoe ass anywhere near here I'll- I'll- I'll turn you into a man!" She finished, face red, chest heaving.

"Um. Maybe I should call back later..." Duo responded hesitantly. "Yeah... Tell Heero I called to wish him luck on his exam. Bye!"

Gloria dropped the phone on the floor in shock.

"You over-reacted," Heero pointed out. "It's just an email to a friend I've known for a long time."

"Oh," she murmured, too surprised to argue. "Who...?"

"That was Duo. He's an old friend of mine, too. I've told you about him, remember?" She nodded, dumbly. "Let's watch tv," Heero offered, bravely. He led her to the couch and sat next to her, letting her snuggle up against him for comfort.

Dear Relena. Relena. Dear. Dear. Dear.Gloria's mind was in overdrive, imagining this intruder into her perfect life with her perfect boyfriend. She watched quietly as Heero deftly returned to his favorite channel and the only reason he owned a tv- ESUN-LIVE. Who could this woman be? Gloria asked herself. She thought back to the few lines she'd read before she exploded:

Dear Relena,
It's been a while, hasn't it? Funny how much there is to say to you- funny because we both know I'm a man of few words. I supposed we've both changed drastically over the years, though. Our emails prove it- the growth of our relationship proves it.

That was the line that had her fuming. Their "relationship"? Whoever this Relena person was, she was going to feel Gloria's wrath.

Heero contentedly rubbed Gloria's shoulder as he took in the news. Some senator was talking about changes. After his interview, the senate came back on screen. The Vice Foreign Minister was at the podium, lecturing away about peaceful solutions to the latest minor dispute. Things had been fairly quiet since the last war. Very few people wanted another war- those that did were quickly brought down by the Preventers. Gloria couldn't figure out why Heero was so interested in politics when nothing ever happened.

"Baby," she whined, getting a sliver of his attention, "Can we watch something else?"

"After this," he stated, his eyes glued to the screen.

"After what?! What is it that you find so interesting about this channel? Nothing happens. Nobody does anything!"

Heero just grunted. His girlfriend was terribly wrong. He hadn't needed to kill anybody since he'd vowed not to. That meant a LOT was going on. People were doing things. People were working to maintain peace, and while it seemed simple when observed from the couch, Heero knew otherwise. Gloria was naive. She didn't understand the work that both ESUN and the Preventers put into keeping people like him out of battles. The peace they had obtained was still an infant, and couldn't be expected to stand on its own yet. It need guidance- the world needed guidance. That was why Heero watched the senate's discussions. That was why he watched Relena. It reassured him that peace would remain.

As Relena stepped off the podium and applause overtook the gathering, Heero allowed himself to change the channel, with only a small smirk. Gloria- still on edge- caught the smirk and immediately challenged it.

"What's so funny?" she shot at him.

"Nothing. She'll never change."

"WHO?" Gloria demanded. Heero handed her the remote and reached up to rub his temple. It amazed him, the affect that one person could have on his physical well-being. Hadn't he fought countless loosing battles? Hadn't he fallen off a cliff? Self-destructed? Then how was it that Gloria could be such a PAIN? "WHO?" she repeated, louder, if possible.

"The VFM."

"Oh. She's just a politician. Don't talk like you know her. It bothers me," Gloria insisted.

Frustrated, Heero rose from the couch and retrieved his cell from the floor. With deliberate steps he crossed to the door and yanked the keys to the apartment from their peg on the wall.

"Where are you going?" Gloria gasped in offense.

"To call back Duo. Someplace quiet." He slammed the door shut behind him.

"Wow, you sure picked a winner," Duo jabbed, laughing.

"Shut up, Duo. She's not normally this bad," Heero retorted. He sat on a bench in the park. The normalcy of the place always comforted him. No, Gloria wasn't normally a monster-girlfriend, but their relationship had been getting steadily more tense since he'd entered med school.

"How long have you been together?"

"Almost a year. I don't know what's gotten into her. I know I've been busier, but when have I ever been disloyal?" Heero grumbled.

"Why don't you point that out? I can think of millions of examples of your loyalty to a cause- like the time you deactivated all those missiles when I thought you were running away!" Duo exclaimed unhelpfully.

"Duo, she doesn't know about that," Heero stated coolly.

"That's why it's a good example!"

"She doesn't know I was a Gundam pilot," Heero corrected. "She doesn't even know I fought in the war." A hush settled into their conversation. For Duo, it was easier. He had continued his junk-yard business with Hilde after the war. He never had to tell her about his past- she'd been part of it.

"Maybe all those secrets are what cause the lack of trust in your relationship," Duo suggested.

"Not knowing about my past shouldn't cause her to think I'm cheating," Heero countered.

"Where did she come up with the idea, then?"

"She saw me writing an email. She assumed it was romantic."

"What female do you write to?" Duo asked, curious.

"Relena. We've been in touch since the coup d'etat. You know that."

"Oooohhh Yeaaaah!" Duo said. Heero could envision the ex-pilot smacking himself in the head with realization. "Well, are you?"

"Am I what?" Heero asked.

"Cheating on her with Relena, duh!" Duo was taken aback by the booming laugh that erupted from Heero on the other end of the line. Heero's laugh had always shocked Duo, simply because it was so unrestrained. Like Trowa's laugh. When either of them found something worthlaughing about, they certainly didn't hold back. Once Heero was done laughing, he returned to the conversation.

"Relena and I are just friends. Very good friends. I could never be involved with her. Besides, she's seeing someone right now, too."

"Alright, alright! Then I don't know what to tell you about Glori-undies-in-a-bundle...-a," Duo faltered.

"She'll get over it," Heero assured him with cool indifference.

"Yeah, well, anyhow, I wanted to invite you on a group camping trip. That's the real reason I called earlier," Duo said, suddenly remembering his objective. "Now that I think of it, ask Relena to come, too. It'll be the best Gundam reunion yet!"

"Sure. When?"

"We'll have to figure that out. I guess whenever the circus returns to Earth," Duo mused. "Though, really, since he owns the circus now, he should be able to come whenever he wants."

A tall brunette appeared further along the park path and Heero nearly groaned. Instead he ran a hand through his messy hair and stood up.

"Gloria found me. I'll contact you later." Heero hung up without waiting for a response. As his moody love came stomping towards him he sighed inwardly. Seriously, Zechs was easier to get along with that she is sometimes, Heero mused. Then like the man he was, he faced her head on.

That's all for now. I'm embarking on my first multi-chapter fic. We'll see how it goes. Let me know what you think so far.
Izzy