Chapter Two

"Heero Yuy to see Leonard Matthews."

The blonde receptionist gave him a quick once over, "Certainly Mr. Yuy."

He stood by the receptionist desk as she called to announce his arrival, made no sense for him to sit, he was never kept waiting long.

"Go right in Mr. Yuy." The young woman announced after her call ended.

Heero did as he was instructed, walking through two large mahogany double doors. Leonard Matthews was the CFO of Baden Inc. On the outside it was operated as a hedge fund making large profits for its wealthy investors. In reality the large profits they made came from the sale of weapons on the black market to small and medium sized insurgent groups.

Matthews met him as he entered, taking his hand in a strong shake, "Heero,"

"Mr. Matthews."

Leonard poured himself a cup of coffee, "I don't remember us scheduling a meeting today this is quite unexpected."

"I'm ending our relationship."

Matthews' eyes went wide, "I'm sorry, you're what?"

"Senator McCrory, your biggest rival for control of the L3 arms market, has offered to pay me double what you're currently paying me to ensure you lose your next shipment."

Matthews couldn't help but stare at the young man in front of him. His reputation for being a no nonsense customer seemed to be understated. He spoke with no reservations or fear, he always maintained a deadly calm about him. It was slightly unnerving.

"Is that supposed to scare me or persuade me?" Matthews countered.

"I'm always open to negotiations Mr. Matthews. I don't care about your little war or who wins."

Matthews smiled, "A man after my own heart, Senator McCrory has become a thorn I can no longer ignore I want him plucked, I'll match what he's paying you plus a bonus for having him removed permanently."

Heero stood, his goal accomplished. "Yes Sir."

Several times during the day Relena had caught herself playing with the key. It was becoming quite the distraction. As her day in the office was coming to an end she began to wonder if she should use her new power. When he left the key he had instructed her to lock the door, that didn't mean he wanted her to unlock it when he wasn't there or was that implied? She had no experience with this, and she had no one to ask.

She left her last meeting at five pm, a more than respectable hour in this job. One perk of working on the colonies is that she always seemed to have more free time than on earth. Maybe it was cultural, whatever the reason she enjoyed it. She started out for her usual after work walk, by now the route was lodged into her subconscious she didn't even have to think about it. Before she knew it she was in front of the bakery but Heero was nowhere in sight. She turned the key over in her hand, walked back up the street and flagged a cab. Destination, Heero's apartment.

She paused outside the door, key in hand. All of a sudden this didn't seem like a good idea. She turned her back to the door, then whirled back to face it. She pushed the key into the lock and turned before she could talk herself out of it again. She took a deep breath and walked inside. No sooner as she had, she froze. Heero was sitting on the sofa, he was home. She swallowed hard, expecting him to be upset. She walked toward him, his eyes glued on her as she walked. How far was the door from the living room? She had to have been walking for atleast ten minutes or so it felt under his unwavering stare. She braced her hands on her hips, striking her most defiant pose. "You're home."

The corner of his mouth tipped upward, "I live here."

"You didn't come to meet me."

His smirk stayed firmly in place, his eyes ever intense, "You have a key."

That small phrase was all it took to put her at ease. She kicked off her shoes and squeezed into the chair beside him, ignoring the vast amount of space on the other side. "Noin and Zechs are getting married, did you know that?"

He gave her a sideways glance that spoke volumes. She tried her best to ignore the implications of it but she couldn't help but grin. "I need to buy them a gift, care to join me?"

"Why would I want to do that?"

She batted her eyelashes at him "Because I love you and want to have your babies."

He was unmoved, he adjusted his position so they were semi facing each other. She looked away, pulling a piece of thread in her skirt unable to hide her nerves. "You're Heero Yuy, ex gundam pilot, skilled soldier and all that, if I was to mention to Une you were coming with me, maybe I could avoid an armada of preventer agents."

Who knew Relena Darlian could be so nervous, and who knew she could be so cute when she was. He had to put distance between them, he pushed off the sofa "When do you want to go."

"Whenever is good for you, but preferably today." She squeezed her eyes tightly, opening one slightly as the last word came out.

"Fine let's go."

She jumped to her feet and threw her hands around his neck, "Thank You."

He stiffened, her action catching him off guard. He used the pretense of reciprocation to softly peel her off him, "How could I refuse after an admission like that."

Her cheeks came to life, like sakuras in full bloom. "I was joking."

"Don't worry your secret is safe with me."

They walked around the mall, nothing in particular catching her interest. "What on earth do you get newlyweds?" she asked in frustration

"Privacy."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "That's not funny."

He continued to goad her, "A sound proof room might go a long way too."

"I didn't need that mental image Heero."

"Neither did I consider it my punishment."

She laughed out-loud at that, what on earth had gotten into him. "When did you become social?" She looped her hand around his.

"I've always been social."

She shook her head, "No you were ornery, abrasive, violent and suicidal but never social."

That won her what had to be the patented Yuy glare, it only made her laugh harder.

They were down to the last two stores, something had to be here.

She talked out loud to him as they perused the aisle, "I can't get them china or crystal, that's the first thing people buy. I don't want to give them the same gift as everyone else." She looked back at Heero and swore she saw his eyes glaze over. She had to cover her mouth to hide her giggle at his expense, he was doing her a favor after all. She found a sales girl and decided to ask for help.

"Excuse me, where would I find the best gift for newlyweds?"

The young woman looked up with stars in her eyes, "Are you two getting married, here I'll show you the stuff we have in our registry, follow me."

Before Relena could correct her, the girl had whizzed by them like a squirrel on caffeine.

The sales girl continued her ramble, "I just love weddings, the culmination of a beautiful love story between two people." She was actually staring up in the sky, somewhere in the other woman's head Relena was sure she was hearing violins. "How did you two meet?"

"One the beach," Relena answered honestly.

The girl squealed, "How romantic."

"Not really, he was passed out, probably drunk off his…rare." She wasn't against using certain words but she had an image to maintain. Beside her she could feel Heero's glare without even looking.

"So when's the big day," The sales girl attempted further conversation as she ticked items off a list in her hand.

"We're not getting married." Relena finally got out.

"Oh no? I could have sworn…"

Heero joined the conversation then, "Her brother is a psychopath who tried to blow up the world and kill her in the process, I can't imagine marrying into a family like that."

Relena giggled nervously as she seriously considered what she would have to do to hurt him, "No the real reason we can't get married is because I wouldn't be able to take your name, seeing as how you technically don't exist….. anywhere." She shot him her best heero glare.

"Oooook that's quite a family tree you guys have there, I'll be right back." The poor woman was desperate to make her escape.

She turned to glare at Heero some more whose response was simply to glare back.

They went into the final store, she walked toward the dishware section, when all else failed buy a blender. She left Heero in front of the TVs, go figure underneath it all he was a guy at heart. After fifteen minutes of looking at the same items over and over she finally gave up and went to find Heero. As she approached she could see him talking to the guy standing next to him. 'When did he become social?' she thought again.

"So what did she say to rope you into coming here?" She heard the guy ask.

Heero looked over at the man, "She wants to marry me and have my babies."

Relena's mouth hit the floor. She grabbed Heero by the arm and pulled him to the exit, "You don't say those things to people." She hissed.

He didn't try to hide his amusement, "You said it to me."

"On a scale of one to ten do you know how much I hate you right now?"

"Is that any way to talk to the future father of your children?"

She squinted at him so hard her eyes were all but closed, "Off the charts!"

"Hn"

She took in a deep breath as they walked out of the mall empty handed, "I still can't believe how social you are now, what changed?"

"I've always been social Relena, understanding social etiquette in any situation is key in blending into any environment, whether it be a boarding school or a military academy."

She could tell that he was serious, she could hear it in his voice as he spoke. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain though, if he wasn't anti-social normally then it must've been just her.

She voiced her concern, "Why were you never social with me?"

He looked at her, he wanted to give her an answer except he didn't have one.

They walked in silence both engulfed in their own thoughts. They took their usual route back to his apartment. Heero ever on guard, constantly scanned their surroundings for possible threats. It was that keen awareness that brought his attention to a man sitting on a bench on the side walk. The guy's face looked familiar, but he just couldn't place it. He stared at the man, willing the memory to surface and eventually it did. This was the guy from the photo Trowa gave him. He stopped midstride, Relena thankfully was walking a few steps behind as usual. He pulled off his coat and turned to face her, making sure he was blocked the man's line of sight as he did. He put the coat over her shoulders and turned the collar up. He spun her to the right, there was nothing particularly interesting on that side and she was about to protest but he cut her off. "Stay here," He spoke in a tone which he hoped telegraphed how serious his instructions were. "Don't turn around until I come back." Her eyes pleaded with him to explain but he didn't have time. "Tell me you understand."

She nodded. Only then did he move away. It was just a good thing his associates didn't want to be identified, he didn't know what he would have done if the man had approached them.

She didn't know what was going on but she gave him her word and she wasn't going to break it. She stayed in the position he left her in, and while she was tempted to see who he was talking to, she knew him well enough to know that doing what he said was probably in her best interest.

The meeting though didn't take long, from the corner of her eye it didn't look more than a quick handshake before Heero was at her side again. He walked back to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She could tell something was different about him she just didn't know what. They walked the rest of the way with his arms around her.

He had known this thing between them needed to stop, he knew it days ago, but he was enjoying her company, he was enjoying life. He had dared to tempt fate, but last night fate had won. Though nothing came of the situation, it was too close for comfort, for both of them. This time he was going to do what he knew he had to.

Relena jumped out of bed with a strong sense of déjà vu. This time she was prepared. She gathered her things and walked to the door. On her way out she noticed another note, it couldn't possibly be a key, she already had that. She picked up the piece of paper. This time it was an apology.

"I'm sorry this is the way it has to be. Good bye Relena."