Operation: Relena

0700 21 February 1969

Washington Senior High School

Washington D.C.

The world was fucked up.

Relena Dorlin convinced herself that she had always been aware of this. After all, for years, her father had been taken away from her, and for years she and her mother had been forced to move. Now that the government had begun this ridiculous attack in a country-of which they had no business poking their nose in anyway-Relena figured that things could not get any worse.

She ought to have known better.

Of course things could be worse. Her brother had immediately joined up and proudly went overseas. The Navy now wanted her father to go to Russia and complete some work. To make matters worse, something 'bad' was happening, thus resulting in the two new baby sitters she was assigned.

Relena was still giving her father the silent treatment when Leif picked her up the next morning. His 1967 Chrysler Imperial was the prettiest thing Relena had ever seen, and Leif Johnston was the cutest guy at school. She smoothed down her long brown hair and fixed her white button down shirt. She was going to be calm about this-she would not let the military screw everything in her life up. Leif leaned over the seat and kissed her cheek.

"Morning, babe." He said with a smile. Relena grinned and fastened her seat belt.

"Good morning, yourself. C'mon…let's just get out of here." Leif stared at her questionably for a moment, but then turned the key in the ignition and away they went.

************

"You going to tell me what's been bothering you, Lena?" Leif glanced over at his girlfriend as she unburied her face from her Physics book. She sighed and tucked a long strand of brown hair behind her pierced ear.

"Just the whole mess with my father."

Leif nodded understandingly. "This war is a big enough joke on all of us. It has got to be especially hard on someone who has to watch their parents go through it."

Relena nodded and dropped her head into her hands. Who knew when those body guards would show up? She had been on guard all day, looking around for anyone suspecting. No one so far looked like a soldier. In fact, most people were familiar to Relena. The school was big, but she had careful eyes. She figured whoever her father hired to watch her would be relatively young, so not to look too suspecting. Dorothy Catalonia, Relena's well endowed blonde friend patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"We are smart. We can ditch those bimbos. What are a couple US soldiers compared to a teenage girl? We definitely beat them in the sneaky department."

Relena grinned. If only that were true. If she knew her father-which she did-then these men he had hired would not be so easy to fool. It would take a lot more than just the clever mind of a teenage girl to pull something over on them.

"Ew. So, are these guys gonna like…follow you around all the time? I mean, even when you're on dates? I couldn't imagine some weird freakazoid following me around town dressed in army fatigues."

"I hope not." Relena said, realizing this for the first time. Would they follow her around all the time? Even if she was out with Leif? She groaned and dropped her head in her hands.

The bell sounded signaling the end of their Physics class. Relena moved to her feet slowly not wanting to face the world. Leif walked her to Gym and kissed her softly. He placed his hand on her cheek. Relena had to smile. Leif was too cute. He had shaggy blonde hair and startling green eyes. He was lean and opinionated, but beautifully so. She gripped his hand.

"It's alright, babe. I'll be right here after class."

Relena bit her lip and looked over her shoulder at the gym. This was not her favorite class. She looked back at Leif who was still smiling supportively.

"See you later." She mumbled.

Squeezing her hand he turned and headed down the walk toward his shop class. Groaning dramatically, Relena turned on one heel and trumped into the gymnasium.

That was where she saw them. Two lean teenage boys stood awkwardly in front of Coach Morrison, the bulky wrestling coach that taught Relena's period. They were definitely new boys, and Relena recognized them immediately. Their hair was short. Their bodies were fit. They were tan. They stood slightly ridged in front of the coach.

They had their backs to her. Biting her lip Relena moved to the locker room to change her clothes. Why would the body guards be at the school? Was this her father's plan: to enlist two young sailors to pose as students to watch over her?

Great.

Relena trudged back into the gym pulling at her gym shorts which-with two American sailors Lord knew how old standing before her-seemed suddenly too short. She pulled her long golden hair into a messy bun and searched the gym for the two soldiers.

"Hey, 'Lena." Amanda Shriver said, sliding next to her.

"Hey." Relena muttered back, distracted by the shapely backs of the two newcomers. Amanda's eyes followed hers and Relena heard her gasp slightly.

"Cute new boys?" She asked rhetorically.

"Maybe." Relena muttered.

****

"Here are the forms. Just have your parent or guardian fill these out. They're safety regulations…just in case. We don't wanna get sued, ya know?"

Heero shoved his hand in his pocket, fighting the urge to punch the brawny coach in the face. He didn't like being spoken to like he was dumb.

"We sure do, Coach." Duo answered happily. He was grinning. Heero wanted to roll his eyes. Duo had been excited about this since the beginning. It was just his cup of tea. Duo missed the days when he was a carefree teenager. Heero had to remind him that they weren't carefree. This was an operation, and there was still a war going on.

"Okay, well, just go head back to the boys' locker toom. Mr. DinEllo will get you some gear. We're playing football today."