MOUNTEBANK Ch. 3

"Reports suggest Preventer has arrested a person of interest in the disappearance of Foreign Minister, and former Queen of the World, Miss Relena Darlian."

I heard a click as Noin switched radio stations on the dash.

"Investigators have arrested the former lover of Queen Peacecraf-"

Another click.

"Sources say he is involved with the ESUN government on some level-"

"Turn that shit off Noin." Zechs growled from the driver's seat of a Preventer security SUV.

I shifted in my cuffs, trying to make room for my wrists to breathe. Sunlight was penetrating through the heavy window tint, and I could feel the sweat prickling behind my ears. After three weeks of confined space travel back to Earth, I wanted to scream in the back seat.

Noin turned the radio off for good.

"They don't seem to know who you are yet, Heero. We have that for now."

I ignored Noin and instead chose to stew in my anger.

I hadn't said a word since they read me my rights onboard my previous ship. I was not about to implicate myself. Three weeks of silence made no difference to me. I had spent years in it.

"We should have timed this better. Its broad daylight. As soon as they catch wind they are going to be all over us." Zechs said through gritted teeth.

He was right. If anyone caught on to who they were, and who they had in the back seat, we'd have cameras on us in seconds.

The entire world would see my face. The entire solar system would. They'd know me as the man who knows something about their queen's disappearance. They'd make their own assumptions as to who I was. They would spread their rumors. They would talk.

They would talk.

But would they see me? Would she see me? Were they letting her watch as someone else took responsibility for their crime? Would that help her at all? Would they kill her then, knowing that I would pay for it?

No, they wouldn't. If she was found after being killed, the autopsy would prove I was in custody already. If she was alive still, they'd keep her that way. They were smart enough to put an impostor in her place, they were smart enough to keep her alive. They needed her.

Everyone needed her.

Zechs slowed to a stop at a gridlocked traffic light. I could see the government capitol building in the distance. Security had cordoned off the street ahead, and were directing traffic to the left at an upcoming intersection. I knew already that we would be turning right, to loop around the massive building and enter through the private underground tunnel.

There was a mass of people gathered near the blockade. So many suits you couldn't see the concrete beneath them. The media, no doubt. The media and their speculations.

I leaned my head against the black pane of glass, hoping to cool my forehead. My mind was swimming in a sea of electric rolling thoughts. I probably needed to sleep, but I knew that I would not have this much peace once I was escorted inside. If these fools truly believed I was the one responsible, I'd be subject to hours of interrogation. As they should...I would do the same. I have done the same when I was at Preventer.

But again, I was not supposed to be here. I did not do this to her. Someone else did...was still doing it. Holding her captive. Hurting her.

As much as the thought terrified me, I needed these thoughts to snowball, I needed somewhere to start.

I pressed against the glass. In my teens, I would not have thought twice about breaking this window with my forehead. But there was something about this window, or I was too exhausted. But there was something about it, something that told me I would knock myself out if I tried.

I let my breath fog the window. I inhaled deeply and let out another exhale, feeling the tightening that had taken hold of my chest start to lessen, like working leather.

Zechs slowed again, and flashed his badge at the armed officer waiting at the blockade. We slowly began to make our right turn. Most likely the only vehicle to do so all day.

As soon as they saw it happen, they pounced.

"Here we go." Noin muttered.

Here they came with their microphones and cameras. Their cell phones and notepads. It seemed as if the entire Earth's Sphere's media had sent someone, anyone, to cover my arrest.

I had to do something. I needed to think she could see me, wherever she was.

I leaned against the glass again. Tempered and bulletproof, of course. The glass was thicker than normal Preventer security vehicles. There was something about this window, something familiar.

And then I realized, this was her vehicle. I had at one point driven this SUV every day. No other car had this glass. Glass as black as pitch, so that no one could see her resting indecently in the back seat after we stole a few moments together in the parking garage. So that no one could shoot her while we enjoyed those stolen moments together.

I hadn't installed that glass just for when we had sex in the car...sure it served a much more practical purpose. But really, that was when my guard was really down. When she pulled that vulnerability out of me with her assertive touch.

I should have known they'd throw me in here. They were trying to tell me something.

I couldn't break this glass with my own forehead.

I couldn't escape.

I couldn't do this alone.

I slipped my cuffed hands onto the arm rest, miraculously not eliciting any noise from the metallic cuffs.

I pressed down on the window control with my fingers, gasping when I felt that they weren't locked.

"What are you- Heero!" Noin growled from the front.

I let the window roll, and felt the blinding heat of what seemed like a thousand flash bulbs. I heard their questions muddle into a joint chant of "EVIL" and "WHERE IS SHE".

I glared at the mass of people, feet away from my face, so close and yet far enough that they couldn't grab me. One of them could have shot me if they wanted to. But they wanted me alive. They wanted answers. They wanted me to suffer.

I let them all get a good look.

Zechs punched the gas, and was treated to an empty roadway to the Preventer's tunnel. As soon as he was in, the light faded, and I let my shoulder and the side of head rest against the open window frame of the vehicle. The smell of runaway exhaust filled the air trapped within the tunnel, and I let my senses settle into a brief moment of wartime nostalgia.

"Yuy you fucking idiot." I heard coming from Zechs.

I was a fucking idiot, I know. But maybe, Relena knew it too now. Maybe they let her watch.

I let the thought comfort me, and felt my body fighting sleep. The halogen lights of Preventer's underground receiving area were yards away.

For these last moments of peace, I let myself drift.

a/n: I've been a bit awol! I'm sorry :3 Life got busier than usual for a moment! Thank you so much for your continued support, I hope you guys like building tension as much as I do! Thanks for reading!

~murshmallow