A/N: Hi everyone, here is a short update to kick off the week! Thanks for supporting this crazy little story... it's awesome to hear from so many Trowa fans! Hope you enjoy this next installment.

Happy Monday!

- RGS


The tension that had erupted between Trowa and Relena earlier quelled long enough for the two of them to take off in her car and head to the Abbott facility. She had insisted on driving, since she knew more than one shortcut, and Trowa hadn't argued. He was silent throughout the entire drive, this time not making any quips about her haphazard driving.

Relena's mind was drilling into focus. She had trained for this type of scenario, although there was so much she still didn't know about Heero and his condition, and what they could expect to encounter. All she knew what that she had to be prepared, and to aim to kill, if necessary. She knew she didn't have it in her, not one bit.

She didn't, but Faye did.

Relena had had mere moments to transform into Faye Oaks, throwing on her black clothing in the dark of her room, adding the wig once she and Trowa were in the car. There had been no time to alter her appearance further with makeup and, as it were, Relena didn't feel "fully" Faye. Not yet. Perhaps it was partially due to the emotional turmoil she found herself in with Trowa; perhaps her own inadequacies were to blame. Her head throbbed as voices rose and fell in her mind, warring with one another.

Stop him... save him.

Come back to me, Heero.

She fought to keep her eyes from misting as she guided her car to the outer gates of the facility, where she entered her first in a series of codes to gain access onto the premises. Trowa frowned at her from the passenger seat.

"Relena," he said quietly. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

She opened her mouth to answer him but her voice caught. It irritated her, how well Trowa seemed to think he knew her.

"I'm fine," she lied.

"I don't think so," he continued as Relena guided the car further into the property. "But you don't have to do this. Go inside and find a safe place to hide. The rest of us will handle this."

"No," Relena whispered harshly, swinging her eyes over to him. "I can't hide at a time like this. This is what I've trained for." She parked the car and unfastened her seatbelt, avoiding his eyes.

"You're not ready," he said simply. Relena's eyes hardened.

"You're not qualified to say that. Une assigned me for a reason." She lowered her eyes to her hands, laughing darkly. "You don't even know what I'm capable of."

Trowa grasped her arm. "Relena…"

A shock of pain struck her head, like a lightning bolt. Relena gasped, but she instantly felt better, adrenaline surging through her. She raised her head and grinned at Trowa.

"What's the matter, handsome? You're not afraid, are you?"

Trowa's brows arched as she jerked her arm away from his hold. "Relena?"

"Let's go." She opened the door and exited her car and circled around to the back of the car, where she'd stowed a large black duffel bag. She hefted the bag from the trunk and slung the strap over her shoulder.

Relena brushed past Trowa toward the facility, which was already in chaos. Emergency lights flashed around the exterior of the building, and search lights spread out along the ground in all directions from the lights mounted on the roof. A siren screamed through the night air.

When Relena threw open the door to the facility, she was met by Wufei, who looked rather haggard. His white coat was a rumpled mess and his hair was falling out of his usually neat ponytail.

"About time you got here," he muttered, turning to lead her down the hall. "And of course, you brought Barton."

"Just tell me what happened," Relena snapped. She could feel Faye clawing at the edges of her psyche, desperate to take over.

"We've been keeping him sedated during the night, to avoid this kind of situation," Wufei explained, halting at a set of double doors. He swiped his badge access card and entered in a passcode on the numerical pad. The doors swung open. "I'm still not sure what, exactly, happened, but last night, it seems he was not given enough of the sedative. He woke up not too long ago, and with his full strength, was able to subdue the guards and leave the facility."

Relena processed this information, already skeptical as Wufei led them to another door, which he kicked open with one foot. It swung in. The lights were still on in the room, and Relena could clearly see the blood spattered on the walls and floor. Two bodies lay face-down, their blood pooling around their heads. The acrid smell of gunpowder assaulted her nostrils.

"He killed them?" Trowa asked from the back.

"He's likely to kill anyone who gets in his way," Wufei replied. He shooed them from the room and continued down the hallway. "I have one more thing to show you, then you need to get your asses out there to find him."

A small security control room was located within the laboratory wing. A white-faced guard pointed to a screen mounted on the wall and tapped a key on his keyboard. In color, a scene unfolded. Relena's stomach clenched when she saw Heero, lying on a slab in the middle of the stark-white room. His eyes opened, but they were not his eyes. Faster than she could comprehend, Heero leapt from the slab and grabbed the first guard. With one hand, Heero threw him to the ground. The guard's head hit the ground with such force that blood sprayed in all directions, coating the floor and nearby walls. The second guard ran in, firing a pistol at Heero, but missing every shot. Heero ripped the gun from the guard, twisting his hand all the way around. Relena was thankful that she couldn't hear the sound of the guard's scream. With another push, Heero threw the guard to the ground, where his head met the same fate as his partner. Heero tucked the gun into the waistband of his pants and barged from the room.

The following clips merely showed him leaving the facility and escaping by climbing the fence, in spite of the barbed wire wrapped around the top. And then he was gone, lost in the darkness of the trees.

Relena's emotions ran the gamut as she watched the security footage. Her old self wanted to try and save him, to bring him back to where he belonged. Her other self wanted to defeat him. Her desires were divided further apart than a canyon.

But Faye had to be in charge on this one. Relena slipped away, to allow Faye to make her appearance.


Trowa trotted after Relena as she strode toward the front of the facility. She still carried the large duffle bag on her back, which he suspected contained weapons of some kind. In the lobby area, she dropped the bag to the ground and pulled back the zipper. Sure enough, two pistols nestled in shoulder holsters were exposed. Relena picked these up and strapped them on, so the grips stuck out from her between her arm and breast. She drew out a knife next, hidden inside a sheath, but Trowa could imagine how wicked the blade must look, based on the curve and design of the sheath. She strapped this to her thigh.

"There's probably something in here you can use," she said, her voice flat. Trowa glanced at the bag, and back up at Relena. It dawned on him that he wasn't speaking to Relena, but to Faye Oaks, her other persona. The one Une had warned him about. He shifted on his feet, nervousness bubbling up inside.

"He's going to be too strong for you," Trowa said, not yet giving up on stopping her from going on this deadly mission.

Eyes that did not belong to Relena rolled, and she said, "I can handle it. You just worry about yourself."

She ignored his worried expression and turned away toward the door. "If you see Wufei or Une, tell them I already left."

And she was gone.


- RGS