Trowa made his way down the hall of the ALPHA Corps Suites building toward the room of his partner. He had a bag full of burgers and fries and two sugary, caffeine-laced sodas ready for consumption. She told him to come over so she could explain about her relation to Treize and why his existence had been kept a secret. He also hoped that doing so would provide a distraction to help pass the time while she waited on the extraction force to deploy and recover Thiana. Tomorrow was a long way off when a friend's life hung in the balance.
He shifted his weight to help adjust how the drinks were resting in his arms. The cold from the sodas didn't bother him, but he preferred not to spill or crush them if he could; Styrofoam cups crushed so easily when you're a trained soldier. As he neared the door, he expected she'd be waiting for him. What he didn't expect, however, was for the sound of beautiful piano music to be coming from her apartment.
It was a strange tune: unfamiliar, yet more beautiful than anything he had ever heard. It was a sad song, filled with mourning and feelings of loss. It made him ponder his own feelings as the melody continued. It could have been a recording, but he somehow doubted it. It sounded live lacking the usual airy quality that came with recordings.
Deciding to deliver the food, he knocked and, as he suspected, the music halted mid-note. It was all of a few seconds before the locks were undone and the door opened. She smiled at him and he felt himself warm. She stepped aside and he walked in, making his way to the island in the kitchen where he set the food and drinks.
"That was a beautiful song. Mozart or Chopin?" he asked as he opened his straw wrapper and tossed it in the waste bin. She shook her head and he swore she blushed.
"No, I…" She paused and then motioned to the corner where a small piano sat out of sight and seemingly out of mind. "I was testing the keys."
"I didn't know you played." She nodded. He also never noticed the piano. Had it always been there?
"I took classes at Julliard in New York. I was supposed to tour with the orchestra after I graduated…" She paused and he saw her brow wrinkle slightly as if pained by something. "Anyway, this is the first time I've played in a very long time." He wasn't going to press the issue. If she wanted him to know, she would tell him.
"You are very good. What made you stop?" and there it was: the one thing he wasn't going to do and he did it. He gave her an apologetic look but she waved it off.
"Something happened." It was something that had hurt her, or perhaps scared her. Part of him wanted to know what it was, but he dared not ask. "I left Julliard before I graduated and joined up with ALPHA soon after." She took out the burgers from the bag, handed him one and proceeded to open and eat her on. "Kit-Kat wasn't happy. She wanted me to wait, but she told me when I turned eighteen I could join if I wished."
She had run away from her schooling to join a millitant group? Knowing what he knew now of her past, it didn't seem all that far-fetched, but something nagged him. If she was eighteen when she joined up, and she was a recruit when she trained with him than that meant…
"You're only eighteen." He tried to keep his tone calm and neutral but it came out surprised. She stared at him for a moment, eyes wide as she realized her slip-up before letting out a gentle laugh. He had been under the impression based on the information in her file that she was at least twenty-one. Not that her age made any difference, but he now realized he was four years older than she. It explained a lot more about a few things.
"Well, I guess you now know my final secret." Not entirely. She hadn't told him what happened. He could tell she felt a little foolish.
"Does Lady Une know?" She shrugged and took a generous drink of her soda.
"If she does or doesn't, it hardly matters. She isn't my boss." He nodded in agreement and handed her one of the large French fries. After a few moment of eating in comfortable silence, he finally returned to the reason for his visit.
"So, you've known Treize Khushrenada was alive this whole time?" She looked up at him with a mouthful of cheeseburger and nodded. She walked to the couch and sat down. He followed, sitting close enough to her that their legs touched as she began to tell him the whole story of Thia, or Kit-Kat as she called her, saving Treize just before the suit blew up and of the coma, amnesia and recovery time.
"Treize was like a father to both Kit-Kat and me. The only father I ever knew, really. It felt only right to keep his secret." He nodded as he took in all the information.
"So, you're really eighteen, you play the piano, and your adoptive father is the same man who faced off against Zechs in the final battle?"
"Yes."
"Is there anything else I should know?" He asked, grinning. She smiled in return and he felt his heart skip.
"Not really." She then reached over and poked his ribs softly. "But I would like to know more about you." It was Trowa's turn to sigh.
"A story for a story, eh?" He smiled. "Okay then. What do you want to know?" He let her ask any question she wanted and answered as well as he could. "I was found as a baby on Earth by a group of gorilla rebels and raised as one of them. They taught me to fight and to survive." He watched her take in his words.
"Where are they now?" She had been hesitant to ask that question; he could hear it in the tone of her voice. He sighed.
"Gone." He heard what might have been a sound of silent affirmation. She had already known the answer but, knowing her, she had hoped she was wrong. "I saved a girl during one of our missions. I trusted her; protected her. She betrayed us to save her family from the military squadron threatening the area." Again, another non-committal noise came from her as she seemed to mull over his words. "After that, I traveled around taking odd jobs and fighting in random battles on whatever side I felt had the most justification. When I was sixteen, I was working on Gundam Heavy Arms at one of the colonial bases when the real Trowa was killed by a scientist. I volunteered to take his place. You know the rest." After what seemed like a small eternity, she hummed in thought.
"So, then, your name really wasn't Trowa Barton." She sounded bemused and slightly relieved. Upon studying her, he realized she seemed to be almost silently chastising herself.
"Catherine said that my name is Trinton Bloom, or was before the explosion separated us and killed my family." He remembered, for some reason, her reaching out in his trailer that day to touch his scar and smirked. Her touch had been feather-light and curious. So innocent and yet… he found himself quickly changing his train of thought. However he may feel, she was his partner first and foremost. "The name just doesn't seem right anymore."
"I see." She looked down at her hands, a small, sad smile on her lips. He hated seeing her sad, especially for him. "I guess I'm lucky." She stood up to take the wrappers to the kitchen and he watched her as she seemed to almost glide with every move. "I was five when I was taken from my mother. It was my birthday. I was old enough to know her and to remember my name. The war took so much from so many..." The tone of her voice made him feel as though she was blaming herself for that fact.
"Serene…" he started to get up, but she turned around and any trace of sorrow seemed forgotten.
"Since we still have some time, what if I put on a movie?" Her ice-blue eyes met his, unreadable. Why was she shutting him out?
"Okay, but only if I get to pick." Her smile widened and-to his delight-did reach her eyes. She plopped down on the couch next to him. As he made his selection and the movie began to play, she laid her head on his shoulder casually (a sign of trust that their friendship had earned him).
"Trowa?"
"Hm?"
"Thanks for this… for the distraction. I needed it." He smiled.
"Anytime." He said and he leaned his head against hers gently as the movie played.
This was it. Sogran clenched his fist to stop the shaking that had set in. The screen in front of him was blank yet he couldn't look away. They had been found and he was left to clean up the mess. The Boss had ordered him to finish their guest and the join him quickly. He had been given his orders, but he remained frozen. The way he saw it, there were two choices: do as ordered and try to escape (without being shot down) to a man that would most likely kill him anyways or make a deal with the preventers and go back to jail where he would definitely be killed to keep him quiet.
He glanced at the border alarms gauging his time. Twenty-three minutes: he had twenty-three minutes to until the border fell and he wouldn't be able to escape. The smarter choice wasn't the safest. However, he liked freedom too much to go back into a cell. He'd take his chances with the mad man. He'd made his decision, and once made, he wasn't going to waste the time he had left. He turned on his heels and quickly made his way through the empty halls until he stood before the dreaded room. Steeling his spine, he took a breath and stepped in.
He still couldn't wrap his brain around everything that had happened in this room over the last month, but what he did know was that every time he entered this room he was coming face to face with the entity that had infiltrated his nightmares. She hung limply, leaning back against the wall seemingly out to the world, yet he'd learned better. She was awake, watching him, tracking his moves.
Even emaciated and beaten, there was an allure that pulled him forward. He gripped the ejection gun left by the Boss for this job tighter as he stepped closer. He didn't know what it was; all he'd been told was that it was some type of toxin. When he was finally in front of her he reached out almost reverently to hold her up. She was magnificent and-while he knew he had to do it-he hesitated.
"I know you're awake…" He whispered. A shiver slammed him as the darkest blue eyes he'd ever seen pierced him. "It's you or me..." He saw her eyes glance toward the jet-injector before moving back to him. He couldn't read her expression and that unnerved him. He pulled her closer, hearing the loose chains clink at his actions.
"It won't hurt; at least not for long." He placed the injection tip against her upper arm and pulled the trigger. He felt her body tense as the toxins hit her systems before looking back into her face and noticing that she was smiling as she started to shake.
Her reaction made him want to run yet he had been ordered to see it to the end. He couldn't move at all even to back away. He was trapped by her eyes that perfect smile. As he body started to convulse he felt he'd made the wrong choice and with every second that passed until she finally stopped moving he couldn't believe he'd actually done it. He'd killed Thiana Khushrenada.
Quatre ran through the maze of tunnels following Zechs and Matthews into the heart of the base. They had snuck in a side entrance that looked like a secret escape route while the main force was working their way from the front as a distraction. From what he was hearing, the few guards at the border were surrendering before a shot was fired. They were fifteen minutes ahead though as they finally made their way to a control room.
Zechs went to work taking down the security main frame just in case the guards at the border were playing a trick. Matthews and he worked on the cameras to try and find Thia. It took what felt like hours but—in truth—only a minute before Matthews spoke.
"There! Cell 510!" Quatre moved to look at the screen taking Matthews's place, and froze. His world tilted and shattered as he watched the man called Sogran place a gun like tool against Thia's arm.
"NO!" Quatre shouted as he watched her start to shake.
"It's hall E, last room." Matthews read off from a map to make sure they went to the correctly room. Nevertheless, Quatre wasn't sticking around to listen. He was running. Running to the woman he'd just seen die.
It felt as though nearly the whole day had passed by without a word from the extraction team. She checked her watch: 12:30. It made sense now why the kids were hungry. It irked her not to be a part of it. If it had not been for her time with Trowa the night before, she might have gone off and looked for Kit-Kat herself. He had caught her playing the piano; something she hadn't done in so long. It had felt good to play again and felt the cool of the ivory keys as her fingers danced across them. She had enjoyed getting to know him better, even if she did slip up and reveal her real age. It had been a careless Freudian slip of the tongue that had proven more amusing than troubling. As he talked to her about his past, she found herself taking in every detail. His pain from loss and confusion throughout the years hit her like a wave on a troubled shore. The movie had been the final nail that cinched her relaxation. It hadn't surprised her when she'd fallen asleep on his shoulder and woke up in her bed. She hadn't realized how tired she had been.
She had known each of the pilots had had it rough; most people in their ever-widening circle of friends did. What intrigued her the most, however, was the story of Midi, the girl who betrayed him. She could tell by his tone of voice that he had cared for the girl; that her betrayal had deeply wounded him. What shocked her most was how his story about the girl made her feel: jealous. It was foolish to be jealous of a memory. Jealousy was-on a whole-and emotion she tried to avoid. Emotions were not her strong point and the fact that she felt it in regards to him made her confused. He was her partner. What had she to be jealous of?
At any rate, the evening had been a great distraction from her more dangerous impulses as was her current task of the day. The shopping trip and Relena's continued presence had been necessary to keep things seeming normal. So far, the impromptu shopping trip had gone fairly well. Relena was in a tasteful disguise as she, her niece and nephew, and her sister-in-law made their way around the indoor/outdoor mall. After a decent lunch at a burger chain outlet, they had settled on some imported ice-cream from the Americas. Serene thought it was funny that Europeans would hunger for American ice-cream, but having been born in the former United States, she had some fond memories of eating this particular mint-chocolate chip ice-cream with her mother.
It seemed as though the young Merquis children seemed to be rather attached to her. She hardly minded. Technically, the children were her niece and nephew too so it was less awkward for her at least. Relena and Noin seemed content to let the little ones hang off of her in spite of her previous objections due to her being on duty. Trowa, however, had assured her that he would be extra vigilant to compensate for her current, miniscule distractions.
She had to admit that she was becoming quite attached to them as well. She would never admit it to anyone, but spending time with Relena as she allowed herself to be a normal woman for the day was enjoyable. At times, she found herself almost forgetting their professional relationship. Relena had even insisted on Serene trying on a few dressed, picking out jewelry and trying on shoes. She had nearly giggled when Relena bit into the triple-bacon cheeseburger deluxe. The politician acted as though she had found the secret to life in the first bite. It was amusing and endearing and completely not something she should be allowing herself to indulge in.
If not for Trowa's reassuring presence and insistence that she enjoy herself, she would have been as closed off as always. He had kept the secret of her true parentage as he promised; not that she'd ever really doubted him. Ever since that night where she'd bared her soul, he had been supportive and understanding. She still remembered how it felt when she'd cried into his chest; how he'd helped her steady the gun in an offer of support for whatever she decided to do. He was her support system, her partner and her friend. She didn't know what she would do without him.
As they approached the ice-cream counter, Serene heard the twins exclaim in unison the various flavors that caught their attention. Serene glanced helplessly from their mother to Trowa, both of whom offered her small, sympathetic smiles.
Quatre couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. He couldn't speak. All he could do was run and pray that what he had just seen wasn't real. That he had seen it wrong. That he could fix this for-if it was real-they had been too late. A line had been beeping below her cell image in the control room and he had only one guess to know what that had been. It had been a constant rhythm until Sogran had plunged that needle into her arm. The rhythm from that point on had quickly sped up before starting to stutter and then flat-line.
His ears still rang with that final sound of the flat line so loud that he barely registered the foot falls of Zechs and Matthews close behind him. Once again he had to refocus. This couldn't be real. She was strong this had to be a mistake. Even praying for a miracle didn't prep him for what he saw when he finally made it to the cell she was located in and slamming the door open. They all froze as their eyes fell onto the scene in front of them. Instead of seeing Sogran over Thia's lifeless body they found Sogran gasping for air and clawing at a large chain wrapped tightly around his neck.
"Thiana Stop!" Zechs called out and Quatre almost back handed him. As if yelling at her would work! In truth, he didn't want it to work. He was too overjoyed to see her alive to care if Sogran lived or died. He had thought she was already dead and now she was serving just punishment.
"Please…" The sound was just a whisper but they all knew it came from Sogran. He didn't have long left, and if he did make it out he'd have serious complications to his throat. Yet instead of heading Zech's plea they heard a whimper as she pulled the chains tight in response.
"Thia, let him go, now!" Zechs stepped forward but halted as she took a step back, dragging Sogran making the chains tighter once again.
"What? Are you kidding me?" Matthews responded with anger. "You're trying to save him?"
"No, I'm trying to save her. She's killing him and she doesn't have too. We're here now and can let the law seal his fate. She doesn't have to be a killer. She won't have to life with his death on her conscious for the rest of her life."
Quatre stopped listening. Zechs didn't see. He couldn't live with the lives he'd taken as a soldier. He couldn't live with the killings and the guilt haunted him everyday. Thia however, never lost sleep over a life she took. She couldn't live with the outcome if there would be more because she didn't take care of a problem. She would say this man is guilty. The law had taking their shot and lost him. So many innocent lives had been taken since that moment. This was justice.
He caught her eyes and saw it all. There might be some trauma to deal with from this torture but killing Sogran wouldn't be one of them. The law had failed and innocent people had been targeted to get at her. Sogran had done horrible things. She wouldn't truth the law with him again. This was the only way. He saw that, understood it, and stood witness. Never turning away and never asking or telling her to stop. Instead he held eye contact waiting for the job to be finished and he could take her away from this place. He sent acceptance and support towards her. He wanted her to know he stood by any of her choices.
It was in that he saw her whisper something in Sogran's ear before the neck snapped. He held still, a pillar of strength in support of her choice. He didn't even check to see if Sogran was truly dead. He knew she was better than that and (in truth) she was all that mattered.
"Zechs, Matthews, stop arguing. It's over." Her voice was just above a whisper. The strain and rasp gave testament to the fact that this hadn't been a vacation. She knelt down to retrieve the keys off of Sogran's body and started trying to unlock the chains. Matthews and Zechs stopped at her words and Quatre could tell Zechs was disappointed. He almost tried to sooth the situation until he noticed her hands were starting to shake.
"Thia…" he finally allowed himself to move forward; to get closer. He'd first thought she was dead, then he thought it had been a joke she'd played and the monitor had been wrong, but seeing now her whole body start to have a fine tremor, he wasn't sure. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong.
"I could deal with poison you know…" she kept fighting with the keys to unlock the chains. Matthews rushed forward at this to take the keys and finish unlocking. Zechs pulled Sogran's body out of the way giving Thia sideways glances. He was worried too. Quatre moved in front of her making sure to not block Matthews' way.
"Poison?" He verbally nudged.
"I'm good at burning of any poisons or toxins in general." The chains fell and she took her first real step in over a month. However, without the chains weighing her limbs down the tremors started to turn into shakes. She looked like she was having a sugar rush on acid.
"Ward…?" Matthews reached out for her but she moved out of his reach.
"Thia, what did he give you?" Zechs questioned moving back into their circle.
She ignored his question. Instead, she kept looking at Quatre and took another step towards him. His gut twisted. He could see her pulse pounding on the side of her neck. Her pupils were dilated making her dark blue orbs seem black. It almost seemed like he could see her nerves sparking with energy. He feared a simple touch would almost be too much to bear. Everything about her seemed on high alert.
"What was in the shot?" Quatre whispered calmly stepping closer so if he wanted to he could actually take her in his arms. "Eini, please tell me."
"Eini?" She wavered. "That sounds nice…" She shook her head trying to clear her mind. "Adrenaline… This is really going to suck." With that her eyes dimmed, her knees buckled, and she fell. Quatre caught her before her knees even hit the floor.
"Shit!" Zechs shouted before quickly calling for emergency evacuation. They had originally had the medical team entering with the main advance but this must have changed things. Quatre just didn't know what that meant. He felt for her pulse and it felt like a caged bird gone craze. The moments of stopping however what was terrified him.
"We've got to move. Medic will meet us on the way now. We don't have time to waste. Quatre, call Dr. Sanju and tell him we're coming in hot."
"I don't think so. I've got her Zechs. You or Matthews need to call." Quatre glared as he shifted her against him hating that the first time she was really in his arms like this was because she was fighting for her life.
"I'm getting something that should help slow down the reactions."
"Fine, I'll make the call but you need to get out of here quickly. I will stay with the body and start to process the scene before following shortly." Quatre nodded as Matthews finally opened the medical kit. Searching frantically for something to slow Thia's racing heart.
"Why is adrenaline a bad thing?" Quatre couldn't look away from her face. Praying and shaker slightly just to see her eyes open once more.
"Too much can kill anyone mostly if injected in the correct place. For her it's like her kryptonite, for lack of a better term. Nothing can really hurt her because her cells are amazing at burning toxins out of her body. It's why she's never sick. Alcohols do nothing, and believe me, worst night of my life learning that lesson. Right Thia?" Quatre realized what Matthews was trying to do as he informed Quatre of the truth.
"Truly anything meant to slow you down is worthless. Uppers can be a problem but again they burn out quickly. Not a high enough dosage. That's why she can do caffeine but pure adrenaline… Her body shuts down to try and preserve. If not she'll overdo it and everything will over heat and crash. YES!"
Quatre looked over as Matthews shouted heads up and tossed a gel bag at him. Quatre caught it without moving Thia. "What is this for?"
"That is for her head. Her body is overheating. Crush it to activate then hold it to her head. Hopefully that plus this tranq can slow her down enough so we can get out of here."
Quatre did as instructed watching as Matthews injected the tranq into her neck. Once again he found himself willing her eyes to open.
"You can't leave me yet. We've got too much to talk about." He whispered in her ear.
"Alright, we're a go." Zechs said briskly. He nudged the body of Sogran before shaking his head. "You two take her out and the medics will meet you half way with transport. I'll join as soon as I am able."
Matthews turned to help Quatre before receiving his shake of refusal. A nanosecond long pause occurred before Matthews nodded and collected the bag of medical supplies before they were off. Matthews took point just in case they ran across trouble.
Everything from that point seemed as a blur. Yet he'd experience it all in stark detail. The first time she woke up clawing and swinging only topping a millimeters away from his face as she realized who held her. Her two whispered words in question of "You came?" about broke his heart. She flat lined three times as they made their way to Dr. Sanju. Each time took years off of his life as they had to bring her back to the land of the living. It took about 4 hours to arrive at the hospital where Dr. Sanju was ready for surgery. That was 5 hours ago. Quatre had never felt so lost and out of control.
The foot traffic at the mall was beginning to die down as the evening reached closing time. Relena could hardly believe they'd spent almost twelve-hours out and about. She watched Serene escort Astrid and Apollo to the ice-cream counter with a smile. The children already loved her bodyguard. It killed her to not tell them that the same woman whose hands they grasped was also their aunt. The more she thought about it, the more similarities she began to spot between herself and her younger sister. They liked the same ice-cream, had an affinity for iced-sweet tea, and seemed to have similar taste in music. She had noticed in the past that they had an almost identical taste in food in general. If looked at from the correct angle, her physical resemblance to their brother was shocking.
Still, Serene said nothing to indicate she knew of their relation and perhaps had no intention of revealing it if she did. Relena recalled the journal entries she'd read detailing the unintentional affair. She wondered, briefly, what life might have been like had their parents lived through the war. Would they have grown up together or would they have been kept secret from one another?
"Here, Aun Weena. We bwought ice-fweam." Astrid tried to get the bowl from Serene to hand to her nearly losing her own ice-cream, but Serene balanced both the frozen confection and their niece and made sure that the child did not spill hers in the process.
"I'm sorry the children are hanging all over you, Serene." Noin stated as she enjoyed her raspberry gelato. Serene merely shrugged as Apollo climbed into her lap and Astrid climbed up into Relena's.
"It's a shame they don't like me." Serene cracked a rare, small smile. Her mannerisms made a lot more sense now that she knew who Serene trained with. She'd always seen similarities between her and the stoic 01 pilot.
"We wike you! We do wike you!" Apollo and Astrid sounded off together making their mother laugh.
"Sure you do." Serene poked Apollo's tummy and made him giggle. She would be such a good aunt. It was a short time later that they all finished their ice-cream and prepared to leave for the next store in the mall. Relena had opted for a small disguise of a head scarf and sunglasses. The mall was largely outdoors and busy enough that it was easy not to draw attention.
"Seween! I has to go potty!" Astrid stated.
"Me too, me too!" Apollo added.
"Now, you two, it's not her job to take you!"
"Aw! Pwease!" Relena noticed Serene look at Trowa and saw an unspoken understanding pass between them. Not for the first time, she wondered if there was something more between the two than merely a partnership.
"Let's go." Serene took their hands and lead them to the restrooms, leaving her alone with Noin and Trowa. She had been debating discussing her relation to her blonde guard with her sister-in-law for some time now but hadn't known how or when. Trowa wouldn't eavesdrop and if he did, she knew him well enough to know he did not disclose others' secrets.
"What do you think of Serene?" The question flew out of her mouth before she thought of what she was saying. Noin paused mid-bite of her ice-cream and blinked at her for a moment as if in shock.
"Whatever made you ask that?" The older woman stated before finishing the bite.
"I would like your opinion as a former soldier, I supposed." Noin shook her head.
"You are about as good at hiding your true intentions as your brother. You can fool the world but not those that know you." Relena looked down at her paper dish, embarrassed. "But, I will humor you." Noin smiled. "Serene seems to be a more than capable. She puts on an impassive act to hide her gentle nature." Relena looked at her for a moment. "Don't be so shocked. She hides it as well as you and your brother." Relena paused, truly surprised this time.
"You knew?" Noin smiled. "How long? Have you told him?"
"No, I haven't. I noticed when I saw them going toe-to-toe over Thiana's disappearance. The resemblance was uncanny, although, I wasn't aware any relative survived the fall of Sanq." Noin tapped her cup thoughtfully. "I supposed she could be a cousin, though that seems unlikely."
"You're not that far off." Relena took a deep breath. 'here goes nothing, Relena'. "Serene isn't our cousin. She is our sister. Well, half-sister." The older woman's eyes widened. It was her turn to be surprised.
"But, then… how do you know this?"
"When Zechs gave me father's journal, I read it all the way through during my hiatus from work." Relena then regaled the contents of the journal to her brother's wife and watched as she took in every detail.
"And now I have to figure out if I should tell him, talk to her, talk to her than tell him, or leave it alone and let her confront me first. After all, she may not even know herself." For whatever reason she found herself glancing at Trowa who, upon meeting her eyes, nodded. So, Serene did know. Why hadn't she told her?
"She didn't want you to know. She is afraid of how you and your brother will take the news of your father's affair." Trowa offered this as if sensing her question.
"But, I'm overjoyed! I always wanted a younger sister. How could she think I would be upset?"
"I think I understand." Noin began. "She doesn't want to tarnish the memory of a man you never really knew." Trowa nodded. "And she most likely fears Zechs's reaction the most." Trowa nodded again.
"What do you think, Trowa. You know her better than we do. What should I do?" He pushed off from the wall he had been leaning on.
"As happy as she would be to know you accept her, she has to do this on her own. Once she realizes how much you truly care, she will tell you." Relena had another question for the Heavy Arms pilot but it would have to wait. The sound of Astrid and Apollo talking Serene's ears off announced their return, placing the rest of the conversation on the back burner.
"Don't tell Zechs." Relena got out before they got too close. Noin was able to nod in agreement before Apollo climbed into her lap.
"Don't tell Zechs what?" Serene asked and Relena felt herself begin to go pale.
"I'm buying him a ridiculous tie as a joke for Christmas this year. He has it coming after all the years he's missed." Serene looked at her for a moment as if searching her for the truth, then at Trowa who gave her a look that only the two of them understood. Relena found herself envying them. She used to have that sort of understanding with someone before she'd thrown it away. She suddenly felt her appetite for her ice-cream disappear and she shoved it aside which earned her a concerned look from the younger girl. They sat there as the twins finished their ice-cream enjoying the relative peace. It was as Serene was assisting Noin with the sleepy children that Serene's phone began to go off.
"Agent Storm." Serene answered. "When?" there was another pause. "Where?" Another pause, her face gave no indication of the subject of conversation, but Relena knew. "Understood. We will meet you there as soon as we can." Serene hung up the phone and looked at Relena and then too Trowa.
"They have her. They're at the hospital in Intensive Care." Relena knew the look in her guard's eyes. She was torn between the duty of her shift and her desire to see her friend. Not wanting to prevent her and worried about Thiana as well, Relena nodded.
"Let's go."
Klementz had placed the bomb in the car while it sat within the parking garage. He waited patiently within the top floor of one of the shops in the mall over-looking the garage. It had been no easy task to get in and plant the bomb. He had been tailing their car since they had left Foreign Minister's mansion all the way to the garage. Once there, he noted the security measures taken by the private parking garage. There were detectors on the doors, a button had to be pushed and an identification badge had to be scanned before the car was let through the gate. Once there, the car was allowed to drive through each level until the desired spot was located.
He had procured an I.D. card by "confiscating" it from one of the clients leaving the garage. He had decided to take the car as well, choosing to wait and hour or two before making his entrance. Once in the garage, he made his way around until he found the car in question. There were cameras everywhere so he had had to be careful. He used his hat from his stolen uniform to help throw off the angle. He walked toward the car and feigned dropping a coin and chasing it under the car. once there, it was merely a matter of placing the coin-sized explosive beneath the fuel tank before raising, showing the coin to the camera and walking away.
As soon as he saw the car, he would press the ignition button and the car would blow the precious princess away, taking the heart right out of the Gundam pilots and their crew. True, there were others there: The ALPHA bitch, the pilot of 03, the former OZ Lieutenant and her twin children, but collateral damage of that caliber was more than acceptable. As the black BMW made its way out of the garage and onto the street, he smiled.
"For Perfect Peace." He pressed the button and watched as his vengeance began. The car rose off the ground, flipped and burst in a rush of flames and heat.
