Chapter Nine

Allies

Relena's body stretched beneath the covers as she snuggled her face deeper into the pillow. She could vaguely remember parts of the dreams she'd had that night, brief flashes or mere sensations, which caused her body to heat and her heart to pound. She had imagined herself floating, held aloft within the power of Heero's mind.

Lub dub...lub dub...lub dub...

She could imagine she heard the echo of his heart beating in the back of her mind. It was a sweet reassuring sound that could easily lull her back into slumber, where in sleep she could dream further of Heero. Relena brought her left hand to her face, brushing long blond hair from her eyes. A particularly vivid image of Heero kissing her sprung to mind, and her heart beat a little faster.

"Mhmmm..." Relena breathed as she let her body stretch further and forced eyes to open. She blinked in surprise to find herself near the centre of the bed, alone. Pushing herself up onto her right elbow, Relena's attention darted about. "Heero?" she said, just a second before she saw his outline sitting on one of the room's two chairs.

With the sunlight spilling through the sheers behind him, Relena could only make out that he was sitting there, elbows on knees, head down slightly. "What time is it?" she asked softly.

"It's early," Heero replied, head coming up a little, and she wished for a little light to see his face better.

Sitting up on the bed, Relena pushed the blankets off her body a little, being unable to remember getting under the covers the night before. She glanced at the pillow beside hers, and noticed it looked like it hadn't been slept on. "Did you sleep well?" she asked him softly.

Lub dub...lub dub...lub dub...

Relena cocked her head to the side as she waited for Heero to speak, positive now that she wasn't imagining that heartbeat echoing in the back of her mind. Heero sat a little straighter, and she heard what sounded like his hands brushing across his jeans, before he pushed himself to his feet. "Didn't sleep..." he muttered.

"Why not?" Relena asked, tossing the blankets off of herself as she shifted to the side of the bed closest to him. "I didn't push you out, did I?" she asked, making her tone light, as she placed her feet on the floor.

"No..." he replied, pacing the length of the room a little.

Lub dub...lub dub...lub dub...

Relena listened for a moment to the agitated sound of the heart softly echoing in her mind, certain now that it was Heero's. She was somehow hearing it again, and wondered fleetingly why this connection she seemed to have with Heero didn't feel strange to her. Relena didn't think she was still shellshocked by the events of the past few days. Heero had opened her mind to things she'd never previously imagined.

Getting to her feet, Relena put herself in Heero's path and at an angle that allowed her to better see his face in the early morning sunlight. "Heero," she said his name, and he came to a slow stop in front of her, head down slightly. "Why didn't you sleep?"

Heero's head came up a little, his expression perhaps verging on sour, though Relena thought if she'd been up for the entire night, she'd have felt the same. "Too much on my mind," he said, not really making eye contact with her.

"Hmmm..." Relena sighed, and reached out a hand towards Heero's face. He still wasn't looking at her, but he didn't pull away when she trailed her fingers lightly through his hair. "C'mon," she said, reaching for his right wrist with her free hand, "you can at least try and get a little sleep."

She smiled encouragingly at him, ducking her head a little so she caught sight of those shockingly blue eyes, as she tugged him back towards the bed. For a moment, Heero came no closer. But as she slipped her hand around the back of his head, and felt the softness of his hair slide between her fingers, he took a hesitant step towards her.

That echoing beat of his heart picked up speed again, and she smiled to think her touch alone could do that. Relena took a half step back towards the bed, feeling out with her calf for the edge of the frame. All the while she was looking at Heero's shadow cast face; she could feel a tightness about him as he took what looked like another hesitant step forward with her.

Relena smiled encouragingly, unsure how well he could see the expression, or if he was even looking at her face. She tugged a little more insistently as she climbed onto the bed, feeling Heero half heartedly put on the brakes, before he ultimately allowed himself to be twisted to sit on the edge of the mattress.

Once he was seated, Relena released his hand long enough to shift the blankets aside. "Kick off your shoes," she told him softly, "you'll be more comfortable that way."

Heero glanced over his shoulder at her, and she thought he huffed a soft breath, but he did kick off his shoes before pulling his legs onto the bed. Relena offered him a triumphant smile, as she shifted to offer him more room, and pressed her hand to his shoulder to encourage him to actually lay flat.

With his head finally on the pillow, Relena released a soft breath and stretched herself out beside him. She didn't immediately lay flat, but propped herself up with her right elbow just behind his head. Heero tipped his head towards her as Relena trailed fingers through his bangs. Smiling down at him, she said, "close your eyes."

Heero drew a deep breath, and his eyes truly met hers. In the dim light it was difficult to read his expression, but she could feel the weight of his gaze on her. And Relena thought he might resist her further. But slowly he let his eyes fall closed, and released another breath as he did. Relena smoothed a thumb across his forehead, and felt him shiver slightly.

Smiling to herself, Relena reached for the blankets and drew them up over Heero and herself, feeling a hint of warmth still in the sheet as she settled them over Heero's chest. She spread her hand over his heart, reaffirming that the echo she was hearing was indeed Heero's.

Lub dub...lub dub...lub dub...

As his heartbeat slowed, Relena noticed a shift in Heero's breathing, and knew he'd fallen asleep. She released a breath of her own and settled more comfortably beside him, watching the lines of his face as the morning sun slowly rose outside.

…

Heero blinked somewhat gritty eyes as he leaned his head against the rest in the back seat of Sally's car. Through Relena's insistence, he'd managed to get a couple hours of sleep before they'd needed to get on the road again. He still felt exhausted, but it was as much from lack of sleep as it was from trying to focus beyond the connection he felt with Relena.

He hadn't been able to close the door he'd somehow thrown wide open. However, Heero found some small relief to discover that this connection was easier to manage while Relena was awake. He'd known the moment she'd woken that morning, had felt her contentment shift to confusion when she'd realized he wasn't in the bed with her.

It didn't seem to matter what Heero tried to block out the feel of Relena in his mind. That warmth, the hum of her life, only grew stronger. They hadn't been long in the car when Sally had switched on the radio, allowing soft music to permeate the otherwise silent vehicle. Heero, unfamiliar with the sounds, found the addition a slightly welcome distraction to his mind. But the distraction wasn't to last.

Heero could feel Relena's excitement in the first notes of a song, before she leaned forward to ask Sally to turn it up. He hadn't needed to hear her say 'I love this song!' to know it was something she truly enjoyed. Those feelings, and the way Relena's pulse seemed to rise to the sound of the song, seeped into Heero, causing his own pulse to quicken.

Relena had thrown a smile his way as she settled back in her seat, tapping her fingers on the seat between them to the beat of the song. Heero felt his own expression lift a fraction at Relena's evident enjoyment, and in turn saw her smile brighten, even as he felt her pleasure blossom in his mind. He appreciated her smile, the way her eyes seemed to almost tilt with her delight, and to feel the emotion with it flowing into him, causing his own heart to warm.

Heero had torn his eyes away from Relena, looking pointedly out the window at the passing scenery. He'd felt he could get lost in those feelings inside his own mind if he wasn't careful. Again and again Heero had tried to find a way to shut out those feelings, finding the distraction of them a potential danger.

He knew that he needed to be able to think with a clear head, and had never struggled against absolute clarity before now. But as much as Heero felt a sense of fear at this change within his own mind, each time he was drawn back to thinking of or looking at Relena, that fear ebbed away. Heero wanted his mind to be his own, but he knew he didn't want to push Relena away.

His day had progressed in much that way, a battle against losing himself to the connection with Relena, while trying find a way to close the door a little. It didn't matter that he'd spent the entire night trying and failing to do just that. His mind kept being distracted by something else that drew him back to Relena. He could feel when she cast a glance his way, could sense a degree of concern in her that was directed at him.

When Heero wasn't trying to puzzle out the bond with Relena — which only seemed to grow stronger with each attempt he made to disentangle himself — he was keeping half an eye on Sally. The doctor hadn't said much of anything when they'd left the motel that morning; she also hadn't really looked at him at all.

He didn't doubt he'd given her cause to be alarmed, perhaps even to fear him, and Heero was a little surprised at how that thought twisted his stomach. During the drive that day Sally had remained rather subdued. She'd glanced at him a couple of times as the day progressed, but hadn't tried to start a conversation with him, not even when they'd stopped briefly for lunch.

Forcing opened tired eyes, Heero turned his head slightly against the headrest, and allowed himself to glance at Relena. The late afternoon sunlight was causing her hair to glow like fine spun gold as she was looking out the passenger's window, lips turned up in a pleasant smile and head tipped slightly towards the sun and its warmth.

As they drove past a large stand of trees which strobed shadows across her face, Relena turned to regard him. When his eyes met hers, she smiled brightly before reaching across the car to take his right hand with her left. Heero found himself staring down at their hands, noticing the feel of her skin against his, the warmth of her. And the connection in his mind shone with warmth and what Heero could only imagine was affection.

He tore his eyes away from her face as he felt the vehicle begin to slow. Wufei hadn't said much of anything during the drive, which wasn't out of line with how he'd been since Heero met him. Their conversation the night before had been the most Heero had heard from the other man. Wufei turned the car down a narrow country road, the tires kicking up a stream of dust behind them as they picked up speed.

"Will we have to find a place to stop again tonight?" Relena asked, her fingers lightly squeezing Heero's, and he knew she was concerned for the fact that he hadn't slept much that night.

Wufei's dark eyes glanced into the rearview mirror, stopping on Heero's face before they flickered towards Relena. "No," he said, and for a moment Heero knew Relena thought that was all he was going to say. "My friend will put us up until we can figure out what our next step is," he explained, eyes returning to the road.

"You haven't called him yet, have you?" Sally asked, giving Wufei a look.

"He owes me," Wufei replied with a shrug.

Sally rolled her eyes dramatically. "Does Trowa know that?"

Heero saw Wufei's smirk through the rearview mirror. "He's about to find out," their driver muttered.

As the road angled towards a large body of water, Heero saw flashes of colour flickering through the broad branches of the trees. They passed through the small grove, coming out the other side in a large stretch of flat land, and Heero saw what those flashes of colour had been. Large tents rose up in a broad expanse of field, pinions whipping from the top poles in the evening breeze.

Heero wasn't sure what it was he was seeing, but he felt Relena's excitement at the sight of those large multi-coloured tents; she recognized them as something. And they were something Heero could tell drew up fond memories within her, but there was also an undercurrent of anxiety. She was worried for their situation, but perhaps most worried for him.

It was an effort to rise above those emotions filtering into him, to shrug them aside before they built on his own. Heero squeezed Relena's fingers, casting a glance her way to try and reassure her. He felt her emotions lift as their eyes met, and her heart beat a little faster as she smiled at him.

Wufei slowed the car as they neared the huge set of tents, which were surrounded by a tall fence with a broad gate. Pulling the car onto the shoulder of the road, Wufei put it in park and shut off the engine. "Wait here," he said, onyx eyes meeting Heero's, then Relena's, and finally Sally's, before he opened the door and climbed out.

A breath of evening air wafted into the car as Wufei got out, carrying with it the scent of animals. Relena unbuckled her seat belt and shifted closer to Sally in the front. "Who's Trowa?" she asked curiously, and Heero felt her anxiety spike a little, though he knew she was doing all she could to conceal it.

Sally twisted in her seat, her attention fully on Relena, though Heero thought her eyes might have flickered for a brief second towards him. "He's an old comrade of Wufei's, worked in intelligence," Sally explained, and Heero saw her lips turn up into a odd smile. "I think there might have been more than a little espionage involved with him as well."

Heero looked beyond Sally to the gate where Wufei was standing, speaking to a man on the other side. Wufei nodded his head, offered a slight wave, and moved back towards the car. As he strode back to the driver's door, Heero could see the man on the other side of the fence working to pull the gate aside.

Wufei pulled open the door and slid back into his seat, casting a brief smile Sally's way, and she raised an eyebrow at him. "Let me guess," she said, as Wufei started the car, "he claimed he'd never heard of you..."

"Yep," Wufei replied, inching the car towards the now open gate.

Sally shook her head slowly, twisting to sit properly in her seat again. "I guess it's nice to know he hasn't changed..." she muttered.

"Unlikely he ever will," Wufei agreed as he drove the car inside the fencing.

Heero's attention quickly turned outside the car, unsure what he was going to see behind the fence. The road Wufei had been following continued beyond the gate, with vehicles and trailers lining the packed dirt to either side. Heero felt himself tense at the sight of people, many of them, moving here and there among the trailers.

Relena's hand gently squeezed his, and Heero felt her concern for him welling up so that the feel of it overrode his own sense of stress at the sheer number of people inside this place. He glanced towards her, just a flickering of his eyes, seeing her encouraging smile before he was looking back out the windows.

Wufei edged the car in beside a large, dark trailer that sat mostly off by itself, and parked. He didn't say anything before he was getting out of the car, Sally following a second behind. The opened doors let in the sounds and smells of the place, and there was more commotion than Heero had expected. There were cries he could only imagine were animals off somewhere in the distance, along with human voices, shouts, and laughter.

Swallowing against his want to be away from here, Heero felt Relena shift across the seat towards him. Their eyes met again for a brief moment before Relena reached across him to open his door. Drawing a breath, Heero stepped out of the car into the warm evening air, Relena following behind him, not releasing his hand.

The door to the trailer opened just as Wufei was climbing the steps. "Budapest?" the tall man who leaned out the door asked, with his only visible eyebrow raised. "I think I've more than made up for that."

Wufei shook his head. "Getting closer," he growled as he glanced back to extend his hand to help Sally up the stairs.

"Can't wait to hear what I'm in for this time," the man replied, disappearing back inside the trailer.

Relena tugged his hand as she moved towards the trailer, and Heero found himself following her up the stairs and inside. As the door shut behind him, Heero actually found himself breathing a sigh of relief. The trailer did an excellent job at blocking out the worst of the noise outside.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the interior lights, and Heero quickly noted that Wufei and Sally were seated at a table. The man who'd greeted them was leaning against the counter. "Trowa Barton," Wufei said, gesturing with his right hand towards the man with a shock of chestnut hair spilling across his face. "Heero Yuy, and Relena Darlian," he finished the introductions before pointing at the bench for them to sit on.

Relena slid onto the padded seat, her left hand still twined in his, and Heero took the edge, feeling rather stiff in the company of this stranger. Trowa reached behind himself for a switch on a stack of machines next to him, and Heero absently noticed a light come on.

"So what's brought you here?" Trowa asked without preamble.

"What do you know about The Order of the Zodiac?" Wufei asked, leaning back on his chair, and eyeing Trowa with a curious expression.

Heero blinked, his head suddenly beginning to ache, a building pain that seemed to start at the base of his skull and spread through to his eyes. He gave his head a brief shake, and felt his vision swim a little as his stomach lurched. Drawing a slow shallow breath, Heero tried to refocus on the room, and what, if anything, Trowa might have said in reply.

Looking up at the taller man, Heero saw Trowa's mouth moving as his emerald eyes regarded Wufei, but he couldn't seem to make out the words. Heero tried to draw a settling breath, but the influx of oxygen did nothing to clear his mind, or settle his stomach. He felt Relena's hand squeeze his and he looked over to see her expression etched with concern.

'Heero?' He saw her lips move, but it was like he heard her voice inside his head, somehow piercing through the pain.

He blinked again, suddenly noticing that all eyes in the trailer were on him. Heero swallowed thickly against a wave of nausea that rose up, washing over him like an inferno. Releasing Relena's hand with a desperate shake of his own, Heero pushed himself onto unsteady feet, making his way to the door.

…

Lub dub..lub dub..lub dub..

Relena had been keeping a little of her attention throughout the day on the echo of Heero's heartbeat in the back of her mind. That steady rhythm, such an unfamiliar sense, was so new and foreign that it was difficult to ignore. But as the day had progressed, Relena had begun to feel like it could tell her things she couldn't easily read on Heero's face.

That Heero was tired had been evident on his features throughout the drive, and even a little of the tension she sensed from him as well. Relena suspected there was something heavy on his mind that he couldn't seem to shake. Had they been alone, she would have asked him about it.

Relena had hoped Heero wasn't dwelling on Sally's over-protectiveness, though she suspected that wasn't the problem. As they'd started on their journey, Relena had lost herself a few times in the comforting sound of Heero's heart. And she'd been delighted to realize that when she smiled at him, his pace inevitably quickened.

She was certain she'd felt Heero's tension and alarm as Wufei had driven them inside the confines of the circus, though a part of her mind insisted she'd simply read the expression of his face. That must have been it, for how could she actually feel such a strong mental connection to this strange lonely man?

Now seated next to Heero inside Trowa's trailer, Relena heard his heart begin to race alarmingly. What had been at the back of her mind, a steady reminder of his presence, was now thundering at the forefront. Relena twisted to look at him.

"Heero?" she asked softly, her fingers gently squeezing his hand, which felt strangely cold in her own. His eyes, filled with pain, glanced from her to the rest of the people in the trailer before he shook off her hand and bolted on unsteady legs towards the door.

"Was it something I said?" Trowa asked in a flat, quiet voice.

Relena was immediately shifting towards the end of the bench, and she cast a worried look Sally's way. "Something's wrong with him," she said with certainty, before making her way out the door.

Halting on the top step, Relena's eyes searched about for any sign of Heero. She didn't think he could have made it far, but had no idea which way he would have gone. Relena's head jerked towards her left at the sound of someone violently retching. Rushing down the steps, Relena nearly stumbled, catching herself on the edge of Trowa's trailer as she turned the corner, eyes seeking out the source of the sounds.

Heero leaned almost doubled over in the shadow of the trailer. His left hand supported himself against the dark surface of Trowa's home as his stomach continued to empty itself of their earlier meal. Wincing at the sounds, Relena took a cautious step towards him, able to see a tremor in the muscles of Heero's arm.

Coughing sharply, Heero spat before drawing a shuddering breath, and dropped his shoulder heavily against the trailer. His head hung between his shoulders as Heero brought his free hand to his forehead.

His heart continued to pound in Relena's head, and she closed the distance, her own worry driving her. "Heero?" she said his name in a low tone, unsure if it was a headache that was causing him such pain. "Are you alright?" she asked him softly, seeing that his eyes were tightly closed. "Heero, what caused this?" she pressed, reaching out to touch his sweaty features.

Heero moved without warning, twisting against the trailer to push himself forward. His legs were visibly trembling as Heero glanced around, as though searching for something, a second before his legs suddenly buckled and he was pitching forward towards her. "Sally!" Relena cried, reaching out to catch Heero's limp body, trying to slow both their falls to the ground.

Heero's head came to rest against her shoulder as she eased them both to the dirt. It wasn't graceful, but at least it wasn't hard either. Relena pressed fingers to the side of Heero's neck, feeling his pulse race beneath her touch, matching the echo in her own mind. Vaguely she heard the sound of the trailer door opening and a rushed tack tack sound of several shoes coming down the steps.

"What happened?" Sally's voice asked as she came around the side of the trailer and saw the pair of them.

Relena shook her head helplessly as she swept bangs off Heero's cool, sweaty forehead. "I don't know," she admitted in a rush, "he was sick, then he just passed out."

"Alright, let's get him inside," the doctor said, with a level of calm Relena wished she felt, as Wufei and Trowa moved around Sally to lift Heero out of Relena's arms.

She felt a tight reluctance to let him go, but her desire to know what was wrong with Heero outweighed it. Accepting Sally's hand to get up off the ground herself, Relena darted towards the door of the trailer. She hesitated for a moment when Sally didn't immediately move in that same direction. Seeing her friend instead step over to her car and open the trunk, Relena reassured herself the doctor was merely getting what she thought she'd need.

She followed the two men back inside, Trowa leading the way through the main room to a door at the back of the galley walkway. Relena peeked around Wufei's shoulder, as the pair moved Heero inside what was clearly Trowa's bedroom. The two men deposited their burden on a surprisingly large bed, and stepped back. Squeezing her way around Wufei, Relena moved swiftly to the head of the bed. Heero's eyes remained closed, but his face wasn't lax like someone merely asleep. His brow was pulled together, jaw appearing tight.

"Make a hole," Sally voice said gruffly, in a tone Relena recognized as all business as she came into the room. Wufei and Trowa both shifted back from the bed before moving towards the door. Relena shot her friend a worried look as Sally placed her medical bag down on the bed near Heero's legs.

Sally offered Relena a small, calm smile that didn't reach her eyes as her right hand dipped inside the medical bag and withdrew a stethoscope. Fitting it to her ears smoothly, Sally bent down to place the other end against Heero's chest. Watching her friend closely, Relena didn't like the way Sally's lips turned down at the corners as she listened.

Tipping her head slightly towards Heero, Relena was still clearly able to hear how Heero's heart was pounding. "Is it beating too fast?" she asked, unable to keep worry from her voice. Her eyes darted from Sally's face to Heero's chest where the doctor continued to listen.

"Faster than I'd like," Sally admitted sounding a little distracted, but then her eyes flickered to Relena's face, a brief intense look, before returning to Heero. The doctor placed her free hand against Heero's right cheek, before shifting her palm to his forehead. "No fever," she muttered to herself, pulling the stethoscope down around her neck as she thumbed back Heero's right eyelid.

"Did he mention not feeling well, or anything else to you during the day?" Sally asked then, her hands palpating the glands in Heero's neck as she did.

Relena shook her head, "This happened suddenly." She was certain of that. Having spent the day listening to the echo of Heero's heart, she knew it hadn't ever beat like this. "He's in pain..." she said softly, looking up at her friend. "But what's causing it?" she asked, eyes darting back down to Heero's face, as her hand pushed back his thick bangs.

Wufei, clearing his throat as he stepped into the doorway of the room, brought Relena's attention up again. He looked from Sally to her patient and back again. "Do you need anything?" he asked seriously.

"Some answers, if you've got any," Sally tossed back, with a slow shake of her head as she looked down at Heero, her left hand holding his right wrist.

"I thought you loved mysteries," Wufei pointed out, but his expression didn't match the lighter tone of his words. And Relena saw his eyes sweep over Heero's face before he looked back to Sally.

Relena didn't miss the way Sally's eyes rolled before she lowered Heero's wrist back down beside him on the bed. The doctor's face was unimpressed as she turned towards Wufei, "Will you be here all week?" she asked him flatly.

Wufei's smirk was a small one. "Not going anywhere," he told her before turning and leaving the room.

"Men..." Sally muttered sending a pointed look Relena's way. But she hardly paid it any mind, her focus was turned inward as she listened intently to the sound of Heero's heartbeat. Relena thought it had begun to slow while Wufei was talking to Sally.

Heero groaned a moment later, his eyes opening a crack so Relena saw a flash of deep blue. Shifting on the bed beside him, Relena felt a rush of relief ease the constriction on her chest as she smiled a worried expression down at him.

"Back with us, are you?" Sally asked, her voice all business as she looked from his face to his stomach where her hands began to pick up the hem of Heero's shirt.

Relena saw and felt Heero tense as Sally pushed his shirt aside and placed her hands on his stomach just above his navel. Heero's heartbeat spiked with what Relena could only imagine was agitation before Heero tried to pull an elbow beneath him to try and sit up. But both Relena and Sally moved to stop him. "Lay still," Relena encouraged.

Even as Sally ordered, "not so fast." The doctor returned her attention to Heero's stomach before he had a chance to protest, and began pressing her hands firmly against his skin. "Any pain when I press here?" she asked him, her eyes flickering from where her hands worked to his face.

"No..." Heero replied, his expression looking more alert with each moment that passed which was a relief. Still Heero was clearly agitated, Relena could read it on both his face and in the beating of his heart. She suspected it was mostly due to the position he was in, with Sally examining him. Relena was relieved he wasn't trying to push the doctor away.

"Were you feeling sick earlier today?" Sally asked, her hands still on Heero's stomach but shifting around, while her eyes remained on his face.

Heero gave his head a slight shake, those cobalt eyes opening a little wider as he glanced towards Relena. She offered him a small worried smile, the fingers of her right hand moving to brush through his bangs without her consciously thinking it. She thought his stress levels eased at her touch, his heart beating at a calmer rhythm. And that sense of understanding chilled Relena a little. What was this connection she felt with Heero?

"You started feeling off shortly after we got inside the trailer, didn't you?" Relena asked with a note of certainty, and saw Heero's eyes focus in on her face more intently.

Sally lowered Heero's shirt back to his waist, and half sat, half leaned against the edge of the bed, facing him and Relena. "How do you feel right now?" Sally asked, her left hand taking his wrist again, checking his pulse.

Relena looked deeply into Heero's eyes. She could sense the tightness within him easing. His heart rate had slowed to what she thought must have been normal for him. "The pain's faded," she breathed, and felt herself smile, a little unsure at the way Heero's eyes widened.

"I'd prefer to hear something definitive from my patient," Sally told Relena with a pointed look, before her attention returned to studying Heero's face. The doctor's right hand went to the stethoscope around her neck and lifted it back to her ears, before placing the diaphragm against Heero's chest for a moment. Relena heard the echo in her mind pick up slightly and settle again as Sally pulled her hand back.

"I'm alright," Heero grunted as he pulled himself up onto both elbows, the suddenness of his movement forcing Relena to shift aside on the mattress. Somehow she knew he couldn't stand to be at a disadvantage laying flat any longer.

"Headache?" Sally pressed, leaning towards Heero, perhaps to better look into his eyes.

Heero tried to lean away from Sally's presence, but on impulse Relena placed her palm against the back of his neck. "Not anymore," he admitted, his dark eyes flickering towards Relena's face.

Sally nodded, still watching him closely. "Is the nausea gone?" He nodded mutely. The doctor sat back again. "Have you ever experienced anything like this before?" she asked.

Relena felt Heero's heart rate quicken, and she thought she almost felt a sense of dread creep up in the back of her mind. It was difficult to describe, but she knew the feeling hadn't come from her. Relena looked more intently at Heero's face, seeing his eyebrows pull together in a scowl that she didn't think was directed at Sally.

"You have..." Relena breathed softly, pouring the majority of her attention into the strange connection she felt with Heero. His heart thundered for a moment, Relena thought perhaps from a memory, his outward expression growing briefly distant. "What was it?" Relena shifted on the bed to give Heero a little bit of room, and asked, "that you just remembered?"

Heero shifted on the bed, pushing himself up so he was sitting straight, his eyes not leaving Relena's face. She thought perhaps he was feeling worried as he looked at her, but she couldn't say why. "How do you know?" he asked her cautiously.

Vaguely Relena was aware of Sally's considering eyes watching both of them, and when Relena glanced towards her friend, Sally held up a hand to forestall. "What is going on here?" she demanded.

Relena's attention shifted more fully to Sally, and she felt Heero tense both physically in front of her, and emotionally too, in that strange new connection in her mind. Drawing a breath, Relena tried to think of how she was to even answer such a question, and her eyes drifted back to Heero's. He was watching her intently, and Relena thought she felt a sense of worry that wasn't her own as he studied her face.

Sally reached across Heero to place a hand on Relena's shoulder, drawing her focus back to the doctor. "Seriously," Sally said, a little sharply, "I don't like being in the dark here."

"I..." Relena began hesitantly, her eyes darting back to Heero's face, his expression clearly unsure. Though she couldn't help but wonder if she'd have been so certain of it, without that sense of Heero's anxiety in the back of her mind. "I'm not sure how to explain it," she began finally.

"Just try," Sally encouraged, her eyes flickering between them rather quickly.

Drawing another breath, Relena tried to organize thoughts that wanted to do anything but cooperate. "That first motel we stopped at," Relena looked into Heero's deep blue eyes and smiled, the expression growing at the pleasure she felt in hearing his pulse quicken. "Heero showed me a little of what he could do." Relena felt her cheeks heat as she remembered the intimate moment they had shared.

Sally nodded her head, clearly wanting more of the story. "I figured as much by your lack of reaction last night..."

Relena felt Heero tense up more at the reminder of his loss of control, and she stroked her thumb across his collarbone. "It's like I could..." she hesitated suddenly, reading more in Heero's body language than just his discomfort at the memory. Was this even something she should be revealing? Heero was definitely feeling agitated at the moment.

"I don't know," Relena admitted finally, "It's like I could sense things..."

"Sense things," Sally repeated flatly, her eyes looking from one to the other and back again. "Back then to my original question," the doctor said, looking more directly at Heero, "have you had an episode like this before?"

Heero's expression was guarded, and again Relena felt the swell of uncertainty rise in the back of her mind, and felt it double with her own worry for Heero. "It's okay, Heero," she said softly, her hand gently squeezing the back of his neck, "you should tell her what you know."

Relena wished she understood how she knew or felt what she did. But however this was happening right now, she was positive that Heero had experienced something like this before. And her worry for that, what had happened to Heero just now, outweighed everything else. Heero pulled a hand down the front of his face, his eyes finally leaving Relena's face to regard Sally.

"Sort of," he admitted finally.

"When did it happen?" Sally ask immediately, "And did you loose consciousness then too?"

"Hard to say..." Heero replied evasively, and Relena thought she could feel his agitation rising again.

Sally's eyebrows drew together as she looked intently at Heero. "I was hoping for a little more than this," she said flatly, "Ii isn't exactly a difficult question."

Relena squeezed the back of Heero's neck again, shifting a little closer to him. "Heero, you can trust her, I promise..." she reassured.

"I'm not..." Heero began, giving his head a slight shake, "keeping things from you." He looked briefly into Relena's eyes before staring straight ahead. "They kept me sedated. A lot of the time." Heero drew a breath, "it's hard to say why I lost consciousness at any given point." Relena saw Heero's left hand clench into a tight fist and she felt his frustration — or was it indignation? — at what he had to say.

"It wasn't under my control," he added flatly, and Relena spun her fingers into the hair at the back of Heero's head, wanting to offer him what comfort she could for the sense of pain she felt from him.

The silence that followed wasn't to last as Sally's expression grew thoughtful. "Is there a name for this?" she asked, making a vague gesture with her right hand. "What you can do? Do you know the extent? Or—"

"Sally," Relena said her friend's name a little more sharply than she might have, had she not felt and heard the elevated way Heero's heart suddenly started pounding. "This is too much. Give him some space." Relena continued to massage at the base of Heero's head. "I'm sure he'll answer, but perhaps it'd be better to have Wufei and Trowa here for this too?"

Relena heard Heero's heartbeat slow a little as she spoke, and she felt encouraged to continue. "Could you give us a few minutes?" she requested, her eyes going back to Heero's face, where cobalt irises met hers intently. Relena knew Heero was uneasy around Sally, had been perhaps since the night before, or maybe longer.

She too wanted the answers Sally was seeking, but not like this. "We can try again once Wufei can be here too," Relena said, feeling what she could only describe as a wave of relief rush over Heero. She didn't know when or how Heero had come to trust the other man, but Relena didn't doubt the strange insight she had into Heero.

Sally appeared reluctant to agree, but after a moment, and a considering look at each of them, she finally relented. "Alright," she didn't sound pleased by this as she pushed herself to her feet and made a move towards the door. She turned just on the threshold. "We do need to get to the bottom of this," she said pointedly.

Relena felt something in the back of her mind, like a cord humming with life, and the door behind Sally smacked her in the butt. The doctor's eyes flew wide and she stared at Heero as the door pushed harder against her backside. Sally threw a hand into the air. "Alright, I get the 'hint'," she almost fumed with a single hand air quote.

The door shut decisively behind Sally, and Relena even heard the lock engage before she found herself almost lost in Heero's cobalt eyes.