Chapter Seven
Seeing Double

"Hello, Beta."

The simple words had him rooted in place. His eyes grew wide as he slowly turned his head back around to face the bed. Prussian Blue eyes met his own as she looked at him from over her shoulder.

Heero could only stare at her. Her expression was one of amusement. Her lips were curled up into a small smirk but the glint in her eyes was just enough for him to notice she was enjoying this. She looked just like him, but there was something different about her. Her face was softer, and the contours of her face weren't as defined in some areas as they were on him. But her jawline and cheekbones reminded him of someone...

Then it hit him, she looked like the woman in his dreams.

He couldn't place the woman but she was older than the girl who was sitting on the bed in front of him. But there was no denying it, there was a definite resemblance to the woman. He had always wondered if maybe it was a memory from his childhood. He had always seen himself as a young boy in his dreams and slowly had come to deem the woman as his mother. She never spoke a word to him, but he could recognize her face anywhere.

Snapping out of his thoughts, even with the shock still lingering within him. He adjusted himself, glaring at her. She chuckled at him as she turned herself fully on the bed to face him.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Beta," she chuckled again continuing to speak to him in Japanese. "It can't be that shocking considering this isn't a first for you."

"First for me?" Heero questioned back.

"Are you saying you've forgotten, Beta?" She lifted an eyebrow at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Do I need to remind you about Alpha? Though I'm sure you remember him," her face hardened.

Heero didn't think as he threw himself at the girl. He was acting purely on his emotions.

The girl leaped off the bed dodging him. Turning herself, she grabbed hold of his arms before throwing him against the wall. Heero locked his gaze with hers. She had him pinned to the wall and while he thought he could get the upper hand, anything he tried she would counter, keeping him firmly in place. She was strong. Gritting his teeth he was going to try one last thing. He had glanced down at her shoulder, blood soaking the bandage. If she had a weak spot maybe he could...

"Don't," she said as Heero locked eyes with her again. "We don't need to do this." Heero's face remained hard as he glared at her. He knew exactly what she was. "Heero," she said, softening her eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you or anyone."

Heero watched her carefully. He didn't trust her. But what surprised him was when she released her hold on him. Stepping back she allowed him the advantage he needed. He hardened his eyes as he lunged at her again. Spinning the both of them so her back was against the wall.

"Talk," he seethed through his teeth.

"What do you want to know?" She asked. Heero pushed her up the wall more.

"Why are you here?" The words came out in a low growl. The girl narrowed her eyes at him.

"Does it matter why?"

"I'll ask one last time. Why are you here?" Heero tightened his hold on her.

"Enough!" Sally yelled from behind him. The girl's eyes snapped to Sally. Ignoring what Sally had said, Heero jerked the girl to get her attention back on him.

"Answer my question."

"I didn't choose this life, nor did I choose to be someone's puppet," she said as she turned hardened eyes back to him.

"Puppet?"

"You think you're the only one who was made to play some role? Dekim may be dead, Beta, but it doesn't mean there aren't others out there that aren't just as cruel as he was." Heero's eyes widened slightly as she continued to speak, "J isn't always the one pulling the strings and you know that."

Heero saw something flash in her eyes. It was almost a plea for him to understand. Heero did not doubt in his mind that she was a clone. His clone. She was referring to him by the name he went by after J had introduced him to his first clone, Alpha. He loosened his grip slightly but not enough to let her go.

"Who?" He asked.

"He- they're far worse than Dekim ever was."

"I said enough! Heero let go of her right now!" Sally yelled. Slowly Heero let go of the girl, taking a step back from her. "Good, now if either of you tries to kill each other again, I will personally put two bullets in each of you myself. Now, Serena, go sit down on the bed. I didn't waste all that time working on your shoulder to go and have you tear apart my work," Sally said. Heero eyed the girl in front of him. A sly smile formed on her lips. "And you, Heero, if you wish to continue your little chat with her, go stand over there and don't move," Sally pointed to a nearby wall when Heero glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

Heero looked back at Serena. They stared at each other for a beat longer before they both made their way to their assigned spots. Neither one of them said another word. Sally rummaged in a few of the cabinets. When she had found what she was looking for she sat down on the bed next to her.

"The two of you can continue whatever conversation you were having. At this point, I don't care anymore. I'm too damn tired and all of this," Sally threw up her hands, "is honestly too much to handle."

Serena arched a brow at Sally before she turned to look back at him, "I'll tell you what you want to know. But you're going to need my help if you want to stop them," Serena spoke to him. Still keeping their conversation private from Sally.

"What makes you think we can trust what you say?"

"Because..." a sly smile appeared on her face once again. "I'm your best weapon against them now."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Heero weighed his options. Something was nagging at him but his gut told him to hear her out. She may hold the vital information they needed. But what did she fully mean by being their best weapon against this rebel group?

"Start talking."

When Trowa returned to Serena's room he wasn't expecting to see the sight that greeted him. Serena was sitting on the bed while Sally was re-stitching her shoulder. Heero stood against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and his head bowed. Trowa looked at Serena with a questioning look but she only stared back at him expressionless. Then he caught a glimpse of Heero lifting his head to look at him.

"Guess you two met?" Trowa asked, walking over to Serena. Sally had finished re-stitching her shoulder and was tapping her shoulder with the gaze.

"I'll say," Sally said while rolling her eyes. She looked pointed at Serena and then to Heero as she stood up. "Remember my warning, both of you," she said before turning towards him, fire burning in her eyes. "Watch them and if they try to strangle each other just shoot one or both of them. I don't care. Whatever gets them to stop," Sally said as she walked past him and out of the room, leaving the three of them alone.

Trowa turned back to Heero and Serena after Sally left. Lifting a brow he addressed them, "do either of you want to explain that to me?" Neither of them said a word. Heero crossed his arms back over his chest and Serena simply turned her head away from him. "I'll take that as a no." Sighing inwardly, Trowa set down a pair of sweatpants and a shirt on the bed before handing Serena a sandwich and a water bottle. "This was all I could get. I'll find something better for you later," he smiled softly at her.

"It's fine, thank you," Serena said as she looked up at him.

"For clothes, this was all I could find at the moment. I can try and see if any of the female agents have any extra clothes that you can borrow for now if you'd like?"

"No, this is fine." Serena softened her face. Trowa looked up to speak to Heero as Serena opened her sandwich.

"Care to fill me in on what I missed?" Trowa asked, receiving a glare from Heero.

"I should be asking you the same thing," Heero said. Trowa regarded him with his look.

"I'm not sure I follow?"

"He wants to know why you didn't go speak with him after the mission," Serena said from her spot on the bed. Heero glanced at her before returning his attention to him.

"I would ask what your explanation is for not reporting back to me right away. But I get the impression I already know why," Heero said, his face remaining cold. Trowa narrowed his eyes at him.

"Give him a break, Heero. Besides, you now have both flash drives. I already told you that your best bet is to break the encrypted files on both and compare the data. They were moving files when I got there. Chances are we don't have all the information, to begin with."

Trowa watched them carefully. Serena had said something to Heero, none of which was in English. Heero regarded her for a moment.

"How do I know I can trust the information you told me thus far?"

"You can't. Not until you find out for yourself. But go by what your emotions tell you," Serena's lips curled up slightly.

Heero narrowed his eyes, dropping his arms to his sides, "we'll see." Heero turned his attention back to him. "Barton, a word?" Trowa lifted a brow then looked at Serena. To his surprise, he saw her roll her eyes.

"If you need help, you know where to find me," Serena said before taking another bite of her sandwich. Heero grunted something unintelligent under his breath as he walked out of the room. Serena was looking at him when he looked back at her.

She waved him to go, "he's not going to wait forever. Besides, I'm not going anywhere, remember?" Trowa made a face at her. He didn't want to leave her alone. "I'm not going anywhere, Barton. Go, he's already angry enough. And thank you again for the clothes and food," she smiled slightly at him.

Outside of the room, Heero waited in the hall for Trowa. Serena, as she was calling herself, didn't give him much information. She had only said their best bet was to get the information off the flash drives and hope the group had left them something. Closing his eyes, the little voice that had been nagging him since the first encrypted message came in was back. Something about the whole situation seemed off. Serena hadn't mentioned anything about sending them nor did he bother to ask. She was holding something back but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

When Trowa walked out of the room Heero opened his eyes, mentally shaking his thoughts away.

"How many people know about her?"

"As of right now, Sally, Une, myself, and you."

"Hm," Heero nodded. He figured Une knew since she had both flash drives. One from Trowa and the other from Serena. "What are the current plans for her?"

"She's going to be staying here. Once her shoulder heals and Sally clears her, she's agreed to run further testing," Trowa said.

"Is that necessary? I'm sure Sally already ran some tests?" Trowa seemed to hesitate for a moment before responding to his question.

"Yes, she did, but the extent of the readings won't be known till Sally can see what she's capable of."

Heero thought it over, it made some sense. From what he gathered from their conversation J had probably trained her the same way he was and most likely enhanced her genes.

"She'll probably be healed within a few weeks or so. Are you currently guarding her?"

"Yes, until we find someone else to watch over her."

"I'll be back later to relieve you," Heero said before turning on his heel, and making his way back to the stairs. He had a few things to take care of, and he also needed some time before he came back to speak with Serena again.

Trowa watched Heero as he entered the stairwell. Unsure of how to feel about their conversation. Shaking his head, he turned to enter Serena's room. Once back inside he found that she was once again sitting on the bed, her arms crossed over her chest and her head bowed. She had changed into the gray sweatpants and shirt that he brought her and her hair was up and being held in place by…

"Where did you find a pen?"

"Counter," she replied without looking at him. Trowa turned his head and noticed a notepad had been left out but the pen was missing.

"I'm sure I could get you some hair ties if you'd like?"

"Hm."

Sighing to himself, he continued to watch her. She hadn't moved and from the looks of it, she wasn't planning to.

"Do you want to tell me what happened between you and Heero?"

"No," came her short reply. Sighing to himself again, he moved to stand against the wall Heero had been occupying. Folding his arms over his chest he let his eyes rest on her.

The room fell silent with neither of them speaking. Serena knew Trowa was still looking at her but he didn't ask any further questions. She was content at the moment to not have to answer any. She had been debating on how much information to give them. Especially Heero. She knew he would be returning later on in the day. Most likely to ask her some loaded questions. Some of which she wasn't even sure she could answer honestly. But she knew she needed to play her cards right, maybe she could have things work out in her favor.

Battling with her inner thoughts over what she was going to do, she let go of them to let her mind wander to Trowa.

Serena had noticed that he had changed into a pair of jeans along with a long sleeve black shirt. But his watch was missing. He had checked the time earlier before grumbling to himself as he took out his phone. She assumed that either the battery had died or the watch itself was broken. None of it mattered as her thoughts went back to when she first met him.

She hadn't known him long, but he had treated her like a person from the start. Even going as far as to tend to her needs. Even though she didn't need the help. He had been gentle with her, even kind. He didn't need to go find her clothing or even go out of his way to get her something to eat, but he still had. From what she understood it was in his nature to be that way. But she also knew what he was capable of. He was a soldier, trained perfectly for combat. But she could sense something different about him or maybe it was that she didn't fully know the man who was watching her so carefully.

The room was still a comfortable quiet as she let her mind continue to ponder everything. Maybe having him here won't be so bad. She thought to herself as a small smile formed on her lips. This could be very interesting.

A/N

Heero has finally met Serena. Think these two can get along? Will one of them kill the other by the end? What can I say is that their relationship becomes very interesting. I'm getting more excited the more I'm posting. Rereading each chapter and knowing the next gets better and better, it's fun. I hope so far you're enjoying the story thus far because we still have 64 more chapters to go. I'm not sorry either. It'll be worth the read. Take care for now!

-MM