"What possessed you to pick a fight with Terry Masters, anyway? He's the most influential guy in school!" Duo yelled at Relana, who glared up at him from her seat on a bench. She was rubbing her injured arm. Trowa studiously looked away, and Quatre shook his head. Relena looked scared.
"He was bothering me." Relana replied, her voice low. Duo gaped at her.
"He was just bothering you." Duo repeated. "And that gave you an excuse?!" Relana said nothing; she just clenched her fists.
"Relana, do you realize that you may get us all expelled? It would totally ruin Doc's reputation, and we can't afford that right now! This school is too important."
Relana stood, and looked icily at Duo. "If the school is more important to you, Duo, then I'll be sure to leave you out. Is that good enough for you; so you won't be implicated with me?" She searched his face for a second, then turned and stalked off.
"'Lana, wait!" Duo yelled, but she was disappearing around the corner. Relena hurried after her, after throwing a disapproving glance at Duo. He looked at Trowa, who wouldn't meet his eyes, and Quatre, who shook his head.
"What?!"
"'Lana, please. I didn't mean it that way! C'mon, I said I was sorry!" Duo was still trying to get Relana to talk to him. She sat at her desk and stared straight ahead, totally ignoring him. She only talked to Trowa and Quatre, and looked right through Duo.
"Relana! Talk to me?" Duo asked.
"Mr. Maxwell, this is a classroom, not a place to talk to your girlfriend. Pay attention!" Mrs. Yamaguchi snapped. Duo blushed and turned back to his work as the class snickered. Relana, whose face was equally red, hurriedly started writing as the teacher glared at her. Just then, the comm blared to life and called Relana, Trowa, Quatre, and Duo down to the headmistress' office.
Relana walked down with Quatre, leaving Duo and Trowa to follow. Upon entering, the four of them were gestured into the headmistress' office. Terry Masters was sitting there, his eye black and his lower lip swollen. There was a cut on his cheek. Terry smirked at Relana as she sat as far from him as she could get.
"Terry, tell us what happened at lunch today." The headmistress said.
"Well, I saw Miss Peacecraft in class today, and she was a new student. So, at lunch time, I walked up to her to welcome her to the school. I just said hello, and she started to insult me. I asked her what I did and she punched me. That's when the others and Relena Peacecraft showed up. Duo and Quatre pulled her away, and I was going to thank them when Trowa threatened me! He shoved me out of the way, and then they all took off." Terry looked innocently at the headmistress. Relana's eyes narrowed, and she opened her mouth to speak. Duo beat her to it.
"That wasn't the way it happened, Headmistress. Terry said something to Relana, to make her mad like that." If Duo thought Relana would be grateful, he was mistaken; all he got from her was an icy glare.
"Duo, let Relana tell her version. Relana?"
"I was walking around, waiting for Quatre, Trowa, Duo and my sister, when Terry walked up and put his arm around me. I told him not to touch me, and he laughed. Then I told him that if he didn't let go of me, I would hit him. Then, he insulted my sister, so I punched him. I told him to take it back, and that's when my friends showed up. Trowa didn't insult Terry, he just told him to get lost. They had no part in it, Headmistress." Relana replied, her eyes flashing with anger. Trowa opened his mouth to contradict her, but she elbowed him in the side. Quatre looked uncertain, but kept quiet, and Duo glared at Relana. He would have told the headmistress his part in it, but Relana's face told him he would regret it.
"Well, Miss Peacecraft, you admit to hitting Terry?" Relana nodded.
"We don't approve of that here, Miss Peacecraft. I'll have to suspend you for three days. Terry, you have detention for three days, after school."
"But, it was Terry's fault!" Quatre protested. The headmistress looked at him.
"Don't question my judgment, Mr. Winner."
"Sorry, Headmistress."
"Relana, I'll call Doc to tell him you're coming home. The rest of you go back to class."
Doc waited until they were driving home to yell at Relana.
"Will you tell me what happened? You can't just go around fighting everyone. Are you even the least bit sorry for this?"
"No, I'm not. Why should I be? I'm not telling you what happened; it's over." Relana stared straight ahead. Doc gave up trying to get through to her, and concentrated on his driving.
They arrived home in a few minutes, and Relana headed straight to her bedroom. Meg, home for once, looked at her curiously, but didn't ask. Relana threw herself on the bed, and scowled at the ceiling. She heard Doc and Meg talking softly, but tuned them out. Putting her headphones on, she was soon asleep.
Relana awoke with a start. Carefully listening, she tried to discover what was wrong. It was dead silent. She checked the clock; it was a half hour later. School wasn't even out yet. She slid off the bed, and padded silently to her door. Her bare feet made no noise on the carpet, and she cautiously crept out. Intuition told her something was wrong. All the lights were off, except for a single faint one in the kitchen.
"Meg? Doc?" Relana whispered. There was no answer, but she heard footsteps coming from the darkened living room. Pale light filtered in through the single window. A shadow moved in front of the light. Relana froze. The shadow was too big to be Meg, and too short to be Doc. Not even the children were crying. The children! Where were they? She crept towards their room, praying the person wouldn't see her. The door to the children's room was ajar, and the room provided the only other light. Relana gasped. The room had been ransacked, and Meg lay in a heap on the floor. Relana ran in, and knelt beside her friend. Faintly, the wail of a child was heard. Meg's eyes were closed, her face pale. Blood streaked her hair. Relana checked for a pulse. It was there, weak but steady.
"Hey! There's another one!" The hoarse voice came from behind her. Relana spun around. A short, masked man stood there, staring at her. He must have been the one Relana had seen in the shadows. Relana gaped at him, then at the gun he pointed straight at her.
"Who are you, girl?" he growled. Relana just stared at him, hoping he would think she was stupid, and didn't understand. His finger inched closer to the trigger on the gun.
"Chotto matte kudasai! Iie! Takushi noriba wa doko desu ka?" Relana crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping the man didn't know Japanese. If he did, he would know she had just said 'Please wait a moment. No! Where is the taxi stand?' Luckily, he didn't. He motioned with the gun for Relana to come out of the room. Unknown to her, he gestured to another man standing in the shadows. As Relana walked out, she felt a sudden, sharp pain on the back of her head. As she sank to her knees and the blackness overpowered her, she faintly heard the man say, "Stupid girl! Thought she could pretend she was Japanese! Asked me where the taxi stand was."
"Relana? Meg, Doc?" Duo called, entering the building. The place was dark, only a few lights on. Usually, Doc came to ask how school had gone, or the children came running up to throw themselves at whoever opened the door first.
"Where are they?" Quatre asked, coming up behind Duo. Duo shrugged.
"Maybe they went shopping." Wufei muttered. "Move, Duo." He shouldered his way past Duo and entered. "Hello?" he called.
"I thought they went shopping?" Duo smirked. Wufei glared at him. Trowa shoved past.
"Are you going to stand there until Heero gets back?" he asked. Duo grimaced. Heero had been kept at school for missing assignments, and would not be in a good mood when he got free. Quatre walked in, and Duo followed him.
"Why are all the lights off?" Quatre asked.
"Hey, what's that?" Trowa asked, pointing to a lump on the floor. He flicked on the lights, and stared. Doc lay on the floor, a huge bump on his head. He stirred as they stared, slowly opening his eyes.
"Wha… What happened?" he mumbled. Trowa and Wufei helped him up.
"Doc, where's Relana? Where's Meg?" Duo asked. Doc rubbed his head.
"Meg's in the baby room, I think. We tried to stop them… They were just too powerful. I haven't seen Relana since she came home. She could still be in her bedroom.
"Or kidnapped." Duo said under his breath as he ran towards the baby room. He stopped short outside the door. Relana lay on the ground, her long hair matted with blood. He dropped to his knees beside her, and cradled her head in his arms.
"Relana? Relana! Can you hear me? Wake up!" He shook her hard.
"What are you trying to do? Kill me?" she snapped, pushing him away. She blinked and rubbed her head.
"I swear, girl, you have more lives than a cat." Meg said from the doorway. There was a gash above her eyes, but other than that she appeared okay.
"Did you get the license plate of the car that hit me?" Relana mumbled. Meg laughed.
"Now I know you're fine. But, you're lucky. They were after you, Relana. They didn't expect you to be here, that's why they took the children. They must have thought you were Relena."
"You're okay now, right?" Duo asked. "Nothing worse than usual with your brain?"
"I vote we hit you in the back of the head and see how you feel." Relana retorted, scowling at him.
"I second it." Quatre said, coming over. "Need some help, Relana?" He offered her his hand, which she gratefully took. Once on her feet, she swayed from side to side.
"Wow, mummy, look at the little birdies." She said, crossing her eyes. "Meg, they took the children?"
"Yeah. I tried, honestly I did, but I'm no fighter. I couldn't stop them, and neither could Doc. Not even you."
"They took me by surprise. They'll get what's coming though."
"Not now, they won't. Relana, you're not going anywhere. I forbid you to leave this house." Doc said from the hall. Relana stared at him, her mouth open.
"What?! You won't let me rescue the children? Why not?" she demanded.
"They took you by surprise once. They're also looking for you. It's OZ, I'm sure, and they know you'll come after the children. Let me work out a plan first. Understand me, Relana? No leaving this house." Doc turned and left, leaving Relana fuming.
That night, all the pilots except Duo and Quatre had gone to sleep. Heero had responded with his usual scowl when told of the afternoon's happenings. Doc had left, and hadn't returned yet. Duo got up from the card game and went to get a drink. He met Relana in the kitchen. There was something strange about her, but Duo was too tired to think of it. Besides, Relana was still angry about his lecture. She said she was getting a drink too. Duo yawned and returned to the card game. Only after a few minutes did it hit him: Relana had been fully clothed, and in her pilot's outfit. He leaped up and ran into the kitchen. It was too late; the door was ajar, and Relana was gone.
A/N: Kudos, Silver Wing. You picked up on my hints. What you said in your review is exactly what I plan on doing! Gracias, everyone else who read and reviewed!
"He was bothering me." Relana replied, her voice low. Duo gaped at her.
"He was just bothering you." Duo repeated. "And that gave you an excuse?!" Relana said nothing; she just clenched her fists.
"Relana, do you realize that you may get us all expelled? It would totally ruin Doc's reputation, and we can't afford that right now! This school is too important."
Relana stood, and looked icily at Duo. "If the school is more important to you, Duo, then I'll be sure to leave you out. Is that good enough for you; so you won't be implicated with me?" She searched his face for a second, then turned and stalked off.
"'Lana, wait!" Duo yelled, but she was disappearing around the corner. Relena hurried after her, after throwing a disapproving glance at Duo. He looked at Trowa, who wouldn't meet his eyes, and Quatre, who shook his head.
"What?!"
"'Lana, please. I didn't mean it that way! C'mon, I said I was sorry!" Duo was still trying to get Relana to talk to him. She sat at her desk and stared straight ahead, totally ignoring him. She only talked to Trowa and Quatre, and looked right through Duo.
"Relana! Talk to me?" Duo asked.
"Mr. Maxwell, this is a classroom, not a place to talk to your girlfriend. Pay attention!" Mrs. Yamaguchi snapped. Duo blushed and turned back to his work as the class snickered. Relana, whose face was equally red, hurriedly started writing as the teacher glared at her. Just then, the comm blared to life and called Relana, Trowa, Quatre, and Duo down to the headmistress' office.
Relana walked down with Quatre, leaving Duo and Trowa to follow. Upon entering, the four of them were gestured into the headmistress' office. Terry Masters was sitting there, his eye black and his lower lip swollen. There was a cut on his cheek. Terry smirked at Relana as she sat as far from him as she could get.
"Terry, tell us what happened at lunch today." The headmistress said.
"Well, I saw Miss Peacecraft in class today, and she was a new student. So, at lunch time, I walked up to her to welcome her to the school. I just said hello, and she started to insult me. I asked her what I did and she punched me. That's when the others and Relena Peacecraft showed up. Duo and Quatre pulled her away, and I was going to thank them when Trowa threatened me! He shoved me out of the way, and then they all took off." Terry looked innocently at the headmistress. Relana's eyes narrowed, and she opened her mouth to speak. Duo beat her to it.
"That wasn't the way it happened, Headmistress. Terry said something to Relana, to make her mad like that." If Duo thought Relana would be grateful, he was mistaken; all he got from her was an icy glare.
"Duo, let Relana tell her version. Relana?"
"I was walking around, waiting for Quatre, Trowa, Duo and my sister, when Terry walked up and put his arm around me. I told him not to touch me, and he laughed. Then I told him that if he didn't let go of me, I would hit him. Then, he insulted my sister, so I punched him. I told him to take it back, and that's when my friends showed up. Trowa didn't insult Terry, he just told him to get lost. They had no part in it, Headmistress." Relana replied, her eyes flashing with anger. Trowa opened his mouth to contradict her, but she elbowed him in the side. Quatre looked uncertain, but kept quiet, and Duo glared at Relana. He would have told the headmistress his part in it, but Relana's face told him he would regret it.
"Well, Miss Peacecraft, you admit to hitting Terry?" Relana nodded.
"We don't approve of that here, Miss Peacecraft. I'll have to suspend you for three days. Terry, you have detention for three days, after school."
"But, it was Terry's fault!" Quatre protested. The headmistress looked at him.
"Don't question my judgment, Mr. Winner."
"Sorry, Headmistress."
"Relana, I'll call Doc to tell him you're coming home. The rest of you go back to class."
Doc waited until they were driving home to yell at Relana.
"Will you tell me what happened? You can't just go around fighting everyone. Are you even the least bit sorry for this?"
"No, I'm not. Why should I be? I'm not telling you what happened; it's over." Relana stared straight ahead. Doc gave up trying to get through to her, and concentrated on his driving.
They arrived home in a few minutes, and Relana headed straight to her bedroom. Meg, home for once, looked at her curiously, but didn't ask. Relana threw herself on the bed, and scowled at the ceiling. She heard Doc and Meg talking softly, but tuned them out. Putting her headphones on, she was soon asleep.
Relana awoke with a start. Carefully listening, she tried to discover what was wrong. It was dead silent. She checked the clock; it was a half hour later. School wasn't even out yet. She slid off the bed, and padded silently to her door. Her bare feet made no noise on the carpet, and she cautiously crept out. Intuition told her something was wrong. All the lights were off, except for a single faint one in the kitchen.
"Meg? Doc?" Relana whispered. There was no answer, but she heard footsteps coming from the darkened living room. Pale light filtered in through the single window. A shadow moved in front of the light. Relana froze. The shadow was too big to be Meg, and too short to be Doc. Not even the children were crying. The children! Where were they? She crept towards their room, praying the person wouldn't see her. The door to the children's room was ajar, and the room provided the only other light. Relana gasped. The room had been ransacked, and Meg lay in a heap on the floor. Relana ran in, and knelt beside her friend. Faintly, the wail of a child was heard. Meg's eyes were closed, her face pale. Blood streaked her hair. Relana checked for a pulse. It was there, weak but steady.
"Hey! There's another one!" The hoarse voice came from behind her. Relana spun around. A short, masked man stood there, staring at her. He must have been the one Relana had seen in the shadows. Relana gaped at him, then at the gun he pointed straight at her.
"Who are you, girl?" he growled. Relana just stared at him, hoping he would think she was stupid, and didn't understand. His finger inched closer to the trigger on the gun.
"Chotto matte kudasai! Iie! Takushi noriba wa doko desu ka?" Relana crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping the man didn't know Japanese. If he did, he would know she had just said 'Please wait a moment. No! Where is the taxi stand?' Luckily, he didn't. He motioned with the gun for Relana to come out of the room. Unknown to her, he gestured to another man standing in the shadows. As Relana walked out, she felt a sudden, sharp pain on the back of her head. As she sank to her knees and the blackness overpowered her, she faintly heard the man say, "Stupid girl! Thought she could pretend she was Japanese! Asked me where the taxi stand was."
"Relana? Meg, Doc?" Duo called, entering the building. The place was dark, only a few lights on. Usually, Doc came to ask how school had gone, or the children came running up to throw themselves at whoever opened the door first.
"Where are they?" Quatre asked, coming up behind Duo. Duo shrugged.
"Maybe they went shopping." Wufei muttered. "Move, Duo." He shouldered his way past Duo and entered. "Hello?" he called.
"I thought they went shopping?" Duo smirked. Wufei glared at him. Trowa shoved past.
"Are you going to stand there until Heero gets back?" he asked. Duo grimaced. Heero had been kept at school for missing assignments, and would not be in a good mood when he got free. Quatre walked in, and Duo followed him.
"Why are all the lights off?" Quatre asked.
"Hey, what's that?" Trowa asked, pointing to a lump on the floor. He flicked on the lights, and stared. Doc lay on the floor, a huge bump on his head. He stirred as they stared, slowly opening his eyes.
"Wha… What happened?" he mumbled. Trowa and Wufei helped him up.
"Doc, where's Relana? Where's Meg?" Duo asked. Doc rubbed his head.
"Meg's in the baby room, I think. We tried to stop them… They were just too powerful. I haven't seen Relana since she came home. She could still be in her bedroom.
"Or kidnapped." Duo said under his breath as he ran towards the baby room. He stopped short outside the door. Relana lay on the ground, her long hair matted with blood. He dropped to his knees beside her, and cradled her head in his arms.
"Relana? Relana! Can you hear me? Wake up!" He shook her hard.
"What are you trying to do? Kill me?" she snapped, pushing him away. She blinked and rubbed her head.
"I swear, girl, you have more lives than a cat." Meg said from the doorway. There was a gash above her eyes, but other than that she appeared okay.
"Did you get the license plate of the car that hit me?" Relana mumbled. Meg laughed.
"Now I know you're fine. But, you're lucky. They were after you, Relana. They didn't expect you to be here, that's why they took the children. They must have thought you were Relena."
"You're okay now, right?" Duo asked. "Nothing worse than usual with your brain?"
"I vote we hit you in the back of the head and see how you feel." Relana retorted, scowling at him.
"I second it." Quatre said, coming over. "Need some help, Relana?" He offered her his hand, which she gratefully took. Once on her feet, she swayed from side to side.
"Wow, mummy, look at the little birdies." She said, crossing her eyes. "Meg, they took the children?"
"Yeah. I tried, honestly I did, but I'm no fighter. I couldn't stop them, and neither could Doc. Not even you."
"They took me by surprise. They'll get what's coming though."
"Not now, they won't. Relana, you're not going anywhere. I forbid you to leave this house." Doc said from the hall. Relana stared at him, her mouth open.
"What?! You won't let me rescue the children? Why not?" she demanded.
"They took you by surprise once. They're also looking for you. It's OZ, I'm sure, and they know you'll come after the children. Let me work out a plan first. Understand me, Relana? No leaving this house." Doc turned and left, leaving Relana fuming.
That night, all the pilots except Duo and Quatre had gone to sleep. Heero had responded with his usual scowl when told of the afternoon's happenings. Doc had left, and hadn't returned yet. Duo got up from the card game and went to get a drink. He met Relana in the kitchen. There was something strange about her, but Duo was too tired to think of it. Besides, Relana was still angry about his lecture. She said she was getting a drink too. Duo yawned and returned to the card game. Only after a few minutes did it hit him: Relana had been fully clothed, and in her pilot's outfit. He leaped up and ran into the kitchen. It was too late; the door was ajar, and Relana was gone.
A/N: Kudos, Silver Wing. You picked up on my hints. What you said in your review is exactly what I plan on doing! Gracias, everyone else who read and reviewed!