Author's Note: I did upload this
chapter earlier, but took it down for major editing… * Sorry *
Confusion: I you are confused as to the timeline of events in this fic,
please look at the explanation/timeline attached (last chapter
Disclaimer: I own none of the Gundam Wing characters or any
information from the show used in this fic. The ideas though are my own.
This is an HY/RP story.
Please review!
Enjoy!
Somewhere in Between
~Phoenixstar
Pardon?
~~~
The sky was dark and the clouds were heavy. Just like him, his thoughts and his heart.
"How could this happen?"
"I don't know."
"I heard the bomb wasn't meant for her."
"Really? I heard it
was."
"No, I read it was purely accidental that the offices she was
visiting were bombed. Apparently
it was meant for a branch of government."
"Oh, that's what they put in the papers, you know to defer the
public interest. Sympathy for a
fallen pacifist. It's the stuff of
great headlines you know." This was followed by a short chuckle and a playful smack on the
arm. "Ouch, what was that
for?"
"Well, first that was mean. You know she doesn't deserve that, and secondly someone might have heard
you."
"What are they going to do, kill me too?"
"Shhh..."
"That bomb wasn't for that government branch, it was FROM the
government branch."
"Why ever would you think that?"
"Just a suspicion from some sources."
"Rumours... Tsk tsk, I can't believe that you listen to
those!"
"You know me..." They both laughed a little. "Did you watch the games
yesterday? We lost so badly. Scored nothing. Can you believe it! Not one single score!" There was a half gasp.
"You don't say. Here
I was thinking that there was a chance left for them..."
Heero turned away, disgusted and frustrated with the couple sitting at
the bus stop with him. 'Better the
rain then staying here.' Being
late didn't seem so important any more.
~~~
"Heero, what's it like to feel pain?"
"Huh?"
"When you fought in the wars; when you got hurt, what did it feel
like?"
"You don't want to know," he whispered under his breath. Not hearing him she continued,
"I can't imagine. Not
at all. It must hurt so
much."
"You get used to it with time."
"Oh, I suppose you must really. Everyone gets used to things after a while."
"Hn." He sat up
and turned around to face her. "Not always. People
always get bored with what the have. They always want more."
"I suppose so. Do you think
the peace will last?"
"Everyone's peace is different Relena."
"I know. All the same
do you think it will last? I hope
it will," she fell back into
the chair, lifting her feet onto the table, closing her eyes and smiling at
some inner dream.
"Not if they forget the pain." 'I'll never forget what pain is
like. I can never forget.'
~~~
'One day at a time. That's
all, just take it one day at a time.'
Heero reached his office, slamming the door behind him. He could feel that today was not going
to be a good day. Stepping over
the shards of broken glass that sparkled trapped in the carpet he made his way
to his desk, collapsing into his chair. He leaned onto his palms and massaged
his temples. No matter how hard he
tried he couldn't clear his mind, and every thought he had seemed to make his
brain thump within his skull in pain.
'How could you let this happen Heero?'
He
stretched his arms, and looked for work to do; anything to get his mind off
'this'.
'You shouldn't care so much. She wasn't your problem anymore…'
"Your problem…" He whispered under his breath, the words catching in his throat. He looked down at the desk, wet eyes
blurring his view and saw a small piece of folded paper lying on it. It had Heero scrawled on it, and he
picked it up immediately. He knew
that handwriting anywhere. Reading
it over, his eyes narrowed in anger and his fists clenched tightly, crumpling
the paper into a tiny ball. This
was going to be one long day!
~~~
When Heero arrived in the conference room everyone else already seemed
to be there. Lady Une was sitting
at the desk, shuffling through papers, glasses on the end of her nose, looking
busy and important as always. She
looked up when he entered, grunted and went back to her papers. Next to her sat Sally, with her chair
turned round to face Wufei who was standing behind her. They seemed to be deep in conversation
but they were talking with low, hushed voices so Heero couldn't hear what
they were saying. Turning further
he saw Quatre sitting with Duo. When Quatre saw him he nudged Duo in the ribs. When Duo turned, he paled slightly with the scowl he
received.
The only other people
in the room were Trowa and Noin who were huddled together across the room from
him. Trowa was silent as usual,
standing in the corner, leaning against the wall with arms folded across his
chest. Noin was pacing uneasily
around him, fists clenching and unclenching at her sides. She kept mumbling under her breath and
looking to Trowa. When he remained
expressionless she would return to her pacing. Sitting down next to Duo he watched her carefully. Of course she was expected to be upset
after the loss of sister-in-law, but she didn't seem gloomy, in fact she
seemed to be anxious; and the soldier in Heero told him that something was up,
and he intended to find out what.
Lady Une broke his
thoughts as she stood up and cleared her throat. "I asked you all to be here, well, because I know you
were all the closest people to Miss Relena." At this point Trowa caught Heero's eyes and sent him a
look so cold that could easily counter Heero's. "Yes, well the reason I asked all you here is so
that…"
"Why did you
leave the note?" He snarled
under his breath at Duo.
"You
can't be mad at a friend for caring can you?"
"You
don't believe me do you? Thanks for trusting me."
"Look Heero you
saw with your own eyes. Bad enough
just knowing about it but you had to see, and you're still not happy?" Duo snarled.
"It
wasn't…"
"Like Hell it
wasn't Heero just give it up!"
"Ah-hem,"
their head snapped round. Duo
looked surprised and then tried to cover it up with a smile, nodding to Lady
Une to continue, while Heero just scowled.
"As I was
saying,' she continued, "we need to discuss," she paused,
searching for the right words, "the arrangements…" At this point Heero snapped and stood
up. Storming from the room he
slammed the heavy door behind him.
Lady Une glanced at
the door once before starting to talk again. Quatre leaned towards Duo,
"He's
taking it real hard huh?"
"No shit. I mean, I figured he'd be sad
about her dying, you remember how close they were and how down he was
when… When they broke up. I
never expected this though. He
flat out refuses to believe that she's gone."
"What do you
think he's going to do?"
"I have no idea and that really scares
me. I thought having to break the
news to him was bad…"
"Yeah, how did
that go…" Duo turned to face him, a look of pure sarcasm on his
face.
"Brilliant… After throwing every glass or sharp object in his office at me, he had a
wild mood swing, sat down and told me, point blank, that I was
lying." He looked Quatre in
the eyes, "I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie." Quatre nodded.
"Well, after
that he promptly left and I've kept an eye out for him ever
since."
"Well, I think
we all should. It's not
right the way he's dealing with this. It's just not right."
"Yeah…" They
turned back and tried to listen to Lady Une, but her droning on left little to
be very interested in. Leaning
over towards Duo, Quatre whispered,
"What's
up with Trowa and Noin?"
"Well,
Trowa's always quiet like that, and well, Noin was her sister-in-law and
all…"
"Yeah I know,
but Noin looks like she's read to burst, and not with tears. And she's hanging around
Trowa. I've never known them
to spend much time around each other."
"Yeah, I guess
you're right…" Duo watched Noin pace uneasily. "Wait a sec. Quatre,
where's Zechs?"
"No
idea!" Anxiously Duo waited
for a pause in Lady Une's 'speech'.
"Where is
Zechs?" He blurted out. Noin, at the mention of his name
practically screamed and everyone watched in confusion as her fists tightened
and her eyes narrowed. Following
Heero's example she stormed out of the room, except this time no one
claimed to understand the reasons.
"He's," Trowa began then paused. "He is with Relena right
now." Everyone hung their
heads.
After the
'talk' was over, Lady Une pulled Duo aside and motioned for him to
stay in the room until everyone else had left.
"Look Duo. I know what happened when you told
Heero. I'm sorry about
that." Duo opened his mouth
as if to protest. "No, I
understand you're upset that I asked you to do it, but you are the best
friend he has and, well, we figured it would be the easiest way to break the
news to him." Reading her
face he scowled,
"So
what's it this time?"
"Keep an eye on
Heero okay?"
"Sure, no
problem…"
"Thank-you," and with that she left him alone in the
room. He sighed and dropped his
shoulders, running his fingers through his bangs. 'Great. Baby-sit Heero. No
problem…' he shook his head… 'Who am I kidding… I
am so dead already."
~~~
"Will you miss
me while I'm gone?" She law down, sprawling herself across the bed.
"I don't
see why I can't come with you?"
"Heero, you
have your job and I have mine. As
much as I wish you could come with me, I'd rather you not jeopardize your
job and what we have here just to follow me around for 2 weeks. I'll be fine." She sighed rolling over onto her stomach. She propped her head up on her hands
and watched as he checked the room and her bags for her.
"Give it a rest Heero, you've made sure I
have everything 4 times already!" He looked up, and shrugged his shoulders.
"Never hurt any one to check!" he said defensively. She chuckled, sweet and slowly.
"No,
you're right. It never hurt
anyone to check once,
maybe even twice,
but four times! Doesn't that seem a
little much?" He smirked and
then sat down beside her on the bed, slowly massaging her shoulders.
"Not for
you." Trying not to give into the relaxation he was giving her, or perhaps
because of it, she groaned.
"Heero, that may be sweet," she titled
her head a little to the side and shot him a coy smile, "but it still
seems a little obsessive to
me."
"Well you know I wouldn't be feeling so bad about it if I
was coming with you." She
shrugged his hands from her neck and crawled off the bed, standing in front of
him.
"I don't
think counting how many shirts and pairs of underwear I am taking with me has anything to do with you not
coming, and besides, I thought we've been through this already. Just admit you'll miss me and
that you'll stay here," she stomped her foot and pointed at it to
emphasise her point, "until I get back." He rolled his eyes at her, a small smile tugging at the edge
of his lips.
"You know
I'm just worried about you being safe and all. I'd just feel a whole lot better if you'd let me
come and look after you!"
"I'm sure
you would Heero, but you are staying here all the same."
"Please?" Her
eyes opened wide with surprise.
"Is poor little Heero Yuy going to miss me so much that
he can't handle 14 days by himself?" she said, feigning deep
disbelief. He smirked and grabbed
her wrists, drawing her towards him. When they were almost touching, feeling each other's breath hot on
their faces, he whispered,
"Of course
I'll miss you…" before capturing her lips in a deep kiss.
~~~
"Heero leaned
against the wall of the corridor chest heaving. It was a miracle he lasted that long in that room, them all
falling for it that easily. They gave up on
her too quickly, and he would not be the one to lose faith in her. Not he.
Once he was sure that
the tears that had threatened to spill when he left the conference room had
passed he stood up tall, straightening his tie and brushing off his shirt and
pants. Even if he were falling apart he
wouldn't let on.
Walking back to his
office he tried to think back to the Lady's meeting. He had not taken much notice of
everyone when he had gone in, primarily because he was mad at Duo for trying to
force him to believe that she was dead. Dead! Of all the sick
perverse jokes Duo could pull, any of them could pull, this was by far the most
insensitive of them all.
Now, in reflection he
found it rather surprising that the 'whole gang' had been
there. 'Does that mean they
are all in on
this?' he thought, his blood just short of boiling at the thought of
being betrayed by the select few he had given his trust to. Duo, he had already known about. 'The nerve to just walk into my
office and announce, 'surprise!' the love of your life just dropped
dead!' And Wufei and Sally,
didn't they have too much honour to try something as low as that? Quatre!? Sure he had, had his moments piloting wing zero when he went
a little off-the-wall, but he had always had respect for the sweet, innocent
one of the bunch. 'Well
that's definitely going to change.' Noin, well he didn't know what to make of her. He had seen her storm down the hall not
long after he had left and didn't know what to make of her behaviour;
perhaps she was upset at them for doubting her as well?
The thing that
startled him the most was the indifference shown by Trowa. Sure, he might not have spent that much time around Heero, but it
must have been enough to know how important it was, and having worked for a
brief spell with the preventors must have let him have the chance to know
Relena. In fact, he was pretty
sure that Relena and Trowa had known each other pretty well. Next to Duo he probably knew Trowa the
best, since they had such similar temperaments. 'But why didn't he seem affected by the
news? Surely he must miss her more
than that?' He shook his
head, looking downwards ashamed by the realisation that he had been thinking
about Relena in the past tense.
Passing his
secretary's desk he reached for the handle for his office door it dawned
on him, "Zechs." 'Zechs wasn't there! How could I have been so blind! He of all people, not showing up to make the 'arrangements'
for his own sister!'
Rushing to his laptop
he now knew what he had to do.
~~~
"Never seen
anything like it Hilde. Never," he said exasperated, throwing his hands in the air. She sat on the edge of the bed,
watching cautiously as he paced around the room.
"I knew
he'd take it bad. I mean, I
cried for ages after I found out, and I don't know her half so well as he
did."
"He was still
in love with her you know."
"Yeah, I
know. Anyone who's seen his
eyes since she left knows, but Hilde, he didn't want to listen to
me. I'm his best friend and
he tells me I'm lying. Like
I'd have the heart to make something like that up! I may like to have fun, but this
isn't fun Hilde. It's
sick that's what it is. Sick, perverse, and just plain malicious. We all loved her too much to
do this to her memory." She
watched him, the concern evident in eyes. Patting the space on the bed next to her she smiled warmly. He sat down next to her putting his
elbows on his knees and resting his hands in his palms.
"I knew it
would be bad. I expected the
projectiles, I expected the screaming and I expected the anger, but I did not
prepare for this. Once there wasn't a pen or picture
frame near him he sat down, put on that bullshit perfect soldier mask of his
and said flat out that I was lying. When I denied lying, real tears as proof, he stormed out, and you know
me Hilde, he's the best friend I've got next to you and I worry
about him, I really do. So I
followed him out to the street and he turned around and demanded that I take
him to the scene. Didn't
flinch once during the whole scene. I'm glad you weren't there to see it; the death and
destruction everywhere, it was terrible. But did he blink so much as to hold back a tear even once? No." Duo started shaking a bit. Realising he was on the verge of tears Hilde started rubbing
slow lazy circles on his back.
"And then I
swear he lost it. He asked, no he
demanded to see her. He wanted to
her body; after all it has been through, he still wanted to see it. You know him, once he's
determined to do something you know he'll go right ahead and do it, but I
wish he hadn't." One
tear ran down his cheek and off his chin, splashing silently on his pants. Then another followed it. And another.
"He looked at
her and it was the worst thing I've ever seen. 'I'll have nightmares for years of it. Her lying still and broken… Never thought I'd see the
day. And after all we've
been through who would have though she'd be the first to go? He looked at her, he looked at her long
and hard studying ever feature; I couldn't look Hilde, it just
wasn't right. Then he turned
to me, expressionless and said, 'It's not her.' Of all the things he could have said!
'It's not her.' I may not have perfect eyesight but it was clear as day that it was
her."
"I just
don't know what to do anymore… I just don't know." At this point his body broke out into wild sobs. All Hilde could do was hold him close
until he calmed down. What else
could she do? She was on the verge
of tears herself.
~~~
"Did you notice
what I did?"
"Depends on
what you noticed," she said sitting across from him, looking
questioningly over at him.
"That was weird."
"Yes, it was rather. I know about Heero, but Noin? I don't know what is happening there."
"Yes, but that's not what I meant. Did you hear what Lady Une said?" he started fiddling
with a pen on the table.
"It wasn't an accident," she stated. His head snapped up.
"So what are
you trying to say?"
"That, well, it
couldn't have been meant for us."
"Why
not?" He watched as she
looked into her bag producing some Polaroid's. Laying them out across the table she said,
"Look
Wufei. Do you notice what I
did?"
"Depends on
what you noticed," he said using her words against her. She narrowed her eyes towards him and
urged him to look at the pictures again. "If you mean the fact that the bomb was in the ventilation, then
yes, I think we noticed the same thing."
"Exactly!" she exclaimed jumping to her feet. "That's it exactly."
"I don't
see how that proves anything… Unless," he ran the thought through
his head before saying quietly, "Let me see the picture again." He grabbed if off the table. "If it was in the ventilation then he
obviously had the prints for the building, and," he thought it over,
"if he
had the plans for the building then he would have been able to tell this
wasn't the headquarters. And
if he knew
this wasn't headquarters then it couldn't have been an accident."
Sally just nodded.
"So Relena may have been the target after all."
Sally nodded again.
"Listen Sally, you check the records, I'll check the
scene. I may even decide to pay
our little detonator happy friend a visit." A small smirk found its way to his face.
"Fine, but Wufei, just don't tell Heero."
"I value my life more than you give me credit"
