Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing©.... someone else does and I curse them and yet love them...
Dedication: To all who love me... I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!
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NOTE: Keep this in mind... ' As Beauty Fades... Love Stays©... ' for later use... hee hee
~Truth or Consequences
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~Chapter 7~
~It's going to be alright...
Heero quickly backed up the car and parked it. He squinted his eyes so he could get a better look at who was walking past the car, holding her side and limping as she walked. Her hair all messed, and her face had quite a bit scraps, cuts and bruises decorating it.
' That isn't her... is it? ', he thought as he jumped over the closed door and walked over to her, watching as she stumbled everynow and then, but never falling.
Relena coughed hard, her body shook, trembled, broke some more as the cough attack seized her body. She could feel it, feel the blood gushing from her wounds internally as she walked down the street. People passed her and shot her sympathetic looks, but never offered to help.
' This is it... I'm going to die... ', Relena thought as she began to gasp for air now, clutching her chest.
Heero was only a few feet away from her when he heard a choked gasp of breath and then watched as she began to fall back. He rushed towards her and grabbed her waist before she could ever hit the ground, her head falling against his shoulder, her broken body sagging against his like a limp, dead ragdoll.
He flipped her around slowly, carefully so he could see her face and then felt his heart lurch and then stop as he got to see her up close.
Relena's face just wasn't full of cuts, bruises and other things, there were pieces of rock that were stuck in her face, piercing the flesh, embedding themselves into the skin. Blood poured from her mouth as he tightened his arms around her stomach. Her heartbeat was so faint and so soft that he couldn't tell if she were dead or not.
Heero blinked and then shook his head as he gently slapped her cheek, hoping, praying that she would stay awake.
" Relena... hey. Don't go just yet, come on... open your eyes and say something, anything! ", Heero whispered to her.
Relena's face screwed up in a grimace and she slowly opened her eyes to find Heero staring down at her, concern and worry etched deep in his usual cold eyes.
" H-heero... I'm dying... aren't I? ", Relena whispered, her voice barely audible.
Heero shook his head hard and held her close, reaching down to brush away some hair from her eyes as he gently stroked her cheek, " No! You're going to live... ", he assured her as he lifted her into his arms and began to make his way to Duo's car.
Relena shook her head and tried to smile at him, but ended up grimacing, " I'm dying, Heero... I really am dying. There's no stopping the inevitable from happening... "
Heero shook his head again as he gently eased her into the front passenger seat and made sure her seatbelt was tight, but not too tight.
" You're not dying, Relena! Not if I can help it... I'm not letting you go. I made a promise to protect you and I'm going to keep to it. "
Relena chuckled slightly and her head rolled to the side as her eyes closed, more blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, sliding down her neck and then the leather of the seat.
Heero climbed into the seat beside her and glanced at her to notice that she was falling asleep. He shook his head hard and reached out to grab her chin and turn her head towards him, " Relena! Stay awake... don't go to sleep... ", he shouted at her.
" Sleep... ", she murmured as her chin drooped towards her chest.
Heero yanked her chin up and held onto it as he started the car, " Relena?! Stay with me, now! I swear, Relena, if you die on me, I'm going to get you back, even if it means killing myself to keep you alive! Now... stay with me, stay with me till we get you to a hospital or something... ", he pleaded as he began to drive to the closest hospital...
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Marquise sighed heavily as he made his way towards his room.
' Maybe I should check on her before I retire... just to make sure... ', he thought as he stopped in front of Relena's door and knocked lightly.
No response returned to his knock and he frowned deeply, his white mustache turning up and then falling down as he pushed the door open and popped his head inside the dimly lit room.
" Hmm... this is odd... ", Marquise murmured as he stepped into the room and made his way towards the open window.
The white transparent curtains flapped in the wild breeze that flowed into the room from the window. The moon hung high in the Western side of the sky, casting eerie shadows across the walls even in the dim light of the small lamp in the corner of the room, sitting on the nightstand beside the large Queen-sized bed.
" Where could she be? ", Marquise thought outloud as his eyes trailed to the man-made rope attached to the bed post. Only half of it was there, the rest was... nowhere in sight.
Marquise rushed over to the window and peeked over the still to find no one there, no one hanging on for dear life, waiting for someone to just walk by and pick them up. His brow crinkled up as he scratched his jaw and went over to the bed, where he found a letter folded and perched neatly on top of the satin pink pillow.
He reached out and picked it silently, praying that it wasn't what he thought it was, sitting down on the bed, he began to read it slowly.
' Dearest grandfather....
You have been a wonderful person to me, caring for me when no one would.
I'm deeply sorry that it had to end this way... but, it would've all been over for me in the end.
Do give my dear brother my sincere apologies... he didn't have to go and do what he did. I do forgive him though...
Please... don't worry about me, grandfather. I'll be fine... I would've passed over by the time you receive this letter.
I'll be off in another place... a wonderous place...
I'm so sorry... do tell Heero that I will miss him dearly, and since I'm gone and he can't kill me, tell him that I love him.... as I love you all.... '
Love Always,
~Relena Peacecraft
Marquise's hand trembled as he read over the note again, not wanting to believe that his only granddaughter was gone, gone to a better place then this. He crumpled the note in his hands and pressed it to his chest as he silently began to weep, glancing over at the open window, the curtains slowly flapping now as the breeze died down, just as Relena Peacecraft had died....
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Quartre, Trowa and Wufei all walked up the flight of stairs towards the large closed doors of the Weridge residence. Trowa glanced around the large front lawn closely, watching for someone who might jump out at them and attack them.
Wufei wrinkled his nose, " I don't see why we're here at this time of night... ", he muttered unhappily as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Quartre frowned, " Wufei.. we're here because we're trying to keep Relena safe and sound. Do you have a problem with protecting your Queen? "
Wufei now snorted and rubbed the tip of his nose with a finger, " She's not my Queen. Relena is the Queen to the people on Earth, not the people on the Colonies.... "
Trowa now frowned, " Look! Can we just get inside to check on her? For Milliardo's sake at least? ", he flung over his shoulder as he stepped up to the door and knocked the brass lionhead knocker on the door lightly.
Quartre sighed heavily and plowed a hand through his hair, " Trowa's right, Wufei... there's no need to be arguing about this at a time like this. We have to stick together for the sake of the Peacecrafts.... "
Wufei sighed, " Alright... ", he muttered as he watched the door open slightly.
A young woman the age of twenty-two slowly opened the door and stuck her head out into the open, glancing at the three men who stood in front of her.
" Can I help you fellas? ", she asked lightly as she tilted her head to the side, eyeing Trowa's lean, tall, muscular body.
Trowa quirked an eyebrow at her and crossed his arms over his chest, " We're sorry to be bothering you at this time of night, but... would Relena Peacecraft happen to be in at the moment? It's really urgent that we see her... "
The maid's full lips screwed into a frown, " I don't think that would be... wise... ", she replied gently. " Perhaps you could try tomorrow afternoon? "
Trowa shot Quartre a glance, " I don't think... it would last that long... ", he replied, his voice soft.
The maid quirked her own eyebrow this time, " What do you mean? "
Trowa shook his head, " Forget about it, alright? Look... could you just see if she's up in her room or something? We really need to talk to her... "
The maid suddenly disappeared only to be replaced by an old man who's face was streaked with tears. He looked at Trowa and handed him the letter.
" Here... this might come in handy for you boys if you're looking for Relena... ", Marquise murmured as he wiped at his tears with the back of his hands.
Trowa uncrumpled the paper and read it, Quartre and Wufei reading it over his shoulder along with him. After a few minutes of reading it, Trowa's head snapped up and he stared at Marquise.
" She's... d-dead?! "
Quartre plucked the paper from his hands and began to read it over, " No... ", he murmured, shaking his head hard. " She can't be dead... not Relena... "
Wufei looked down at the ground and then bit his lip, " I'm sorry, you guys... ", he whispered as he closed his eyes against the tears of pain from the memories of his loved one being killed as they came rushing at him.
Trowa ran a hand through his hair and looked at Marquise, " What happened? Where'd she go off to? "
Marquise shrugged, " I... I don't know. But there's something laying on the driveway in the back of the mansion that might do you some help in finding her... ", he suggested as he brushed past them to cross the lawn towards the back of the mansion, Trowa and the two other men following in silence.
Trowa ran a hand over his face this time and then stopped in his tracks as he watched Marquise kneel down on the pavement to peel a blood soaked blanket off the ground. Marquise turned around with the bloody blanket in hand and walked up to Trowa.
" This was found... besides for the blood on the pavement and the ground being cracked slightly... ", Marquise whispered lightly.
Trowa was horrified. Had Relena fallen from her window, landing on the pavement below to just get up and walk away? Or... was she pushed? He didn't know, none of them did. Trowa reached out and gently accepted the bloody blanket. He began to turn it over and around in his hands as he examined it carefully.
That's when his eyes found it, the burnt edges.
" You guys... look at this... ", Trowa hissed to the other ex-Gundam pilots as he turned away from Marquise to show them the burnt edges.
Quartre whirled around and looked down at the blanket, " Is that... h-hers? ", he asked in a shaky voice.
Trowa nodded, " I'm pretty sure. Marquise was explainging to me before how her bedroom window is right above the driveway.... so then it ought to be hers.. "
Wufei walked over and tilted his head to the side as he looked at the bloody blanket, " Well then? Where is she? She couldn't have just gotten up from that fall and walked away... ", he said as he glanced up at the bedroom window.
Quartre nodded and watched Trowa's expression of confusion turn into one of curiousity, " Yes... how did she manage to just walk away? "
Trowa scratched his neck, " I'm not sure you guys... but look at the facts for a moment. Relena fell from her bedroom which is what? Two hundred feet from the ground? Somewhere along those lines and yet she manages to walk away from it like it was just a learning how to fly experience. She probably has a dozen broken bones as we speak and whoever has her is not doing one damned thing about them either... "
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Heero could feel the warm, sticky fluid trickling down his arm more and more with each passing minute. He glanced over at Relena's ashened face and groaned loudly as he watched her head roll to the side, landing to rest against the seatbelt that kept her sitting up straight.
" What am I going to do? Think Yuy! Think!! ", Heero muttered to himself as he forced the car into a narrow parking lot, scratching Duo's sleek black sport's car up along other cars in the way.
' So, Duo's going to have to get another new car... I don't have time to care about a damned car! ', Heero thought as he slammed his foot down on the brake, the car lurching forward as he was thrown into the steerling wheel, his ribs slamming into it painfully.
A loud cry of shock and pain tore past Heero's lips as he rubbed at them and then jumped out of the car and rushed over to the passenger side. He yanked open the door, undid Relena's seatbelt and then scooped her up into his arms, her body completely limp and almost lifeless in his arms.
" You're going to live, Relena... I can garuntee you that... ", Heero muttered to her as he flew through the sliding doors of the hospital and ran into the lobby, volunteers and nurses looking at him as he came to a dead stop, almost dropping Relena on the ground.
" Doctor! I need a doctor! ", Heero shouted as he walked up to the front counter.
" Doctor! ", he hissed now at the nurse sitting behind the desk.
She glanced at him and then at Relena. She gasped, " My God... what happened?! ", she demanded as she flew from her chair and went around the desk to rush up to Heero and reach down to feel for a pulse on Relena's neck.
" We can still save her... quickly, this way! ", she cried over her shoulder as she began to run towards two swinging doors that read ' Authorization Personnel ONLY... '.
Heero followed quickly, making sure that Relena didn't slip from his arms as he lifted her higher in his arms so he could cradle her bruised and battered body to his own healthy one. Two surgeons quickly followed Heero into the operating room as he rushed past the swinging doors, trying not to loose sight of the nurse.
One doctor glanced at Heero and then at Relena, " What happened? "
Heero shook his head, " That's the thing... I don't know! ", he shouted out in frustration as she rushed past a second pair of swinging doors to end up in the middle of the operating room, the metal table all ready, the equipement all set on the side neatly, all ready for use on the next patient.
Heero walked over to the table and gently setted Relena down, her blood soaked hair falling in front of her face as her head rolled to the side, blood trickling from her mouth. He reached down and gently traced her cheekbone, his finger running over the piece of cement that was embedded into her skin.
He leaned down and placed his mouth to her blood covered ear, " You're going to make it, Relena. You're strong!! You had better not leave me... don't you dare go and leave me just yet, Relena... it's going to be alright... ", Heero whispered softly, doing the unexpectable, as he pressed his lips fully to her ear and then cheek before one of the doctors shoved him away, telling him to wait in the waiting room for her to be done.
Heero went without complaining, his prussian blue eyes completely soft and almost lifless as he watched Relena through the small rectangular window, not taking note of the gang of men dressed in black pants and black muscle shirts walking into the hospital and fixing their eyes on his turned back...
{Author's Note: dun, dun, DUNNNNNN!!!! Who are those men and why do they keep appearing everywhere Heero and Relena go? Why?! What's with the letter? Who wrote it? Was Relena's man-made rope actually burnt apart or cut? Will Relena make it through her surgery or end up dying like she's suppose to? How many people want me to kill off Relena Peacecraft!? Raise your hand and shout, " WE DO!!! " *giggles* Nah.... I don't think I could kill her off... not in this fic at least.... hee hee. Well? Whatcha think of this one? I know... it's confusing... right? RIGHT!? Remember... Read and review!!!}