Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or anything for that matter. I make no $$$ off of my stories, I write them for pure enjoyment.
Chapter 6
The computer sprung to life as the well-known phrase 'You've Got Mail!' sang out from the speakers.
'I WONDER who could be sending me mail.'
Clicking the mouse onto the mailbox, the newest message popped onto the screen.
"Phase One completed. Waiting for confirmation to proceed to Phase Two."
'Wonderful.'
A few moments later, a message with the subject line 'Recipes' was sent, confirming the continuation of the plan.
'Let's just drag these messages to the trashcan and dispose of them. Wouldn't want to get caught with this little bit of information.'
With some swift movements of the mouse, the message had been destroyed and the history cleared. 'Goodbye' the computer said shortly before the screen went black.
****************
Back at the hotel, Duo found himself staring down the wrong end of a 9mm pistol.
"I told you, Heero. You're going to have to call Zechs. You're the one that went AWOL from the mission, not me." Duo smirked.
Heero pulled back the pistol and cocked the gun, before centering it on Duo again. Giving him one of his famous glares, he asked, "Then what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to keep you out of trouble." Duo replied, as cocky grin slid across his face.
"Hn."
Heero lowered the weapon and tucked it into the waistband of his jeans. He strode over to the desk and started the computer. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Duo make a move for the door. Duo tried to throw the door open, but Heero blocked it with his foot.
Hoping to knock him off balance, Duo threw a punch at Heero, but Heero was too fast and Duo missed. Unfortunately for Duo, Heero's hit was right on the money. Heero dislodged his fist from Duo's midsection as he fell to the floor, doubled over in pain.
Heero nearly smacked himself, as he stood there watching Duo try to catch his breath. 'Heero, you baka! Why did you have to go and do that? Now, you have to deal with Zechs.'
"Coward." He said to Duo as he walked toward the desk.
Through the pain and tears in his eyes, Duo managed to smile. 'I may be a coward, but now I don't have to face Zechs.' Slowly, he was able to pull himself into a seated position.
With a deep sigh, Heero sat down at the computer and began to establish the connection. A couple of minutes later, a surprised Zechs Marquise appeared on the screen.
"Yuy? Have you found anything?"
"Duo and I saw Relena earlier this evening."
Zechs felt as if the floor had been pulled out from underneath him. 'Relena's alive! My sister is alive. Is she all right? Where has she been? What has she been through?' So many thoughts and questions ran rampant in his mind. Relief washed over him, but he refused to show that to the former Zero pilot.
All he asked was, "Then I take it we should expect you sometime tomorrow?"
Duo grimaced. 'Time to make an exit because the shit is about to hit the fan.' As he closed the door quietly, Duo thought 'Maybe getting punched in the stomach wasn't as bad as I thought, cause I'd hate to be in Heero's shoes now.' Whistling, he turned from the door and walked away.
Back inside the room, Heero stood staring at the computer screen. Finally, he answered, "No."
Zechs slammed his fist down on the desk as he stood up, pushing the chair into the wall behind him. His eyes narrowed slightly, anger evident in his gaze and his voice. "No? What do you mean NO? Yuy, where in the hell is my sister?"
All Heero could do was stare at the computer. How was he suppose to tell Zechs he had been thrown off balance by hearing her soft voice and that he hadn't been able to recover from his shock quickly enough to catch her. 'When did I become so soft?' He wasn't' surprised when a voice in the back of his head answered, 'The day you met her.'
"We lost visual contact with her and were not able to pick up her trail. We plan to stake out the area where we last saw her starting tomorrow."
Zechs' icy glare became nearly frozen. "I expect you to have her in your custody by the end of the week. Have you been able to determine if her abduction is tied to the small radical group on the colony?"
" . . ."
"You aren't on L8-14, are you Yuy?" The malevolent voice came from the computer.
"No."
'I should have listened to Maxwell.' Zechs thought as he cursed Heero's actions.
"I don't care where in the universe you are, just bring my sister back to Earth. Or I WILL finish what we started in Antarctica 5 years ago! Let's see if you can at least follow that ONE SIMPLE ORDER!" The screen went blank on that note.
"That went well."
******************
After emerging from a semi-warm shower, with a towel slung across his hips, Heero walked over to the bed and sat down. Resting his elbows on his knees, he held his head in his hands.
Today was the first time he had seen her in nearly two years. And even then, it had been barely a quick glance. But he knew it was her.
'If I would have stayed, instead of leaving her, would things have turned out this way? No, they wouldn't have. I wouldn't have let them get close enough to her.' But, the fact was, he did leave.
-----Flashback-----
Relena sat at her desk, typing up the last part of her speech she was making later that day. Pencil clenched between her teeth, hair pulled back into her patented ponytail, her fingers flew across the keyboard. Her eyes fixated on the computer screen. That's the way Heero found her when he stepped into the office.
He stared at her for a moment, memorizing her features, before he made is presence known. She whipped her gaze in his direction, after he cleared his throat.
"Heero!" Her face lit up as she smiled. "I didn't know you where here. What a delightful surprise! I was just getting ready to leave for a conference. I'm glad you stopped by."
She walked from behind the desk and headed toward him. The sun shone through the window behind her, turning her hair golden. Her violet eyes seemed to sparkle as she made her way closer to him. Finally, Heero held out his hand, a silent request for her to stop where she was.
"I'm leaving."
"Oh. How long will you be gone this time?"
"I'm not coming back, Relena."
The smile quickly fell from her face. She turned her face away from him, trying to hide her unshed tears. "You're not coming back?"
"No." He answered. 'Don't make this any harder for me Relena.'
"Where are you going?"
" . . ."
Sniffling, she walked over to her luggage. "Well I wish you a safe journey. But before you go, I have something I want to give you." Opening up her small overnight bag, she slowly pulled out a worn teddy bear with a ribbon around its neck.
Relena hugged it tightly against her body before she turned to face Heero. She held the bear out to him and said as hushed tears fell down her cheek, "Take it. I want you to have something to remember me by."
Tentatively, Heero reached out and took the bear from her grasp. He stood there staring at the bear as Relena strode back to her desk.
"If you could excuse me, Heero, but I really need to finish this speech within the next 20 minutes."
She kept her back to him, refusing to let him see her cry. He held the bear tightly in his hand, and marched over to the door.
"Goodbye, Relena"
"Goodbye, Heero" 'I love you, Heero.'
As he pulled the door to her office closed, he saw her lay her head against the desk, her body shaking with her soundless crying.
'I love you, too, Relena.'
And then he walked away.
-----End Flashback-----
While he had been trying to sort out his life, Relena nearly lost hers. Slamming his fist down into the lumpy bed, he made a silent vow.
'I won't let her life be threatened again. I'll become her shadow once more.'
****************
"Hey, you guys come back for the food or the atmosphere?" Alex asked as she greeted Duo and Heero when she came to find them in her section.
Duo turned on the charm. "A little of both. But we really came to see our favorite waitress in the colony."
Heero rolled his eyes. His idea of a stake out and Duo's idea differed greatly. While he wanted to set up around the clock surveillance on the restaurant and surrounding area, Duo thought it would be ideal to do some reconnaissance first. A coin tossed determined which idea would prevail. Duo won. 'I bet he was using a double sided coin.' Heero thought as Alex handed him a menu.
"Where's Raye?" Heero asked being his normal blunt self.
Duo shot him a look that read, 'Smooth move, buddy. Could you used just a little more tact?'
Alex raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "You guys know, Raye?"
Before Heero could open his mouth, Duo spoke up. "Yup. Jon and I have known Raye for a couple of years. Lost track of her since she moved a couple of months ago, but we saw her working in here yesterday. How long have you known her?"
Alex set down her pad and began to tap her chin with her pen while she did a mental count in her head. "Gosh, I've only known Raye for about two months. We hit it off so well when she started working that she became my new roommate. Feels like I've known her all my life."
"So do you know if she'll be in later tonight? Jon and I would love to see her before we leave at the end of the week."
The smile left Alex's face. "Sorry, guys. Raye's last day was yesterday. She got accepted into one of the universities on L2...I can't remember which one off the top of my head. She's spending the next two days up in the cabins, but after that she's leaving for college."
Duo shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, maybe we will catch her if we are ever on L2. So how about getting me one of those famous cheeseburgers, some fries and a beer. I am famished!"
Alex turned on her 100-watt smile and said, "You got it! Well Jon, just a beer again, or something with substance this time?"
Heero kept his hard blue gaze focused on Duo as he answered, "I'll have the same thing Matt is having."
"Let me just go and put your orders in. Be back in a flash!" Alex turned and left the two pilots sitting there alone.
Heero sent Duo a puzzled look. "Jon? Is that the best you could come up with?"
"Well Matt was a real winner too."
Duo leaned back in the booth, stretching his arms out to his sides. "I hate to be an I-told-you-so, but I told you that the recon would work out."
"Okay, genius. One quick question."
"Shoot."
"Where are the cabins?"
Silenced reigned in the booth until Duo smacked his head. "Aw shit."
"Exactly. Let's get our meal and then head back to the hotel. We have a long night ahead of us."
A/N: Okay, everybody. I know the one updated chapter every week is starting to wear thin. So, by special request of aure84, TWO chapters for the price of ONE. Enjoy, because I don't know when you will be able to see this special offer again! Thanks for the reviews, you guys are the BEST!! ^_^
Chapter 6
The computer sprung to life as the well-known phrase 'You've Got Mail!' sang out from the speakers.
'I WONDER who could be sending me mail.'
Clicking the mouse onto the mailbox, the newest message popped onto the screen.
"Phase One completed. Waiting for confirmation to proceed to Phase Two."
'Wonderful.'
A few moments later, a message with the subject line 'Recipes' was sent, confirming the continuation of the plan.
'Let's just drag these messages to the trashcan and dispose of them. Wouldn't want to get caught with this little bit of information.'
With some swift movements of the mouse, the message had been destroyed and the history cleared. 'Goodbye' the computer said shortly before the screen went black.
****************
Back at the hotel, Duo found himself staring down the wrong end of a 9mm pistol.
"I told you, Heero. You're going to have to call Zechs. You're the one that went AWOL from the mission, not me." Duo smirked.
Heero pulled back the pistol and cocked the gun, before centering it on Duo again. Giving him one of his famous glares, he asked, "Then what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to keep you out of trouble." Duo replied, as cocky grin slid across his face.
"Hn."
Heero lowered the weapon and tucked it into the waistband of his jeans. He strode over to the desk and started the computer. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Duo make a move for the door. Duo tried to throw the door open, but Heero blocked it with his foot.
Hoping to knock him off balance, Duo threw a punch at Heero, but Heero was too fast and Duo missed. Unfortunately for Duo, Heero's hit was right on the money. Heero dislodged his fist from Duo's midsection as he fell to the floor, doubled over in pain.
Heero nearly smacked himself, as he stood there watching Duo try to catch his breath. 'Heero, you baka! Why did you have to go and do that? Now, you have to deal with Zechs.'
"Coward." He said to Duo as he walked toward the desk.
Through the pain and tears in his eyes, Duo managed to smile. 'I may be a coward, but now I don't have to face Zechs.' Slowly, he was able to pull himself into a seated position.
With a deep sigh, Heero sat down at the computer and began to establish the connection. A couple of minutes later, a surprised Zechs Marquise appeared on the screen.
"Yuy? Have you found anything?"
"Duo and I saw Relena earlier this evening."
Zechs felt as if the floor had been pulled out from underneath him. 'Relena's alive! My sister is alive. Is she all right? Where has she been? What has she been through?' So many thoughts and questions ran rampant in his mind. Relief washed over him, but he refused to show that to the former Zero pilot.
All he asked was, "Then I take it we should expect you sometime tomorrow?"
Duo grimaced. 'Time to make an exit because the shit is about to hit the fan.' As he closed the door quietly, Duo thought 'Maybe getting punched in the stomach wasn't as bad as I thought, cause I'd hate to be in Heero's shoes now.' Whistling, he turned from the door and walked away.
Back inside the room, Heero stood staring at the computer screen. Finally, he answered, "No."
Zechs slammed his fist down on the desk as he stood up, pushing the chair into the wall behind him. His eyes narrowed slightly, anger evident in his gaze and his voice. "No? What do you mean NO? Yuy, where in the hell is my sister?"
All Heero could do was stare at the computer. How was he suppose to tell Zechs he had been thrown off balance by hearing her soft voice and that he hadn't been able to recover from his shock quickly enough to catch her. 'When did I become so soft?' He wasn't' surprised when a voice in the back of his head answered, 'The day you met her.'
"We lost visual contact with her and were not able to pick up her trail. We plan to stake out the area where we last saw her starting tomorrow."
Zechs' icy glare became nearly frozen. "I expect you to have her in your custody by the end of the week. Have you been able to determine if her abduction is tied to the small radical group on the colony?"
" . . ."
"You aren't on L8-14, are you Yuy?" The malevolent voice came from the computer.
"No."
'I should have listened to Maxwell.' Zechs thought as he cursed Heero's actions.
"I don't care where in the universe you are, just bring my sister back to Earth. Or I WILL finish what we started in Antarctica 5 years ago! Let's see if you can at least follow that ONE SIMPLE ORDER!" The screen went blank on that note.
"That went well."
******************
After emerging from a semi-warm shower, with a towel slung across his hips, Heero walked over to the bed and sat down. Resting his elbows on his knees, he held his head in his hands.
Today was the first time he had seen her in nearly two years. And even then, it had been barely a quick glance. But he knew it was her.
'If I would have stayed, instead of leaving her, would things have turned out this way? No, they wouldn't have. I wouldn't have let them get close enough to her.' But, the fact was, he did leave.
-----Flashback-----
Relena sat at her desk, typing up the last part of her speech she was making later that day. Pencil clenched between her teeth, hair pulled back into her patented ponytail, her fingers flew across the keyboard. Her eyes fixated on the computer screen. That's the way Heero found her when he stepped into the office.
He stared at her for a moment, memorizing her features, before he made is presence known. She whipped her gaze in his direction, after he cleared his throat.
"Heero!" Her face lit up as she smiled. "I didn't know you where here. What a delightful surprise! I was just getting ready to leave for a conference. I'm glad you stopped by."
She walked from behind the desk and headed toward him. The sun shone through the window behind her, turning her hair golden. Her violet eyes seemed to sparkle as she made her way closer to him. Finally, Heero held out his hand, a silent request for her to stop where she was.
"I'm leaving."
"Oh. How long will you be gone this time?"
"I'm not coming back, Relena."
The smile quickly fell from her face. She turned her face away from him, trying to hide her unshed tears. "You're not coming back?"
"No." He answered. 'Don't make this any harder for me Relena.'
"Where are you going?"
" . . ."
Sniffling, she walked over to her luggage. "Well I wish you a safe journey. But before you go, I have something I want to give you." Opening up her small overnight bag, she slowly pulled out a worn teddy bear with a ribbon around its neck.
Relena hugged it tightly against her body before she turned to face Heero. She held the bear out to him and said as hushed tears fell down her cheek, "Take it. I want you to have something to remember me by."
Tentatively, Heero reached out and took the bear from her grasp. He stood there staring at the bear as Relena strode back to her desk.
"If you could excuse me, Heero, but I really need to finish this speech within the next 20 minutes."
She kept her back to him, refusing to let him see her cry. He held the bear tightly in his hand, and marched over to the door.
"Goodbye, Relena"
"Goodbye, Heero" 'I love you, Heero.'
As he pulled the door to her office closed, he saw her lay her head against the desk, her body shaking with her soundless crying.
'I love you, too, Relena.'
And then he walked away.
-----End Flashback-----
While he had been trying to sort out his life, Relena nearly lost hers. Slamming his fist down into the lumpy bed, he made a silent vow.
'I won't let her life be threatened again. I'll become her shadow once more.'
****************
"Hey, you guys come back for the food or the atmosphere?" Alex asked as she greeted Duo and Heero when she came to find them in her section.
Duo turned on the charm. "A little of both. But we really came to see our favorite waitress in the colony."
Heero rolled his eyes. His idea of a stake out and Duo's idea differed greatly. While he wanted to set up around the clock surveillance on the restaurant and surrounding area, Duo thought it would be ideal to do some reconnaissance first. A coin tossed determined which idea would prevail. Duo won. 'I bet he was using a double sided coin.' Heero thought as Alex handed him a menu.
"Where's Raye?" Heero asked being his normal blunt self.
Duo shot him a look that read, 'Smooth move, buddy. Could you used just a little more tact?'
Alex raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "You guys know, Raye?"
Before Heero could open his mouth, Duo spoke up. "Yup. Jon and I have known Raye for a couple of years. Lost track of her since she moved a couple of months ago, but we saw her working in here yesterday. How long have you known her?"
Alex set down her pad and began to tap her chin with her pen while she did a mental count in her head. "Gosh, I've only known Raye for about two months. We hit it off so well when she started working that she became my new roommate. Feels like I've known her all my life."
"So do you know if she'll be in later tonight? Jon and I would love to see her before we leave at the end of the week."
The smile left Alex's face. "Sorry, guys. Raye's last day was yesterday. She got accepted into one of the universities on L2...I can't remember which one off the top of my head. She's spending the next two days up in the cabins, but after that she's leaving for college."
Duo shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, maybe we will catch her if we are ever on L2. So how about getting me one of those famous cheeseburgers, some fries and a beer. I am famished!"
Alex turned on her 100-watt smile and said, "You got it! Well Jon, just a beer again, or something with substance this time?"
Heero kept his hard blue gaze focused on Duo as he answered, "I'll have the same thing Matt is having."
"Let me just go and put your orders in. Be back in a flash!" Alex turned and left the two pilots sitting there alone.
Heero sent Duo a puzzled look. "Jon? Is that the best you could come up with?"
"Well Matt was a real winner too."
Duo leaned back in the booth, stretching his arms out to his sides. "I hate to be an I-told-you-so, but I told you that the recon would work out."
"Okay, genius. One quick question."
"Shoot."
"Where are the cabins?"
Silenced reigned in the booth until Duo smacked his head. "Aw shit."
"Exactly. Let's get our meal and then head back to the hotel. We have a long night ahead of us."
A/N: Okay, everybody. I know the one updated chapter every week is starting to wear thin. So, by special request of aure84, TWO chapters for the price of ONE. Enjoy, because I don't know when you will be able to see this special offer again! Thanks for the reviews, you guys are the BEST!! ^_^
