Standard stuff: Gundam Wing is not mine, but I do enjoy playing around with it some. My intent is purely for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made on this work.

Here we go again! :)

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All That You Leave Behind Chapter 2 -We all change-

Heero watched Relena fall back in her seat in slight disbelief. Without pause he climbed into the car carefully and moved to her side. Franticly he searched for a pulse and studied her looking for wounds. She looked fine and had a strong steady pulse. Briefly satisfied he turned his attention to Maggie. Her pulse was faint and she had a large gash on her forehead. Blood running at a semi-steady pace.

He quickly removed his white dress shirt and proceeded to tear it into pieces making a crude compress for Maggie's head. Applying light but firm pressure helped bring the bleeding down quickly. Afraid the young woman may go into shock, Heero slid her out of the car and set her down on the cool pavement outside lifting her feet. Time wasn't on his side he decided.

Glancing back to Relena his stomach began to sink. Instinct and training took over and he pushed aside his doubts and disbelief reaching back into the car to her aide.

Heero carefully scooped Relena up in his arms to the welcoming roar of ambulances. He held her tightly to his chest afraid to let go. Within minutes Preventer paramedics took on Maggie's immediate care. He told them all he could about her as he set Relena down carefully on a waiting gurney. He moved her hair away from her face quickly then followed the paramedics as they began to work on her.

"Commander we're taking them to St. Johns." The lead of the paramedic team informed Heero.

Heero nodded in response then met eyes with the man. "Nothing is to happen to her, to them. Do you understand me? Nothing!"

The man nodded, "Yes sir, we'll do our absolute best."

The paramedic's words did little to reassure Heero but he nodded slightly and added. "Keep this under wraps. No press and I'll be following you in shortly." The EMT nodded again in confirmation then motioned for his team to load up and head on out.

About the same time two black sedans pulled up carrying several Preventer agents that jumped out swarming like bee's accessing the situation. A few of them were wearing dress suits while the others adorned jumpsuits. Heero watched Relena being loaded into the back of the ambulance. Seconds later it departed and his stomach turned uneasily again.

"Commander." A voice called out to him. Heero turned sharply on his heel to find an Preventer agent by his side. Lieutenant Rob Oliver one of his men.

"What happened sir?" Rob asked calmly above the roar of hover craft lighting up the area from above.

"An accident," Heero answered bluntly. Rob's face went rye looking over the obvious. Heero continued, "The Foreign Minister was in this car. Sweep the entire area and clean this mess up. I don't want any traces or any press leaks until we determine her status." Heero stressed.

"Yes sir." Rob answered swiftly watching Heero move and reclaim his communicator from the top of the smashed up limo. Heero ducked his head back into the back seat of the car and scanned for personal effects. A few briefcases, no smaller articles.

"Sir, I'll have those items brought over to you."

"Yes, do that and when you are done report directly to me at St. Johns. I'll be there throughout the night."

"Yes sir." Rob saluted watching Heero jump in his car spinning it around tightly.

"Dial Duo." Heero spoke and waited as his car acknowledged the request, sending a call out to Duo's home.

**

Hilde forced her eyes open waking from a deep sleep. Their bedroom phone rang again reassuring her that she hadn't been hearing things. Reaching over, she flicked the button activating the audio signal. "Hello." She muttered.

"Hilde, it's Heero. I need to speak with Duo." A slight amount of alarm hinted in his voice. She knew Heero never called unless it was important especially at home.

"Give me just second Heero."

"Understood." He replied revving the engine of his car again.

Hilde shook Duo waking him. "Duo, Heero is on the line. It's important."

Duo blinked forcefully pulling his head up from his pillow reaching for the phone.

"This better be good Heero." His voice was groggy and irritable.

"There has been an accident with Minister Darlian. I need you to contact Oliver for cleanup and meet me at St. Johns Hospital. I'll fill you in there completely and make it quick."

"Fill me in on what?" Duo questioned but Heero had already terminated the call.

Duo sighed throwing his covers to the side. "I've got to go." He mumbled to his wife.

"Go where?" She asked, her voice full of concern. Duo met warm eyes with her and smiled. "St. Johns Hospital, Relena Darlian has been in an accident. Heero says he'll explain there. Don't worry I'm sure everything is fine."

"Relena Darlian?" Hilde question.

"Yeah, old ghosts." Duo replied hiding his concern.

**

Heero was in a near sprint entering the hospital pulling a sweatshirt over the dress tee he was wearing. He headed directly to the north wing of the hospital that was reserved for Preventer and governmental use. A quick flash of his badge to the guard had him wondering the floor looking for help.

"Heero?" A light voice called.

Heero turned around to find Karen Mead standing before him. She was a Preventer nurse whom he was very friendly with not too long ago. They had dated off and on for a few months and Karen had fallen for him, hard. But Heero abruptly broke it off not giving a lot of reasons. Her honey brown hair pulled up in a ponytail allowed the natural lines of her face to shine.

"Karen." Heero said surprised.

"You're looking for Minister Darlian?

"Yes." He nodded. "How is she?"

"She's fine. A small concussion but nothing serious. She's resting down the hallway."

"And the other two?"

"They have stabilized her aide and are checking out the extent of her injuries now. The driver should be fine also. I'll update you as I find out more."

"Thanks, Karen." He said scanning the hallway's.

Karen studied Heero's face for several seconds before continuing. "You can find her down the hall to your right room 228B."

"Thank you." He said already heading down the hallway.

She watched his form disappear around the corner and let out a quiet sigh.

**

Heero knocked lightly on the door peaking his head in finding her asleep. The room was semi-dark with only a small amount of light offering the room some warmth from the hallway. He watched her sleeping form for several minutes before walking all the way in and closing the door behind him. Carefully he moved close checking her breathing and running a hand up to her forehead. She looked pale but he figured her color would come back soon. It wasn't long until her eyes fluttered several times finally opening under his warm touch.

They stared up at him and fought against the dark room to adjust. Heero pulled away quickly and Relena closed her eyes tightly then opened them again. "I wasn't dreaming." She said weakly.

"No, I'm afraid not." He replied his voice low.

A smiled worked its way over her face. "You would say that."

Heero found himself smiling at her comment, relieved. "You need to rest."

"You saved me?"

He looked away from her and nodded. "Not really." His apprehension from the accident still apparent.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room for several moments as the two starred at each other in the dark. Neither could look away.

"Do you know how Maggie is?" Relena asked finally breaking their silence.

"She's been stabilized and the doctors were checking out the extent of her injuries when I came in. I'll get someone to give you full details."

"Stay." She whispered before he could take a step. His feet wouldn't budge.

"I never thought I would see you again." She said softly.

He faced her again. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

'For more than you'll ever know.' He thought. "For the accident. I'm sorry it couldn't be avoided."

"What happened Heero?"

Heero recounted the story the best he could. "And as I approached the hill, your car sped across the middle of the road. We both swerved and your driver lost control. I called for help and did the best I could for your friends injuries."

"Thank you Heero." She said softly.

"You should get some rest." He offered again.

"There is so much to say." Relena said, avoiding his comment though she was dreadfully tired.

"Nothing that can't wait till the morning. I'll take care of everything... don't worry yourself." He offered trying to be comforting.

She smiled again. "You've changed."

His face slipped under one of his many mask. "We all do." He responded.

"You will be here in the morning?" It wasn't so much a question as a request.

"Where would I go?" He answered their eyes connecting deeply.

He nodded and started to continue but his eyes focused in on an object. Shiny, large and round that adorned her left hand. He knew instantly what it was and kicked himself internally for not making note of it before. Heero considered his new options carefully and a level of uneasiness he had never felt before set in. "I'll be.." Before he could finish a voice chimed in from across the room.

A tall man walked into the room flicking the main light switch on starring down at a clipboard wearing a white lab coat with the Preventer symbol on the left arm,. The man glanced up and catching Heero in his eye. "Oh my apologies Commander I didn't mean to interrupt. Just wanted to check on the patient one last time for the night."

"It's fine, I was just about to step out." Heero replied quickly.

"I'm Doctor Adam's Minister." The man said.

"You're coming back aren't you?" Relena asked before Heero could leave.

"Of course." He replied his voice back to its stoic self and he avoided locking Relena's eyes in another embrace.

"Take care of her Doctor." Heero added leaving the room.

Heero stepped out of the room and sighed quietly glancing down at his watch. "2:45am."

'She's engaged? I should have expected as much...' Heero cut his train of thought off and removed his communicator scanning for messages. He walked into an adjacent lounge to start making calls and was greeted with a familiar but often irritating voice. "Ya know I'd really like to thank you for waking me up?"

'Here it comes.' Heero silently thought.

"So you almost killed her again?" Duo teased grinning.

"It wasn't my fault." Heero replied his voice irritable.

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that one before."

Duo was rewarded with a solemn glare and silence.

"What do you have for me?" Heero asked.

"Everything is cleared up around the accident. Turns out the driver of the vehicle was heavily intoxicated. He's lucky no one was killed."

"Yes, very lucky." Heero added.

"Minister Darlian is set to be released late this morning. The press hasn't caught wind yet and the driver has no immediate family here on the colony. I've already spoken to his employer and they've agreed to keep quiet for now."

"Good, I suspect the Minister will want to make some type of announcement later today." Heero said leaning against a wall.

"The Minister?" Duo teased.

Once again a glare fell on Duo's shoulders.

Duo grinned and decided to alter the subject slightly. "What's our involvement going to be in this?"

Heero looked up to the ceiling for a moment, knowing Duo's true meaning behind the question. "I'll leave that up to Relena."

"And how is she?"

"She's fine."

"And you?" Duo pressed.

"Fine." Was Heero's short response.

"Are you sure?

"Yes, why wouldn't I be." Heero replied.

"Well I dunno, maybe because well you two have a..." Duo considered his words carefully. "A uniquely shared history."

"No more than anyone else?" Heero's cool demeanor hid his conflicting thoughts.

"Heero, who are you trying to fool?"

"She's engaged to be married Duo." Heero responded flatly not in the mood to be pressed.

Duo's playful smile was erased quickly. "What! Are you certain?"

"It's hard to miss the ring on her finger."

"Yeah right!" Duo pushed hoping Heero maybe grew a sense of humor. "You're joking right?"

Duo could see a few of Heero's facial muscles move slightly and his silence was deafening.

Shaking his head in disappointed, Duo walked to the other side of the room. "I'm sorry Heero."

Heero starred at the wall replaying the events of the evening over. "For what? I made decisions long ago willingly." he finally commented.

"Six years is a long time." Duo said quietly.

"Yes, a very long time." Heero added.

"Well, if you don't mind I've been up all night cleaning up your mess. I'm going home to get some sleep."

"Thanks Duo I owe you one."

"Yeah I've heard that one before." He mumbled walking out.

**

"You're all set for release tomorrow Minister. I'm sure Commander Yuy may have some more questions for you though."

"Commander Yuy?" She questioned.

"Yes, he's the commanding officer of all Preventer agents and personnel on L2."

"I see, I didn't realize." She smiled blinking heavily.

"If I can do anything else for you please let me know. Now get some rest, and don't worry about your friend she's going to be fine."

"I will, thank you." Relena said yawning.

The doctor smiled and left. Relena rolled to her side and quickly fell into a light sleep thinking, tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

**

"She'll be fine Commander, I've given her something to help her sleep."

"She's set for release tomorrow?" Heero asked.

"Yes, I'd like to keep her companion a few days but the Minister should be good to go as long as she takes it easy." Adam's replied.

"Good. I'll arrange some transportation for her in the morning. Can I see her again?" Heero asked.

"Yes, but allow her to sleep sir." Adam's answered.

Heero glanced at Doctor Adams quickly. "Understood." He then walked into her room and took a seat in the corner. She rested quietly. 'Why are you still here?' He asked himself begrudgingly. 'I'm repaying an old debt." He told himself, 'Yes, an old debt.'

Morning came quickly.

**

Relena's eyes fluttered several times as she fought the morning light flooding her room. The colonies did their best to mimic the day/night cycle of Earth and a very good job they did. Almost too good she thought stretching out under her sheets.

A knock at the door alerted her. "Come in."

A young woman with blue eyes and blond hair in her early twenties Relena figured brought a suitcase in the room. "Ma'am Commander Yuy had your items brought over."

"Thank you. Do you know where I can find the Commander?"

"He's left the hospital. I'll be taking you to your hotel once you're ready."

A confusing uneasy look found its way to her face.

"Where did he go?" She questioned.

"I'm afraid I don't know Ma'am but he stayed here in your room throughout the night. He stay's very busy." The woman answered.

"Stayed here?" Relena questioned puzzled.

"Yes, ma'am." The young officer replied quickly.

'Gone again Heero?' The familiar chord from long ago once again danced about her mind. "Just give me a few minutes please."

"Yes Ma'am. I'll be outside whenever you are ready." The blond headed woman replied stepping outside the room.

Relena silently cursed him for disappearing again. "What did you really expect Relena?" She chided absently to her suitcase sliding it open removing a change of clothing.

Her eyes glanced down at her engagement ring. "I should call him." She said absently, but it wasn't long before Heero Yuy danced about her mind again.

'Did he see it?' she wondered. 'Did he even care?' Relena clutched her fist tightly and cursed fate.

________

End Chapter 2

As always my thanks...