Disclaimers: The song is Fiona's, the boys belong to some production
company somewhere, not making any money from this,
you know the routine.
Spoilers: There are a few, but nothing really noticeable unless you've already seen the spoiled parts.
Notes: Thank you all for the encouraging feedback! ^_^
Feedback: Pretty please? With little chibis on top? (You
pick which ones ~_^) Post here, or you can e-mail me at
quelirain@yahoo.com.
by quelirain
| Heaven help me for the way I am
Save me from these evil deeds before I get them done --Fiona Apple, "Criminal"
|
The room directly across the hall from the makeshift bedroom had been set up as a sort of headquarters. Two laptops, hooked up to three CPU's, sat on a wooden table in the center of the room. On a side table, against a wall, there were various clips and weaponry.
"Probably categorized by size, style, and function," Duo said, noting the direction of Relena's gaze. "Wufei's a definite type A."
A small doorway led into a kitchenette, and Relena heard her stomach growl. So did Duo. He smiled. "There's nothing in there. I looked already. I'll have to remind Fei we will need to eat at some point, not to mention get you some clothes... Milliardo would send your entire wardrobe, but that might have been a little suspicious." He winked, then sat in front of the computer and dialed. Relena stood behind him, watching, her fingers wrapped tightly around the back of the chair. She'd known this call was coming, but that did nothing to ease her anxiety.
"You know, there's no guarantee he'll be there," Duo said quietly.
Relena closed her eyes and forced herself to release the death-grip she had on the chair. Duo was right, of course. Trowa wouldn't be sitting idly by the vidphone waiting for their call. Still, Relena's stomach churned as Trowa's face appeared on the screen.
"Please leave a message."
A message. They could leave a message, and that way she wouldn't have to tell Trowa face to face what had happened. She opened her mouth, eager to speak, but Duo cut off the sentence he hadn't known she was starting.
"Never a man for many words, eh, Trowa? Call me. Soon. You have the number."
Relena flushed as she realized what she'd been about to do. //Duo's right, of course. This isn't the sort of thing you leave on an answering machine.//
Duo disconnected, then turned with a smile on his face which quickly froze there as he saw Relena's reddened cheeks. His eyes filled with resigned disappointment as he said, "All right, it's bedtime for you."
Relena turned away from those big violet-blue eyes. "He'll call back soon. I-- I want to be here when you talk to him," Relena said.
She snuck a quick look at Duo's face after she finished the sentence. Duo's eyes were flat and unreadable as he shrugged. "He's probably won't be in for a while. You can still get some rest." Duo stood, then took Relena's hand and pulled her toward the door. Relena refused to move.
"I have to wait for Trowa to call."
Duo rolled his eyes, but Relena noted that a little sparkle had returned to them. "Fine. If you can tell me the last time you slept, then you can stay up."
Relena tried to concentrate so she could calculate intercolony time changes, hours spent travelling, and bedtimes, but her tired brain refused to cooperate. She sighed, but relented, allowing Duo to lead her to the small bedroom. "Wake me when Trowa calls?"
"Relena..."
She opened her eyes wide, her exhaustion making her eyes water. Duo laid a hand against her cheek, his thumb catching one of the escaped tears. "No, Relena, don't look like that... you're tired."
She blinked twice, moisture attaching to her lashes as she continued to gaze at him with big blue eyes. "Promise?"
Duo opened his mouth, but took one look at her eyes and closed it again, a smile playing on his lips. Gently, he pushed her onto the bed. She sat there, staring at her hands folded in her lap. Duo patted her head. "This just confirms what I already knew. You're exhausted. A nap and a shower, and then some dinner... and maybe later, who knows what could happen...?"
She looked up at Duo, the soft lines of his face leading to eyes that studied her tenderly. Kneeling, he removed her shoes, then swung her legs up onto the bed. Obediently, she lay back, though she protested when he tried to put her underneath the covers.
"As you wish," he said lightly, then added, "Sleep well."
She reached up with one hand to bring Duo down for a kiss. "You'll wake me when Trowa calls?"
"Go to sleep." He tried to pull away, but she held on, her arms wrapped around his neck. He chuckled. "I would stay, but you'd fall asleep in the middle of things, and then what would I do?"
She pulled him down again, kissing him thoroughly. "You don't think you could keep me awake?" Duo laughed. It was the opening she'd been waiting for. A few seconds later, she had a wriggling Duo pinned to the bed beneath her. "Promise."
"Damn, woman, what has Heero been teaching you?" Duo blurted.
Relena froze. Duo looked at her for a long moment before carefully guiding her to lay on her side in the bed, his arms around her. She curled up against him, letting the rhythm of his breathing soothe her to sleep.
//Violet eyes... she was lost in those violet eyes, wrapped in his chestnut hair, her arms around his neck... she tipped her head up to reach for his mouth with her own. She was safe at last.
Soft lips met hers, moved gently over hers, then opened, seeking entrance. Relena willingly submitted, feeling heat rise in her body. "Duo..."
Suddenly Duo slumped forward, and Relena held his weight, her face wet, sticky with something. She looked down to her hands.
Blood.//
Heart pounding, she sat up in bed.
A crack of light slipped in under the door, but it wasn't enough to see by. She groped blindly for Duo until someone flicked on the lights. Her eyes stung at the sudden change. Instinctively, she covered her eyes, blinking rapidly to help them adjust. As her vision returned, she looked toward the light panel and saw a distinctive bang and single green eye. "Trowa," she breathed.
"Tell me what happened."
Relena swallowed. "Trowa, I--"
"Tell me what happened." His eye bore into her, demanding answers.
"Just let me--"
The click of the door closing marked his departure. She curled up in a tight ball on the bed as her stomach wrenched. Again. She'd screwed up again.
Wufei's strident voice halted her self-depreciating thoughts. "It's 7:02 p.m. I am to feed you and give you clothing. Here." He tossed a duffel bag onto the bed. "Shower and change." He left the room without further comment.
The knot in her stomach wound its way to her throat. It felt like it would strangle her slowly. She wanted to cry out to Wufei that she was sorry, that she was really, truly sorry for all the trouble she'd caused. He would probably call her a weak, stupid woman, and for once, he would be right.
She buried her fingers in her soft feather pillow until she could feel her fingernails pressing into the palms of her hands. She pulled the pillow to her midsection, wrapping herself around it in the cold, empty bed, shaking.
"Relena."
The voice came from the doorway. It wasn't Duo and she doubted it was Trowa, leaving Wufei to see her in the weakness that she rarely exposed. She didn't move. There was no reason to move. She could only make things difficult and hurt more people, and she was tired of being the cause of everything.
"Relena." The voice was just above her this time. She moaned into the pillow she strangled against her.
The feel of a warm hand brushing back her bangs made her crack open her eyes, squinting against the rectangular beam of light that came through the slightly opened door. It was Wufei who stood above her, several strands of hair falling forward into dark eyes that looked down on her, not with the contempt she expected, but a flat neutrality that made her feel worse than before. She curled away from him.
"Be weak now, when you can afford weakness, that you may be strong later when strength is required."
The simplicity of the statement stabbed her. She smashed her eyes closed and bawled, crushing the pillow between her thighs and her stomach. She wept until her head ached, the pillow was soaked, and the delicate skin around her eyes was raw. And when she was done, her eyes burning and red, she felt a warm blanket being pulled up to the crease where her shoulder met her neck. It was tucked around her carefully, as if packing a piece of fine china.
"Now, sleep."
She lay, unmoving, as the blackness of exhaustion took her.