Disclaimer: Same as always.
Perhaps and Intention
By: Ame-san
Chapter 6
To solve a problem, one must take action. Both of them had believed in that saying, and it was for this reason that they were now embarked on a journey to the city of light: Paris. It would have been romantic if they hadn't decided to go there for a mission, then again, they probably would never visit the city for any other reason. Paris was not a long way from Cinq, a maximum of four hours on the international highway was sufficient. Still, four hours could be very long.
" Heero," Lena always took the initiative. " how are you feeling?"
" Not too well. " He spoke the truth. " I've been lied to for months, and now I'm suppose to help her. For once I decided to be normal, and this is what I receive in the end. A sorry, and a 'we should be friends' talk." He sighed. " The joy of rejection. It's great, isn't it?"
" It's not her fault, she only did what she did to save her fiancé." She never thought that she would defend Clementine in front of Heero. " You should keep the sarcasm though, it'll make you feel much better."
" I know it's not her fault, but I really thought she liked me." He kept his eyes straight on the road.
" So she hurt your ego. So what? " Lena was amused. " Tell me, Heero. Are you disappointed because you were really fond of her or because you were defeated by some other guy?"
He didn't reply. Come on, he was after all another egotistical man.
" I thought so. The great Heero Yuy was not so great after all. I guess these days good looks just don't work on us women anymore." Lena glanced at him through the corner of her eye. " It's all about the inner soul now."
" You think I'm good looking?" He too could play the game. He wasn't that horrible with words; he just didn't chose to use them all the time.
" I..." She realized that she had fallen into his trap. " Don't flatter yourself, Yuy. I'm not falling for that one."
" Answer the question, Dorlain." It was not everyday that one saw him engaged in an act of teasing.
" No. Not at all." She shot him a glare. Victory was hers. It had always been that way.
He smiled lightly and felt relieved somehow at the thought that he had "broken" up with Clementine. Being with Lena was much easier and natural. She was fun to talk to, a trait he never knew she had before she moved away some odd years ago. He wondered if the old Relena was capable of such talent.
" What are you thinking?" Lena asked.
" Just the fact that I'm no longer in a relationship and how that makes me happy." He glanced at her.
" Not the commitment type, I see." She nodded knowingly. " I should have known that."
" I've been wanting to ask you, Relena." He said. " I know you've changed, but what happened that made you change so much?"
" Life happened and then Liz happened. I didn't want to be the princess that everyone expected me to be. You should know because you were one of them." She looked out of the window. " It was as simple as that."
" I didn't know."
A brief moment of silence.
" Hey, can't we have one conversation where we don't end up feeling sorry for each other?" She tried to change the mood. " It's getting old and lame. It's like Heero and Relena, always the serious and sad ones. Well, let me tell you, it's Heero and Lena now, and they are happy people. And I sound like such an idiot."
" Hum... Heero and Lena? " He questioned her word choice.
" I...I...scratch that. I didn't mean it that way. Don't you get any ideas in your head." She defended herself.
" Ideas? What ideas?"
" Innocence is not your forte, Yuy." She glanced her watch. " Heero, did Duo tell you where we are supposed to meet?"
" Near the T.I.S. building."
" Very specific, eh? " She checked the map in her hands. " Do you think Liz's ok?"
" She's staying with Hilde." That explained everything and it was quite reassuring too.
They looked at each other and both smiled quietly, but the moment was disrupted by a mutual realization.
" What...what just happened there?" Lena spoke first.
Clearing his throat, Heero shook his head.
" Were we..." There was only one word she knew how to describe the situation. " Flirting?"
" I'm not sure, but I think that depends on the definition of flirting." He said with such technicality that one would think it was from a book.
" Thanks, that clears a lot of confusion." She laughed out loud. " Don't worry about it, let's just make sure it doesn't happen again."
He rather liked their pointless conversation. It was refreshing after all the drama they had been through.
" I don't know, but it was nice to be truly normal for once."
" What?" She lifted one of her eyebrows. " Did I just hear you say that or was it just my imagination? "
" You said it yourself that we should be more relaxed." He chuckled. Another rarity indeed.
" I never said that." She argued. " But, it's true nonetheless. Then again, it does not mean that it will change our relationship, Heero." She had to make things clear for both of them: a reminder was always necessary.
" Right. I wouldn't want it any other way. " He almost agreed with her. Almost being the operative word here.
" Friends?" She smiled at him.
" Yeah." He said reluctantly.
* * *
" Hey guys! " Duo emerged out of his dark vehicle with a grin plastered on his face. " What took you so long? I've been waiting here for ages."
" Traffic." Lena explained truthfully.
" Right." Duo teased. " And I let Wufei cut my hair."
" Duo, that's not funny. " Lena sauntered up to him. " We have work to do." Then she noticed something quite familiar about him that she hasn't seen in a long time. " What's with your outfit?"
Duo looked down at his black boots, black pants, black shirt, through his black shade and shrugged innocently. " What do you mean?"
" The black." Heero pointed out the obvious.
" Oh. Well, I haven't been on a covert mission like this one in years. Besides, I got tired of wearing the Preventer uniform everyday." He grinned sheepishly. " I miss being the God of Death."
" Right. " Lena shook her head in amusement. " Did you bring the communication device?"
" Yes ma'am." He opened the trunk of the car. " Take a look inside."
Both Heero and Lena peeked into the dark treasure chest. There were some ear phones, communication watches, bugging devices that resembled writing utensils, cameras built like lipsticks, and some weapons.
" Weapons? Duo?" Lena asked incredulously. " Why do we need weapons?"
" You don't. See, after I informed Une about this mission, she sent me to Wufei for supply. I just took what he had and then some."
" And he let you do it?" Heero questioned.
A moment of dead silence.
" No, but that's not important." Duo turned around and dug into the trunk, pulling out two gray uniforms. " Here, these are the uniforms you two have to wear in order to pose as security guards. They came with caps too."
" Thanks." Lena grabbed one and proceeded back into her car. " I'll change first."
Several minutes later, she came out fully clothed in the male uniform. Short hair was always handy at a time like this. Lena further concealed her femininity by lowing the cap to cover her upper face.
" Wow, if I didn't know you, I would be very jealous of your handsome looks, Lena." Duo joked. " You make a very good looking man."
" Very insulting, but I'll take that as a compliment. " she glared at him.
As Heero went to put on his new uniform, Lena inspected the rest of their supply.
" Ok, we are supposed to be two male security guards, so why do we need these?" She picked up one of the aforementioned lipstick shaped camera. " Couldn't you get something more appropriate for the occasion?"
" That's all I can find." Duo took the device from her hand. " Trust me, they are very useful and easy to carry."
" Right, the people who work at T.I.S will think that they have entrusted two very flamboyant men with their security."
" Well, look at it this way, flamboyance makes you less suspicious." Sometimes Duo's logic really scared her.
" I'll take your word for it." She nodded with a painful look on her face.
" Are we ready?" Heero reappeared beside Lena. " What's that you are holding?" He pointed at the object in Duo's hand.
Duo tossed the camera back to Lena without saying a word.
" Don't ask." Lena eyed him knowingly. " I'll keep it for the time being."
" Ready?"
" Yes. Duo? Anything else you have to report to us before we depart for the mission?" She asked.
" Une wanted me to tell you that you two have been legally employed by T.I.S under the names of Eric Miller and Jacque D'Or. The name tags should be on the upper right corner of your uniform, in case you forget. Also, you are fully protected by the Preventer as temporary undercover agents, any case against you will be considered null and void."
" That's nice to hear. Now, let's go."
* * *
The mission was simple. To Heero, it was the simplest, but the hard part was that he had to work with Lena. It had already been difficult enough to get used to the new and improved Relena Dorlain, espionage was just a little too much. On the other hand, however, she was a pretty good actress. A very believable male security guard indeed. The question lay in the fact whether she could pull off her part of the mission. She must gather as much information as possible for Thierry's case, and only she knew what kind of evidence was necessary. Heero's job was to hack into the security system and keep them safe. He seemed to always stuck with that job. Duo, of course, was keeping a constant vigilance for the unexpected.
She was nervous. After all, this was her first "mission." Though she did think that she was being a little paranoid. It wasn't that dangerous of a task to begin with, and she certainly didn't want to show any of her weaknesses. She could handle everything - she kept telling herself that.
" Ok, all done." Heero said, lifting his fingers off the key board that controlled the security system in the building. " We are set to go. The surveillance cameras wouldn't be able to detect anything unusual." He was about to explain some more of his amazing program, but she cut him off quickly.
" I trust you, Heero. Now, let's go before it's too late." She pointed to her watch. It was eight twenty-three in the evening. " I want to finish this mission before nine, so that I can get some sleep."
He merely nodded.
Rinehart's office wasn't very hard to find; the man knew very well that he had to keep a legitimate story to cover up his lies. His office, the C.E.O's office, was located on the twenty-seventh's floor.
Lena opened the door quietly and took out the flashlight. Heero followed behind. The room was quite clean and organized, and that meant that Heero and Lena must be really careful not to get things too out of place. She gestured Heero to start on the left side of the room with the file cabinets, and she herself went straight to Rinehart's desk.
The drawer was locked as expected, but the laser anti-lock key Duo gave her proved to be quite helpful. She didn't think that she would actually find anything too useful, for someone as powerful as Rhinehart wouldn't be an idiot and leave important documents inside his desk. She pricked around with her gloved hands, being very careful not to disturb the placement of things. All she could find were some pens, blank papers, and some cigar. Nothing out of the ordinary, except… She had discovered that under the pages of empty white papers, there lay a frame face down at the bottom of the drawer. She picked it up and turned it around. What she saw was definitely interesting.
" Heero." She whispered. " Hey, come and take a look at what I found."
He stopped amidst his search and walked to her. She showed the frame to him. It was a picture of Clementine.
" I guess that explains a lot of things, doesn't it?" Lena spoke.
" We could be mistaken." Heero said with caution.
" Either way, we now know that Rhinehart definitely has feelings for her." Lena reaffirmed her position. " He wouldn't just keep a picture of a woman in his desk if he does not care for her."
" Jealousy?" Heero analyzed a step further. " If what you say is true, then he must have been obsessed with her for a long time; he knows that she'll never care for him, and if he can't have her heart, then he'll just control her mind."
"But, the picture itself can't prove anything in the court." Lena put the picture back in its original place and relocked the drawer. " Did you find anything?"
" Not really, but we already figured that he wouldn't keep anything out in the open." Heero closed all the cabinets.
" Well, let's finish what we are here for." She took a tiny metal case out of her pocket and opened the lid. She took out from inside a micro black round disc that was less than a quarter of an inch.
Heero watched her with a questioning look.
" It's something Duo gave me." She said and walked to the corner that was opposite of the camera. " I know that you've already bugged the camera in this room, but if you can do that, I'm sure Rhinehart can too. This little thing here, however, will not be detected by anyone. It's the newest surveillance system from the Preventers."
" You really came prepared." He said, walking toward her.
She motioned him to pick her up, so that she could place the disc in the center where the walls met. She had avoided using a chair for support, for her feet would have left marks.
" I just hope Rhinehart will slip up something useful once in a while, or else we still got nothing against him." Lena reasoned.
" We did what we came here for. Mission complete." Heero said. " Let's go now."
* * *
" So that's all you guys could do? Man, that Rhinehart is not so easy to bust after all." Duo said after they got back to the cars.
" We tried, and the mission was successful." Lena explained. " We'll wait for a while before we come up with the next plan of action." She paused and yawned. " And as for right now, can we get to a hotel and get some sleep? It's an early drive tomorrow and I still need to go to work."
" Sure." Duo nodded his head in agreement. " I'll lead the way and you two follow me."
It didn't take them very long to find a decent hotel in Paris. Duo found them a nice little place with a cheap rate. Since it wasn't tourism season, they were able to find three room next to each other. None of them had brought a big luggage save a few small traveling bags. All three of them, especially Lena went quickly into their own rooms and called the night off. She told Heero and Duo that she was really tired, and they better not disturb her.
An hour later, after a refreshing bath, Lena, wearing a long sleeve cotton shirt and pajama pants, stood on the balcony that was attached to her room and stared at the star-filled night sky. The soft wind and the lights of the city were quite relaxing.
" I thought you were tired." A voice startled her. It was Duo Maxwell. He stood on his balcony that was about only three or four feet away from hers. He wore a T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans.
" Apparently I was wrong." He grinned.
" I am tired, but I can't sleep." She said. " I was just thinking."
" Yeah? Well, I actually have something to talk to you about." He was still smiling.
" About what?"
" Heero. Who else?"
" I know what you are going to say, and my answer is no." She shook her head.
" Oh, come on. Why won't you give him a chance? He's trying really hard, you know."
" I don't want to jeopardize our friendship." She said. " What we have now is more than enough."
" But you'll be lonely." The expression on Duo's face was sincere.
" I have Liz." She was determined.
" She won't be with you forever, you know that. In fact, she'll leave for college next year. What will you do then?"
" I…" She had no answer to give him.
" You need to get settled." He advised her.
" I am settled. I am as much settled as I need to be."
" Being stubborn will not always solve your problem." Duo said. " Trust me Lena, you'll be better off with Heero."
" You know what Duo? Everyone tells me that I'll be better off with Heero, but that's not true. I've been better off without him for the past seventeen years. I know what I want and I know who I am. That's enough." She reasoned.
" He thinks other wise." Duo said.
" I cannot care what he thinks; my life isn't built on his. I know that, and he knows that too. I think that it is time everyone else realizes it."
" Still, just try and give him a chance."
" It's not like he's never had the chance. What he does with it is not my concern." She laughed. " Tell Heero that next time he should talk to me himself rather than sending you here." She went inside the hotel room and closed the door.