Chapter 10: Shopping

"How in the world did she rope us into this?" Duo muttered, burying his face in his hands.

"Because she roped your fiancée into going with her," Aiden replied unmercifully. He was leaning against a wall behind Quatre, who seemed to be seriously contemplating a blue-grey cashmere sweater.

"Yeah, well, I've been seriously reconsidering the whole marriage thing. If I have to put up with this kind of stuff on a regular basis -- nuh-uh. I'm out." Aiden glanced around the empty store, ignoring Duo because he knew the braided man would never really give up Hilde. Relena had gotten an old friend of her foster father to open the store only for her, even though it was supposed to be closed -- and was, to the public.

"Guys, what do you think of this?" Quatre turned, holding the sweater out before him.
Aiden blinked. "Too small and we're in the women's department." Duo chuckled and Quatre rolled his eyes.

"For my sister, Heero."

"Which one?" he lifted an eyebrow.

Quatre shrugged and fiddled with the tag, checking the price. "Any one it will fit."

Duo and Aiden shared a look, then grinned and turned as the girls came toward them, arms full of clothing.

"We found some great things for Kia," Relena smiled to Aiden as they handed their things to the men.

"Mm," Duo commented, "yeah, she'd look pretty cute in this." He picked out a small dark green dress, which would come down to Kia's knees.

"Duo," Hilde took the handful of fern-patterned fabric, smiling up at him, "this one's mine."

He stood completely still for a moment, eyes moving from her to the dress, before a small, serious grin spread over his face. "You're not wearing that in public. Just for me," he told her, kissing her on the nose as she smiled and put it back in his arms with her other selections.

Aiden watched the exchange with an oddly detached smile. His eyes slipped to Relena where she was trying a black velvet, fake-fur trimmed coat on a glowing Kia. Aiden's family had never really had much money, and Kia was eating all this attention up. She twirled as Relena stepped back to observe her creation.

"You've made a monster," Aiden stepped up behind Relena, smiling. She turned. "And you're spending too much," his eyes were serious, a little concerned.

"Never too much for Kia," she dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Don't you want anything?"

"No," he told her, watching Kia prance around them. "I'm fine."

"You're sure?" she asked, a devilish twinkle in her eye. "You, the man who went an entire war in a green tank and black spandex?"

He chuckled dryly. "I did wash them."

She looked at him oddly, eyes glancing up and down his form curiously, an expression in her eye that sent his heart beating faster, blood heating. "What did you wear when you did that?" she asked, keeping his eye one last moment before turning and following Hilde to the shoes.

After a moment of calm, bracing breaths, Aiden followed them.

"I like the red ones!" Kia said as Hilde slipped a glittering red flat on her left foot and Quatre had a classic glossy black on her right. They went to find some others as Kia admired the mismatched pair on her feet.

"The black will do, and that's all you're getting," Aiden told her calmly. "Miss Relena is spending quite enough on you besides shoes." Her mouth opened wide in a cry, and Relena looked up at him from beside both of them, but their protests were cut short as the lights went out.

Relena had been near Kia's bench, just in Aiden's reach, and he moved swiftly to grab her, shoving her to the ground, as several gunshots cut through the air and someone screamed. Aiden was covering Relena's body with his, his hands pressed against her ears, and prayed that the others were all right.

The lights flickered back on as the sharp sounds faded, stopping, and Aiden lifted himself cautiously and glanced around, looking for the shooter as he reached for his own gun. Relena stirred under him, her eyes wide, but as Aiden glanced to his left, he froze.

With a rough, "Kia," he was scrambling over to where the small figure lay. Quatre came around the side, followed by the others, and stared at Kia. Aiden shoved his emotions away and took in the damage with one sweep of her body – there was a bloody hole ripped through her shoulder, and another in her leg, her head turned to the side with dark hair fanning out around her too-pale face. The red shoe had blood splattered on its shimmering surface, the black had none -- she had not yet lost enough blood to be in danger, but it would not be long until she had. Taking a swift look around, he noted their open position and gathered the small figure into his arms, growling orders for Quatre to get Relena.

He moved them further into the racks and was grateful for the thick winter clothing as he grabbed a dark grey and a pale pink sweater, pressing one to her shoulder and giving the other to Quatre to tend her leg as Duo huddled Hilde and Relena against a jacket rack, gun bared as the violet-eyed man kept a keen eye out for more assassins. They made makeshift bandages over her wounds and Aiden put her carefully into Quatre's arms.

Keeping low among the racks, he moved to Duo, Quatre following him.

"Take the girls out to the car and leave," he told Duo. Their car was a beat-up Honda the Preventers had lent them, with bulletproof windows, special tires, and an engine in perfect working order. "I'm going to check on the saleswoman, make sure she's okay."

Duo's eyes darkened, but he nodded, taking Hilde's arm and motioning for Relena to follow them and keep low.

"Aiden," Relena whispered, turning to him. "We'll wait for you."

"You wait for me, then Kia dies," he replied. Duo glanced back, impatient, but Aiden ignored him and slipped his hand behind her head, pressing his lips firmly and briefly to hers, before releasing her and moving back.Relena was stunned for a moment, eyes locked to his and lips slightly parted, but then he slipped away and Duo was taking her arm, leading her out, and she didn't even have the presence of mind to blush at the braided man's grin.