Chapter 4: "Note to self for later reference: Kick Heero's spandex covered little ass!!"

Heero stood stiffly against the wall with his arms crossed. The past two days had gone by quickly. Too quickly to his liking. He hated the idea of taking someone inexperienced and practically a stranger onto one of his missions. He stared at the gundams resting in the bay area of the base, and growled to himself. Even he, being the soldier he was, had looked forward to not having to fight anymore. Or, at least for a bit longer. Fate, it seemed, had other plans for the stoic ex-pilot. Now here he was, preparing to go into battle again, and this time with the unwanted company of Blaze, one of the most feisty girls he'd ever encountered. As if the mere thought of her brought her presence, she appeared at his side.

"Oye, oye Heero." she nudged his shoulder with hers. "Don't be so worried. It's not like I'm going to do anything wrong. I'll just tag along with you, that's all."

"You're a handicap to this mission. I don't need you." he hissed.

"I guess you do, 'cause you need a date to this formal party!" Her blue eyes shined at him and she grinned. "Try and give me a little credit, will you?"

"Why are you bothering me?" He demanded, turning his head to look at her fully.

"Ah! I meant to tell you! The package is here! We've gotta go get ready, don't we? I'm sure you're familiar with that whole 'as soon as possible' thing…" she tugged on his forearm for him to follow her.

He yanked his arm away, and walked next to her. "Hn…" he grumbled. They walked towards the front of the bay, where it was open to the cool early afternoon. There a box sat, along with 4 pilots who had already opened it and were looking through the things. "Do you mind?" he said to all of them. They turned and looked at him.

Duo bounced up with a grin. "It's all yours. It's nothin' much. Just a tux and a dress with the accessories."

"Yes, Maxwell. A dress which you were originally going to wear." Wufei said with a snicker.

Duo stuck his tongue out at him. "TTTTHHHHHHHBBBB!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Blaze looked past the two, at Quatre who blushed furiously as he pulled out a pair of fake rubber and latex breasts, similar to a strapless bra with the same hook connection in the back. "Oh this is going to give me nightmares…" he said finally, and gave a heavy sigh.

"What the hell am I suppose to do with that?!?!" Blaze shouted, snatching the thing from Quatre's hands. She held it away from her at an arms distance with both hands, as she stared at it.

Heero walked past the two now arguing pilots, and stood next to Blaze with an eyebrow raised. "Hn… The package was sent before our conversation with Dr. J. That was when Dr. J. thought Duo would be playing his role."

Duo stopped at the mention of his name, then cracked up when he saw what Blaze was holding. "I was suppose to wear that? Oh man! Hahaha!! This is great!!" He grabbed the object, and squeezed the fake breasts curiously.

Blaze hit Duo hard across the head. "BAKANA HENTAI!!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?!"

Duo rubbed his head to dull the pain. "Hey! I was just wondering how real they'd seem compared to the real thing!!"

Wufei held his nose to stop the blood that was going to gush out. "And how the HELL would you know, MAXWELL???"

"Hey, chill your dirty mind, Wu-Wu!! Ya'll know it's male's instinct!!" Duo said with a shrug. Wufei clenched his fists at being called 'Wu-Wu.'

"How many men do you wanna bet can't tell the difference between the feel of real breasts and implants??" Blaze countered.

"How did this whole thing turn into this…?" Trowa asked quietly. "I thought there's a mission coming up. Don't you have something to be taking care of Blaze?"

Blaze gave a sharp sigh, and stomped over to the box. She grabbed her belongings, taking only what she needed, of course… and left to go change. Heero followed her carrying his things as well.

Blaze changed in the bathroom, and Heero changed in the bedroom. It was best that way, since Blaze still had to fix her hair and whatnot.

Heero had been waiting outside for a half an hour with the rest of the guys. "How long does it take the average woman to get ready?" Heero finally asked them.

"It depends." replied Trowa. "Katherine takes and hour and a half, but that's because she has her costume to always get into and make up, and hair…"

"That's what Blaze is doing right now." Duo said with a smirk. "I'll bet she looks even hotter once she's all dressed up…" Heero glared at him, Quatre giggled, Wufei rolled his eyes, and Trowa settled on a hard stare.

Finally, Blaze came out. All sets of male eyes stared at someone who didn't remind them at all of the attitude and tomboyish girl they knew.

Blaze wore a glittering dark blue dress which fell to her ankles, and was held up by thin spaghetti straps. She had a black sash to match it, and black heels. She wore a black choker, diamond earrings, and white gloves that went to her elbows. Her hair was pulled up into a nice bun, and she wore some makeup, much to her disliking. She twiddled her thumbs, and looked down at the floor.

They were all taken aback. She was so beautiful!! Her shy actions were new as well, and it made her much more feminine. She bit her glossed pink lip and looked up at them, blushing furiously.

Duo gave a low whistle and continued to gawk.

"I feel so dumb…" she muttered finally, her voice a girlish whisper.

"You shouldn't!" Quatre countered. "You look beautiful!!"

She looked down at her feet and grinned. Then she looked up at Duo. "Would you like a bucket to hold your drool? God, Duo! Get a hold of yourself! I don't look that great…"

"Matter of opinion…" Duo mumbled to himself. Trowa glanced at him.

"What's that mark?" Heero asked stoically, pointing at a scar which almost hid itself under the thin black strap on her right shoulder.

She didn't glance at her shoulder, and pulled the shawl over it. "I don't know. It's nothing." she replied quickly, and made brief eye contact with Trowa then looked away quickly. "Shouldn't we get going?" she asked, changing the subject.

Heero narrowed his eyes. "fine." he replied. He walked behind her, acknowledging how tightly she kept her shawl wrapped around her shoulders and neck.

It took a few hours to reach the place, but they were there with the night sky hanging over them, wrapping them in the crisp air of evening. The black car which they had shown up in left, leaving them on their own. They both acknowledged how they were the youngest ones there. The rest of the adults there, were in their mid-40's or older. Heero eyed his surroundings suspiciously. 'hn…' he thought. 'I would have expected to see Relena here, talking to many of these ESUN leaders about peace. It's in her character to do so…'

Blaze gave him a small tug, a hint that they should stop standing there at the edge of the sidewalk, and go inside. He glanced at her, and looked back at the large Victorian house with his icy blue eyes. It was three stories high, and the outside was red brick. It was very old fashioned, but still held its beauty throughout the years. There was a wide stairway that lead into the house through large oak double doors, where two men stood guarding the entrance. They both held lists, checking people in as they came.

They stepped up the steps, and once they approached one of the men, Heero stated their identity as the son of one of the representatives who couldn't make it. The representative name which they were enlisted under was fake, of course. Dr. J. had made sure of everything for their safety, especially since Blaze was with Heero.

Once they entered inside, Blaze let out a small breath.

"Relax." Heero said. "We don't need anyone to suspect us by your nervousness."

"I'm not nervous!" she protested. "Whoever said I'm nervous? I'm just… adjusting, that's all. And cautious."

Heero looked down at her, meeting her blue eyes with his icy glare. "Why are you being so incredibly careful? There's not much that you have to do. I'm doing all of the work here."

She smiled at him with a kind face, yet her eyes showed the anger that was in her. "Because someone had made a big deal about my incompetence to this stupid thing, even though that person says it's nothing big! Which, in turn, makes me feel very inferior and unsure of myself, so… in order to please that person, and since I am afraid I may fail since one insisted so, it's no wonder that I'm acting the way I am. If you hadn't pressured me so much with this stupid thing, then I wouldn't be so nervous and I would be doing just fine, which in turn would make our pseudo relationship much more believable." With that, she turned to the side, lifting her chin up in a haughty manner. "Remember I'm doing you a favor, dear."

Heero knew she was right, but he pretended to ignore her in his stubbornness. Changing the topic, he decided to play his role. "Care to dance?" He offered his hand to her.

She looked at him from her upset stance. Then the corner of her mouth lifted in a little grin, and she tucked a loose strand of light brown hair behind her ear. "Sure." she replied.

They moved out onto the dance floor, surrounded by other couples. The music was classical, a waltzing type. Heero pulled Blaze in by her hand, and stood them in the waltzing stance. Suddenly, Blaze tensed slightly, and she looked up at him uneasily, a slow blush coming to her cheeks.

"Heero…" she whispered.

"Hn…?"

"I don't know how to waltz…." she confessed. Then she reminded, "You never taught me."

"Oh…. Well…. The steps are simple. You walk in a box, and you follow my lead. Just try to act like you know what you're doing…" he whispered in her ear.

"I… fine."

Blaze mentally kicked herself for how hot her face felt. Heero pulled away slightly and started to lead her slowly through the steps, all the while keeping his eyes on her. At first, she kept glancing at their feet, but then he whispered, "Stop it. You look unprofessional."

"I *am* unprofessional, you idiot." she hissed. She knew she was being bitter, but it was merely a facade to cover her pounding heart and blushing cheeks. 'Hopefully, Heero will think it's just makeup…' she thought to herself. Inwardly, she brutally tried to kill the attraction that seemed to be popping up out of nowhere. What was she attracted to? His personality was so… cold. He was always mean to her. But… there was just something… ah, yes. His good looks. She had noticed from the start that he was a very good looking stoic homicide, even if his fashion sense was a little… unforgiving. Still, right now, at this moment, he didn't seem like the same person.

'Of course he doesn't seem the same. This is all just an act, after all…' she said mentally. Still… he was nicely dressed. He smelled good, too. It took plenty of her will power and sanity to not bury her face into his neck.

She glanced at her feet again, and Heero squeezed her hand. She shot her eyes up and glared into his steely defiant stare. She made herself look as angry as she could, afraid that Heero would see past her screen. After all, this… crush… or whatever it was, was probably just something stupid that'll fade away by the end of the night. She probably wasn't in her right state of mind.

Heero narrowed his eyes at her, and looked past her as they danced. There was something in her eyes that he didn't like. Something that unnerved him. The tension was thick between them, and although it was easy to assume it was because they just didn't get along, there still seemed to be something else there.

Soon the dance ended, and they grabbed a free table. It was near the corner, out of people's way. Blaze sat down and looked at the small provisions. They had their usual crackers in plastic, of course. There were also glasses turned upside down on top of napkins. It was a small round two-person table, and it had a rose in the center with a white candle. Blaze smirked as Heero pulled out the chair for her. "Well, if this was a different situation, then this would make a nice romantic set up."

Heero sat down stiffly and started fiddling with the napkin. "Don't get any ideas."

Blaze rolled her eyes. "I'm not. I was just saying. So much for small talk." Subconsciously, she let her shawl slip and rest on the back of the white wooden chair.

Heero glanced at her scar. "How did you get that?" he asked.

She looked down at herself, up at his eyes, then glanced away quickly. "I don't know."

"It looks like a bullet wound." he commented.

She occupied her vision with watching the elderly couples dance and at the orchestra that was playing. A waiter had come by and filled their glasses with ice water. She finally looked back down at her glass. "I know it does. But I don't know how I got it."

On that happy note, the topic was dropped quickly. Heero peered at her out of the corner of his eye, as he kept his ears tuned on peoples' conversations. 'I suppose she really does have amnesia…' he thought.

The night progressed, and people kept coming. Finally, the front doors were closed, and the party commenced. The large ball room was completely filled with the people of ESUN and some representatives for Earth's main countries. When the room was at its max with excitement and bustling people in tuxedos and gowns, Heero took Blaze's hand and went up the curving stairs to the second floor. There were very few people up here, mostly the silent ones-the wallflowers, who preferred to watch from above. The lights of the hall wasn't on, and there was a red ribbon blocking off the end of the hallway which veered to the right.

They walked as stealthily as cats in the darkness, quietly going over the blocking ribbon. They went around the corner, and Heero stopped right outside the first door on the right side. He quickly picked the lock then entered, pulling Blaze inside with him. Blaze smirked, and threw out the first comment that struck her. "Wow, Heero… I didn't know you'd be so bold…"

If it wasn't pitch black, then Blaze would have been the first person to ever see Heero blush. That unfortunately not being the case, she only was given a grunt and a "Shut up," as a response.

She heard him walking somewhere in the room, as her eyes started to adjust to the darkness. Right when she could start to make out his form and other unknown objects surrounding her, a bright light blinded her eyes as Heero turned on a computer. She could see his silhouette as he stood in front of the computer with his back to her. She looked around the room. There was a fake tree in the corner, and next to that was a recliner chair. In front of the recliner chair was a coffee table, and on the other side of the coffee table was a love seat. There were other things as well. There was a file cabinet next to the computer and a bookshelf on the wall behind her, next to the door.

"Wow… how cozy…" she whispered. "No windows."

"Be quiet." Heero responded.

She walked quietly next to him and looked at the computer screen. He worked quickly, bringing up multiple files of who-knows-what. He was putting nearly everything on a disk that he had put in the computer. She tapped the corner of the desk impatiently with her finger. Did he really have to get EVERYTHING??? It was taking way too long for her liking. She wanted to get it and leave. "Is all of this really necessary??" she whispered in his ear.

"Yes."

"How much more do you need?"

"One more file…" he responded. He clicked on it to be moved to the A drive. The highlighted bar moved slowly, and leftover time showed 2:34 minutes.

Blaze groaned to herself. She had a bad feeling about this. She glanced at the door. Did she hear faint footsteps? She couldn't tell. She wasn't sure. She took off her shawl and placed it at the foot of the door to block any light from showing into the hall. Hopefully it would work. Heero glanced at her. She could hear it too?

A few seconds later, there were definitely footsteps coming close to outside their door. She backed away slightly, and turned around just in time to see the highlighted bar finish. They could hear whispering voices on the other side, and she turned her attention back to the door. She glanced over at Heero again, right when he stood up with the disk and put it in his pocket and turned off the computer. The doorknob started to turn, but then stopped. Voices spoke again, and there was the sound of keys jingling. She looked back at Heero helplessly. He kept his eyes on the door. Suddenly, she grabbed him by his hand and pulled him halfway across the room.

She squeezed her eyes shut. "I know you're going to hate me for this…" she said. The sound of the keys turning the lock brought her back to the immediate present, and she pulled him towards her by his collar.

Gravity took it from there, and the two fell on top of the love seat. Lips touched roughly, but locked nonetheless. Heero pulled away a bit and stared down at her with shock. She mouthed to him, "please, just play along." He clenched his jaw and fell back on top of her. He put his face next to hers and his hand on her shoulder.

The door opened. Heero and Blaze jolted up, and in the process, Heero's hand slipped down the strap on Blaze's dress, so it rested limply on her arm. She eyed him evilly before she looked back at the men in the doorway. They were dressed in dark blue, and held guns on one side and a club on the other.

Their were three of them, two with their guns drawn. They all started laughing. "Well, well, well…" said the one without his gun in hand. "What have we here?"

"A little busy, are we?" added the one behind him.

Blaze bit her lip and pulled up her strap. The third guard eyed the two suspiciously. Then he demanded, "How did you get in here?"

"It was unlocked." Heero replied. The suspicious one narrowed his eyes. Then Heero added, "I see nothing wrong with wanting some private time."

"Really? Hm…" the guard walked around the room, inspecting everything. The second guard looked behind the door, and picked up Blaze's sash.

"Some reason this was stuffed in the doorway, miss?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Blaze shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I was a bit… busy, if you know what I mean. I must have dropped it when we came in."

The second eyed the first, and the two grinned as if in total understanding. The third, however, was still inspecting things. He eyed the computer the most, then placed his hand on it. "The computer is warm. It's been used. Get them!!" he shouted. Heero narrowed his eyes, and blocked Blaze with one arm.

The first drew his gun and pointed it at them. "Hands in the air!!" he demanded.

The two sighed in defeat and slowly raised their hands. Two of the guards advanced on them, and the third stood back with his gun poised. The guards were about the grab them, when Heero punched the first guy, and kicked the gun out of the second's hand. The second guard pounced on him, and the fight began. Blaze started to run around the other side of the love seat, but the third guard jumped in front of her. She tried to go around him, but he kept blocking her. She narrowed her eyes, then ripped the part in her dress all the way up to her hip. She dropped to the ground and swept the guy right off of his feet. He fell back and hit his head on the corner of the desk, and lost consciousness.

Heero seemed to have a little bit more difficulty. Once he got one guy off, the other pounced on him. Their guns were forgotten on the floor, as the fight turned into a slugfest. Blaze picked up the gun next to her feet, and aimed. Unfortunately, there was too much moving around, and she was too afraid she'd hit the wrong target.

She jumped onto the guy that was trying to pin Heero down, and tried to pull him off. He swung his arm back to hit her, but her mind and body switched to automatic and she ducked the flying fist. She grabbed the wrist once it had passed her head, and hit his arm with the other. A sharp crack filled the room, followed by a scream of pain.

The guard leaped off of Heero, savoring his arm. Blaze leaped up and spun a kick, which landed on the man's temple. He flew back and skidded across the coffee table, and didn't get up. She landed, but her high heels made her slip and she twisted her ankle painfully. She clenched her teeth, and watched Heero quickly finish off the last guard. A thick silence followed.

Heero dusted himself off, and looked at Blaze with wide-eyes. "Where'd you learn that?" Heero demanded.

As Blaze gasped she replied, "Learn what??"

"How to fight like that." he pointed out. Then he added, "I thought you had amnesia."

Her eyes turned to ice. "If I wasn't injured right now, then I'd fucking smack you!!" she nearly shouted. "That not being the case, I'll have to wait until we get back!" Then she muttered to herself as Heero helped her up, "Note to self for later reference: Kick Heero's spandex covered little ass!!"

While she was standing, she favored her foot. "So, genius. How do you expect us to leave now without being suspicious?"

Heero pondered this for a split second, then picked her up in a cradle hold. "I'll carry you out…"

"Like I said-"

"…and you'll pretend to be unconscious. I'll say you had too much to drink." Heero finished.

She sighed, and then said, "Fine."

Later….

Heero carried Blaze out of the car and into the base. They were greeted by the guys, and followed Heero as he took Blaze into the small hospital section of the base. Heero checked her in, much to Blaze's disliking. She insisted she was fine, although she couldn't stand. Once Heero left the hospital section, the others followed him suspiciously.

Duo's usual grin suddenly spread unnaturally large. "Hey, Heero…" he started.

Heero turned and glared at him as usual. "What?"

Duo motioned to his own lips. "That's an interesting shade of lipstick on you, Heero ol' buddy…"

Heero's eyes widened and he quickly wiped off Blaze's lipstick.

Duo patted him hard on the back and said proudly, "Nice job, Yuy."

Heero was left dumbfounded as Duo and the other pilots walked away grinning. He was about to try and explain, but alas… he knew it wouldn't work. They were never going to let him forget this…