"Come on Wufei, it's not like he completely botched the mission. He did manage to tap into the communication system before he was thrown into the lap of luxury," defended Quatre. Wufei was pacing back and forth, he had been doing so since they had received news that Duo had been caught, and not only caught, but being lavished with a nice room including a woman that Duo joked, came with the pillow. The man had the nerve to leave a message starting out with, "Hey! I failed my mission, but you know what? It doesn't matter because I can keep a better eye on the girls from here." Wufei was grinding his teeth by the end of the long description of the nice warm bubble bath that he had. None of the other pilots had been given the opportunity to bathe for the last two days. It was not very comfortable for any of them. P

"I say we go over there and drag him back by his braid," growled Wufei lamely. Heero had been leaning quietly in the shadows, listening to Wufei vent his frustration on burning ears. At this, he finally spoke. P

"He has a point." The sudden interjection caused everyone to fall silent. One could hear a pin drop in the room. When Heero knew that he had their full attention he continued. "It would be easier to see what exactly goes on inside that rebel camp if Duo is there keeping an eye on things. He can report to us directly." Surprisingly, Wufei was not the one to object. P

"Duo is going to be too distracted with the woman to be anywhere near useful," commented Trowa. Heero seemed to think it over several times. P

"What do you suggest we do?" P

"What I suggest we do would require guns, torture devices, and handcuffs." P

"Extracting those rebel women will not be of help to us right now. We have to concentrate on our mission. Let Duo deal with it and we can get our stuff done without them interfering." Trowa and Wufei reluctantly agreed and turned away to do something to keep their minds off the current lack of a member of the group. Quatre could only feel slightly embarrassed that it really didn't matter to him one way or another as long as the mission was completed. He had nothing to do with these women. There really wasn't that big of a deal. P

P

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P

The street was extremely long to the naked eye. The darkness seemed to cut off any visibility past a block. Only a small row of lamp posts could be seen winding it's way over the crest of the hill and further into the valley. He stood with his hands in his pockets, his gun strapped safely to his side on the inside of his coat. Lazily, he turned and stared into the window of an old candy store. A small bit of fog puffed out from his mouth onto the glass. It was getting colder out. Pretty soon the ground would be covered in snow. The shop was of course empty, but there were a few remnants of pieces of candy, strewn over the floor. The glass windows to the door had been broken. It was indeed a very old candy store. All of the stores and houses around had thick windows and all metal doors to keep the crime on the streets and out of the house. This store was long ago ravaged by thieves, now there was nothing left of interest. P

Heero's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden dropping of a trash can, followed by a screech from a cat. He spun quickly, towards the alley. The sound of footsteps could be heard running away. Without hesitation, Heero followed in hot pursuit. He avoided pieces of garbage and broken bottles as he dashed after the figure. He moved quickly, bolting around corners. For a moment, Heero lost track of where he was going and stopped, having to listen for the footsteps. As soon as he found the direction he was off again, his feet soaked from the puddles of muck everywhere. Within moments, Heero could barely make out the shadow of a person running headlong down an alleyway then suddenly disappearing from sight into a building. He didn't even stop to see which building it was. Heero dove straight away into the door only to be pulled up short by a cocking of a gun. He froze, his hands slowly rising into the air a look of emotionless ness etched into his face. Not even attempting to look at his attacker, he slowly turned the opposite way as the gun nudged into the side of his head, his back now to his assailant. P

"You've been losing your touch Heero Yuy," whispered a deep voice. It was one Heero could not recognize. The gun was pressed tantalizingly close to his head as whoever stood behind him came up closer, wrapping an arm around his waist. His eyes grew wide in surprise as that hand began to move around, being very delicate, tracing the top of his pants. He then realized it was a woman who stood behind him. Swinging around, surprising her, he pushed the gun away and had her pinned to the floor within a split second. The small microphone that transformed her voice into a deep baritone fell and rolled away from her lips. Golden hair was pulled up into a tight bun covered in a black knit hat. She wore a black jacket and pants. Blue eyes were glowing up at him over a small mouth shaped in a shocked 'o'. P

"Relena…" His guard was down, that's all she needed. Lunging forward, she pulled him into a tight embrace, smothering his next comment in a deep kiss. Quickly wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to the floor and herself. He was stiff with his surprise, but her lips were so enticing that he couldn't hold onto that shock for very long. Before he could tell what was happening, he was kissing her back passionately, feeling as if he had been deprived of a feast. The hat came off and golden hair fell down in pools of silk. She was so soft. His arms were wrapped desperately around her waist, allowing himself to press in on her. It was so good. His foot moved and accidentally hit the gun that had fallen forgotten next to them. It brought him back to his mind. He pulled back instantly and got up, moving as far from her as possible. Relena was disheveled. He didn't offer her a hand up. She slowly got up, not showing any disappointment of him pulling away so quickly. Dusting off her backside, she looked up at his Prussian gaze intensely. She was not shaken at all. The hair fell over one shoulder. Heero nearly lost himself again watching her. P

"You recover quickly," she said quietly. Looking around her, she picked up her hat and the small microphone. "Jerry would kill me if I lost this," she mumbled, half paying attention to Heero who was now glaring at her with as much menace as possible. She had just overrun a wall that he had built years ago. P

"What are you doing here?" he growled out. Relena glanced at him as she reached over for the gun. Heero got to it first and pulled it out of her reach. Relena stood straight, with just as an annoyed look on her face, hands on hips. P

"I was the one who wanted you to come down here," she said as she presented her hand, obviously looking to get back the gun. Heero stubbornly held onto it. P

"Why?" P

"Come now Heero, you know why I'm here. I know you have the files and all of the information." He didn't say anything. Sighing, Relena walked past him to a nearby crate and sat down on it. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a silver lighter. Heero frowned. Relena glanced over as she lit it and inhaled. "I started not too long ago. It's a bad and sweet habit. I promised Pagan that I would quit, but as you can see, it's a losing battle." She offered him one and as she expected, he did not accept it. P

"How did you become involved with the rebels Relena?" She leaned back against the moldy walls to contemplate how to explain. P

"I've always had my connections with the rebels. This particular group I started on my own. I am usually not the one to take advantage of people's allegiance to me, but in this case I think it will help the greater good. This war has to end, Heero. We plan on accomplishing this, but only if you promise to stay out of the way." There was the catch. Heero knew that she would probably request him not to interfere. Of course, he had other ideas. P

"What if I decide that is something I won't do?" P

"I anticipated that reply." Standing up and keeping the cigarette, attractively, between her two lips, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small disk. She threw it to Heero who caught it deftly in the air. He didn't even glance at it. "That has all the codes and information ever needed to infiltrate any and all colonies that are within the government jurisdiction, that's about 75%. I know many people who would be willing to get that information. You do know what kind of people are out there Heero, don't you? Terrorists. Every one of them. I've decided to take out all information concerning civilian colonies, but as for industrial as well as secret bases, all of that information will be open for the black market. If you fail to stay out of our way, Heero Yuy, as well as the other pilots, I'll hand it over to Sepple." Heero's eyes immediately narrowed. The name was widely known. He was the supposed ruler of the underground mafia, Reaper. With that kind of information, the man would become even more powerful than before. P

"You wouldn't do that." P

"If it means stopping this war, then I will. I have other means of maintaining peace, but for now, I want you and your pilots to stay out of this situation. Right now, we have Duo, so we can keep a very close eye on him. Oh don't look so surprised Heero, don't tell me you thought that Duo would be keeping an eye on us. We know that he's contacted you already. We'll keep him very preoccupied. Stay out of the way." With that, Relena moved towards the door, only to stop next to Heero. Gently reaching over, she slid the gun from his hand and put it into the holster at her side. He let it go without a fight. Just as she was turning to leave he reached out and grabbed hold of her shoulders. P

"You won't do that to the colonies, you can't," he growled. A small enlightened smile came over her face. P

"Heero Yuy, I am not coldhearted, I've only become less naive. I can tell you that one thing will make this easier. I'll hand over all of the information to you if you give me your word that you will not interfere." Heero looked down, contemplating the choices. "And a kiss." With that his eyes flew straight back up to meet with Relena's. She was smiling lightly. A long silence followed. Neither moved for it seemed forever. Finally, Relena pulled away. P

"That's what I thought. Goodbye Heero," she said. Outside it had begun to snow lightly. Heero watched as she slowly disappeared into the darkness, surrounded by the falling snowflakes. He stood in the doorway for a while, staring at the steam coming from his mouth. Shaking his head, he tried desperately to shut out the memories of her. It had all been a mistake back then. It only managed to interfere with his mission and nothing would or could ever do that. Had it really only been four months? A vision of her walking away, holding the umbrella as the rain poured down. It was in the same fashion. Heero didn't do anything about it, only watched her leave him behind. 'Goodbye, Heero'. The memory never left him. He would wake up in the middle of the night with a cold sweat, crying out. It was for the best; at least, that's what he told himself. Then his mind would wander. What if a soldier could be renewed? What if all of the bloodshed he had caused and the suffering he had inflicted could be erased so that he could be happy with his angel? Was it possible? Heero shook his head. He would have to forget about that from now on. It was in the way of the mission now. He only now discovered a much greater hurdle to get over. She went by the name of Relena Peacecraft.