"Reminiscing"

Chapter 5: Desperate Measures

Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

Relena continued to stand in the darken room, just trying to pass the time before it was time to leave with Zechs and Noin for the night. Right then, someone had tapped her on the shoulders, which made her heart skipped a beat. It also triggered the fears from her brush with death in Paris, all over again. She quickly spun around to see who was behind her and to her amazement, it was Heero dressed in a simple tuxedo. On his right pocket, there was a single white carnation pinned down.

She stared at him with her blue eyes, imprinting the image of him in her mind. She told herself not to fall in love with him again, but with him right there, standing in front of her, her feelings for him began to run anew within her heart and soul. Before she had a chance to say anything, he grabbed her by the waist as the two started to slow dance in the room.

"Why did you come back?" she whispered.

In response to her question, Heero continued to dance with her, but he never answered her question directly. The two remained silent for a while until they both heard the music stop and that the hallway was beginning to fill with commotion, which signaled that the guests were leaving.

"Where could she be?"

"Maybe she just wandered off to get some fresh air, Zechs. She is free to do what she wants to."

Relena then emerged from the darken room and right beside her was Heero.

"There you are. We've been looking for you within the ball room." And when Zechs saw Heero next to Relena, he was shocked at first, but eventually he was able to greet him. "We're leaving now, Relena."

"I guess I'll have to make this meeting short then. It was nice seeing you again. Good night, Heero." She walked over to her brother, but midway there, she felt her right arm being grabbed back.

"I'll take her home."

"Well, all right then."

Zechs and Noin left the dance hall, while Heero and Relena remained inside. The two were walking to another exit, and after they had passed through a glass revolving door. The cold night air surrounded the two, even though their winter attire gave them little protection, as they made their way to a white limo that was parked by the sidewalks of the dance hall. He held the door for her as she stepped in and once he was finally seated, they began the short ride to her home. Throughout the drive, the two remained quiet, as the limo made its way across the ice glazed roads.

Relena then asked her question again, hoping to hear a response from him, "Why did you come back?"

"I'm on assignment," he focused his sight ahead of him.

She acknowledged his answer and before long, the limo pulled into the front driveway of her home. "Thanks for the ride then."

Heero then left his seat and opened the passenger door for her. As she was stepping out with her right foot, she lost her footing on a sheet of ice, and nearly fell, but luckily, Heero caught her in the nick of time. She slightly blushed and looked away from his Prussian eyes, "I guess I should have seen that coming." Heero gently let her go and watched her as she walked up to the front door. "I guess Pagan must have left for the night." After fumbling with the frozen keyhole, Relena finally managed to enter into her own home. "You can come in you know. It's better than standing out in this cold weather."

Heero acknowledged and slowly looked around the room to see what has changed during his months of absence. He picked up a picture frame on a living room table and noticed that it was group photo. Duo and Hilde were standing one in front of the other with him being in the back of her, while Zechs and Noin were standing side by side. As for Dorothy and Quatre, they both smiled into the camera standing next to each other, while for Sally and Wufei they stood to the right of the group. Relena and Heero were standing in the middle of the group, to the right of them, Trowa stood alongside Catherine and Lady Une.

"I remember that picture," replied Relena. "It was taken at the Preventer Headquarters from a picnic."

"I remember."

Unknown to Heero, an intruder was hiding in the snow-covered bushes. "I guess it's time to put my plan into action, then." He began to scale a small maple that was located at the rear of Relena's home. At first, he kept sliding down the tree trunk because of the ice and the snow, "I should have brought my ice picks if I known about this." Eventually, he made it to one of the back windows and used a laser to cut through the glass. He gently removed the cold glass and slipped it down onto the floor. In a matter of minutes, he was in the house, waiting to put his boss's plans into full gear.

Down below in the living room, Heero sensed something was wrong, but decided to dismiss the foreshadowing feeling of his. "I should leave now, it's getting late." He then got up from the couch he was sitting at and headed towards the door. "Thanks for everything."

"I could set up a room for you for the night." She looked out the window and noticed that the limo had pulled away. "I guess your ride already left too."

Heero then agreed to her conditions. But still, he felt something wasn't quite right. He watched Relena traverse the staircase leading to the second floor and he could hear the footsteps that she was making.

Upstairs in one of the various guest bedrooms, Relena had just passed the room that the intruder was situated in the darkness. "Ah, my target is now in sight." He stealthily left his hiding spot and followed Relena into one of the rooms. She was about to turn on the lights, but the intruder quickly placed his hands over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. He took out a small cutting knife and flashed it in front of her. The silver light reflected over her face and shoulders. "You better not make any quick sudden moves or I'll kill you right now."

She decided to play mind games on her kidnapper. She watched him peep out the door and as he was doing so, she quickly grabbed her silver gun that she carried at all times now. It was hidden in a holster that she tied around her left leg. She knew that she had only two bullets left. She silently cocked the gun in her hands and pointed at the man that stood in front of her. "BANG." Her kidnapper fell in the middle of the doorframe...blood emanated from his shoulder. She quickly walked out of the room, but she then she felt something catch her ankle and she dropped to the floor.

"I should have been more careful." Her kidnapper got on the defensive and grabbed the knife back into his hands. He then pulled Relena to stand and took out to the hallway. They were just at the apex of the staircase, where Heero greeted them.

"Let her go."

"Not a chance." Right then, the intruder pulled something silver out his hands and pointed it at Heero. Realizing what it was, Relena tried to warn Heero, but then it was too late. He felt a twinge of pain in his right shoulder, but he seemed to ignore it. "So not dead yet...try this then." The man then threw a small canister of a sedative gas onto the floor and with that Heero fell to the floor, as he felt his eyes burn each time he opened them and that his muscles began to tighten. He covered his mouth and slowed his breathing down to prevent the full effects of the substance in overcoming his body.

"Heero!!" Relena tried to fight off her attacker by biting at his hands that tried to cover her mouth. She escaped at first and ran to Heero's side, her hair falling over her shoulders as she knelt beside him. She softly whispered his name, but she didn't hear a response from him. She then felt Travis's strong grip on her shoulders again, as she was pulled away from Heero's side. "Let me go!!"

"Say good night." He flashed the knife in front of her again in his right hand, as his left arm was wrapped around her neck.

Her vision began to blur as blackness was slowly taking over her body, she looked into her attacker's eyes and saw that they were intent on killing her. She saw his hand raise the silver object and before long, a shockwave of pain was felt near her stomach. She slowly fell to the floor with her hands covering her life-threatening wound. The blood was seeping through her dress, changing the color of light blue to a dark purplish hue. She looked to Heero who lay quietly on the floor, his right shoulder slightly bleeding. She slightly coughed as her breathing became shallower, before long, everything around her turned black.

The attacker looked towards Heero. "I shouldn't leave any witnesses behind. The boss will kill me." He then flashed the knife stained with Relena's blood, the red liquid glistened off the silver surface. He was about to strike Heero. Just before he struck, Heero sprang to life and quickly moved out of harm's way and knocked the weapon out of the attacker's hand. The two continued their fistfight until Heero managed to choke him, rendering the attacker unconscious for the time being and he then bounded him with a small cloth towel that he had found in a room.

Heero quickly ran back to Relena's side and examined her wound. The knife had entered into her abdomen and he quickly ripped parts of his tuxedo and placed the makeshift bandage near the wound, in hopes of stopping the massive bleeding. He then ran to the hallway phone and dialed for an ambulance. "We need medical help, Relena Peacecraft has been seriously wounded."

A hospital staff member on the other line responded, "We'll be there in five minutes, if the roads are manageable."

"Please hurry." He then went back to her side and held her in his arms. He looked towards the wound again and saw that the bleeding hadn't stopped yet. "Hold on." He gently held her, keeping pressure on her wound.

A soft whisper was heard, "Heero....I thought you..."

"Sshh. Save your breath." He noticed that her lips were becoming pale blue. He looked up from her and listened to see if he could hear any sirens coming in the direction of her home, "Where are they? They should have been here by now." Flashes of red light emerged from the windows, reflecting off the dark walls of the hallway. "Relena, they're here now." Heero waited for a response, but he didn't hear one. "Relena?"

Downstairs in the foyer, the door was opened and one member of the paramedics yelled, "Where is she?"

Heero heard the paramedic, "She's up here." Within seconds, Heero saw a team of three haul up a backboard and examined Relena's critical state. Before long, her limp body was placed on the backboard and was carried to the ambulance that was waiting on the driveway. Once they were outside, Heero saw Lady Une standing next to the ambulance. She was ordering others to secure the premises, in case there was more than one suspect on their hands. She looked towards Heero's direction, her brown eyes hinting the worry within her.

"How is she doing?"

"She's been stabbed. Her attacker is upstairs on the second floor in the hallway."

"Are you fine?"

He nodded, his shirt was stained with her blood.

"You should go with her, I'll take the intruder back to headquarters." She watched Heero enter the ambulance that took Relena to the hospital. Once she heard the sirens blare off in the distance, she called up for backup and entered Relena's home. At the base of the staircase, she took out her pistol and slowly crept up the stairs in case if there were anymore suspects running lose throughout the home. In less than five feet from her, she saw the attacker and tugged at his tied arms to move downstairs. Before long, the Preventers were in front of the house and took their prime suspect back for interrogation.

On the ride to the hospital, the medics were monitoring Relena's vitals carefully and watched her pulse rate, which wavered at certain times due to the bumpy road. The green line would rise and fall with certain peaks higher than the others, her heart rate started to decrease.

One of the medics continued to bag her in hopes of maintaining a steady breathing pattern. Right then, an alarming sound rang off on one of the portable monitors. "BEEEEP, BEEEEP..."

A paramedic in a black uniform immediately shouted to his partner, who was driving, "Her pulse is crashing, we need to get there now."

Outside of the ambulance, the red lights were flashing vividly and its sirens were blaring. The snow started to fall again.

"We're almost there." The driver shouted over his shoulder. He began to increase his speed, being careful not to make sudden moves on the slick roads, otherwise he would put everyone in great danger.

Time slowly passed as Heero saw Relena slipping away from him. He felt hopelessness and all he could do was watch. He didn't even noticed that blood was seeping out from his right shoulder. With the time as being a Gundam pilot, he must have blocked the pain out of his mind.

The paramedic brought him out of his trance, "It looks like you need some medical attention."

Heero slowly came to the surface of his conscious mind, "I can manage."

"Well, have one of the emergency docs. look at your wound."

"Just help her." He felt the ambulance pull into the back end of a hospital. Outside he saw a team of doctors waiting for their arrival. All them had protective covering over their white coats. They already had a gurney waiting for her.

A sound of pounding came on the back door, "We're ready," a voice was heard on the other side. With that, the medic immediately opened the door and jumped out. He started to move Relena's stretcher and placed it on the gurney. Heero heard rapid fire conversation, something about BP, vital stats, and stab wound near the abdomen, but he couldn't make sense to most of their medical language. The only word he truly understood was "crashing." Within less than a minute, Relena was through the doors with a team of doctors. He was left standing out by the ambulance

He slowly walked through the sliding doors. He slowly paced the hallways to see where Relena was taken too. His vision began to blur slightly due to the loss of his blood, but he persevered in his mission to find Relena. He heard calls coming to and from various examination rooms. The stench of the hospital started to nauseate him slightly, but he was used to the sights. He started to turn around one corner and saw a nurse rush past him with a dark crimson bag in her hands. He followed her and in minutes, he was there, outside looking in through the clear windows.

Tubes and monitors were hanging around the both sides of her. The monitor showed a green flat line on the screen. Her skin looked pale than ever.

"I have the O negative blood right here." The nurse quickly gave to the doctor in charged and they immediately set up a bloodline in hopes of getting her pressure back up to a safe range.

"Charging to two hundred." The doctors had a defibrillator ready. They had placed special electrical patches on her skin. "Ready...clear!" The staff immediately removed their hands from whatever they were doing to Relena. He placed the two pads on her and right then, her body slightly lifted from the table.

The line on the screen still remained flat. "Again." He charged up the defibrillator to the two hundred setting. "Ready...clear!"

Heero watched as they shocked her several more times, "Come on..." He didn't even notice that his wound was getting worse. "Come on..."

The doctors were still trying to revive her. "How many minutes has she been down?"

"At least five."

They then heard something crash out by the windows.

"We need a doctor out here. This man is severely bleeding." A nurse shouted through the examination room's doors.

TBC

How was that for chapter five? The suspense and drama is starting to build. Anyway thank you for reading chapter five.

Silentheaven: Thank you for the review!