Disclaimer: Characters within do not belong to me, for the most part.
Author's Notes: See, aren't I good about updating?;) Enjoy this chapter, and thanks for all the kind words.
****
Be My Downfall
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
"My sister is the President of the goddamn world!" Millardo paced in front of Lady Une's desk like a man possessed. "How the hell can you not be able to find her after five months?!?"
The woman's brown eyes narrowed slightly. "Trust me…I have had every available Preventer tracking her down from the very second she turned up missing. But she obviously disappeared with some help, and I don't need to tell you that the person who presumably helped her knows more about disappearing for extended periods of time than anyone I can think of."
Standing off to the side a bit, Noin bit her lip. Not only was she worried about her lover's sister, but if he didn't calm down, he was going to give himself a stroke. "Zechs…please. Heero would never let anything happen to her. Somewhere deep inside you know that."
"He's taken her away from the medical attention she needs for way too long," Millardo snapped back. "Yes, that's definitely taking care of her." Hurt flickered across Noin's face and instantly he was smacked with guilt. "Lu…I'm sorry. I just…" He shook his head. "If she has another relapse…"
"We're just going to have to hope that they both come to their senses soon," Lady Une said, standing up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm expecting a conference call from the Vice President."
Noin stood up with some effort given her heavily pregnant waistline and started walking towards the door. She stopped when Millardo rushed around her to open it for her. Giving him a significant look, she stepped of out Une's office. "Relena is a lot stronger than anyone gives her credit for," she reminded him as they moved towards the elevator. "Even pregnant, she can take care of herself."
"I just can't understand the reasons behind all of this." He punched the elevator's buttons with angry, jabbing motions. "Why did she do it?"
"Because…" She didn't finish the thought until the elevator doors opened and she had stepped inside. "She's in love."
The doors had almost closed again before Millardo moved, forcing them open with one hand. "You condone this, Lu?"
"I'm not condoning anything. I'm simply saying that if my baby…if our baby was threatened, you had better believe I'd do anything, absolutely anything, to keep it safe. What I don't condone is you acting as though Relena did all of this to bother *you.* It's not about you. It's not about the rest of the world. This is about Relena and her love for her child. And although you hate it…her love for Heero Yuy."
Millardo looked towards the end of the hall for a long while. Finally, he turned back to his girlfriend. "She's sick and she needs to be near a hospital. Especially in her condition."
"Darling." Noin reached out and cupped his strong jaw in the palm of her hand. "When have you ever known your sister to be weak?"
****
"I think you're going to have to close the curtains, Heero." Relena turned her head away from the late-morning light that streamed relentlessly through the cottage's bedroom window.
Holding up his hand to shield his eyes from the same glare, Heero looked down at her. The rumpled covers draped over her naked body, concealing all of her luscious curves except for the expanding roundness of her stomach. She smiled up at him, the corners of her flushed lips just barely turning up, and his blood stirred.
"Feeling lazy this morning?" he asked with gruff affection.
"Yeah." Relena swallowed. "Lazy."
Without further teasing, he stood, crossed the room, drew the drapes and managed to get back in bed before she could even move. One arm protectively slid over the spot where their child flourished within her.
"Good morning," Heero belatedly greeted her, following up with a lingering kiss.
"Yes, it is," Relena answered, her eyes closed. "But do you know what would make it even better?"
Heero nuzzled her ear, his hot breath sending shivers down her spine to the core of her body. "What's that?"
"Strawberry and banana pancakes."
He had to smile as he lifted his head. "Again?"
Relena shrugged. "Cravings. I can't help it."
He would eventually give in, and they both knew it. But before he did, there was the customary resistance that had become a morning ritual ever since they moved into the cozy cottage in the middle of nowhere. "And why should I make you breakfast?" he asked, resuming his maddening torture of her overly-sensitive ear.
"Because…you're hungry, too?"
"I am," he agreed. "But not for food…"
His mouth moved down the exquisite length of her neck. "Then…because your child is turning somersaults inside of me?"
"Perhaps he'll join Trowa's circus someday."
Relena sighed when Heero's lips found her swollen breast. "Fine then. Maybe because you love me?"
Just before his tongue touched her nipple, he sat up. "All right. Pancakes it is." He pulled on his discarded shorts and headed for the kitchen. "Maple syrup?"
"Boysenberry." She forced the words out, beads of perspiration suddenly dotting her forehead. "With a side of…buttered bacon!"
As soon as he was gone, Relena rolled out of bed as fast as her protruding belly would allow her, and staggered for the tiny, adjoining bathroom. She turned on the sink's faucet before dropping to her knees in front of the toilet.
It wasn't morning sickness, as she had told herself it was for so long. She'd been in sweet denial. But she couldn't deny anything anymore. Because now when she wiped her hand across the back of her mouth afterwards, she left behind a smear of blood.
Heero didn't know; somehow she'd been able to hide the pain and the blood from him for five months. If she just smiled and sent him on little missions, he never guessed that underneath the surface, she was in agony. After years of hiding her problems, she could even fool the Perfect Soldier.
Relena pulled herself up off the bathroom floor and stuck her hands underneath the flowing faucet. Blood tinged the water in the basin pink until all of the evidence had been washed away. She then flushed the toilet and dried her hands. It took a lot of effort, but she finally forced herself to look in the mirror.
All she saw was dark circles, pale skin, gaunt cheeks and dry lips. Is that what Heero saw when he looked at her? If so, how could he bear to look? She touched her face, her throat, her breasts, her stomach…her entire body had changed so much. But he still wanted her. He still made love to her with a learned gentleness, ever terrified of hurting her and the baby. He took such good care of them both…
"Heero," she whispered, closing her eyes just as hot tears spilled over. He had to be protected from the truth of her condition. All of his efforts, all of his progress, all of the hurdles in their relationship that they'd jumped together…for all of that, he deserved something better at the end of it than the reassurance that getting emotionally involved with someone really did lead to nothing but grief and pain.
Back in the bedroom, Relena found her robe and pulled it on. The baby kicked and the ever-present aches and pains dissipated for a moment. This was all that mattered. Anything could be endured for the tiny baby growing inside of her.
Wiping away the last of her tears, she prepared herself for a breakfast she would only eat for his sake, the smiles she would only muster to see his, and the mountain of lies that grew larger every day.
****
"Target is in the open. Repeat, target is in sight. Do you copy, Preventer Gamma?"
Over the edge of the day's newspaper, Trowa's trained eyes steadily followed the woman, the target, as she wove her way through the crowds of holiday travelers packed into Sanq's main spaceport. "Copy that, Preventer Tau. Proceeding with mission at your go."
Wufei's voice was clear, even through the tiny device that sat just inside his earlobe. "'Go' is at your discretion. Back-up is in place and all exits are covered."
"And the civilians?"
There was a long pause during which the target stopped in front of a coffee stand. Trowa never blinked as he watched her wait in line to order. Finally, his partner replied, "Target is not believed to be armed."
"And if she is?"
"Acceptable risks." Wufei hesitated. "Good luck, Gamma."
The hearing piece went completely silent, although he knew that didn't mean it wasn't working. He was still being monitored as closely as possible. Taking a moment to fold up his paper, Trowa started for the coffee stand.
He managed to get in line just behind the target. Karen Wynstock had done a lot to change her physical appearance since she'd vanished without a trace, but there were very few people who could hide from the Preventers for long. The woman standing in front of him had been on their most-wanted list for five months as their only suspect in the President's poisoning. And now he was about to apprehend her. This was the worst part of the entire investigation, the moments right before arrest when everything could go horribly wrong in a mere matter of seconds.
Trowa opened his paper again, keeping up the pretense of being just another airport patron. He was just in time; the target turned her head, looking around, and for a moment, they made eye contact. He looked down at the newspaper, nonchalant, and she turned back around. Just when he thought enough time had passed for him to look back up, a byline caught his eye. "Winner CEO Injured, 23 Others Killed In Bombing."
The room spun as he scanned the article. A bomb had gone off at Quatre's company headquarters. No one had claimed responsibility as of yet. Many had died, many more had been injured. And Quatre was lying in an L4 hospital in critical condition.
"Jesus, no," he whispered, the paper dropping to the ground.
The target turned around, frowning. "Are you all right?" she asked.
Trowa blinked, snapping back to the mission, although he couldn't shake the image of a broken and bloody Quatre. He'd only seen him like that once, immediately following his encounter with Dorothy Catalonia and her fencing blade. It had killed him then and it was killing him once again.
He cleared his throat. As he spoke, he bent down to pick up the paper. "Yeah. Yeah, everything's…" The sentence died as his Preventer ID badge slipped out of his shirt pocket, landing with a soft thud on the newspaper, face-up and plain to the eye.
Trowa looked up, and they locked stares for a brief, suspended moment. He watched her eyes grow wide, but before he could even plan out his next move, she bolted.
"Shit."
Pausing only to scoop up his badge, Trowa ran after her, following in the wake of annoyed people that she pushed out of her way. As he chased the target through the terminal, his earpiece flared to life and Wufei's enraged voice pounded in his head.
"What the hell are you doing, Barton!!" he growled, forgoing the aliases. "She's getting away!!"
"I've got it under control," he replied, breathlessly.
"You damn well better!" his partner continued. "If you blow five months of undercover work…I swear…"
Trowa reached up and tugged the device away from his ear, folding it up in his palm as he rounded a corner into the main gate area. He barely blinked, never taking his focus off of the target. She had begun to tire from her sudden sprint. He'd catch her before the back-up agents could; he had to. It was the only way to fix his mistake.
Karen Wynstock reached a door and pulled at the handle, disappearing through it. Trowa barreled at the barrier a moment later, slamming the side of his body so hard into it that he could actually feel his shoulder dislocating. There was no time for him to register the pain; he found himself running down a set of stairs onto the launching pad where a shuttle waited for clearance to take off.
She was only a couple yards ahead of him when she whipped her head around, presumably to see if he was still following her. In her panic, she stumbled and went down sprawling on the ground. Trowa easily covered the distance between them and grabbed her up before she could recover.
"Please!" she shouted as he twisted her hands behind her back. "I don't know anything!" He ignored her. "I swear!!"
"Karen Wynstock, you're being taken into custody for questioning in regards to the terrorist threat against President Relena Peacecraft." He repeated the familiar phrase in a dead tone and was just finishing up when Wufei and a few more Preventers arrived at the scene. "She's all yours," he told his partner, pushing the sobbing woman towards them.
As he began to walk away, Wufei called after him. "Where do you think you're going?!"
Trowa didn't turn around, but replied, "Someone needs me more than you do."
****
One month later
Heero woke up to the soft flower scent of his lover's hair. He opened his eyes and smiled at the sight of the golden-spun locks on which his cheek rested. The warm length of her back rested against his chest. Relena was entirely within his embrace, exactly where she belonged.
His hand was resting on her hip; he slowly slid it over her stomach, caressing the firm flesh that so lovingly protected their unborn child. Only two months left, Heero couldn't help but think. Two months and they'd be able to hold the baby. The proof of their love.
Ever since they'd gone into seclusion, Heero had been reading up on babies, having had no training or life experience in how to deal with them. But now, he figured his knowledge might surpass Relena's. He knew that right then, the baby was nearly fully developed, and from then on, it would just be a matter of it growing bigger. He knew that it could hear his voice and even might be able to recognize him as its father.
Father.
Heero eased his arm out from under Relena's body and sat up, combing his fingers through his messy locks. She showed no signs of stirring, and he was glad for it. She was ever in need of rest.
After tugging on a pair of shorts and giving his teeth a quick brush, he headed for the kitchen to start breakfast. His cooking had improved during their seclusion, more out of necessity than anything else. Still, his culinary skills didn't stretch much further than Relena's pancakes, as that was the only thing she ever wanted to eat.
He cracked two eggs, fresh from the little market at the bottom of the mountain where they bought their supplies in carefully created disguises, into a bowl, and grabbed a whisk to start beating them. When they were ready, he added flour and milk.
How hard would Duo laugh if he saw him now? The perfect soldier…standing in a kitchen, framed by gingham curtains, stirring the contents of a bowl with as much precision as he'd once used to pilot weapons of mass destruction. It comforted him to know that his first reaction to Duo's laughter would be a punch to the braided man's gut. At least he wasn't going completely soft.
Setting the batter aside, he lit the pilot light on the stove and plopped a pat of butter into a skillet. Just as it started to sizzle, the communicator he kept without Relena's knowledge beeped for the first time in six months.
Quickly, before the loud noise could wake her, Heero pulled off the top of the sugar jar and rooted around in the sweet supply until he hit plastic. Grabbing onto the baggie that encased the communicator, he yanked out the device. Only one person had permission to make contact, and he could only have one reason for taking advantage of it.
"Chang," Heero said, flipping on the audio unit. "Go ahead."
"Are you alone?"
"Affirmative." He found himself slipping back into the role of Preventer with an ease that almost worried him. Heero dismissed the thought with a shrug of his bare shoulders, and waited for his old partner to go on.
Wufei's voice edged on prideful as he reported, "It's safe for you to abort your mission, Yuy. We have a suspect in our custody and she's provided enough information about the attempt on the President's life for us to ensure her safety upon her return."
The news filled Heero with a mean sense of justice. But something about the vagueness of the message tugged at him simultaneously. "How much information is 'enough,'" he asked, sharply. "Is it enough to hang the responsible parties? Is it enough for an antidote? What standard are you using to measure what's 'enough'?"
"The standard standard," Wufei shot back, his tone dry. "You'll just have to trust me."
Heero bit down on his tongue, scowling. Trusting anyone else with Relena's life, not to mention the one growing inside of her, was too much to ask of him. "If you have an antidote, I'll provide a location where you can have it sent to us. But until you give me some concrete proof that Relena's life is no longer in danger, I will not take her back."
"Quit being a damn idiot!"
"How do I know you're even Chang Wufei, and not a terrorist with a good voice simulator?"
"Ah, and now we're paranoid, too, I see. I suppose that's what happens when you coop yourself up in the woods somewhere, like a hermit." Heero said nothing, so Wufei pressed on. "Listen. In the past six months, shit here has gone from bad to much worse. The vice-president has slippery control over everything the president managed so smoothly. We're not on the brink of war, but the world needs her." He paused. "You can't keep her locked up forever."
But he would, he realized. He would, if it meant that she would always be safe.
After a much longer pause, Heero finally spoke, giving precise coordinates of their secluded mountain cabin for the helicopter he knew Wufei would have sent. "We'll be ready to go within the hour."
Heero tossed the communicator aside, turned off the stove and abandoned breakfast preparations entirely. He headed back into the bedroom. Relena was still asleep, although she'd shifted since he'd woken. Her hair covered most of her face and half of her pillow. Kneeling down next to the bed, Heero reached out to brush it away from her beautiful features. What the sunshine strands hid made him slump to his knees.
A small pool of blood stained the white sheets, just underneath Relena's mouth, spreading even as he stared at it in utter terror.
****
To Be Continued
Author's Notes: See, aren't I good about updating?;) Enjoy this chapter, and thanks for all the kind words.
****
Be My Downfall
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
"My sister is the President of the goddamn world!" Millardo paced in front of Lady Une's desk like a man possessed. "How the hell can you not be able to find her after five months?!?"
The woman's brown eyes narrowed slightly. "Trust me…I have had every available Preventer tracking her down from the very second she turned up missing. But she obviously disappeared with some help, and I don't need to tell you that the person who presumably helped her knows more about disappearing for extended periods of time than anyone I can think of."
Standing off to the side a bit, Noin bit her lip. Not only was she worried about her lover's sister, but if he didn't calm down, he was going to give himself a stroke. "Zechs…please. Heero would never let anything happen to her. Somewhere deep inside you know that."
"He's taken her away from the medical attention she needs for way too long," Millardo snapped back. "Yes, that's definitely taking care of her." Hurt flickered across Noin's face and instantly he was smacked with guilt. "Lu…I'm sorry. I just…" He shook his head. "If she has another relapse…"
"We're just going to have to hope that they both come to their senses soon," Lady Une said, standing up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm expecting a conference call from the Vice President."
Noin stood up with some effort given her heavily pregnant waistline and started walking towards the door. She stopped when Millardo rushed around her to open it for her. Giving him a significant look, she stepped of out Une's office. "Relena is a lot stronger than anyone gives her credit for," she reminded him as they moved towards the elevator. "Even pregnant, she can take care of herself."
"I just can't understand the reasons behind all of this." He punched the elevator's buttons with angry, jabbing motions. "Why did she do it?"
"Because…" She didn't finish the thought until the elevator doors opened and she had stepped inside. "She's in love."
The doors had almost closed again before Millardo moved, forcing them open with one hand. "You condone this, Lu?"
"I'm not condoning anything. I'm simply saying that if my baby…if our baby was threatened, you had better believe I'd do anything, absolutely anything, to keep it safe. What I don't condone is you acting as though Relena did all of this to bother *you.* It's not about you. It's not about the rest of the world. This is about Relena and her love for her child. And although you hate it…her love for Heero Yuy."
Millardo looked towards the end of the hall for a long while. Finally, he turned back to his girlfriend. "She's sick and she needs to be near a hospital. Especially in her condition."
"Darling." Noin reached out and cupped his strong jaw in the palm of her hand. "When have you ever known your sister to be weak?"
****
"I think you're going to have to close the curtains, Heero." Relena turned her head away from the late-morning light that streamed relentlessly through the cottage's bedroom window.
Holding up his hand to shield his eyes from the same glare, Heero looked down at her. The rumpled covers draped over her naked body, concealing all of her luscious curves except for the expanding roundness of her stomach. She smiled up at him, the corners of her flushed lips just barely turning up, and his blood stirred.
"Feeling lazy this morning?" he asked with gruff affection.
"Yeah." Relena swallowed. "Lazy."
Without further teasing, he stood, crossed the room, drew the drapes and managed to get back in bed before she could even move. One arm protectively slid over the spot where their child flourished within her.
"Good morning," Heero belatedly greeted her, following up with a lingering kiss.
"Yes, it is," Relena answered, her eyes closed. "But do you know what would make it even better?"
Heero nuzzled her ear, his hot breath sending shivers down her spine to the core of her body. "What's that?"
"Strawberry and banana pancakes."
He had to smile as he lifted his head. "Again?"
Relena shrugged. "Cravings. I can't help it."
He would eventually give in, and they both knew it. But before he did, there was the customary resistance that had become a morning ritual ever since they moved into the cozy cottage in the middle of nowhere. "And why should I make you breakfast?" he asked, resuming his maddening torture of her overly-sensitive ear.
"Because…you're hungry, too?"
"I am," he agreed. "But not for food…"
His mouth moved down the exquisite length of her neck. "Then…because your child is turning somersaults inside of me?"
"Perhaps he'll join Trowa's circus someday."
Relena sighed when Heero's lips found her swollen breast. "Fine then. Maybe because you love me?"
Just before his tongue touched her nipple, he sat up. "All right. Pancakes it is." He pulled on his discarded shorts and headed for the kitchen. "Maple syrup?"
"Boysenberry." She forced the words out, beads of perspiration suddenly dotting her forehead. "With a side of…buttered bacon!"
As soon as he was gone, Relena rolled out of bed as fast as her protruding belly would allow her, and staggered for the tiny, adjoining bathroom. She turned on the sink's faucet before dropping to her knees in front of the toilet.
It wasn't morning sickness, as she had told herself it was for so long. She'd been in sweet denial. But she couldn't deny anything anymore. Because now when she wiped her hand across the back of her mouth afterwards, she left behind a smear of blood.
Heero didn't know; somehow she'd been able to hide the pain and the blood from him for five months. If she just smiled and sent him on little missions, he never guessed that underneath the surface, she was in agony. After years of hiding her problems, she could even fool the Perfect Soldier.
Relena pulled herself up off the bathroom floor and stuck her hands underneath the flowing faucet. Blood tinged the water in the basin pink until all of the evidence had been washed away. She then flushed the toilet and dried her hands. It took a lot of effort, but she finally forced herself to look in the mirror.
All she saw was dark circles, pale skin, gaunt cheeks and dry lips. Is that what Heero saw when he looked at her? If so, how could he bear to look? She touched her face, her throat, her breasts, her stomach…her entire body had changed so much. But he still wanted her. He still made love to her with a learned gentleness, ever terrified of hurting her and the baby. He took such good care of them both…
"Heero," she whispered, closing her eyes just as hot tears spilled over. He had to be protected from the truth of her condition. All of his efforts, all of his progress, all of the hurdles in their relationship that they'd jumped together…for all of that, he deserved something better at the end of it than the reassurance that getting emotionally involved with someone really did lead to nothing but grief and pain.
Back in the bedroom, Relena found her robe and pulled it on. The baby kicked and the ever-present aches and pains dissipated for a moment. This was all that mattered. Anything could be endured for the tiny baby growing inside of her.
Wiping away the last of her tears, she prepared herself for a breakfast she would only eat for his sake, the smiles she would only muster to see his, and the mountain of lies that grew larger every day.
****
"Target is in the open. Repeat, target is in sight. Do you copy, Preventer Gamma?"
Over the edge of the day's newspaper, Trowa's trained eyes steadily followed the woman, the target, as she wove her way through the crowds of holiday travelers packed into Sanq's main spaceport. "Copy that, Preventer Tau. Proceeding with mission at your go."
Wufei's voice was clear, even through the tiny device that sat just inside his earlobe. "'Go' is at your discretion. Back-up is in place and all exits are covered."
"And the civilians?"
There was a long pause during which the target stopped in front of a coffee stand. Trowa never blinked as he watched her wait in line to order. Finally, his partner replied, "Target is not believed to be armed."
"And if she is?"
"Acceptable risks." Wufei hesitated. "Good luck, Gamma."
The hearing piece went completely silent, although he knew that didn't mean it wasn't working. He was still being monitored as closely as possible. Taking a moment to fold up his paper, Trowa started for the coffee stand.
He managed to get in line just behind the target. Karen Wynstock had done a lot to change her physical appearance since she'd vanished without a trace, but there were very few people who could hide from the Preventers for long. The woman standing in front of him had been on their most-wanted list for five months as their only suspect in the President's poisoning. And now he was about to apprehend her. This was the worst part of the entire investigation, the moments right before arrest when everything could go horribly wrong in a mere matter of seconds.
Trowa opened his paper again, keeping up the pretense of being just another airport patron. He was just in time; the target turned her head, looking around, and for a moment, they made eye contact. He looked down at the newspaper, nonchalant, and she turned back around. Just when he thought enough time had passed for him to look back up, a byline caught his eye. "Winner CEO Injured, 23 Others Killed In Bombing."
The room spun as he scanned the article. A bomb had gone off at Quatre's company headquarters. No one had claimed responsibility as of yet. Many had died, many more had been injured. And Quatre was lying in an L4 hospital in critical condition.
"Jesus, no," he whispered, the paper dropping to the ground.
The target turned around, frowning. "Are you all right?" she asked.
Trowa blinked, snapping back to the mission, although he couldn't shake the image of a broken and bloody Quatre. He'd only seen him like that once, immediately following his encounter with Dorothy Catalonia and her fencing blade. It had killed him then and it was killing him once again.
He cleared his throat. As he spoke, he bent down to pick up the paper. "Yeah. Yeah, everything's…" The sentence died as his Preventer ID badge slipped out of his shirt pocket, landing with a soft thud on the newspaper, face-up and plain to the eye.
Trowa looked up, and they locked stares for a brief, suspended moment. He watched her eyes grow wide, but before he could even plan out his next move, she bolted.
"Shit."
Pausing only to scoop up his badge, Trowa ran after her, following in the wake of annoyed people that she pushed out of her way. As he chased the target through the terminal, his earpiece flared to life and Wufei's enraged voice pounded in his head.
"What the hell are you doing, Barton!!" he growled, forgoing the aliases. "She's getting away!!"
"I've got it under control," he replied, breathlessly.
"You damn well better!" his partner continued. "If you blow five months of undercover work…I swear…"
Trowa reached up and tugged the device away from his ear, folding it up in his palm as he rounded a corner into the main gate area. He barely blinked, never taking his focus off of the target. She had begun to tire from her sudden sprint. He'd catch her before the back-up agents could; he had to. It was the only way to fix his mistake.
Karen Wynstock reached a door and pulled at the handle, disappearing through it. Trowa barreled at the barrier a moment later, slamming the side of his body so hard into it that he could actually feel his shoulder dislocating. There was no time for him to register the pain; he found himself running down a set of stairs onto the launching pad where a shuttle waited for clearance to take off.
She was only a couple yards ahead of him when she whipped her head around, presumably to see if he was still following her. In her panic, she stumbled and went down sprawling on the ground. Trowa easily covered the distance between them and grabbed her up before she could recover.
"Please!" she shouted as he twisted her hands behind her back. "I don't know anything!" He ignored her. "I swear!!"
"Karen Wynstock, you're being taken into custody for questioning in regards to the terrorist threat against President Relena Peacecraft." He repeated the familiar phrase in a dead tone and was just finishing up when Wufei and a few more Preventers arrived at the scene. "She's all yours," he told his partner, pushing the sobbing woman towards them.
As he began to walk away, Wufei called after him. "Where do you think you're going?!"
Trowa didn't turn around, but replied, "Someone needs me more than you do."
****
One month later
Heero woke up to the soft flower scent of his lover's hair. He opened his eyes and smiled at the sight of the golden-spun locks on which his cheek rested. The warm length of her back rested against his chest. Relena was entirely within his embrace, exactly where she belonged.
His hand was resting on her hip; he slowly slid it over her stomach, caressing the firm flesh that so lovingly protected their unborn child. Only two months left, Heero couldn't help but think. Two months and they'd be able to hold the baby. The proof of their love.
Ever since they'd gone into seclusion, Heero had been reading up on babies, having had no training or life experience in how to deal with them. But now, he figured his knowledge might surpass Relena's. He knew that right then, the baby was nearly fully developed, and from then on, it would just be a matter of it growing bigger. He knew that it could hear his voice and even might be able to recognize him as its father.
Father.
Heero eased his arm out from under Relena's body and sat up, combing his fingers through his messy locks. She showed no signs of stirring, and he was glad for it. She was ever in need of rest.
After tugging on a pair of shorts and giving his teeth a quick brush, he headed for the kitchen to start breakfast. His cooking had improved during their seclusion, more out of necessity than anything else. Still, his culinary skills didn't stretch much further than Relena's pancakes, as that was the only thing she ever wanted to eat.
He cracked two eggs, fresh from the little market at the bottom of the mountain where they bought their supplies in carefully created disguises, into a bowl, and grabbed a whisk to start beating them. When they were ready, he added flour and milk.
How hard would Duo laugh if he saw him now? The perfect soldier…standing in a kitchen, framed by gingham curtains, stirring the contents of a bowl with as much precision as he'd once used to pilot weapons of mass destruction. It comforted him to know that his first reaction to Duo's laughter would be a punch to the braided man's gut. At least he wasn't going completely soft.
Setting the batter aside, he lit the pilot light on the stove and plopped a pat of butter into a skillet. Just as it started to sizzle, the communicator he kept without Relena's knowledge beeped for the first time in six months.
Quickly, before the loud noise could wake her, Heero pulled off the top of the sugar jar and rooted around in the sweet supply until he hit plastic. Grabbing onto the baggie that encased the communicator, he yanked out the device. Only one person had permission to make contact, and he could only have one reason for taking advantage of it.
"Chang," Heero said, flipping on the audio unit. "Go ahead."
"Are you alone?"
"Affirmative." He found himself slipping back into the role of Preventer with an ease that almost worried him. Heero dismissed the thought with a shrug of his bare shoulders, and waited for his old partner to go on.
Wufei's voice edged on prideful as he reported, "It's safe for you to abort your mission, Yuy. We have a suspect in our custody and she's provided enough information about the attempt on the President's life for us to ensure her safety upon her return."
The news filled Heero with a mean sense of justice. But something about the vagueness of the message tugged at him simultaneously. "How much information is 'enough,'" he asked, sharply. "Is it enough to hang the responsible parties? Is it enough for an antidote? What standard are you using to measure what's 'enough'?"
"The standard standard," Wufei shot back, his tone dry. "You'll just have to trust me."
Heero bit down on his tongue, scowling. Trusting anyone else with Relena's life, not to mention the one growing inside of her, was too much to ask of him. "If you have an antidote, I'll provide a location where you can have it sent to us. But until you give me some concrete proof that Relena's life is no longer in danger, I will not take her back."
"Quit being a damn idiot!"
"How do I know you're even Chang Wufei, and not a terrorist with a good voice simulator?"
"Ah, and now we're paranoid, too, I see. I suppose that's what happens when you coop yourself up in the woods somewhere, like a hermit." Heero said nothing, so Wufei pressed on. "Listen. In the past six months, shit here has gone from bad to much worse. The vice-president has slippery control over everything the president managed so smoothly. We're not on the brink of war, but the world needs her." He paused. "You can't keep her locked up forever."
But he would, he realized. He would, if it meant that she would always be safe.
After a much longer pause, Heero finally spoke, giving precise coordinates of their secluded mountain cabin for the helicopter he knew Wufei would have sent. "We'll be ready to go within the hour."
Heero tossed the communicator aside, turned off the stove and abandoned breakfast preparations entirely. He headed back into the bedroom. Relena was still asleep, although she'd shifted since he'd woken. Her hair covered most of her face and half of her pillow. Kneeling down next to the bed, Heero reached out to brush it away from her beautiful features. What the sunshine strands hid made him slump to his knees.
A small pool of blood stained the white sheets, just underneath Relena's mouth, spreading even as he stared at it in utter terror.
****
To Be Continued