A/N: Hello again! I'm back with the next chapter of the fic! Sorry for the slight delay- I've been busy. So without further ado- Chapter 4 begins and so do the problems for our couple. If you want to find out what happens, well you'll have to keeping reading, oh and review. ;

Thanks for the reviews! And enjoy!!

Chapter 4

"I know... I know. You're not stupid, you're in love."

-
Standing as silent and stoic as ever, Millardo Peacecraft watched as the shot up shuttle docked into the Preventer's hanger. From the control center above the hanger floor he stood watching the mass of frantic doctors pushing their way through the pit crews as they opened up the damaged shuttle hatch. The long braid of Duo Maxwell came out first slowly bringing along the limp body of another.

Once the ex gundam pilot had handed over his comrade to the doctors, Millardo's eyes followed the bloody body on the stretcher until Heero Yuy was out of the hanger. The older man could not help but know his sister was not going to let the younger man go out of her life again without a fight. He just did not know if he had enough strength to fight it. His wife Noin had also taken Relena's side when it came to Heero Yuy. She had continuously lectured him about how much Relena needed the pilot in her life.

However, with the current situation things were definitely going to become more difficult. If the blonde could have had his way, he would have killed the younger man already. All the threats of killing his sister, the disregarding of orders and the attitude could only be taken so far. As much as he hated the younger pilot, Millardo was not blind to the usefulness of the skill the perfect solider.

Then there was this new threat. If even the perfect solider had become this badly injured, what did that mean for the rest of the people now involved? Was the one unconscious man in the medical ward worth the lives of those around him?

Sighing Millardo decided to get another perspective of the situation. Leaving he control room, he entered the hanger and walked up to the pilot of the damaged shuttle.

"Those bastards hit us pretty hard." Duo mentioned sensing his commanding officer approach. Where the pit crew stopped and saluted the blonde, Duo merely shrugged him off. Pulling a disc from his pocket from a pocket, Duo handed it to the older man. "That's got all the data from our little fight. These guys are good. I will give you that. However, it'll take more than them to kill Heero, and us."

The younger man's confidence did not ease Millardo's feelings. Neither did they surprise him at all. Maxwell's optimism, even in dire situations was something that Millardo had often thought was caused by his lack of a mind at times. However, the truth of the matter was that once commander of the Tallgese, knew that it would indeed take more than what had happened to fully kill the perfect solider.

-
Relena found herself sitting alone in the hospital wing of the Preventer's compound. When word had finally come that Duo's shuttle arrived, she ran straight to see for herself. She had never even thought for a moment that she would see the shuttle in such a condition.

If it had not been for Noin coming up behind her, she would have hit the ground from shock. The once top of the line spacecraft was now reduced to a piece of scrap metal. The entire frame was dented and riddled with marks from it's battle. It was a miracle that they had made it back through reentry in such a shape. However, what was worse was the escape pod that had been pulled out from within the shuttle's hull.

Whereas the shuttle still had some resemblance of a ship, the pod looked totaled. If it were not for blood painting the debris, no one would have been able to guess that it once held a person.

"Heero..." She whispered as he eyes glazed over and she fell into Noin's hands. The older woman gently placed Relena on the cold floor of the hanger. After checking to see if the Vice Foreign Minister was breathing, Noin looked up and saw her husband approaching them. His face held the slightest bit of worry. That is what worried Noin. None of the men in her life ever showed emotions well, however now it was obvious to everyone that Millardo, their stone faced commander, was openly worried about the situation.

"She just fainted. It must have been seeing all the blood on the pod." Noin tried to smile to assure her overprotective husband. Kneeling down next to his sister and wife, Millardo was once again reminded that the situation they were in was a complicated one. The voice of his wife broke him from his internal thoughts a moment later.

"What?"

"I asked how he was." Noin said again looking to her husband. "Heero... is he?"

"They took him to the medical emergency room. He was breathing." It was all that Millardo could say. He had not been there to hear the doctors, so he did not know much when it came to the pilot's condition. However, he knew from experience it could not be good.

"Should we take her home?" Noin asked as she let Millardo lift Relena off the floor. Looking down at the unconscious girl in his arms, Millardo knew that Relena would not stay home, not with Heero Yuy anywhere near them.

"No, I'm going to take her to the medical sector. She'll want to be with him if... when he gets out of surgery." With that, the silent man turned and exited the hanger.

"Don't worry, Heero will pull through. To even hear old Millie there say it evens tells you he's not given up on him." Duo said forcing a smile to shine through as he approached the dark haired woman. Standing quietly at her side for a moment, Duo could feel her worries. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Duo sighed.

"At least," Duo started out. "At least we got him back. I'm sure she'll help him recover from almost anything." Duo said before motioning Noin to follow him in exiting the hanger and going to check on the others.

-
Relena groaned as she started to come to. Rolling on her side and nearly falling on the floor, Relena noticed she was lying on a narrow couch. Sitting up quickly, she took in her surroundings. The whiteness of all the walls, floors, and staff uniforms told her she was in the medical wing of the Preventer's compound.

If it were not for the headache she had at the moment, Relena would have remembered how she made it to her current location. All she knew was that she currently was sitting staring at the red light above one of the operating rooms.

A comforting hand gently came to rest on her shoulder, causing the girl again to jump a bit. Turing to look at her brother beside her, he gave her a small smile. Next to him sat a sleeping Duo.

"Duo... that means..." Relena's eyes turned quickly to the doors that would lead into the operating room. "Heero." She let his name escape her lips in a worried tone.

"Hush." Millardo said pulling her closer into a brotherly hug trying to stop the tears from streaming out of her eyes.

"How... how long? How long was I out? When is he coming out of there? What happened?" Relena asked as she tried to better understand the situation.

"They've been operating for some time now." Millardo said in a tone that surprised Relena. It sounded like even her brother was worried. "We'll figure out what to do once Yuy is conscious. All we can do now is wait." He sighed as he too stared at the red light over the doorframe.

"Millardo... I ..." Relena didn't know how to tell her only brother what she and Noin had talked about. However, she knew it was important to tell him exactly that she was not about to let Heero go this time. On the other hand, if he was leaving, she was going with him.

"I know. Noin told me about it." Millardo sighed. "You passed out and we came here. Noin left to check on Promise. But before she left she told me everything..." The older man stopped looking back to his little sister. "I'm not happy about it, not in the least... but I understand."

Relena felt her spirits rise at the thought of her brother allowing her to pursue whatever Heero and she could work out. Throwing her arms around her brother's neck, Relena let a few more tears escape from her tired and worried eyes. The siblings had nearly forgotten where they were until the light above the operating room turned off. Several doctors exited silently as a new group entered to take over. Both Relena and Millardo stood up and tried to get any information they could. Duo awoke by all the commotion and joined in attacking doctors with questions about their friend.

"What is his situation?" Millardo asked in a tone that said it was more of an order to answer than a request of a doctor holding a clipboard of charts and papers.

"He's been stabilized. He lost so much blood we had to replace that. Our reserves of his blood type took a bit depleted now. We're currently working on getting more for later." The doctor with thin glasses said. Looking at the three visitors, he motioned them to sit back down. "I don't know where to begin. I haven't seen a patient with so many complications in my life, however he looks like he should pull through."

Relena let out a breath that she had not noticed she was holding. Duo gave her hand a friendly squeeze. He knew Heero could pull it off. There smiles where not long lived. As the doctor continued to discuss the complications, the situation once again became bleak.

"We're trying to monitor the swelling in the brain. We are not sure if he will have damage that remains permanent. We'll have to wait until he regains consciousness, well if he does..."

"No," Relena stopped the doctor from continuing. She knew that it was a question of when and not if for Heero to come back to them. "He will, I know that Heero will wake up. You'll see." She said struggling to keep a positive tone in her voice after hearing of all the broken bones they had set, not to mention the stitches. Heero Yuy was one stubborn man to have survived all the things he had. Relena knew he could over come anything, even the odds doctors placed on his recovery.

"Is he out of surgery then?" Millardo asked stopping his sister from getting herself worked up. "When can we see him?"

"They are cleaning him up now." The doctor mentioned looking back at a chart. "We'll move him out of the OR and into a critical care ward. He'll need 24 hour care."

"I want guards around the hospital wing at all times then." Millardo said as he stood up. "Duo, will you stay with Relena? I'm going to begin the process of security around here."

"No problem Blondie." Duo flashed the older man a trademark Maxwell smile before Millardo turned and left.

"Mr. Maxwell, Ms. Peacecraft, we're moving him now." The doctor told the two after a nurse came out to tell him. "I'll show you to the room, and we'll meet up with them there."