Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. I also don't claim that Heero would be a complete bumbutt and make Relena haul his heavy self around. . .

Chapter 43

"Milliardo, how are you feeling?" Noin asked as she saw her blonde haired friend's eyes slowly open. He looked over at her groggily and moaned, saying, "What. . .happened?"

"You got hit by some debris from that Aries that exploded, don't you remember?"

"That's right. . .I don't feel like I'm hurt though. . ." Milliardo said, trying to sit up. He noticed a slight heavy feeling to his back and he blinked, looking over his shoulder. With wide eyes, he looked back up at Noin who looked down innocently.

"WHAT THE HECK?" Milliardo's outburst echoed in the cave like thunder.

"I guess Zechs is awake. . ." Heero commented from his gundam as he gave it a brief battle repair. Rachel looked over at the flustered and furious man and sighed, saying, "Well, you know it's the only way we could have gotten him to accept the powers. . .let's just not tell him about his sister quite yet. . ."

"No kidding. . ." Heero grunted. Rachel shook her head and strolled over to Milliardo, saying, "Good to see you're still lively as ever, Milliardo. . ." Looking at her fiercely, he said, "What did you do to me! I never agreed to this!"

"I know, I also knew you would never willingly concede so I just took the liberty of doing it while you were out cold." He frowned in anger and said, "Why, isn't there already enough angels around here!"

"I just thought you'd like to be the same age as Noin. . .you know. . .so you weren't younger and all. . ."

"What does that have to do with it?" Rachel grinned and leaned over toward him, whispering, "Like I didn't see you two making out behind us in the cave. . .just because I'm sucking face doesn't mean I don't see what's goin down around me." With a wink, she walked happily away as Milliardo stared wide-eyed in surprise, left speechless by her remark. Noin blushed and grinned as Milliardo kept blinking, trying to think of something to say back. She touched his shoulder and he snapped out of his trance, looking back at her. She looked into his eyes with hers and said, "You don't mind that people know about us. . .do you? Or are you going to just turn away and pretend that didn't happen just to ignore the embarrassment?"

"I. . .I. . ." He was still at a loss for words. She shook her head as she chuckled, leaning closer and saying, "Oh, stop trying. . ." She put her hand behind his head and pulled him into a kiss, feeling his arms wrap around her as he gave in to her.

"Excuse me, but is Milliardo alright?" Otto asked as he approached Rachel. She turned to him and smiled, saying, "Oh yes, oh course."

"Then. . .why's he acting so strangely?" He glanced over at Milliardo as he and Noin made out on the cots.

"It's not that important. What I would like to know is if you're on our side now, Otto, since OZ seems to have turned against you."

"On. . .your side? What side exactly is that?"

"The peace side." Rachel smiled.

"But. . .I thought OZ wanted peace. . .or at least I did up until about a half hour ago. . ." Otto grumbled, remembering the betrayal.

"OZ is a dictatorship, they want to be the rulers of the world and put everyone under their oppression, that's why we're fighting them, for our freedom!"

"I see. . .so. . .you want me to join forces with you? How do you know I won't betray you?"

"Because, I trust Zechs and you are loyal to him. . .am I wrong?" Otto looked surprised and said, "N. . .no. . ."

"Then do I have your trust, Lieutenant Otto?" Rachel put out her hand. Otto looked at it for a minute and then proudly shook her hand, saying, "You have my word, I will fight with you for the good of peace."

"I'll help too! WAH!" Ensign Chris came running up and tripped, falling flat on his face in a rather undignified manner. Otto sighed in shame as he shook his head and Rachel chuckled, walking over to the boy trying to stand. She put out her hand and Chris looked up into her happy face as she said, "Welcome aboard, Ensign, it's good to have someone like you with us." Chris smiled and took her hand, allowing her to help him up. Chris blushed as he scratched his head, saying, "I hope I can be of help to you, I'm not the most coordinated person in the world!"

"That's fine, it's what's up there that counts, not your gracefulness. . ." Rachel poked his forehead with a grin.

"Or lack thereof. . ." Chris laughed. They all laughed merrily as they discussed future plans and countermeasures against OZ's rising fleet. Meanwhile, Heero began scraping junk off Wing's hull and flicking it into the air to be out of the way, careful not to scratch the paint. He flung a particularly large chunk and heard a complaint, looking down to see, in his opinion, a ravishing brunette with a luscious body. With a slight grin, he shouted down, "Sorry. . .didn't mean to hit you. . ."

"It's alright, do you mind coming down for a minute?" The girl said. He quickly did so and landed in front of her, saying, "What is it, Relena?" She smiled coyly and wrapped her arms around him, saying as she fingered his hair, "I just wanted to see you. . .you've been playing with your Gundam ever since the battle ended. . ." He ran his hand down her long, golden brown hair down to her lower back where his hand rested, pulling her closer as he said, "Would you rather I played with you?"

"Well. . .just paying attention to me a little more than your toys would be nice. . .you treat that thing like it's your baby or something. . ."

"That's impossible. . .because you're my baby. . ." He kissed her and she giggled, leaning her head against his chest with a sigh. He rested his chin on the top of her head and closed his eyes, whispering, "You're so beautiful now, a real woman. . ."

"And what was I before?" Relena queried quietly.

"A beautiful young lady. . ." Relena smiled and turned, leaning her back against his strong frame as she looked over at her brother and Noin. Heero wrapped his arms around hers and held her tight as she tilted her head to the side with a smile.

"Almost everyone here has someone to love. . .maybe we should find the last three boys some girl, what do you think?" Relena said, watching as Zechs wrestled with Noin a little before sweeping her up off her feet and flying off somewhere out of sight.

I think two of them have their eyes set on one that's taken already. . .Heero thought, tilting his head down to rest his face in her hair.

"I'm not about to play matchmaker, Relena. . ." Heero muttered through her golden locks.

"Well, you don't have to do anything of you're gonna be a bum about it!"

"I think they'll find someone on their own. I found you, didn't I?" He gave her a soft squeeze and she smiled.

"As I recall, Trowa found me first. . ." Relena grinned slyly, looking up into his face. Heero frowned and muttered, "Are we going to go into the details or just say I found you in the first place? Technically?"

"Well, if we're being technical, I found YOU, remember? I saw you laying on the beach and you woke up and freaked out on me. . ." Relena rolled her eyes. Heero sighed and leaned on her, saying, "You tire me sometimes, you know that?"

"Just sometimes?" Relena smiled. Giggling, she grabbed his arms and started hauling him over to where Rachel and Otto were talking about their truce. Heero didn't complain as he enjoyed the ride, and put more weight on her than he would have normally just to be a pain. Rachel shook her head at them and said, "Are you two having fun?"

"I am." Heero said quietly, lazily draped over Relena's back as she huffed to a stop and dumped him off.

"Heero Yuy, you need to go on a diet or something! You weigh as much as a horse!" Relena complained.

"I am a stallion. . .purebred stud. . ." Heero cocked an eyebrow at her as he put his hands in his pockets. She rolled her eyes and said to Rachel, "So, any plans as of yet?"

"Not quite, I was thinking it would be better to wait for Quatre and Trowa to get back before we made any plans." Rachel responded as she turned to face her. Heero pulled his hands out of his pockets and draped his arms over Relena's shoulders, wrapping one around her neck and leaning in close.

"I think we should continue with plans and have them meet up with us whenever they're done what they're doing." Heero stated in his monotone voice.

"Well. . .I suppose we really don't have much time to waste. . .but their fleets have become so widely spread, how can we take them out?"

"We have the upper hand now, or should I say 'wing'. . ." Heero commented, displaying his feathered appendages as they reformed on his back. Chris' eyes widened and he gasped, backing up a few steps.

"What the!" Chris exclaimed.

"Heero, you dope, they don't know!" Relena hissed. The wings disappeared and he said nonchalantly, "They do now."

"What is going on here!" Chris started freaking out. Milliardo noticed the rise of conversation and decided to join, leaving Noin's side reluctantly.

"Is something the matter?" Milliardo asked.

"Chris, calm down! It's alright!" Otto said sternly to the young man.

"But, but, he. . ." Chris pointed a shaky finger at Heero as he stumbled backwards in slow retreat.

"I know, it's nothing to worry about, Ensign." Otto reassured him.

"You know?" Milliardo asked.

"Yes, this young lady explained things to me while you were resting, I'm fully on your side and ready to assist however I'm needed." Otto said proudly.

"That's great, thank you, Otto." Milliardo said with a grateful smile, shaking his hand.

"How about we work on that plan?" Heero suggested in a more demanding tone.

"Quatre, I got your medicine." Trowa said quietly as he entered their plane's cockpit. He approached the seat and peered over at his friend to find him asleep. He gently shook his shoulder and whispered, "Quatre, wake up." Stirring, his greenish blue eyes quickly popped open and he stared up at Trowa in surprise as he jerked to a sitting position. Realizing it was just his friend, Quatre relaxed back into his seat.

"Oh, it's you. I thought it might have been that bossy little girl. She's been yelling at me from outside, ya know. . ." Quatre moaned, trying to sit up straight as his head spun. Trowa knelt next to Quatre's seat and began opening the bottle, saying, "She is a brat but you have to understand her position, she apparently had to take over for her father who died recently. He used to run this city but now she has to, hard thing for a 15 year old to do in a situation such as this."

"That poor girl. . .I wonder if she acted this way before she had to take on such a demanding job. . ." Quatre said, sounding almost sympathetic. Trowa didn't respond as he tapped the pill bottle and let a medium sized yellow pill bounce out into his hand.

"You have to take two of these a day, so you might as well take one now and another when we get back to camp. Oh no. . ."

"What is it?" Quatre looked down at him.

"You're supposed to take this with food. . .what do you suppose would happen if you didn't because I don't have anything. . ." Trowa wondered.

"He would start vomiting violently." They both turned to see a silhouette of a girl standing in the doorway with something in her hands. Trowa stood and said in surprise, "Alyssa, I thought you had work to-"

"I heard about your friend and thought that maybe this could help you. Since you just came from a war, it's very unlikely you would think of bringing food along for a medicine run. Here, take this." She stretched out her hands and Trowa took the bag from her, looking at is as he said, "Thank you. . ."

"It's nothing much, just a ham and cheese sandwich with a juice box and some crackers, I hope it's enough." Alyssa said, shyly folding her hands in front of her. Trowa looked up and stepped closer to her, whispering, "This. . .isn't your lunch, is it?"

"No. . ." She looked away.

"Dinner?"

"Please, just take it. It's all I can do in hopes of helping stop this petty war!" Alyssa said, tears brimming her eyes as she turned and ran out of the plane. Trowa blinked in surprise and quickly tossed the bag to Quatre, saying, "Eat that and take the pill, I'll be right back." He ran out of the plane after her and came to a stop as he saw Alyssa get cornered by Amanda. He dashed over to them just as Amanda began to tear into Alyssa maliciously.

"Stop! Leave her alone!" Trowa exclaimed as he came to a stop by Alyssa's side. Alyssa gasped in surprise and Trowa blinked, a little surprised himself by his reaction.

"Shouldn't you be leaving by now! You've been here too long and have quite worn out your welcome!" Amanda growled at him.

"I'll leave, but I can't go without saying this to you. Amanda, I'm sure you're having a hard time dealing with this situation but that gives you no right to treat your help like trash! That is no way to gain allies, it's the quickest way to grow enemies! When you're attacked, who do you think will rescue you? No one." Trowa growled in a controlled voice. Alyssa turned to him and said in a stern voice, "No, I will save her. She may be a hard case to put up with but she's all we have. Please understand, I'm grateful for your help but don't. . .you don't understand us." Trowa looked shocked.

Why would she defend someone who would gladly push her into harm's way if it meant getting away alive? I. . .I don't understand. . .Trowa blinked. A little squeal echoed into the hangar and everyone turned to see a little red haired girl bouncing over to them. With a sigh, Alyssa turned back to them briefly and said, "I'm sorry for delaying my duties, ma'am, it won't happen again. Excuse me. . ." She took off in the direction of the child and scooped her up, carrying her back out of the docking bay and disappearing. Trowa stared after her in deep thought for a few minutes after her departure, still stuck on her reaction. Amanda seemed slightly set back by the defensive remark as well but shook it off quickly, saying in a quiet but stern voice, "Can you please be on your way now, Mr. Schroder? As you can see. . .we're quite busy."

"Yes. . .of course. Thank you for your time, sorry to have wasted so much of it." Trowa bowed in recognition and turned to walk back toward his plane.

"Not at all. . .it was a pleasure. . ." Trowa blinked and looked back but she had already dashed off to order around some other lost worker wandering about the docking bay. His head spun in confusion and he stumbled a bit as he turned to return to the plane. As he walked into the cockpit, his vision faltered slightly and he paused in the doorway, closing his eyes to let his head clear.

"Trowa, are you alright?" Quatre whispered, looking up from his seat sleepily. Trowa slowly nodded and finally walked over to his chair, slowly sinking into it. He began to slowly push buttons on the control board to start the plane and Quatre caught a glimpse of the bandage on his arm. Blinking, Quatre said, "Are you sure you're fine? You seem a bit. . .off your edge."

"I'm fine, Quatre. . ." Trowa said, a little irritation in his voice by the questioning. Sulking down into his seat, Quatre sighed and buckled up, getting comfortable for the ride back to camp.