"Manifestations"
By Isis
Chapter 17
Duo entered the command room on the supply ship, and picked out the darkest corner with the best view of the proceedings… and was of course rewarded with spotting Heero.
Taking the stairs up to the short communications bank he made his way halfway around the room. With no activity, this corner was all but deserted, except for him and three other Preventer officers.
Heero stood at the railing, one hip lounging against it, his arms crossed in front of him. The other three seemed a bit less interested in the surroundings as they sat in the chairs lining the back wall. Probably bored out of their minds, he figured.
Stopping his forward momentum, he let his footsteps sound on the decking as he sauntered up to the group, just inside of Heero's blind spot. "Well, well," he announced himself.
The others took a look at him, and he flashed a smile to the cute lady on the end as he passed by, making a path to his friend.
Heero didn't bother to turn around and he figured he'd already spotted him. "You've been in charge of her for one whole month now, and what do you do? …You bring her to Mars." He came up just behind his shoulder, looking out at the group assembled in the center.
When he still got no response he stepped up beside him and leaned an elbow on his shoulder. "Most guys take a nice lady like that out to dinner, maybe a movie. May even get her flowers by now," he mused. "But no." He faced Heero as he finally turned to regard him. "You wait for something to blow up."
He only blinked. "Have you found anything?"
Duo rolled his eyes and puffed out a sigh before nodding. "Yeah… I found what blew it up." Meeting the other's eyes, he made a glance back towards the group and got a slight nod in return. "Converted space mines. Homemade jobs too."
Heero turned to look back down at the assembly. "Anything on Delmare personally?"
Duo followed his line of sight to find Relena working through the crowd, but with no sign of the Commander anywhere. He shrugged, "That guy? Nope, haven't even met him."
Heero nodded.
He removed his elbow and crossed his arms, turning he fell back to lean against the rail. "How'd you know I was here?" he asked, boredly waiting for him to come up with a plan.
"The scout ship got us a message."
Duo paused. "What scout ship?"
Heero turned his eyes to regard him. "Rasid and a few others. They should have gotten here a couple hours before us."
Duo gave him a confused look and shook his head. "We knew Rasid was trying to send us a message as we left, but I haven't seen 'em."
The other narrowed his eyes slightly, turning his sight back to the center of the room. "Where's Quatre?"
"Air systems, he's keeping our cover, seeing what he can innocently talk out of the workers." Duo turned around again, leaning forward over the rail, waiting for the wheels to tick over.
"Any sign of Zechs or Noin?"
He took a look at him and then back down at Relena, standing in the middle of it all. "No, but I really haven't looked. They have something to do with this?"
He saw Heero close his eyes a moment. "They're on the MIA list."
He cringed. "Does she know that?" he asked softly.
The other nodded, focusing back on her.
"They'll turn up. They probably know what's going on out here."
"They'll make a move now that we docked…"
'If they can,' Duo finished, shaking his head. "This place is getting crowded." Watching some of the assistants lead Relena over to the table, she walked her way through some of the paperwork. Apparently handing off appointments and delegating the workload. "So why you worried about the Commander?"
"Ex-Romafeller. With the other crew's leading officers out of the way, he's taken complete control."
"Romafeller," he spat. "I'm getting sick of these guys."
"Hn."
"Rasid followed us for that bit of information?"
He nodded. "He's Dorothy's forth cousin. Apparently she was concerned."
He started, staring up at him. "Her again."
"She makes a good informant."
"Ever get the feeling Romafeller did a little in-breeding?" The non-committal look he got in return just made him shrug. Leaning back on his arms, he was finally impatient. "So what's the game plan already?"
"We have to connect them."
Duo shook his head sadly. "It ain't going to be easy. This guy's all office. He has his foreman babe do all the work for him."
"His wife?"
Duo balked. "Wife?"
"Ferra Delmare."
He gave him a sick look and glanced back down. "Talk about an age gap."
Heero turned and looked back at the group behind them. The three took the hint and stepped up to them. Turning away from the rail he uncrossed his arms. "Don't leave her."
Even out of Heero the sentence sounded like it came with a death-threat. Duo gave him a quick look, and then figured it probably did.
Without any other instruction he headed off towards the door. Duo straightened, giving them a friendly smile. "Well, guess I'm going that way too," he chuckled at them, stepping away and following.
"Wait." He turned as he passed the same lady, obvious confused knitted over her face. "Who are you?"
"Future godfather," he winked, showing them a pair of crossed fingers over his shoulder as he walked away, hurrying to catch up with Heero's stride. Turing down the hall he followed him to the locker rooms where he tossed his agent jacket and holster into one, conveniently keeping the sidearm. "You're not going yourself are you?" he asked.
Heero closed the door to the locker and stared at it a moment. "This will only get worse."
"But, Relena, eh…" He vaguely pointed back the direction that they had come, not wanting to say too much.
"He's right," came a distinctly female voice.
The two turned to find Dorothy Catalonia casually slip into the room, closing the door and placing her back against it. She was nicely fitted into a new purple space suit; her hair loosely braided and draped over one shoulder, and her arms crossed.
"Gaaa!" he squeaked. How the—? Oh, I hope she didn't hear—wait. "Doesn't a men's locker room mean anything to you, lady?"
She boredly eyed him, "Unisex has a few advantages."
He straightened and then did a casual look around himself.
"You were on the scout ship?" Heero asked from behind him, unfazed.
She nodded. "Your message was kept need-to-know in case it was intercepted."
"And the others?"
She closed her eyes and lowered her head with a sigh. "I'm afraid that the Madam Delmare has a wonderful touch with such things here."
Duo glanced back at Heero who gave him the same blank expression.
Apparently the dramatic pause was enough, and she reopened her eyes. "Soon after we landed her party searched the scout ship, and Quatre and the others were taken aboard the Fuga. I don't expect them to be showing up voluntarily any time soon."
"Captured?" he started. "Crap." Rethinking that statement he glanced back at her suspiciously, "Where were you?"
She turned a smirk to him and then casually uncrossed her arms, displaying a computer disk. "Loitering in the colony's private offices, of course." With a flip of her fingers she sent the disk spiraling towards them. "And meeting a few old friends along the way."
Heero caught it and then turned his eyes back to look at her.
She smiled, "I do feel it appropriate to warn you that Mr. Milliardo is rather… perturbed that someone let his dear sister come out here."
"They're both alive?" he questioned.
She nodded. "And more than willing to return to the fight. However," she paused, "it seems Marcus hasn't quite finished eliminating the evidence yet."
"Would you spit it out, lady?" Duo sighed, itching to help out his friends.
She batted her eyes at him. "Mr. Milliardo and Miss Noin have discovered rumors of a space in the unfinished colony section with the remains of the evidence from the Romulus' demise."
"More explosives?" he asked.
She shook her head no. "The rest of the crew."
Duo chose a particularly colorful curse for this occasion and knotted his hands behind his head. "How much you want to bet that those bombs I saw are there for their sole benefit?"
Heero nodded, turning to him. "Go back to the locker and get rid of them. I'll find Quatre and we'll go after the other crew."
"If I may make a suggestion," she interjected. The two turned to look back at her. She met her eyes to Heero's, "Marcus won't do anything with them aboard the Fuga; he won't risk his own ship. But if he finds out that we're suspicious of him, his best chance is Miss Relena."
Duo had to know the guy pretty well to notice his expression darken.
"Your responsibility is here. And since I got nominated to be the messenger, my crew is also in someone else's hands." She turned back to Duo. "I don't have your level of experience with such matters, but I can at least locate Quatre and the Maguanacs."
The two stared at her a moment before Heero nodded. Duo, turned to look at him fully, a bit incredulous. "You're going in with this?"
He didn't turn away from her. "Can you handle it?"
She blinked and then shrugged. "If I can't, then I'm reliant on the two of you again. Nothing different there."
Heero turned to him, "Where are the mines?"
"Fuga, bottom levels."
"Go with her," he mumbled, stepping around him, she moved out of his way as he headed for the door.
Duo watched him leave and turned from him to her, to him to her, and then closed his eyes. "I'm not sure both of you aren't nuts."
There was a giggle and he looked back up at her. "Get dressed, Mr. Maxwell. It's awfully cold out."
"Why are you here?" he asked finally, moving off to collect a suit from the rack at the end of the row.
"I'm simply protecting my interests."
He snorted. "Business or personal?"
"My business is always personal."
Stepping into a suit he pulled it over his shoulders and glanced back at her, waiting patiently with her eye closed. "Something tells me that's what got Delmare into this mess."
She smiled ruefully, "It's a trait I've come to expect, yes. But Marcus was never patient enough with his ploys. And his stupidity is getting people hurt because of it."
Grabbing a set of gloves and a helmet he zipped up the suit. "Patience is not a virtue I have at this point either, lady."
Heero re-entered the command center and basically ran through a group of aids that weren't quick enough to get out of his way. He scanned the room, but there were still no signs of either Delmare. He forced a shortcut by going over one of the ensign stations, a much more casual task in low gravity.
Relena sat at a table in the center as others filtered here and there, dropping off and picking up from her. The Captain leaned over her shoulder and analyzed something she was working on when he quickly made his way up from her other side.
Not caring if he startled her he firmly grabbed her upper arm, careful not to hurt, as he leaned down to her ear. "We have to go, now."
She started, gasping at his abrupt appearance. She froze as he spoke to her and then gave him one look before recomposing her shocked surprise and letting him pick her to her feat. Turning the other way he really didn't give her the chance to take a proper leave of the Captain and she ended up talking over her shoulder as he moved her. "I'm sorry, we'll have to reconvene. Please use your best judgment on the facilities."
He remembered to let go of her arm halfway across the floor when she was able to keep up with his pace on her own.
"Heero, what's wrong?" she asked quietly, attempting to remain calm in the face of the throng of people surrounding them.
He didn't answer her as the other three met him at the door, seemingly ready for anything. Stepping out he pressed Relena lightly ahead of him and steered her down the hall with a hand on her back. He paced them down and around the corner, loosing the crowd of people surrounding the bridge. The meeting room down the corridor was deserted when they entered, as he hoped it would be.
Forcing the group in he waited for the door to shut and then turned back to her beside him, his hand still absently guarding her movements. Her eyes searched his, a dread burning in them. "They're alive," he said first, wanting to ease that away.
It worked as she sighed heavily, barely having time to give him a grateful look.
Pulling the disk out of his pocket he handed in across to Delano. "Guard this."
"What is it?" he asked instinctually.
"Something we'll need a search warrant to find." The others stared at him skeptically. He turned and pinned Ry specifically, "Find Sally and make her put up a guard force around the entrances. Everyone gets searched. Tell her to watch especially for explosives."
"Explosives?" he questioned.
Turning back to Relena he found her eyes. "Where did the Delmares go?"
She blinked, obviously confused, but it seemed she knew better than to stall with questions. "Marcus is working with moving the personnel; Ferra was starting to move the equipment we brought."
"On colony?"
"I-I think so," she stuttered quickly.
Turning back to the other three he had to fight himself for this decision... "As of now, both are under suspicion. Neither get anywhere near her. If you find them, have them detained. Understood?"
The three nodded blankly.
Focusing back on Relena, he stared into her wide eyes just a second. "Stay put for once."
"Where are you going?" She didn't even blink.
"I promised I'd find them," he stated quietly, his words to her before they docked coming back again. Turning, he paced quickly back out the door, leaving Relena to know that look in his eyes.
Her nervousness snapped as she lost sight of him, and she realized that she was getting very tired of being left.
Firmly she started after him, the other three immediately gluing themselves to her side until she turned a look to all of them. "Just one minute," she stated, biting off each word, leaving no room for argument.
It was enough to stop them dead in their tracks and stare after her as she left the room, the door again sliding shut.
"Un-freaking-believable."
"…Still think he was being over-dramatic?"
Duo gave a friendly smile to the group of workers as he passed by and turned down the next row, pausing to make sure they continued on their way without suspecting him. Letting out a sigh he continued along, keeping out of sight.
He had discovered that he and Lady Eyebrows had two very distinct styles of breaking an entering. He was proficient at not being seen, at perfect stealth, and at being able to slip past as un-suspicious. Dorothy on the other hand made her intentions abundantly known to everyone, being seen by anyone around, and simply daring someone to try to stop her.
The girl had style… it just wasn't his.
He shrugged to himself, pulling the little screen out of his pocket. The green dot moved steadily along, probably three decks up and toward the aft supply section. He'd snagged a spare transmitter set from the locker room on their way out. Usually used for monitoring equipment or for rescue missions, it came in quite handy. So regardless of who decided that she needed to be clubbed over the head and locked up, as long as they threw her in with Quatre he'd have their location.
But first things first. He slipped easily into the secondary corridor and down the emergency stairway. He paused in the doorway to the area in question and then moved towards the same locker. Pulling the knife from his pocket he waited just a second before he quickly popped the cover plate off again and disconnected the lock. Letting himself in he waited for the door to close and relaxed, taking a quick look before starting to disarm the things.
Duo froze halfway to the first in the row of drum-like cylinders. On the front of the row, closest to the door, stood three blank spots that he knew should have been full. Taking a quick inventory of the rest of the closet he found only those three missing.
Except that those three alone would be enough to take down another ship, or even the colony section… Or a good chunk of the unfinished side.
"Too slow," he mentally beat himself. Throwing caution aside he whirled back out the door and set to fast work at the door controls. Finalizing a couple connections he grabbed a handful of wires and yanked.
The lights in hallway flickered and died. "Oops," he muttered to himself in the dark. "Might have gotten a little carried away." He banged against the door once to ensure that it wasn't going to open again for anyone anytime soon and started off to the stairway.
Tracking by memory, he silently made his way up three floors while the emergency crew was trying to go down. Apparently his little power failure only affected the relatively small block, which was good. It was easier when there were lights.
Pulling out the small tracking pad he set off for its last location.
Rasid felt the drop of blood smear along the back of his hand as he tried again to break free of the tie-down locks. The things were made to restrict movements even during a rough re-entry phase. His mind had already figured out it was useless, but the rest of him resisted that knowledge.
His wrists were rubbed raw by now, and apparently he had opened a cut as well. Maybe enough blood would let him slip free…
He tossed a glance up to the corner as he bit down the pain that flared from his right wrist. Quatre lay on his side against the wall; blood stained the side of his face and his ear. The two guards had drug his body back in and roughly tossed him into the corner, not bothering to restrain his unresponsive form. Obviously they didn't feel it would be necessary.
The group's horrified questions of whether he was still alive or not went unanswered, as the two men stood just inside the doorway in the other front corner, keeping at eye on all of them for the time being.
The soldiers closest to Quatre kept a pensive watch over his body. From here, Rasid had yet to discern if he was still breathing. After the initial shock, the crew had turned stoically silent, the room smelling of burnt rage.
Rasid knew he wasn't the only man working at his bindings, but the presence of the two armed guards made it more difficult. And the obscene care with which Ferra had searched them for anything that could pick the locks worsened the conditions.
But eventually, either the titanium bindings would give, or his hands would… At this moment, he didn't care which.
Internally, Rasid was counting the time. Quatre had seen his share of injuries and violence. He was accustomed to fighting through pain. Except for the obvious head injury, Rasid couldn't determine any other wounds. If they had worked him over, they had wanted it subtle.
But as time ticked on and there was still no response from him, Rasid's protective worry only grew.
The door split open and the beak-nosed man he had learned as Marcus Delmare entered, a gun specifically unveiled in his hand. Pausing in the doorway he tossed his head back out and the guards moved to exit. "No one comes in, please," he mumbled to them.
The two men exited silently, obviously relieved at being let go from their boring duty.
Rasid threw another look at Quatre. 'This would be a good time to wake up,' he mentally prodded.
"Good evening, gentlemen," he stated. "I'm getting awfully tired of running around between ships these days, so let's skip the pleasantries." Walking along the three men on the wall closest to the door, he gave the group a quick look over. Circling all the way around, he paused with a frown in Quatre's direction. "Poor kid," he muttered. "Well, who's next in line?" he asked.
"I am," Rasid stated. If they were all going to die, he'd be sure his men weren't going to go before him. "What did you do to him?"
Marcus swiveled around again, finding him in the middle of the back wall. "Well good." Not bothering to move from the middle of the room, he leveled the gun at Rasid's chest. "Your dear little friend didn't keep his head long enough to tell me what I needed to know. So one of you will."
Rasid narrowed his eyes and waited. Master Quatre hadn't given in; Rasid had never worried about that. He only needed to remind the others that not one of them could give in either.
"I want to know why you came here."
The door slit open again as he spoke and the click of boots against the entryway halted the entire room. "They're here because someone's bad planning killed a crew ship."
The man stiffened notably, a confused expression flickered past his face, before he turned slowly around to regard the longhaired blond who casually strode into the room. "I don't believe it… little Catalonia. I didn't realize that we had a reunion planned."
Dorothy slowly sauntered by the bound men, her usual impassive smirk in place, and her hands behind her back. "Well, imagine my surprise when the name Marcus Delmare came to my attention."
"How nice of you to remember."
She regarded each soldier in turn, as if looking for any injuries. She paused her steps as she turned the corner towards Rasid, and shrugged. "Genealogy is a prerequisite, isn't it?"
"Funny. But I thought I stated that no one should be let in here," he commented, lowering the gun and turning to trace her continued trek around the room.
"Well, I just smiled sweetly and asked where I could find you."
"Of course you did. But now then, dear cousin, what brings you out here?"
Her movements stopped in front of Rasid, her eyes hardening as she met his. Turning slowly, she rounded to look at Marcus. "You blew up my crew. And my ship, I might add."
The other sighed, "An unfortunate accident. And what do you mean by 'my crew'?"
"It is too bad that your father's tactics won't stay in the grave with him." During her sentence Rasid saw her hand in front of him part her hair and quickly released a small object, giving it a gentle nudge to float to the floor beside him, her words covering up the tiny sound it made hitting the metal decking. "I am a, rather quiet, investor out here. You would do well to know these sorts of things."
The other lost his regal composure for an instant before closing his eyes and smiling. "I suppose it is too bad that we both seem to have had our designs on Mars."
"I have no designs here, Marcus. My motives are purely profit. Which, of course, you just lost me."
Rasid used the time she was buying him, as her shadow cut most of him from sight, to inch his fingers over to the small metal key she'd tossed.
"I'm terribly sorry, I hadn't realized that you were bankrolling them."
"Well, I imagine that is going to be just one of the things that goes wrong in this worthless scheme of yours," she mumbled.
"Really, baby cousin, you shouldn't meddle in things that you don't belong in."
Her laughter echoed off the bare walls and gave more than enough sound to cover the release of both of Rasid's tie-down straps. Composing herself she ran a hand back through her hair, "You never did learn to play well with others."
Slowly turning, she laced her hands behind her back again and began meandering around the room once more, glancing at each of the men as she passed.
"You'll have to forgive me if I cut this short, but I have somewhere else to be."
"Ah, the devoted leader of the, now monopolized, Mars Terra-Forming Project. What exactly did you think you would gain with this little insurrection?"
"This isn't a revolt, Dorothy, this is just laying down the playing field."
She turned again as she passed the next corner, pausing. "Really? All I can see is that you just lost your element of surprise."
He chuckled at her, "Surprise? No, there will be no surprise, just a quiet transferal. Do you know what I actually have here?"
She raised a bored eyebrow, "Oh, do tell."
"I have a collection of ex-convicts and dead men with no names."
"Well," she stated mock-impressed, "what an amazing lack of civility you've collected. I wouldn't expect less."
"Scoff all you want, but how many of those do you think have people waiting for them at home? How many mothers do you believe are waiting for the call?" he added smugly.
"Ah, a perfectly expendable work-force." Dorothy crossed her arms in front of her now, closing her eyes to mull it over. "You don't intend to have them mutiny, you just intend to be the only one still alive."
"So much less paperwork that way. By the time Mars is an independent entity, people will just be dying to elect me President," he chuckled.
Dorothy rolled her eyes and then twirled around to continue her trip. "Well, you're a bit more creative than I would have given you credit for."
"It's too bad you won't see the end of this."
"Oh, I think I already have. What did you think you were going to do with the Preventers crawling all over this?"
"Over what? A mere accident. Why should they care?"
She flicked a hand around the room. "And this is going to be another 'mere accident'?"
He smiled at her. "Mars has a way of being… unstable."
She giggled, shaking her head. "That won't work with me, you should know better than to think I'd be that unprepared."
"To be honest, dearest Dorothy, I figured you would have taken your mother's cowardly way out by now."
She shrugged, "Not all women are created equal." She turned back to the remainder of the row, finally recognizing Quatre's form laid out on the floor in the corner. Her expression darkened, "Ah, now this one you are going to pay for," she whispered. Silently she moved over and knelt down on one knee, gently brushing back the matted hair against the blood soaked side of his face.
"Ah! The legendary Dorothy!" He chuckled, well amused with something. "I never would have seen that coming."
She flashed a dark pair of eyes towards him for a brief moment.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, baby cousin," he sing-songed, turning fully towards her and leaving his back to Rasid. "Did I mare your boyfriend?"
She snorted, running a hand gently down his neck to check for a pulse. "Never mix business and pleasure, Delmare," she looked up at him with a cold glint in her eyes. "That's where children like you come from."
"Poor little Catalonia, what do you have to do with this…" he glanced around at the men, "hodgepodge of testosterone?"
An evil smile spread across her lips. "They're a darling group when you get to know them." She rose back to her feet again. "And it's Lady Catalonia, I'm enjoying my inheritance rather well."
He sighed audibly, raising the gun in her direction. "You always were a harsh, insufferable brat."
She laughed again, tossing her hair behind her, and slowly walking towards him. "How cute, Marcus, you're jealous."
"Not at all, half-blood. But now, I'd love to stay and trade family insults with you, but I'm afraid my timing must be perfect."
"Oh, I'm sorry," she sighed, closing her eyes, amused. "I certainly wouldn't want to keep you."
He nodded, "Back against the wall with your friends."
"Oh, dear cousin," she opened her eyes and glared at him, "they aren't my friends." He snorted at reference.
It was the last sound he made as Rasid grabbed the man's arms and pinned them forcefully behind him, ensuring she was out of the line of fire. A short gasp and a thud resounded as Rasid looked up to find the rather surprised woman unceremoniously tossed backwards and out of the way. Blocking her from the line of fire was a wide-awake Quatre, who crossed the space between them and threw a single punch.
Delmare's head snapped to the side and lulled before he had time to cry out, Rasid's grip the only thing that supported the unconscious form. Abdul, who had been freed beside him during the conversation, almost pointlessly removed the gun from the man's unconscious fingers.
"Master Quatre?" Rasid released his body to float to the floor as he stared at the younger soldier.
Quatre gave them a smile, "Nice job," he complimented. Turning back they both found Dorothy sitting on the floor against the wall, staring wide-eyed. "That was quite a performance," he mumbled walking over and offering her a hand.
"So was yours," she blinked up at him, scrutinizing the lines of blood drying around right ear as he helped her back to her feet.
"Always looks worse than it is," he touched it tenderly, and then used a shirtsleeve to wipe some of the blood away.
Rasid clapped a hand on his back, looking at him appraisingly. "You need to have that checked."
He turned a dark expression up at him, "No time. Get him and Miss Dorothy back to the ship."
"Most of the others are headed for the unfinished colony section. They believe some of the Romulus' crew who caught on to Marcus' plan are being kept somewhere," she mumbled, dusting herself down.
"The others?" he asked
She chuckled lightly. "I've been visiting all sorts of people."
He shook his head. "What about Ferra?"
Dorothy blinked, "I don't know."
"This won't be over until we find her too." He turned to look back at Rasid, "Everyone gets off this ship," making his point very clear to the remainder of the corp.
"Where are you going?" he asked instead as the young man moved towards the door.
"To find her before she finds out about this… and does something drastic."
He nodded. "You heard him, get them out," he called over his shoulder. He paused as he passed Dorothy, who calmly stood in the middle of the race to free the other men. "Thank you, Lady."
She looked up at him and nodded with, what almost looked like, a genuine smile.
He and the other three officers raced out of the room after Quatre, narrowly missing the bodies of the two guards in the hallway. "'Smiled sweetly' my ass," Abdul muttered.
Heero had neared the corner when he heard his name and turned back to find Relena—alone—hurrying after him. He blinked. He knew that expression and he inwardly sighed. 'I should have known better than to tell her to stay put.'
"Heero, you owe me an explanation. What is going on?" she asked, defiance evident in her. That same stubborn inability to risk anyone else's neck but her own. He turned partly away just to avoid her seeing the smile he couldn't keep off of his lips.
"Relena, please, go back with the others," he stated softly as she stopped in front of him.
"Not until you answer me."
He would never understand his reaction to her concern over him. Probably because he would never understand the concern itself. It had confused him since the day they met.
He raised a hand and caressed her cheek a moment before her expression slipped. "You have to let go of trying to protect me," he stated quietly, trying to get her to understand. He'd expected the same unabashed look of determination that he had come to know in her. But instead he found an… uneasy acceptance.
"No."
There was no change in her expression, but it took him aback.
"I won't." She held his gaze, her eyes shifting softer. "I know I can't stop you, but you can't ask me to not worry."
Her words surprised him as he stood still, trying to decipher what to say to her.
Slowly she closed her eyes a moment. "I can't loose you, Heero," she whispered. There were tears in her voice, if not in her eyes, as she lifted a hand to her heart.
Realization crept in slowly, the power of her emotions overwhelming him. That over-protective feeling in his heart was torn to bits as he watched her struggle. The impulse to comfort her drew him closer to her, but he stopped… knowing if he held her, he wouldn't leave.
He'd promised her to find them. And if he was going to protect her, he needed the evidence to convict anyone associated with this as soon as possible, but…
Feeling him step in closer, she opened her eyes to meet his again, her worry and her concern gone. He didn't recognize the expression they were replaced with, but stared into it anyway.
"Please come back to me," she sighed, reading her lips was the only way he understood her words.
He was fixated with her, the words ringing in his head. His heart… broke. The hand he held to her cheek lost its touch as he was physically shaken. It took an effort to breathe again as he stared down into her soft, blue eyes. He absently moved his hand back to touch her, running his thumb against her check, confused and trying to understand her emotions.
The small touch was enough. She blinked, not moving, but a flicker of a smile entered her expression. That soft understanding…
That was all it took. That tiny response to him. Something that made his heart start to beat again as he left the explanations behind and needed nothing but the feel of her. Ignoring his sense of caution for possibly the first time he could remember, he let her consume him, trusting her with his confused emotions.
Letting his heart cave in he moved closer, starting into her, and knowing he had the same expression she wore. Whatever it was didn't matter anymore. He hovered just close enough that her eyes drifted half closed, staring into his. He looked over her face, memorizing it. Lightly he caressed her cheek until he paused his gaze on her lips, still slightly parted from her last words…
'Come back to me.' His hand drifted from her cheek to her neck, slipping only his fingertips back into her hair, enough to ask her not to move, but not enough to prevent her...
Drawing to her he searched her eyes once more, completely unsure of what he was doing. But she didn't move, didn't flinch, didn't blink. Tilting his head just enough he closed the last few inches, meeting his lips to hers, and closing his eyes… needing to savor her.
Fear stabbed at him for a painful second before he felt her respond, lightly returning his kiss. Her body relaxed towards his. The hand that she had held over her heart placed itself over his, and its gentle touch burned itself into his memory.
…She accepted him. Even… wanted him.
His hand absently settled itself against her neck, the timid insecurity eased out of its touch. His palm could feel her racing heartbeat barely contained under her skin. She was warm… that was one of the only things he had enough time to notice as their lips parted again. He felt her breathe in sharply, and he pulled back just enough to look down at her, his thumb tracing her jaw line. Her eyes staying closed, her lips still parted.
"…I will," he promised.
The words slowly brought her eyes open to look at him just a second before he dropped his hand back to his side and stepped away from her. If he stayed any longer he honestly didn't know what to do. Her hand on his chest lost contact and returned to ball loosely into a fist over her own again as he turned around and quickly walked away.
Heero licked his lips as he rounded the corner, the warm feeling on them slowly wearing off as he strode down the corridor.
Relena swallowed, watching him quickly leave. She balled both of her hands together over her heart and pushed in, trying desperately to get it to calm down.
"A woman can forgive a man for the harm he does her...but she can never forgive him for the sacrifices he makes on her account." - W. Somerset Maugham
AN: Now, everyone go pull out your episode 48 and your Blind Target and tell me how well this fits. ;)
"It is a good idea to be ambitious, to have goals, to want to be good at what you do, but it is a terrible mistake to let drive and ambition get in the way of treating people with kindness and decency." - Robert Solow