An Understanding Love
"Heero…" Lady Une muttered in a half growl. On one hand she was surprised that he even bothered to call instead of just make a magically appearance, but on the other hand she was annoyed that he was questioning the Preventers' ability to protect Relena.
"How was this explosion allowed to occur, Une? I thought I had left her in Duo's reliable hands," Heero repeated, angering Lady Une further.
Removing the phone from her ear for a moment, Une glared at it as though she were actually glaring at Heero before returning it to her ear. "Heero, I don't know what you think you're doing but you are no longer a Preventer, thus making Relena no longer your responsibility. So, leave everything to us and return to your life…"
"Une, who was behind the explosion? Is it a terrorist group? Is it connected to the hostage situation from yesterday?" Heero questioned.
What was he trying to do, gain information from her? Well, she was not a well of information that would willingly give answers to any and every question asked. "That is classified information that only Relena's Head of Security and specially assigned Preventers will know about," Une replied sharply.
Heero sighed and spoke in a hushed voice, "Maxwell has no real leads, does he? There might be a connection with another case they are working on but they are uncertain…"
"Maxwell's been talking to you too much," Une stated, looking up through the windows of her office at where Duo was comforting Relena while David ran through suggestions of what Relena could do.
"What is this other case he is trying to connect the bombing to?" Heero questioned, lowering his voice further.
"Nothing you need to know about," her ladyship claimed, catching Duo's eye through the glass and motioning him into the office.
Duo must have suspected that it was Heero his boss was speaking with as his face twisted into a guiltily caught expression that plainly stated that he thought he was screwed; and rightly so. Saying his last comforting words, Duo excused himself and went to the office door.
"If it concerns with her safety then I should know about it," argued the former gundam pilot on the phone.
Entering the office, Duo softly but hurriedly closed the door behind him. He didn't want Relena to accidentally find out that Lady Une was speaking with Heero on the phone, especially after eight years with no contact.
"You gave up all rights to protecting her when you handed me your resignation letter," Lady Une pointed out. She wasn't certain if her words would affect him emotionally but it was the truth and there was no way to argue it. "Have you forgotten?"
"No," was the clipped answer.
Duo nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot as he heard Une's side of the conversation. He had told Heero all he could about the bombing, hostage situation, and the possible connection to the stalker without mentioning that Relena was being stalked. If he had mentioned that Relena was being stalked and they had no leads as to who the stalker was then Heero would have had Duo's head on a platter. The former Wing pilot had left Duo with strict instructions concerning Relena's safety and explicit consequences if he failed.
"Good, then we have nothing more to discuss," Une said decisively, about to hang up the phone.
"What do you plan to do with her?" Heero inquired.
Lady Une wanted to slam the phone against her desk. Heero had the remarkable ability of saying or asking the wrong thing. However, that 'wrong thing' also was his advantage as it often made people stop in their tracks or leave them speechless.
"What I decide to do with her will have no influence from you," stated Une. "Relena will most likely be put into the care of Willington and Maxwell wherever I decide to send her to."
"Willington?" echoed Heero. "Who is that?"
"Willington is Relena's Head of Security. I would have thought that Maxwell would have told you that by now."
Once again, Duo's guilty as charged expression appeared meaning that Duo knew he was screwed again. He just had inadvertently dug his hypothetical grave with both his superior and his friend who had entrusted me with keeping Relena safe and supplying information about the recent events. Duo cringed as he stood there looking around the room and listening to one side of the conversation.
"What happened to Duo, what made you demote him?" Heero questioned, his voice becoming hard.
"I didn't, Relena had Willington positioned as her Head of Security after the intruder and assassination attempts two years ago. Something you wouldn't know about," Une informed him. "Maxwell protested but finally agreed for reasons that I do not know as he and the Vice Foreign Minister had come to an agreement."
Duo shifted again, they were talking about him. Him! The funny guy who was supposed to be dependable for any and everything, including taking a bullet for a friend when needed.
Heero's planning to kill me, he thought.
"He can't be trusted," Heero simply stated.
"You say this why? What gives you any right to express an opinion on Willington when you have not met him or even know him?" demanded the chief Preventer. "Willington has done a lot to keep Relena safe…"
"And has failed," the ex-gundam pilot noted.
"You say that about Willington but not about Maxwell," Duo winced, "what makes Maxwell so special?" Une inquired, unconsciously catching Relena's eye through the mirror. The younger girl was giving her an intrigued expression with her head cocked to one side. She obviously knew that Une was talking to someone important but didn't quite know who just yet.
Pointing to Duo, Une motioned for him to go to the window and pull down the blinds. He did so and waved at Relena while giving her a thumb's up before blocking her view with the blinds.
"Maxwell can't be trusted with Relena's life either, he had failed with allowing that assassin to get too close to Relena and allowing that intruder inside the same building as Relena," Heero replied.
"Then who is to be trusted? Quatre? He would be one of the first people thought to hide Relena besides Zeches and Noin. Besides, Zeches and Noin are too busy with the Terra Forming Project on Mars to hide Relena. Trowa? A good choice but I'm not certain if I could depend on Relena not trying to run off and putting her life in danger as well as civilians from the circus. Plus, it's too difficult for us to contact Trowa except through his period calls, which isn't for another two weeks. Wufei? I have him working on another case in South America with Po and I cannot afford to replace him with someone else on such short notice," Lady Une explained, leafing through her reports on her desk.
"Assign her to me."
Lady Une did the one thing she rarely did, she laughed. It was an ironic, bitter laugh and it made Duo as to what Heero could have possibly have said make his superior think it ridiculous, as almost no one ever laughed like that without finding something ridiculous.
"You!"
Duo made a pained look. Heero, what are you thinking! Suggesting that you to do anything?
Heero didn't reply.
"You, if you remember, left the Preventers eight years ago. You turned in your resignation slip to me without anyone else knowing, you abandoned Relena, and don't forget that I'm not quite certain how she will feel about being put under your care. How can we know that you won't abandon her again?" challenged her ladyship.
Something broke in the background, causing Heero curse softly. "I won't abandon her, when have I ever failed you in protecting her?"
"When you left."
There was a long pause and Une was almost certain that Heero had hung up and was about to hang up when something was said.
"What was that?" Une sighed, didn't he ever give up?
"I can't leave her if she comes to stay with me," he repeated.
"Heero, this person or persons would find you as you are undoubtedly the very first person anyone would think we would send Relena to…" Lady Une argued.
"No one will find us. I live out in the country with a town not ten miles from my house and…a few trustworthy people nearby," he assured. "I will give you my address, what plane to get one, what airport, and where I'll pick her up if we have reached an accord."
Glancing up at Duo, Lady Une made the braided Preventer uncomfortable and thinking that she was about to yell at him about mentioning something else he shouldn't have. Although, Duo thought, I don't recall telling Heero anything else.
"Fine, you're in charge of Relena's safety. However," added Lady Une, not about to lift Heero's hopes too high, "Willington, Maxwell, and I will keep your address and phone number, you will report to me weekly and inform me of any, and I mean any Heero, strange activity. There is to be no one who will know that it is Relena Darlian who is staying with you, not even your roommates, if you have any. Duo will travel with Relena until you pick her up. Relena is to be kept within your sights and on your property only; she is not allowed to go to town. If she needs anything you must get it or have one of your 'trustworthy friends' get it. Do we have an understanding?"
Heero grunted, "Understood."
"Good. Now address," Une commanded, clicking a pen and scribbling down the address on a sticky note pad. "She'll be on her way to you within three hours and you will meet her tomorrow. Duo will call you from the airport with the landing time."
"Got it."
"Good, now commit this to memory, call weekly! If you miss a call I will send in Willington and Maxwell to retrieve her and you will never be in charge of her safety ever again."
There was a shorter pause and it wasn't out of hesitation as there was some noise in the background.
"I'll keep that in mind. Just have Duo call me on my cell phone; that number hasn't changed. All I ask is that you don't tell Relena where she is going or whose protection she's being put under."
Une rolled her eyes. "Done." With that she ended further conversation by hanging up the phone and glaring at Duo.
"Uh…"
"Maxwell, the next time you wish to disclose classified information, don't! More than half of the information Heero possessed was not disclosed to the public nor should it have. What else did you tell him?"
Having straightened his stance, Duo stood in parade stance. "I told him as little as possible. Only that the bombing may have something to do with that stalker case, but I didn't mention the case being about a stalker, I merely referred to it as 'this other case'. I also may have said something about not having any leads."
Lady Une sighed. "Go tell Relena to pack a small bag; she's going on a vacation until we find this stalker. Tell her to pack very casual clothes she might not mind getting dirtied."
Duo grinned, teasingly, "She going to be working hard outside or something?" Another glare from his superior wiped the grinned away. "Sorry."
"You have one hour, I will have two plane tickets ready for you two when you get back," instructed Lady Une, straightening her desk and sitting down.
"Yes ma'am," Duo saluted and turned to leave then stopped at the door. "Lady Une, may I say something?"
"Go ahead," grunted Lady Une, busying herself with some paperwork, not even bothering to look up at the Preventer.
Approaching the desk, Duo stated, "Do you think we really have to give Willington Relena's location? Or could we possibly not tell him that it is Heero whom she is staying with?"
Her pen halted and Duo's superior slow raised her eyes up to him, leaned back, and raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why do you suggest this?"
"Well, to be perfectly blunt, Willington is rather resentful toward Heero and may cause some problems, such as question your orders more than track down this stalker," explained Duo.
Lady Une thought about it for a moment. "Very well, we'll keep the identity of Relena's keeper a secret from both Relena and Willington. However, we must give Willington a name so, what shall it be?"
"Didn't Heero give you a name?" Duo asked, surprised.
"No, did he give you one?"
"No but his ID on my cell phone came up as 'Miles Davidson'," Duo answered, shifting his weight again.
Pushing herself off the back of the chair, Lady Une nodded. "Then it's settled, Miles Davidson it is. Now, get Relena packed and be back here in forty-five minutes for your tickets."
"Ma'am!"
Thank you to: Ulitheal, The hero of time 2005, Hououza, Morrighan of Crimson and Sable, Lynn-Minmay, DogDemonK9, Amulak, lildevg, Clarobell, jlisvik, and Duck3. You guys are so great. Wow, I never would have expected so many reviews, not that I'm complaining. Alright, I'll try to make one more updation before I leave for New Zealand and Australia