I do not own Gundam Wing. This fan fiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this.

Chapter 6

Zechs ground his teeth, clenching and unclenching his hands behind his back. He glared across his desk at the two young men. Duo looked uncharacteristically serious; arms crossed, he glared at the wall. Yuy stared at the floor - his expression blank. "I should have you both reassigned to Antarctica for this." He itched to throw things, especially a certain former Gundam pilot. 'Damn you, Heero, for putting me in this position.'

The door burst open with a thud! A red-faced, puffy-eyed version of his younger sibling stumbled into his office.

"Milliardo!" Relena froze as soon as her gaze settled on the other two occupants of the room. Her eyes narrowed, but her lip trembled and all the color drained from her face. She turned and her pain became his. Soft blue eyes held no accusation, simply showed him the depth of hurt she was feeling. His heart sunk from his chest to his stomach.

"You promised," she said quietly. "You promised." She turned, and ran from the room.

"Relena!" He called out after her, but she didn't even pause. He could only imagine how difficult this was for her. The year Zechs had chosen to spend in solitude had been necessary, but the ache of being separated from Noin was eased by knowing she loved him.

This man was asking for something precious, and didn't even know how damned special it was!

'No, on some level, he knows.' Heero had made it clear on more than one occasion that he'd have no problem giving his life to save hers. 'But love...Everyone is capable of love. I have to believe that. And to hold her life as more valuable than his own is love, in a way. He'd take care of her and protect her-better than anyone else. And it's what she wants.'

Zechs bowed his head and hated himself for what he viewed as his only possible course of action. He glanced at Duo. The braid-wearing Preventer nodded, then turned to frown at his friend. Heero caught the look and met Zechs' gaze. His eyes flashed.

"Yuy," the former Oz lieutenant snarled. "Mission approved. Now, get out."

Heero nodded, and the two younger men quickly exited. After they were gone, Zechs banged his fist down on the desk. 'I'm sorry, Relena.'

The two men stood in the foyer; strained silence stretched between them as Duo tried to reconcile the events of the meeting in his mind. He did not approve, could not condone the idea of deceiving Relena.

'She's my friend, and this will most likely end up hurting her.' The former Deathscythe pilot hung his head. 'I can see it now: Preventer beaten to death by former Queen of Pacifism. News at eleven.' He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. 'But, on the other hand...'

"So, what's plan B?" Duo finally broke the silent standoff.

"I thought you didn't approve, or want any part in this." Heero's voice had lost the slightly warmer tone it had carried for the last few months; it was back to sounding almost robotic. Just like he was during the war.

"Well, if you fail, I get reassigned to Antarctica, so let's just say I have a vested interest, now."

"Hn." Heero rolled his eyes and stepped towards the door.

"I still don't like it. I never imagined you could be this cold."

Heero stopped; his shoulders stiffened, but he didn't turn around.

'I'd make you love her if I could. She deserves that much.'

Heero started again for the door.

"You're going to need help," Duo called out after him. Heero paused again, finally pivoting halfway around to glare at his friend. The former Deathscythe pilot stifled a grin as a thought formed in his mind. "Perhaps some sensitivity lessons would do you good."

Heero turned his back to the door; Duo had his undivided attention.

"Let's go see Quatre."

The former Zero pilot grimaced. "What? No, that's-"

"Oh, yes. That's exactly where we're going. Tomorrow. After all, he got Dorothy to marry him – changed her around completely. Relena should be an easy target by comparison." He smirked at Heero, waiting for him to take the bait.

"Hm, good point. But what about you – Hilde was a soldier, how did you subdue her?"

'Wrong bait!' Duo's smile vanished when his jaw unhinged and hit the floor. He stared at his friend, waiting for the rest of the punch line, but those dark blue eyes held no hint of humor. 'He's serious?!' He tried not to sputter. Or faint. Or die.

"Subdue?"

Heero remained in the same position, with the same look on his face, as if he was waiting for the professor to give him the answer to an algebraic expression.

Duo decided to play it for all it was worth. He crossed the tile and put his hand on his friend's shoulder, turning him back towards the door. "Oh, around my house, I rule with an iron fist – but it doesn't start off that way, you know," he confided. "You have to hunt your female. First, you set the trap - wining and dining them. Or, you know, so to speak."

They opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. "Then, once you've got their defenses down, and they're all dependent on you...Uh, and stuff. THAT'S when you know you've got the upper hand." He held up one fist as a demonstration. "Soon, they're putty in your hands – willing to obey your every command…."

Heero nodded. "Hn."

Later that night...

"But Hilde, please, it's been a whole week! Can't you take some aspirin or something, babe?" Duo whined, looking at the back of his wife curled up in their bed. He pressed closer, sliding his arm around her waist and up the line of her ribcage. "I really want you," he whispered huskily. He wasn't above changing tactics; her husband applied soft caresses and nibbled at her ear.

"Duo, no," she squirmed from his embrace. "I have to get up early in the morning. Relena and I are having breakfast before she goes to work. I can't be late – you know she doesn't have a lot of time." She pulled the covers tight around her and scooted to the far side of the bed. "Now, go to sleep."

"Fine," he grumbled, rolling over and facing the wall. 'Subdue? Hmph. Yeah right, Heero. You have no idea.' He pulled his pillow over his head.

The breakfast place was their favorite, though neither one had time to meet there quite often enough. It was a bit odd in a way, to imagine the former Queen of the World eating in a Perdin's bakery – the type of place an everyday, normal person might eat. But Relena was an everyday normal person, though she hid it well from the public.

"They don't want to see me as normal," she had said once.

"They want me to be this ideal – a princess, a queen, a world leader. And to tell you the truth, keeping that 'mystique' helps in my job. My opinions carry more weight than they probably should - largely because so many people do still see me as Queen Relena."

That was the moment they had truly become friends, as unlikely as it may have seemed at first. And since that time, she and Duo had been the ones to give the otherwise aloof diplomat some semblance of real friendship. At least, that was Relena's excuse every time she gave them gifts. Like the house they lived in now.

And so she could tell from the girl's faraway look, red-rimmed eyes, and completely untouched plate of her favorite Perdin breakfast (french toast and their rare but sinful delight of eating pie with the first meal of the day), that Relena was monumentally upset.

And Hilde had a pretty good idea that it had something to do with the poster-boy for anti-social behavior. The guy who should win some sort of emotional underachievement award for thoroughly botching a marriage proposal - so badly that a woman in love with him turned him down.

"I have a feeling it was worse than Duo gave him credit for," she murmured.

"Huh?" Relena glanced up from her cup of coffee, but still looked like she was miles away.

"Relena are you okay? You don't appear to be feeling well."

"I'm fine, really," Relena said, giving Hilde a sad smile that didn't even come close to reaching her eyes.

Hilde took a sip of her coffee and debated whether or not to bring up the incidents of yesterday morning. She sighed. "Duo told me what happened. Do you want to talk about it?"

Relena's face crumpled. "I don't know what there is to talk about. I really don't understand what happened…"

"Well, for starters, I saw the ring – it really was beautiful. If you don't mind my asking, why did you turn him down?"

Relena choked on her swallow of coffee. "Well, for starters, he never gave me any indication that he cared about me until he came in my office yesterday to propose. If you can call that a proposal…" Her voice trailed off as she shook her head; her eyes blinked rapidly, and she raised the cup of cold coffee to her lips once again.

"Oh, do tell, Relena. I'm dying to know…." If it was really that bad, maybe she could get the girl to laugh about it.

"It's not funny."

"Relena, I know it's not, but if you could find some humor in it, well, it might not hurt as much."

"You just want me to tell you what happened."

"Well, there's that, too," Hilde replied with a grin.

Relena sighed. "He looked so serious, like…like someone had died. I had no idea why he would be visiting me - unofficially. He came in wearing his Preventer's jacket. As if he was still at work. But, he was off duty."

"He probably wears that jacket all the time, and didn't think about it."

"Maybe. But, I'm not sure, and thinking it's something official. He's looking serious, I know he's fought my efforts to have him re-assigned…."

"You've been trying to have him re-assigned?"

"Yes. He just." Relena put her mug back on the table. Her fingers toyed with one end of her napkin.

"He gets to me. He's cold and aloof, and no matter how I've tried to talk to him, to get him to talk to me, he doesn't seem to care. He's not even my friend. At least…I didn't think so. Now, I don't know what to think."

"Maybe he's been hiding it?"

"I don't know! But I do know that no matter what he thinks, he doesn't know me. I'm still Relena Peacecraft, Queen of the World that needs to be protected for the good of mankind. I saw it in his eyes the other night when they caught me at the movie theater."

"Maybe he's just…really bad at showing his emotions. What did he say when he proposed? Anything good?"

"His proposal consisted of plunking the box onto my desk atop a pile of papers I had been previously so engrossed in, I wasn't even aware it was almost lunchtime. It took me a few seconds to even recognize it for what it was – a ring box, from Heero. On my desk. And then, once I did, I thought maybe it was something else – not a ring. Maybe a bomb, or transmitter, or something."

"See, that's funny. I can just imagine you trying to open it, thinking it's a bomb." Hilde forced a giggle. So far, it hadn't sounded too bad. "Go on."

"I picked up the box, opened it, and couldn't believe it. My mind went completely blank. I had no idea why he would give me a ring!"

"Relena! Come on…."

"You don't understand. He just glared at me like I was the stupidest person in the world." A tear escaped and rolled down her face. Hilde reached over and grabbed her hand.

"He said that I should know what the ring was for and something like: he shouldn't have to say it. I was stunned. It was like I had stepped into some sort of alternate reality where I made sense to me, but everyone else had suddenly gone crazy. I guess at some point, I must have cried because he reached out and touched my cheek and said…" She gulped for air.

"What Relena, what did he say?"

"He said that he thought I was stronger than that. 'Only the weak cry'."

Hilde dropped her friend's hand and found her feet. She leaned over the table and blurted out: "Don't make him say it, and only the weak cry? That's his idea of a proposal?"

Several other diners turned to stare at them.

"Yes! I was so angry, I threw him out."

"Well, I don't blame you. He deserved it! Oh, Relena, I'm so sorry." She leaned over and hugged her friend.

"I'm fine, really. It's okay."

Hilde smiled back, but inside she was seething. 'I'm going to find out what those two are up to.' She sat down again. "You finished? You didn't even eat your pie?"

"I know. I'm just not hungry, I guess. Thanks for listening. I'm sorry we didn't get to talk about more cheerful things. We'll have to do this again really soon. I'll check my schedule when I get to work and give you a call."

"Sure thing. You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'd better. If I'm not in by 9:05, Julie begins calling the house. By 9:10, there's liable to be an all points bulletin out for anyone who's seen or has information on my whereabouts."

"Wow, and I used to complain about demerits."

Just as they were about to leave, the two girls heard the sound of a throat clearing, and looked up to see…

"Heero Yuy," Hilde practically spat his name.

Heero and Quatre had received intelligence suggesting that the two girlfriends would be having breakfast at their favorite place, and met the source, Duo, at the door. They had immediately sought out the two women amidst the fairly crowded diner in the hopes of speaking with Relena.

However, upon their arrival at the target booth where Relena sat, Hilde stood up and threw her water in Heero's face.

He blinked and held his breath. Heero stared at her, water dripping from the front of his hair onto his jacket. A small chorus of gasps erupted from nearby onlookers.

"Come on, Relena," she said, tugging the blond girl's arm. Relena stood, and without acknowledging the presence of either man, she headed towards the door. Hilde started to follow, but stopped at the edge of the table; her fingers slid across the top of a half-empty glass of orange juice. An evil smile crossed her lips as she picked it up and dumped the contents on the unsuspecting Quatre.

"Hilde, what did I do?" the blond man sputtered, reaching for the napkin lying on top of the table and wiping at the sticky liquid oozing down his face.

"You're his friend," she tossed over her shoulder; she made her way to the front of the diner.

"This is not good," Quatre said as he sat down at the table, still dabbing at his stained shirt collar, and the front of his hair. He looked up at his equally drenched friend. "And this is your fault, you know."

"She only threw water on me."

Quatre shook his head. "We're going to need Dorothy's help with this. We need a female perspective, and I'm guessing Hilde will not be volunteering her services anytime soon," he said with a hint of sarcasm in his usually good-natured voice.

Heero wasn't listening; he was busy thinking about the degree of difficulty of his mission.

'This is turning out to be harder than I thought. And at this rate, I won't have any friends left by the end of the first week.' The thought caused a degree of irritation.

"Relena…"