Chapter 25 - The Beginning

He had barely slept that night; he wasn't sure if his instincts had alerted him, or he simply had slept well sooner. He went on in his semi-conscious state until the morning sun broke into the line of the sky, and birds started twittering outside the tiny window of their bolt hole. They were still well hidden in the back of the garage, behind the pile of cardboard boxes.

Lying prone, his chin propped on his folded arms, Heero frowned lazily at dust particles floating in the air, as they glistened in the rays of the rising sun. His vision was partly obscured by his unruly bangs, but he didn't mind them, didn't move to brush them away.

As never before, he couldn't focus his thoughts on anything specific; he felt a strange, inner peace, the surprising pleasure of not thinking about anything. And that wasn't the only new thing in this seemingly ordinary morning.

He turned his head and gazed at Relena. She was lying on a blanket right next to him, on her back, one of her hands resting open close to her face, the other on her belly, her chest gently rising and falling with each breath she took. Her golden hair was sparkling in the shy light of dawn, spilled around her head like an aureole. She had a long, loose shirt on her; nothing else.

Heero took a deep breath, sensing her delicate scent lingering all around him in the morning air as he cast the deliberate glance over her body. She was beautiful… she was the most beautiful, gentle, and caring person he had ever known. Even in his dreams, he couldn't imagine anyone who'd compare to her. He had never expected such a person to appear in his life. Heero realized that he already couldn't remember well what his life was like before he had met her; before he had started falling asleep every night and waking up every morning near her, admiring her in silence, minutes before she opened her eyes. His thoughts came back to that moment when she was lying cuddled to his side, half-asleep, with her hair still damp and lips swollen, her body radiating with hotness from the aftermath of their lovemaking.

I won't let anything wrong happen to you again.

He gave a silent sigh at the memory of her bold statement, so unfit for her innocence and their so-called division of roles. Heero propped his temple on his laced hands and continued gazing at her. He realized that this time, there was really a close call; everything could have ended tragically. Next time, he won't let them take that risk. She won't let her. Not for his own sake, but for her purpose.

Next time he might not be able to save her.

This awareness eclipsed his vision for a moment; he blinked away the chaos deep into his soul. Relena's eyelids quivered when another bird chorus came from the yard. He guessed that she would wake up soon.

At that moment, he was still stubbornly silencing the feeling he already sensed in his heart; neither he knew if this feeling was ever enough to compare to even a molecule of her affection.

But he knew one thing: he wanted her to feel loved.

As if his thoughts snapped her from a peaceful sleep, Relena furrowed her eyebrows, then slowly opened her eyes.

x

Relena POV

.

The sight of his deep, Prussian-blue orbs was the first thing she saw after she had opened her eyes. Sun rays lit in his messy hair and bangs that were falling on his eyes. With his head propped on his crossed arms, Heero was gazing at her with a peaceful, a bit thoughtful look. It was so unmatching to him as if he was daydreaming.

The very moment their eyes met, Relena smiled at him.

"Awake already?"

His eyes sharpened at her and Heero hummed in response, his voice slightly muffled by his shoulder. Hearing this sound, Relena chuckled merrily, and Heero suddenly smiled back at her, his lips turning up at the corners just above the line of his shoulder and his eyes never leaving hers. Relena felt a pleasant wave of heat spreading inside her, and she gazed back into the eyes of the man lying next to her. A man, who, from now on, in a sense, will be hers forever. The man, who took absolutely nothing from her last night, but offered her a part of his heart. The heart whose secrets she was still unveiling.

Relena lazily rolled onto her side, studying him. She felt so naturally comfortable and safe in his presence, even when she was actually wholly defenseless. His eyes were still full of soft and loving contemplation; she almost couldn't believe he could look at her this way.

But that was the fleeting moment. Soon something sober already started creeping inside his conscience, tearing Heero back to the harsh reality and eclipsing the blueness of his eyes.

"We have to leave soon. We've lost a lot of time already."

"I know," Relena sighed. "Do you think they're searching for us? The Fireflies?"

Heero looked away from her, propping his chin on his hands again and gazed ahead of him.

"For sure. That's why we need to move quickly. After their warm welcome, I don't want to bump into them again."

"Me neither," Relena sighed and scooted closer to him, wrapping her arm around his back, gently touching his bandaged wound. The bandage was dirty with dust and only slightly soaked in blood. Like usually, injuries seemed to heal on Heero impossibly fast.

"Before we go, I need to change your bandages," Relena said silently, cuddling up to his side. "You've got a little dirty overnight."

She added the last part of her sentence with a shy grin, kissing him in his back and then rested her temple on his shoulder blade, just below his bandages. Who would have thought that only a day before, he was almost paralyzed by severe pain? Who would have thought that several hours later, they would become one?

Her first time had been more painful for her than she had expected. Subconsciously she had felt that it had also been confusion for Heero; she had sensed it in his movements, his breath, and eyes. He had acted as if he had hesitated for a moment, in a purely caring sense of the word, not wanting to hurt her. She had held him close, grateful that he had slowed down and gave her a moment; she had felt safe in his arms, her body encircling him, welcoming him. And as soon as the initial discomfort had passed away, Heero made love to her passionately, wholeheartedly, caringly - his actions sounding louder than the words he hadn't say.

Tracing her fingers featherily over his skin, Relena closed her eyes, hearing the steady pounding of his heart. She listened intently to this lovely beat, feeling his skin so pleasantly warm under her cheek.

"Heero…" she finally said with a hesitant voice, opening her eyes and staring idly somewhere in front of her, over the line of his back, "about what Dorothy said to you… that night on the police station…"

"Forget her," he suddenly interrupted her. She could hear his heavy voice rumbling inside his body. "None of what she said was true."

Relena lifted her head and sent him a silent chuckle, resting her chin on his arm, her face right next to his ear.

"I actually didn't mean that… what you're thinking," she said with a playful smile and continued after Heero remained silent. "Dorothy said something about searching for immune people, just like me. Are the Fireflies looking for the vaccine? Or a cure?"

She heard Heero tap his fingers against the floor.

"A few years ago," he started, "this suspicious type approached me with a job to smuggle out several eggheads out of the zone. Some engineers, biologists... I didn't ask about the details, because in the end, I didn't take on the job."

"Why is that?" Relena asked playfully, tousling his hair on the back of his skull as she instantly felt interested. She hooked her leg over his waist, just above the line of his black jeans. "They couldn't afford you?"

"Partly yes," Heero muttered, sending her a quick glance over his shoulder. Relena smiled, realizing that he apparently didn't mind her playing with his hair. "And partly because they wanted it done fast, and I had other things on my mind at the time. Later I heard from other smugglers that this group was heading to Houston. And this guy who had been talking to me then… he was hanged a few days later on the streets of Philadelphia. For being a Firefly."

"And the group? Did they leave Philadelphia safely?"

"I don't know," Heero said silently, "and that actually might be a good sign."

Relena propped her chin on the top of his upper arm.

"This could mean… that Dorothy was bluffing when she seemed surprised hearing about the laboratories," she reasoned.

Heero intertwined their fingers and propped his chin on the top of their joint hands, still gazing somewhere in front of him.

"It's possible. It would be strange if the Fireflies were searching for the cure and didn't know about the existence of laboratories, especially if they were constructed by a Peacecraft family."

"Would the Fireflies team up with the Peacecrafts?" Relena tipped her head up and raised her both eyebrows in surprise and resent. "A militia group, armed to the teeth, shooting everyone who doesn't agree with them, would team up with somebody from my peaceful-minded kin?"

"Putting everything on ideological terms, you're committing a logical error, Relena," Heero pointed her mind. "Fireflies are now much weaker than the military, they are practically scattered around the continent. Finding a vaccine or a cure could bring them a strong political influence. They would get enormous power as they would be able to decide about people's lives. To get it, they will come into line even with the pacifist Peacecraft. Or they'll take over the laboratory from their dead body. Survive the fittest."

Relena mulled his words, and she realized that it was hard to disagree with him. It was probably not the first time in history that diplomacy had to bend under mindless violence. Especially in the times that were then.

"Heero," Relena sighed, nestling her face into his shoulder again, caressing his side with her hand. "How am I supposed to ever make my father's dream a reality? Does anyone else in this world wish to bring the Earth back to normal?" she asked, her voice almost sounding desperate.

After a moment, Heero wordlessly rolled himself on his side, facing her. With a bare torso, an unbuttoned button in his black jeans, a slim but muscular sketch of his abdominal muscles, he looked more than appealing. Relena's eyes followed up to his face as he studied her features with the same intense look as if he would about to declare war on the whole world.

"You're not alone in this," he said solemnly, clutching her delicate hand still in his strong one. "As long as I'm breathing air."

Relena smiled to him, feeling comfort flooding her heart. She bent her head and pressed a kiss to Heero's knuckles, trapping him between her both hands. Just like she expected, he didn't withstand it long; soon, he gently but confidently slipped his hand out of her grip and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him. Relena furrowed her face into his chest, letting Heero gather her and roll onto his back so that she leaned partly on top of his bare chest. She sensed as he sank his fingers in her long locks, and she became overwhelmed by the mesmerizing, manly scent of his skin.

After a peaceful moment of silence that seemed like an eternity, Relena disentangled herself from his embrace and looked down at him, cupping his face. The morning sun softened his handsome features, but the war blue of his eyes remained intense.

"I really wish I had listened to you, Heero," she said with a saddened voice. "We shouldn't have helped Dorothy."

Saying this, Relena tipped her head, gazing at his bandaged wounds. She was still sorry about what had happened after he agreed to escort Dorothy to Atlanta.

"I knew you wouldn't listen to me."

Relena lifted her eyes at him, gazing at him expectantly.

"As soon as that girl appeared, I figured you wouldn't let hurt her, even if she had wanted to harm you first," Heero continued, holding his voice for a moment. "If I were to say I hadn't had a bad feeling, or that I had agreed with you, that would be a lie. But back then, I felt that I would rather accept the worst consequences of this decision than kill somebody in front of you again."

Relena stared at him, as Heero raised his hand, brushing the fringe from her eyes and combed an unruly strand of hair behind his ear. She guessed what he meant. She remembered the infernal corridor in an abandoned mall in Baltimore. And the deathly frightened eyes of the miserable man when he begged for help second before Heero pulled the trigger.

And what she called him then.

"I don't want to see the look in your eyes that I saw back then ever again, Relena. I don't want you to think of me as a murderer," Heero whispered, tracing his finger over her features as his eyes sharpened and darkened. "But, I won't call back what I said yesterday. If your life is ever at stake, I won't hesitate. Relena… I'll do anything to protect you."

She felt her heart stir fiercely at those words. She remembered the words all too well; that he would take bullets for her. And what he was vowing now; that he won't hesitate to kill.

Relena wanted to resist him, pull him away from these nightmarish intentions, but looking into his eyes, she guessed that she won't change him in one day.

She had time for that.

"If that's a promise… then I want to promise you something, too," Relena started solemnly, catching Heero's hand in both hers and pressing them to her heart, feeling tension speeding her heartbeat. "Together, we'll successfully reach Houston and deliver the vaccine there. It will be multiplied and made available to everyone. Soon it will cure the world, eradicate this ghostly disease. I'm sure…," she hanged her voice for a moment, smiling to him reassuringly, "that this nightmare will soon come to an end, and you'll wake up in a world where you'll live in peace and harmony. You'll enjoy every breath. You'll cherish the sole fact that you're alive. And you'll never have to kill anyone… I promise you that, Heero."

Heero gazed at her in silence, his eyes flickering with sudden, unreadable emotions. Then he made a sigh and sent her a soft smile as if he wanted to oppose her.

"That's actually a lot of promises," he noticed.

Relena eyed him, feeling her cheeks burn with a blush.

"That's… everything you've got to say?" she gasped, stumbling for the first time, feeling irritated, suddenly intimidated by his small-minded reaction. "So, it's a routine that one promises you the salvation of the world? You know, so what if there are a lot of them, I'll -"

She didn't finish her sentence as Heero pulled her close to him and silenced her with a kiss. After a moment of shock, she chuckled against his lips, then let him roll them over and give a worthy continuation to what they started the night before.

She didn't regret that she let him have the upper hand this time.

x x x

Then

.

Dusk fell over the city of Atlanta when a group of twelve men stormed into the backyard of a small house in the southern suburbs of the city. They were armed to the teeth as every one was holding a rifle or a gun. They moved forward lightening the road with flashlights. Tin dog tags in the shape of night moths adorned their necks and glistened in the faint moonlight.

One of the men suddenly stopped the unit and kneeled in the deep grass just behind the fence. He brushed the grass away with one movement of his hand, revealing a brown stain on the background of light sand, and then a fragment of the trace of the footwear directed towards the yard. The trails were taking them in the direction of a small garage near the two-storied house.

The man whistled softly, then gave a series of orders with quick, mute gestures of his hand. Twelve dark, menacing, hunched silhouettes silently moved towards the building. At the man's sign, all members of the gang scattered, slowly surrounding the garage from all sides and entrances.

After a moment, the tin garage door was pushed in with a loud bang, and six men ran immediately inside, searching through every recess and all corners of the room. They combed the garage violently but quietly, without a single word.

A few seconds after, one of them got out of the garage and walked to the tall, long-haired blonde woman standing right at the entrance.

"They aren't there anymore," the man checked in with a sloppy saluting.

Dorothy Catalonia cursed under her breath, then pushed the man sharply aside and quickly entered the garage. The sound of her heels rang inside as she headed for the corner of the room. The inside was plunged in the moonlight, but she raised her flashlight.

Kneeling, she noticed the traces they were looking for: bloodstains, dirty rags, and torn clothes… traces on the dusty floor.

Dorothy took a deep breath, sucking air in her nostrils like a hound.

"It smells of blood here... and sex," she muttered under her breath, sucking in the air even more eagerly as if it was intoxicating her. "So this little slut wanted to try out what it tastes like after all…"

She stood up abruptly and walked out of the garage, then directed her steps to the corner of the garden, at the end of the property. Her commander was standing under a high tree next to the broken fence, surrounded by other Fireflies.

Dorothy stopped in front of the man, and after having saluted him, she gave her report.

"The traces are still very fresh, they couldn't have run far from here. Not with a gunshot wound that he got. He's undoubtedly strong, but he had been shot twice," she concluded. "Give me two troops, and I'll bring them to you- "

"Forget about it, Dorothy," replied the loud, male voice of the commander, his figure still standing in the shadow of a spreading tree. "We were blown away once when we had them so close. Such a defeat is not allowed to happen again."

"But...!"

"Enough. I've made a decision," the tall man interrupted her, stepping out of the shade of a tree. Moonlight illuminated his long, light hair and icy eyes. His voice was cold and low like a breeze of icy wind. "We know for sure where these two are heading, and there is no future for us in Atlanta anymore. No more waiting for the better moment. We need to finish what we started."

Dorothy bowed her head respectfully, biting her lip in anger surreptitiously.

"Prepare our men," the man ordered, "we are heading out right away."

.

TBC

Happy Valentines!

I just realized that I'm writing this story during the Coronavirus epidemic raging in Asia...

I know that you wish that Heero and Relena reach Houston safely and as fast as possible… well, there's a bunch of things that are going to happen before that, and I can't tell you now if they ever reach Houston :) If you wish for a near and quick end, I must disappoint you. And if you like long stories and would like to continue this journey with Heero and Relena… you surely won't regret it!

One last thing I would like to say is about Relena's promise to Heero - that she'll bring him the peaceful world, where he won't have to kill. I realized that this promise is traveling with them through time and space, in every universe, and it always matches them. That's why I love this couple - their bond is symbolic and beautiful, their personalities just fit each other perfectly, and it's a pure pleasure to write about the development of their relationship.