Trowa Barton was looking at the impossible. But as horrifying as it was, it had to be real.

He had already seen several photos, and now he was watching a video of a man with Trowa's exact face, eyes, hair and build, reciting what sounded like an impassioned, apocalyptic sermon. This man was more than a doppelganger; he could have been Trowa's identical twin.

Or, more likely, clone.

Trowa blinked at the screen. This was…beyond disturbing.

"See what I was talkin' about?" Duo Maxwell tapped the screen from where he stood next to Trowa, leaning over the same monitor. "Freaky as fuck, am I right? Goes by the name 'Aiden Wardwell.'" Duo shook his head, sending his long braid swinging. "I can't get over the resemblance, man. First time I saw this video, I thought it was you doing some new, weird performance art."

Trowa arched a brow at that, but said nothing.

"So." Sally Po folded her arms over her chest and leaned back against the desk, looking pointedly at Trowa. "You can see why you're a…natural fit for this mission."

Trowa shook his head to the side, stunned. "Yeah… I can see that."

The question remained, though– where did this replica come from? Or was Trowa the replica?

He shook his head again, dispeling all the questions. There were still some holes in his memory that might never be filled; clearly, this was one of them. Unless he'd somehow been cloned without his knowledge, but one would think they'd remember at least something of an incident like that.

It was times like these that Trowa cursed his amnesia, more than ever. Most of the time it was just an annoying inconvenience, but today's revelation was nothing short of devastating. How could something like this have happened? And why?

Right now, though, he didn't have time to muse over whatever had occurred in the past. He needed to focus on the mission at hand.

"Commander Gold will be here shortly to go over the particulars," Sally was saying. Trowa nodded, frowning.

"What about Heero?" He could only assume his longtime friend and fellow Preventer would be involved. Sally surprised him by sighing.

"On another mission, unfortunately," the tall blonde said. "We tried to get a message to him but have yet to get a response. His whereabouts are as yet unknown…"

"Ah, you know Heero, though." Duo stretched his arms behind his head. "He's not one to sit around at a time like this. Once he's heard these creeps are holding Relena hostage, he'll blow them straight to kingdom-fucking-come."

"Not until we've found where they're hiding their weapon, though," Sally said, her expression grim. "Or, weapons." She jerked her chin at Trowa. "That's where you come in."

"Right." He ran a hand through his long bangs. "At least infiltration won't be a problem."

That part of his assignment would be a cakewalk. All he had to do was break in to wherever his double was hiding, dispatch him and take his place.

"What are the odds a bunch of religious fanatics are harboring a nuke, though?" Trowa wondered.

Sally shrugged a shoulder. "Doesn't matter. Whether they actually have one or not, we have to take all tips seriously. And anyway, the fact that they kidnapped Relena shows that they're definitely up to something." Her eyes narrowed in determination. "Regardless, we have to get to the bottom of it, and get her the hell out of there."

"Of course," Trowa said. Rescuing Relena wasn't a question. Years after the wars that had united all of the disparate soldiers under a single cause, Relena Peacecraft was still the glue holding them all together.

"Don't you worry about all that right now, though," Duo cut in with a sly smile. "You leave the rescuing part up to me and Miss Sally here. And probably a third, very enthusiastic, very deadly agent, if he ever decides to get his ass over here…"

"He will." Sally turned to Duo. "Like you said, he's probably not sitting around. He may even be taking action of his own accord…" Her words trailed off into a sigh. "Which I really wish he wouldn't do without checking in, but…"

"Ah, well. Can we blame the guy if the power of love compels him?" Duo chuckled.

Trowa frowned at his fellow agent, not exactly seeing the humor in the situation. If Heero were to interfere without informing any of them, he could compromise the entire mission. Trowa wasn't about to let that happen. He needed to focus on his role.

Time to find out everything he could about one Aiden Wardwell...

Relena blinked her eyes open slowly, and soft, pale light gradually filled her vision. She struggled to lift her head; it felt leaden and swollen. Her back hurt, and she realized she was lying down on something hard, a stiff cushion on a plane of wood that offered no real support or comfort.

Wherever she was…it could have been worse, she reasoned, but she was definitely sore and uncomfortable. She did a quick mental scan of her body, assessing any injuries. A trick she had learned not only from Heero Yuy, but also from years of yoga and meditation practice. Nothing felt especially hurt or broken, but her head was hazy.

Most likely, she had been drugged. Despite her efforts to stay calm, panic seeped into her chest.

It wasn't the first time she'd gotten herself drugged and captured. And given her line of work, it probably wouldn't be the last. She knew every time that she was lucky to survive; hopefully, this time would be no different.

Something told her that it was, though. Along with the panic, a sense of helplessness crept in as Relena forced her eyes to stay open, and slowly began to take in her surroundings.

The room she was in was dimly lit. Actually, there were no lights on at all; all of the light was coming through large, narrow windows, some of which were covered with wooden shutters. The room was large and filled with rows and rows of wooden benches, separated by a single aisle. No, not benches, but…pews.

Relena's heart thudded.

She was in...a church. But why?

"Oh, good. You're awake."

Relena turned her head at the low male baritone, which sounded oddly familiar, although she couldn't place it at the moment. What she saw made her gasp.

The voice was familiar because it belonged to someone she knew.

"Trowa?" she whispered, sitting straight up in her pew. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

Her heart pounded faster as he walked over to her. He was dressed in a charcoal-colored suit, not all that well-made, with a white dress shirt and black tie. She wondered why he was somewhat dressed up and not wearing his Preventers uniform, when clearly he had come to rescue her from whoever had taken her.

The events from earlier that day began to weave themselves back together in Relena's mind. Somehow, she and her bodyguard had been jumped in the ESUN parking garage. She hoped that Sphen, her bodyguard for that day, was all right, wherever he was. Right now, it appeared that she and Trowa were the only ones in the room. Or rather, sanctuary, Relena corrected herself.

He came to a stop before her, his one visible eye watching her closely, but didn't answer her questions. Relena frowned up at him. She didn't know Trowa all that well, but she knew he was characteristically quiet. Still, this was a little ridiculous.

"Trowa," she repeated more vehemently, "tell me what's going on."

He smiled, but his expression was far from friendly. "What is that strange name you keep calling me by?"

Relena gaped at him. Okay, so he was clearly doing some undercover thing. She wanted to call him out on it, but had to assume they were being watched. This wasn't her first rodeo.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, feigning ignorance. "You just…remind me of someone I used to know."

His green eye gleamed. "How funny." Trowa dropped to one knee in front of Relena, tipping his head to the side as he looked at her. "How are you feeling, by the way?"

Relena rubbed the back of her neck. "Fine, I guess. A little lightheaded and sore."

"Would you like something to drink? Some water, perhaps?"

Relena gazed at him closely for a moment, trying to read something behind his…eye. Some signal, maybe. But she didn't know how to communicate with Trowa like that. If it were Heero, she would be able to see right through his acting. But Trowa was a performer for a living, when he wasn't working with the Preventers; needless to say, reading between the lines with him was going to be tricky.

For now, whatever role he was playing didn't appear to be dangerous, so Relena decided to put her trust in him. Without knowing what she was in for, she saw no other choice.

"Sure, water would be great," she said.

"Then come with me." Trowa stood and extended his hand. Relena took it and let him help her up, although her head was still swimming.

He wrapped his larger hand around her smaller one, his skin surprisingly smooth. She had never held hands with Trowa before, but she had definitely done it with Heero. And, in different circumstances, Duo and Quatre. Never Wufei; he always found a way to avoid making any unnecessary contact, even on a rescue mission. But one thing the other pilots all had in common were the rough calluses that covered their palms and fingers. Even Quatre, who had been taking on more administrative work in recent years.

There was no way that Trowa Barton had baby-soft skin like this.

Relena could feel every hair on the back of her neck standing on end.

She tried to push the panic down, but warning sounds were blaring in the back of her mind.

This wasn't Trowa. It couldn't be.

But…no, that was impossible. Or was it?

She knew cloning was possible, it just wasn't all that common these days. Nor was it legal, and that was something ESUN was currently grappling with. The idea that someone had cloned a former Gundam Pilot…that thought was truly terrifying.

For now, though, Relena needed to swallow her fears. And hope that the real Trowa had gotten wind of this, along with the rest of the Preventers, and that they were already making a plan of action.

The doppelganger was leading her up the aisle, to the back of the sanctuary, where there was a set of doors, and a hallway that veered off to the right. She followed him down that hallway, her heartbeat thumping loudly in her ears. The hallway was dark…no way did she intend to follow this stranger into a dark room.

The alarm bells in Relena's mind clanged louder. This wasn't good. She had to get out of here, somehow. And if no one else was around to help her, she was going to have to save herself.

Of course, her gun had already been confiscated; she hadn't had a chance to check on her person, but she could feel the absence of its familiar weight. That alone indicated that this had to be a hostage situation. If this were the real Trowa and he was taking her to safety, wouldn't he have given her back her gun? She knew Heero and the others would have.

There was no way this was Trowa, she reminded herself as the hallway opened up to a darkened stairwell, that Relena was determined not to go down. Hell, even if Trowa had started getting spa treatments...which, maybe? He was gay, wasn't he? She was pretty sure he was gay...anyway, it didn't matter. She was going to operate under the assumption that this was a clone. If it were the real Trowa, he wouldn't try to stop her from escaping then, would he? Either way, she had to do something.

Summoning all the strength she had, Relena kicked hard at the false Trowa's shin. She'd clearly caught him off guard, and he stumbled forward, right toward the stairs.

Success.

Relena didn't wait around to see if he fell, but she could hear his surprised grunt and the sound of him stumbling. She bolted without so much as a backward glance.

But in her blasted heels, she didn't get far. She heard footsteps pounding behind her. She was just reaching the sanctuary doors, which hopefully opened up to freedom, when she was grabbed by her long hair and jerked backward.

"Not so fast," she heard Trowa's voice, accompanied by a snicker.

She reached up her hands to grasp his, trying to wrench them away from her hair, but they gripped her tightly in place. She dug her fingernails into the backs of his hands and scraped with all her might.

"Bitch." He hissed in her ear and loosened his grip, just enough.

It was the opening Relena needed. She spun around to face him, driving her knee high up into his groin. Trowa's eye bulged and he doubled over, clutching his abdomen and letting out a strangled cry.

But once again, she didn't wait around to see if he was going to stay down. She ran for the double doors and pushed against them.

They didn't budge.

Relena pushed her full weight against them, straining herself and grunting, but the doors were obviously locked.

Great.

"You little cunt," she heard Trowa seethe from the ground. "You'll pay for that."

She turned to face him. He was struggling to rise to his feet. She smiled and pulled off her shoes, one heel at a time.

"Careful," she purred. "I'm armed."

He let out a raspy laugh. "So am I, sunshine." He reached into his waistband and pulled out a handgun, aiming it right at her. "So stop being such a bitch and come with me."

"How about…no." Relena pulled back her arm and lobbed a shoe at him, aiming for his head. He managed to dodge and laughed at her.

"Think that's a good match for a gun, little girl?"

Relena steeled herself as his finger closed around the trigger, and squeezed. Okay, so this definitely wasn't how she wanted things to end, but she'd be damned if she'd go down without fighting.

The bullet whizzed past her, and ricocheted off a nearby wall, landing somewhere in the distance with a "ping."

Relena gaped at him. "Seriously? Were you even trying?"

Trowa scowled at her, and staggered to his feet. "Shut up," he groused, storming over to her. He kept the gun aimed at her head while his free hand wrenched one of her arms behind her back. He pressed the barrel of the gun to her skull and began dragging her back down the hallway.

Well. This definitely had to be a doppelganger, who was fairly useless as a terrorist, or whatever he was trying to be. That or Trowa was doing some pretty convincing bad acting.

Relena sighed as the man pushed her forward, the cold metal barrel pressing into her forehead.

A/N: This story was partially inspired by the Taylor Swift song of the same name (and yes, I have a "False God" playlist on Spotify, so head over and find it under my username Erin Dale Darling!), the Omnicat story "Blue Trees," and more recently "Conflicted" by Wings_Landing; after reading both, I couldn't resist trying my hand at a similar scenario, albeit with different characters and under far different circumstances. Still, the overarching theme is sex under duress! I couldn't help but think, wouldn't it be fun if Trowa were the one who found himself having to have sex with Relena? Then I thought, what's Heero going to think of all this? I guess you'll have to read to find out!

If you enjoy this, please leave kudos and reviews! This story has an unholy 13 chapters and I will be posting them over the course of the month, so keep an eye out for updates. Thank you for reading!

Love love love,

- RFP