Relena returned to the sanctuary to find it mostly empty, save for a few officers who were taking photographs of the scene, including the altar where she and Trowa had enacted their little "ritual." She shivered and rushed past the pulpit area, looking for her co-performer.
She had changed into a spare Preventers uniform that one of the local agents had given her, after covering Relena up with a shock blanket. The female agent had come across Heero "disciplining" Relena behind the pulpit, and the other woman was not having it. She screamed at him that he had better stop walloping Relena or she would take him into custody. Heero had scowled at the other agent but ultimately complied. Relena had to assure the agent that everything was fine between her and Heero, even though it wasn't; not exactly.
Relena left Heero with a few choice words before retreating to the ladies' room to change. Once she arrived there, she found that her old clothes were missing, but that was just as well. She didn't necessarily want them when she started thinking about how they were removed against her will.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Relena glanced around the sanctuary. Her gaze landed on Heero, who was sulking all by himself, leaning on one of the pews toward the front of the church. Relena would have to pass him to leave the building, anyway, so she sighed and traipsed over to him.
"Heero," she muttered crossly as she neared him. He didn't respond, so she kept walking. But before she could step through the busted doors, she felt him grab her jacket sleeve.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled.
Relena sucked in a breath but didn't turn around. "I'm sorry, too. But you understand I only did what I had to, right?"
"I know." He dropped her sleeve. Relena turned around to face him. His expression was uncharacteristically contrite, his deep blue eyes glistening. Relena sighed and reached up to touch his cheek.
"We'll have to have a longer talk about this, some other time." She sighed again and let go of him. "Right now, I need to go find Trowa."
Heero frowned, but nodded. "Tell him… I'm sorry for…"
"Nearly killing him?" Relena spat.
Heero jammed his hands in his pockets and shifted his eyes to the side. "Yeah."
Relena just nodded and turned on her heel to leave. There was plenty of unfinished business between her and Heero, still, but what else was new?
"I'll see you later, all right?" she said over her shoulder. Heero nodded at her, still looking pretty miserable.
Well, that made two of them.
Make that three.
All Relena knew was that she needed to talk to Trowa and try to make sense of this whole mess. He was the only other person who could possibly understand.
She stepped out of the church and into the dark night, the sidewalk illuminated by streetlights. She saw several agents still milling around, but Trowa was nowhere in sight.
But then she looked ahead several paces, and she saw a tall, lanky figure in a gray suit walking away from the scene.
"Trowa!" she called after him. He didn't turn around, so she cupped her hands over her mouth and called his name again. "TROWA!"
He halted his steps, and turned to look at her. She couldn't make out his expression in the near-darkness, but he didn't appear to be going anywhere, so Relena ran up to him.
He looked her over when she came to a stop before him.
"Nice threads," he quipped, gesturing at her uniform. Relena tugged on the slightly oversized jacket.
"I had to wear something," she said with a shrug.
"I found your clothes," he said. "They're with Sally."
"Oh…" Relena's cheeks burned. "Thank you."
"No problem."
They stood staring at one another for a beat, and once again Relena struggled to make out Trowa's expression. He was cool as a cucumber. Was he even affected by this crazy night at all?
Relena drew in a long, shaky breath, hugging herself. "Why did you leave?" she whispered.
Trowa let out a dry laugh. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself, so…"
Relena sighed. "Okay, I know what that looked like, but I can assure you, Heero and I are not together."
Trowa's brow creased. "Does he know that?"
"It's…complicated." She sighed again. "But what I told you before is true; we were together, for a while, then he broke up with me. But I was crushed, and desperate to keep seeing him, so I suggested we try a more...casual arrangement. And so far that's worked out for us." She shrugged and gave Trowa a half-smile. "So I guess we're just..."
"Fuck buddies?" Trowa supplied.
Relena rolled her eyes. "Must you put it so crassly?"
"Says the woman who screamed, 'Fuck me, Daddy!' in church," Trowa said wryly.
Relena pointed a shaky finger back at the vine-covered building. "That," she said hotly, "is no church. It's desecrated."
"It is now," Trowa quipped.
Relena pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look... I came over here to thank you..."
"You don't need to thank me," Trowa cut in, frowning.
"Yes, I do," Relena said, taking a step toward him. "You saved my life. And," she added, lowering her eyes as her cheeks flushed, "gave me all those earth-shattering orgasms, while you were at it."
She glanced up to see Trowa's eyes widen slightly. Then he quickly masked his features. "Well," he said, folding his arms over his chest, "you gave quite a performance yourself. You're a very convincing actress."
"That wasn't all acting," Relena said. "Some of the screaming was a tad exaggerated, yes…"
"A tad?" Trowa arched a brow.
"But what I felt," she pressed on, "was real. There's no way I could fake something like that." Her blush deepened, heat lashing her cheeks. "And I thought...maybe you felt it, too."
They fell silent for a moment. Relena stared down at her borrowed boots, wishing Trowa would say he felt the same.
"Well… I ought to thank you as well. For everything," he said quietly. Relena raised her head to meet his gaze.
"I'm just glad we got through it together," she said softly. "We made it out of there alive and... relatively intact."
"Relatively is right," Trowa murmured. Relena bit her lower lip.
"Can I have a hug, at least?"
She opened her arms and waited tentatively. Trowa nodded and pulled her into an embrace. Relena nestled her head against his broad chest, and inhaled deeply. He still smelled like the oils he'd rubbed all over her. Come to think of it, they could both use a shower...that thought filled her mind with wicked ideas, but she didn't want to push Trowa after everything they'd been through.
After a moment, they broke away from one another.
"So...friends?" Relena asked, holding a hand out to him.
Trowa huffed a laugh, and shook her hand. "Something like that."
Relena smiled faintly at him. "Want to go grab a drink somewhere?"
"Sure, why not?" Trowa shrugged. "I could go for some java." Relena laughed and shook her head.
"After the night we just had, I could do with something much stronger."
"Fair enough," Trowa said, smiling. "I'll buy."
Relena grinned and looped her arm in his, and turned back toward the church. Trowa took in a hesitant breath and paused his steps.
"If I go with you, Heero is going to murder me…"
"Don't worry." Relena gave Trowa her most reassuring smile. "I won't let him touch you."
Trowa chuckled. "Touché."
And then they walked together, arm and arm, through the dark night.
A/N: All's well that ends well? Guess you'll have to stay tuned to find out...
The final chapter of this serial posts tomorrow, so do stay tuned! Thank you to all of the readers and reviewers so far!
Love love love,
- RFP