Love On The Expressway To Yr Skull Chapter 8, a gundam wing/ac fanfic

Track 8: Starpower

SOLD OUT it said in big, bold letters on one side of the Barge marquee. On the other side, it had the names of the two acts performing tonight: It read DO YOU REMEMBER? on the bottom and THE JEZEBELS on top. Outside of the club were gangs of people, young and old, male and female, waiting around for the show to start. Also in front of Barge, were two large, yellow colored tour buses, both of which would be occupied by both bands when the show was over, along with some vans that their gear would be transported in.

Do You Remember? would be taking the stage first, and the roadies were already getting the stage setup for the band. The stacks of speakers were getting lined up and the boys made sure their weapons of choice were tuned up and ready to go, all at the proper sound levels. They never had any elaborate stage presentation, except for a large tarp that hung in the background that had the name of the band in the familiar styling that graced all of their releases.

It was basically just their name with a crack going through the middle of it. Like a lot of things that were visual representations of the band, such as album covers and even shirt designs that they sold, Duo had created it and Heero simply gave his approval. He usually liked Duo's work, so he let the other guitarist in his band work on that element of the group.

The inside of Barge was filling up as well. It surprised everyone sometimes just how many people the place could fit, and that was just those waiting for Heero's band to take the stage. The Jezebels drew in a larger crowd, as they were still the more popular of the two, and Zen Arcade becoming a huge critical darling didn't really do anything to change that. Not that it bothered Heero, he didn't care at all about his band's popularity, and if you asked him, The Jezebels were by far the better band.

Well, the old version anyway. He couldn't speak on this one, yet.

Right now, you couldn't find the group of boys who went by the name Do You Remember?, at least not anywhere that wasn't backstage. That's where they hid, waiting for their time to show their faces, getting themselves mentally prepared for the first night here at Barge. It was the moment that Heero Yuy had been waiting for. Getting into that first song would be a huge release for him.

And it would be a huge release for Relena Peacecraft as well. Currently, she walked around the VIP balcony that the club had which overlooked the entire scene. It was an area that Treize built for the many acts that came by his establishment. It was put up directly opposite of the stage, so the people hanging out there got a good view of both the club and the live performances.

This night arrived faster than Relena thought. She spent the past couple weeks just learning as many songs as she could. Dorothy and Hilde reassured her that she didn't have to know everything from top to bottom, reminding her that Dig Me Out would get the bulk of the attention. Relena eventually gave in, which ended up being the better choice, because that meant she could use that time to actually work on some original material. She didn't know if recording an album this year would be feasible, considering that they already released something not that long ago, but that didn't stop her from sharing her ideas with the girls. Dorothy was already familiar with some of the things Relena had brought to the table, as they were basically reworked versions of stuff she heard from when they were both in school together.

It honestly became the most fun thing leading up to this first show. Hilde, who had little knowledge of Relena's work, was really impressed with what she wanted to create with them. If she had to be honest, there was a much more fun vibe when working with Relena in comparison to Sylvia. Hilde got tired with how much squabbling would take place between Dorothy and Heero's ex. Of course, they always got to a point of compromise and created awesome music, but it was much more of a struggle than it needed to be. With Relena, she didn't see that happening; it helped that her and Dorothy already knew each other. Hilde also saw herself getting friendly with the Peacecraft girl. She had to say, Relena was easy to like and work with. It honestly made her excited when the idea of tinkering on another album came to mind.

Dorothy watched Relena begin to pace around, wondering if the girl was getting nervous. Well, it wouldn't shock her if she was, it's not like Relena ever played for an audience like this before. Actually, she never played for any audience, really. They jammed together in the past, but only people they hung out with saw them. That wasn't much of a crowd. She hoped Relena wouldn't get too overwhelmed, now wasn't the time to get stage fright. Hopefully the only thing she would have to worry about in regards to Relena was her interactions with Heero.

Relena told her about what happened here two weeks ago just after she returned from talking with Treize. At that point, Dorothy threw in the towel. She didn't care anymore, and it was clear there was nothing that could be done. Heero would just have to keep his distance from Relena, and really, Dorothy too. She also had it with Heero and would not put up with him any longer. It would make the tour more stressful than it should be, but what could be done? Men truly were the strangest of creatures was Dorothy's thinking.

"Feeling alright, Relena?" Hilde asked, sitting on one of the nicely pillowed chairs the balcony had to offer. "You look a little nervous."

"I agree, you really need to have a seat, it's not like the boys have even hit the stage yet." Dorothy watched her friend, arms and legs both crossed in front of her.

"Yeah, I know…" she responded skittishly. The Jezebels' newest addition had a stomach crowded with butterflies. She hoped to god that this feeling would cease when their time came. The last thing she needed was a panic attack before their set. She did not want this to blow up in her face.

Relena eyed the stage, watching as the crowd continued to get rowdy, waiting for Heero's band to unveil themselves. They were already getting rough and not a single song even started yet. She knew that their shows got vicious, but she never saw it up close herself. She wondered if future crowds would calm down as Heero took the band in a much more melodic direction.

"So sit, wait until the lights go down and relax." Dorothy advised her. "I don't need my dear leader to tire herself out pacing like a drug addict before we even strap on our guitars."

Relena released an anxious sigh and took Dorothy's advice. "Fine…" Relena occupied one of the empty seats, hoping that this would still her rapidly pounding heart. She thought when she arrived in this town that she would have herself together by the night of the first show, but now she was getting way more nervous than she expected. She knew something like this would happen, because after all, she never took part in an actual live performance like this, but she didn't think she'd feel this crazy. She really needed Heero to take the stage, maybe that would help her get it together.

She couldn't believe she was internally asking Heero for assistance.

As expected, things were weird between them after their last meeting here two weeks ago. They only bumped into each other less than a handful of times since then, and each time Heero refused to look at her, keeping his head low and moving on. He never said anything to her and vice-versa. She guessed they both silently agreed to just let things between them remain as they were. Relena still felt strange about how she unloaded on him, struggling to come to a conclusion on if what she said to him was right.

On one hand, yeah, it was. After what he told her, most people would have said that she still went too easy on him.

On the other hand, it just wasn't Relena's style to attack someone like that. She went at him personally, going straight for his failed love life. She wondered if she would have gone that far if she wasn't drinking.

Why did things have to be so bad between them? Like she thought when she first met him, she went back to that saying people would bring up whenever 'celebrities', or whatever you would call someone like Heero, were involved: Never meet your heroes.

She looked over to her side, watching Hilde and Dorothy talk about whatever. She was still fighting off the nerves and the conflicting thoughts pertaining to Heero. It was not a great time to be dealing with these things. Relena closed her eyes and leaned back into the seat, taking deep breaths and letting the time pass by.

As the night progressed, the girls grabbed themselves a couple of drinks, but made sure to keep the alcohol consumption at a minimum. They didn't need a tipsy Jezebel messing something up on stage. Relena was grateful for this, as it helped calm her down a bit and she hoped that it would last.

Eventually Quatre showed up and joined them, and as she expected, Dorothy stuck close to the young music executive's side. Things were so obvious between those two, Relena wondered why Dorothy didn't just go on and make things official.

But before she could think anymore on that subject, the lights dimmed and the impatient crowd roared. They knew their time to go apeshit had only just begun. The three girls plus one Quatre got close to the edge of the balcony. The crowd were so ready to explode; moshing already taking place as they waited to see the four horsemen of Do You Remember?

And that's what Relena saw, an explosion of cheers and applause as the boys finally hit the stage. Wufei immediately took his spot and, without a second to waste, he started attacking his equipment. The drums quickly galloped along and Relena knew they were starting off with the first track from Zen Arcade: The song was called 'Something I Learned Today'. It was one of the more aggressive songs off the album, something these people were primed for.

Trowa stood in front of Wufei, back turned to the audience, waiting for Heero to give the signal. Duo and Heero approached each other, ending up face to face. The former just stood there, giving the latter a silly grin while Heero just looked at him, face as serious as always. They stood there for a bit, like they were talking without flapping their mouths, ignoring the crowds desperate pleas to go off. Heero eventually backed away from Duo, grabbing his Flying V and blowing up the speakers with ear piercing feedback. Duo turned to the audience, playfully taunting and chatting with them, adding some feedback of his own with his all black Stratocaster.

Relena watched as they worked the crowd into a frenzy without even fully getting into it. She examined as Heero prowled the stage, eyes possessing his usual intensity that only got stronger now that he was on stage.

If she hadn't been in such a rough spot with Heero, she wouldn't mind being a little more open about how insanely hot he was. Her cheeks burned at that admission, but it was true, it's just that Heero made her forget that fact about him with his awful personality. But studying him further, Relena remembered his off-the-charts level of attractiveness. The best way Relena could describe Heero's good looks to anybody was like this…

He had a wild, feral beauty to him. His blue eyes burned with hunger, like an animal on the hunt, and his unkempt head gave him a savage appearance that leaned much more towards the sexier side of things. She got the feeling that he didn't do much, or anything, to keep his hair looking that way. He was just being natural, and here he was, this magnificent beast owning his habitat. Heero was ready to pounce, and the audience was his prey. He wanted to eat them alive and, as much as she hated to admit it, he was devouring her as well.

Why did he have to be such an asshole? Relena could only just groan.

Heero decided to stop toying with the crowd and gave Trowa the nod. Barton got the message and started working on the chugging bass line that complemented Wufei's fast paced drumming.

Eventually, the signature fuzzy guitars tore right through the rhythm section and Duo and Heero got ready to get this started. The band finally got in sync and the song went into high gear. The crowd exploded as expected, bodies flying as the pit got underway, pushing and shoving commenced and the 'dance' begun with security guards doing their best to keep people from falling over and hurting each other.

Duo shook his head side to side like a maniac, his braid flying around him like a whip. Heero approached the microphone as it was time to address the crowd, bombarding them with his lyrics.

Something I learned today!

Black and white is always gray!

Looking through the windowpane!

I'm not inside… your brain, your brain!

Heero barked out his words, and much like his on-record screaming, unless you read the lyrics, you weren't actually sure what he was saying. But if you knew, then you knew. Wufei continued to pummel his drums and Trowa's bass added that extra bit of warmth to Heero and Duo's cold blooded fuzz.

Something I learned today!

Yield to the right of way!

Stopping at a four-way sign!

Someone else's rules… not mine, not mine!

Heero added some more incoherent screaming at the end of that last stanza. He and Duo brutally struck their guitar strings, playing the hell out of the chords that made this fierce punk song what it was. Duo looked over to his bass player, giving him a smirk, letting him know they were all truly alive right now. Trowa would have to agree, the four of them were born to do this.

Something I learned today!

Never look straight in the sun's rays!

Letting all the sunshine in!

Can't remember where… I've been, I've been!

The song was reaching the end and Relena's eyes couldn't be torn away from Heero. He may not have been the most sociable, or the nicest guy around, but he had this bizarre, enchanting charisma about him that she saw more as she watched him perform. It was one thing to see it on video, but it was another to see him live.

As much as she knew about what made him a single man again, she could also see why any girl could fall for him in the first place. A stoic Heero who never addressed the audience, aside from his singing and shouting, and just focused on assaulting them with brutal noise and hard glares was something that captivated Relena. He held a weird, but absorbing kind of starpower that couldn't be denied.

Again, why did he have to be such an asshole?

Duo joined Heero on vocals, barking along with him as they rode the track out, repeating the song's title over and over again a few more times.

Something I learned today!

The song reached its conclusion and crashed and burned at the finish line. The crowd cheered their approval, but Heero gave them no time to recover. He sliced through his guitar, letting others know that they wouldn't let up. They went straight into the next song, the depressingly titled, but equally searing 'Broken Home, Broken Heart', which was also the second song off Zen Arcade. Relena wondered if they were just going through the album from track one all the way to the end. Heero went for the mic again, his voice echoing all over.

I look at your house, I wonder what goes on inside

When you have to cry yourself to sleep at night

Your parents fight, you don't know who's wrong or right

Have to cry yourself to sleep at night

Just watching the crowd go berserk again, Relena started to feel a sense of dread. She had hoped that watching Heero and his band play would calm her nerves, but honestly, it only made it worse, because now she would have to somehow find a way to follow this.

For the third time tonight she thought the same thing: Why did he have to be such an asshole?

A broken home, a broken heart

When the two of them will have to part

It's a broken home, broken heart

Now you know just how it feels

To have to cry yourself to sleep at night!

Heero sat on one of the seats in the balcony area. He was tired, but felt incredible all the same; the rest of the boys also shared his blissful exhaustion. They spent it all on the stage, and a little more on helping put their gear away, getting it prepared to take off for the next stop. They would have to arrive at their next destination in a couple days.

He ran both hands over his face, wiping of the residual sweat that remained after all of that action. It felt great to get the first one under his belt. They hadn't been in front of a crowd since the Metal Circus tour, and that had been a while. He almost forgot what it felt like to tear the stage apart like that. Now all that was left was to watch Dorothy, Hilde and Relena do their thing.

He kept his eyes shut, his mind wandering to the owner of that last name he thought of. Ever since she berated him here, all he could think about was getting his shit together. He had gotten grief about Sylvia from others before, Dorothy being the most prominent voice, but for whatever reason, getting completely chewed out by Relena like that felt different. Granted, her words were a lot more scathing than anything he had heard up to that point. He wasn't exactly sure why they affected him so, he figured if anyone had talked down to him like Relena did, then he would find himself in a shouting match. Hell, if it were a guy, he might've even found himself in a fist fight. He wouldn't let disrespect like that slide.

But that wasn't what happened. Instead, he just took the shots and walked away with his tail tucked between his legs. It was embarrassing, and he couldn't remember the last time anything, or anyone, ever made him feel that uncomfortable. He wondered if that was how Relena felt when he yelled at her back at Peacemillion. Heero also didn't do himself any favors by acting in bad faith, going to Barge with no intention of actually meaning his 'apology'. He really did treat her like garbage.

She was right, he was the worst. The more he reflected on her words, he began to realize how stupid he must've looked like to everyone. Why it took him this long to realize it, he had no idea. It shouldn't matter how attached he was to Sylvia, he should've found a way to move on. He figured if she was coming back to him, he would have heard something by now. He had to start moving past this whole thing already, and that's what he had been thinking about leading up to tonight. He was going to try and keep his ex out of his thoughts as much as possible.

As difficult as it was to admit, Sylvia was now a distraction, and he had to treat her as such. It was time to get over it, something he should've worked on doing a while ago. Perhaps watching the girls play without her would help him.

Which reminded Heero that they should've been out by now. He pulled out his phone and looked at the time. Yeah, they most definitely should've started already. They probably should've been a few songs in at this point. He looked over at the guys, and they all seemed to be wondering the same thing. He got up from his seat and joined them.

"You try calling or texting her?" Trowa asked, aiming his question at Quatre.

The young blonde man shook his head. "No, they left their phones up here, not wanting anything to distract them. That's what Dorothy said, and that's why I have both her phone and Relena's."

"Yeah, Hil left hers with me." Duo mentioned, waving Hilde's.

"They're getting restless down there." Wufei looked over the balcony, noticing that Barge was now at maximum capacity. A sea of Jezebel and Do You Remember? fans were growing louder and more impatient as time went by. "What's taking these women so damn long?"

Heero approached the edge, eyes scanning the ground floor that was infested with crazed music heads. This was strange, he never recalled them going on this late. They should've hit the lights about twenty five minutes ago. His eyes narrowed, beginning to feel like something wasn't right.

"Weird." Duo took a sip of his beer he had brought up to him. "Hope everything is chill down there. Maybe there's some sort of technical issue?"

"Doubtful, I spoke to Rashid and the rest of the crew. They said everything was good to go." Quatre replied with a shake of his head. "I could be wrong, but those guys are always on top of things." Quatre trusted Rashid and the rest of the Maganacs. They acted as both roadies and equipment engineers and they never let anything go haywire. If they messed up tonight, it would be a first for the group.

Heero nodded, he knew that those guys were great at what they did. There was no way they botched anything. He started getting worried now, because if it wasn't a technical screw up, then what could it have been? His curiosity was starting to get the better of him and now he began to feel antsy.

"True, but there's always a first time for everything." the braided guitarist stated.

"Whatever it is, we've got ourselves a pissed off mob down there. Time keeps slipping away." Wufei, too, was getting annoyed like the rest of the paying customers that inhabited the space below them.

"Is Treize here?" Trowa questioned Quatre again.

Quatre smirked. "No, believe me, we would have heard something from him by now. You know he's big on punctuality."

"True." Trowa chuckled. "I say we give them a few more minutes before one of us goes down there and checks things out."

"I'm not going down there." Wufei walked over to take a seat. "They're not my responsibility."

"I expected that." Trowa smiled at the drummer.

"Well we know who won't be going." Quatre added with a sigh.

"Screw it, I'll go down there." Duo announced, chugging the rest of his bottled down. "I wanna know what's going on, anyway. What do you think, Heero?" Duo addressed their leader, but realized that he was nowhere to be found all of a sudden. "Hey, where did Heero go?"

The rest of the guys looked around. None of them noticed when Heero slipped away.

The worried look in Hilde's eyes remained as she further analyzed Relena. This had been going on for way too long, and they could hear the crowd losing it even from back here in the green room. This was not good. "We can't do this anymore, Relena."

Relena didn't say anything, she just bit her lip and plastered her back to the wall. Her eyes were downcast and she tightly kept her arms crossed. Hilde was right, but there was nothing she could do, her body was paralyzed with fear. The worst case scenario was happening, and she was just too scared to go out there and face that ravenous crowd. She felt ashamed as she leaned there, trying her hardest to fight off the panic that threatened to consume her whole. It took everything just to keep from breaking down and collapsing at her feet. Maybe she did end up biting off more than she can chew.

Dorothy stood by Hilde and looked at the clock that hung on the wall. They needed to get out of this room. They tried their best to talk Relena up, encouraging her to not worry and play. But nothing they could tell her worked, and now Dorothy was wondering if she should've started off small with Relena. This may have been too much, too soon. "Relena…" Dorothy didn't know what else she could say. The last thing she wanted was to call this show off. If she couldn't perform tonight, then this whole tour might be in jeopardy. It may just end up being Do You Remember? traveling on their own from the looks of things.

"I'm sorry, guys…" Relena uttered, not able to find the dignity to look at them. "I'm screwing this all up. I'm so so sorry…" She couldn't find the courage to get past this and on top of it all, she was letting them all down. What should've been an amazing night that was supposed to help solidify her spot in this world had now devolved into a nightmare.

"This isn't good." Dorothy wondered if she should just forget about handling this themselves and grab one of the guys for… something. She wasn't sure what any of them could do, but she guessed that if things continued to deteriorate, then maybe one of them could take Relena's spot. She hated that idea, but she was quickly running out of options.

And it didn't help that the only member of Do You Remember? that knew enough of their songs was Heero. He was the last person she wanted to reach out to. Something needed to be done, and that crowd would riot if they weren't given what they paid for. Treize would definitely NOT be happy about that. Also, Quatre's hard work putting all of this together for them would all be for nothing as well. Too much was on the line! Dorothy needed to take matters into her own hands.

"Okay, Relena I-" A knock at the door cut her off. "Ugh, if it's Rashid or Auda or whoever, just tell them to go away, I've got this under control."

Hilde reached over to crack the door open. Once she saw who was on the other side, she gave Dorothy something of a bewildered expression. "Uh…" Hilde would have chuckled if they weren't in the situation they were in.

"What, who is it?" Dorothy asked, exasperated at Hilde's look. "Or just tell whoever it is to go away. We don't have time for this."

Hilde turned back to look at their 'guest'. "Um, you heard her… what?... okay…" She moved to the side and allowed this person entry, showing them that Heero Yuy had come to pay them a visit.

"What are you doing here?" a borderline enraged Dorothy questioned. "Hilde, why did you let him in?"

"I don't know, he asked to come in!" Hilde tried to defend her actions.

"And you let him in, just like that." Dorothy couldn't believe her drummer. Hilde just shrugged, annoying Dorothy even further. Her boyfriend's idiocy was rubbing off on her.

Heero surveyed the room, his view moving from each girl, finally landing on Relena. Her body language clearly showing a heightened level of distress. Her brows were furrowed and her head was the only one that refused to acknowledge his arrival. He assumed some of that had to do with her disapproval of him being there, not that he could blame her.

He went back to Dorothy and decided to get to the bottom of this. "You guys are supposed to be on." He thought he heard something of a whimper escape Relena as he said that.

"I appreciate you showing up to state the obvious, Heero. I'm glad you're here, we needed that." Dorothy's words soaked with sarcasm.

"So what's the issue?" Heero was gonna need more than Dorothy's snide comments on this one. "They're losing it out there."

As much as Dorothy didn't want Heero's help, as she was still pissed at him for the crap he'd been pulling with Relena, there really was nowhere else to go with this. She had to say something. "Well…" Heero followed her eyes, and his view landed on the girl with her back to the wall. He had a feeling it was related to her. "Relena… she's…"

"The crowd might be a little too much for her tonight." Hilde jumped in. A grunt came out of Relena and Heero picked up on what the problem was. She was not prepared to handle this kind of spotlight, and Heero wondered why it took so long for them to realize this. Dorothy knew Relena didn't have any experience, so she should've known something like this could happen. Well, regardless, this wasn't ideal and something had to be done, that crowd was too hot to wait any longer.

"I see…" There was no time to waste, Heero knew he had to help out in some way. He quickly ran through some ideas in his head and came to the conclusion that Relena needed more time. He was gonna try and get her right. She may not have been ready for this, but she had been pushed into the deep end, and now she was going to learn how to swim. "Dorothy…"

"What?"

"You and Hilde go out there and give them 'Starpower'." Heero suggested, alluding to the fact that half way through a Jezebels set, Sylvia would take a break and Dorothy would play a cover of one of her favorite songs. That song always being the aforementioned 'Starpower'.

Dorothy sighed, showing how not into Heero's idea she was. "I have a routine, Heero. I don't play that to start the show. Besides, how's that supposed to help?"

Dorothy needed to get over that, Heero thought with an added eye roll. "Just do it. I guarantee that she'll be out there by the time the song is finished."

"Really?" a skeptical, forked eyebrow raised. "You guarantee this?"

He said he did, but honestly, Heero wasn't sure if he could make it happen. Either way, he needed some private time with Relena. He was going to try and kill two birds with one stone. He nodded at her, hoping to clear the room. "Just give me some time with her, I'll make it work."

"Dorothy, no, don't leave me here with this guy!" Relena finally spoke and Heero flinched at her words. Again, he couldn't blame her.

The platinum blonde looked over at Relena, her face begging to not be abandoned with Heero. She could sympathize with her friend, but there wasn't much of a choice left. Truth be told, Heero's idea wasn't bad. It gave the crowd something to work with while Heero did whatever to help Relena. What he planned to do, she had no idea, but if Heero wanted to get back into her good graces, then pulling this off would be a fantastic start.

There was a banging on the door. "Hey, what's going on? You guys coming out or what? It's starting to look like an early Do You Remember? show out there. The security is getting their asses kicked!" It was Abdul, one of the roadies, his voice slightly muffled.

"Damn." Dorothy cursed. "Fine, do what you need to do." She looked over at Hilde, motioning her to follow. "Let's go."

"Dorothy!" Relena pleaded once more, watching as the two of her bandmates began to take their leave.

They both looked back at the girl, feeling sorry for her, but they had to do this. This tour and their reputations were at stake. "Sorry, Lena…" Hilde felt bad leaving her behind.

"Just work on yourself, dear. We'll be waiting for you. And Heero... for the love of god, do NOT screw this up again!" and with Dorothy's final comments, they left the two alone in the green room.

Relena banged a fist on the wall behind her, frustration taking hold. She turned her eyes over to the only other person left with her and gave him a nasty look, needing him to know that she didn't appreciate him doing this to her. Heero didn't bother matching angry glares. He just released a sigh and moved over to lean on the wall beside her. He shoved his hands in his pockets and listened as the crowd erupted, signaling the beginning of their set.

They both heard Dorothy start the song, strumming at those chords before Hilde accompanied her with her simple drum work. Heero looked at Relena, her head downward once more. She looked so much more vulnerable now than he had ever seen her before. If he concentrated on her hard enough, he could start to see her body give off these slight shivers. It was clear how overwhelmed she was with both her discomfort being around him and the whole thing involving this performance. He could tell she was beating herself up for letting them down. Relena was really looking forward to this, and it was backfiring once she realized this may have been more than she bargained for.

This wasn't the same girl that tore into him a couple of weeks ago.

"This song isn't very long." Heero began, knowing he had to get started. "You need to get out there."

"Shut up…" Relena replied, not wanting to hear that from him.

Heero listened as Dorothy's voice came through the speakers, the blonde doing her best imitation of the original female singers voice.

Spinning dreams with angel wings

Torn blue jeans, a foolish grin

Burning down in the night

So cool, so right

Starpower, starpower, starpower

Over me

"Hey," Heero banged his head back into the wall. "Look, I'm… sorry for how I've been acting towards you." He was going to try this apology thing again, he owed it to her.

"I've heard that before." Relena spat at him, not wanting to fall for that one again.

"I know, but I mean it this time." Heero's eyes stared directly into the ceiling, finding the words to convince her he meant what he said.

"Sure, Heero." If that was supposed to make her believe him, then he was sadly mistaken.

Heero knew she wasn't going to take him seriously right away, it wasn't like she was obligated to. It was his job to get himself out of this hole, not hers. "I understand you not wanting to believe me, but I've been thinking about what you said."

Relena slowly craned her head to glance over at him. She eyed him warily, still not trusting him, but there was something in his tone that sounded a little more considered than prior talks with him. She was still on her guard, however, so she wasn't gonna get the rugged pulled from underneath her again.

"What you told me…" Heero resumed. "I won't lie to you, it hurt. I've never been talked to like that before, but it's what I needed to hear. I needed my ass kicked in like that."

There was an openness to how he was talking to her, and she would admit that he sounded a hell of a lot more genuine now than the last time he tried this.

"You were right, just like everyone else, and I refused to listen. I wasn't over Sylvia, and I stupidly took it out on you when all you ever wanted to do was play music." Relena watched his face contort into a look that expressed a deep frustration within himself. Okay, it was obvious that he wasn't kidding around this time. "If you won't forgive me, I'll understand, but I thought you should know this. Again, I'm sorry, and I hope we can get past this, maybe not now but hopefully soon, if you want to that is." His words carried a tune of regret and atonement, and it played well to Relena's ears.

She knows how to make love to me

She knows how to make love

Close my eyes and think of you

Everything turns black to blue

Starpower, starpower, starpower

Over me

From there, they heard Dorothy and Hilde go into the middle of their cover, an instrumental part that would carry over to the closing verse. They were halfway there.

Relena sighed, knowing there was some apologizing she had to do herself. "Well, since we're on the topic, allow me to apologize as well. I shouldn't have said all of those nasty things to you. I don't typically do crap like that, so I hope you can forgive me, too."

"You have nothing to apologize for." Heero refuted, his voice low and rumbling. "I only came to this realization because of what you said." He lowered his head to match stares with her. "Because of you, I've decided it's time to move forward, I'll get over my ex on my own, and believe me I will, and I'll do my best to make up for how I've acted towards you, Relena."

There was something about how that baritone of his uttered her name that sent a chill down her spine. There was probably an added effect because of how close she was to that feral beauty of his that she thought about earlier during his performance. She swallowed down a lump and calmed herself down. The last thing she needed was extra anxiety, even if it was induced by a hot guy.

"You don't need to do all that, Heero." Relena shook her head. "Just doing this was enough. I hope we can start over and, who knows, maybe we'll become good friends." She gave him a smile, one that he could finally appreciate and he felt his head get a little fuzzy when he looked at it. He had admitted to himself that she was attractive before, but now seeing it up close and with no hate for her, he could call her beauty almost angelic… heavenly, even.

Heaven…

He shook those thoughts off, now wasn't the time.

"Yeah, I'd… like that." he nodded in approval at that suggestion. He moved from his spot on the wall and wandered as he heard Dorothy begin to sing the final verse.

Burning down in the night

Super cool it's alright

She knows how to make love to me

She knows how to make love

Close my mind when I think of you

Everything turns black to blue

Starpower, starpower, starpower

Over me

They both listened intently, knowing that the song was winding down. There wasn't much time left.

"Heero," Relena began again, moving off the wall to approach him, still giving off a troubled vibe. "I appreciate everything you just said, but… I'm still in a tough spot. I don't know if I can go out there. I may have gotten myself into something that maybe I wasn't quite ready for."

"Hn." She may have been right, but that didn't mean something couldn't be done, at least for tonight, and maybe she would be better in subsequent shows. Everyone had to start somewhere. "I have an idea."

"Really?"

Heero gave her a nod. It was something that he had done for Syl… no, he was not going to think of her anymore. He told himself he wouldn't. She was nothing but a distraction now. Helping Relena… that took priority. "I can't guarantee for sure that this will work, but…"

"Didn't you tell Dorothy that you guaranteed I'll be out there?" Relena teased him. Heero rolled his eyes, now wasn't the time for wisecracks. Relena had to fight back a snicker. Well, at least she was a lot more looser now, Heero noted, and her anxiety had decreased to some extent, at least enough for her to joke around.

"Anyway, I have an idea." Heero continued. "I'll go back to the balcony and I want you to find me."

Relena wasn't sure where he was going with this plan of his. "Okay… and?"

"That's all." Heero flatly stated.

Confusion wiped over Relena's face and she shook her head. "That's all? How's that supposed to help?"

"Just find me up there, and focus only on me." Heero explained his plan. "You don't look at anyone in the audience, okay? You perform for me and only me." That last part came off a little more possessive than he wanted, but it was too late, he already said it.

Relena had to hold down the blush that threatened to burn her face. She wasn't sure if Heero knew what he said, but she got the idea. It was something to go with, and even though she wasn't sure if it would work, she would have to believe in him. "Okay, then."

Heero went for the door, preparing to leave the room, needing to quickly make his way to the balcony for her to see him. He opened it and gave Relena one last look. "So, are you ready?"

Relena shrugged with an added, nervous chuckle. "I guess as ready as I'll ever be."

"Then you'll execute our plan?" Heero asked, giving her one last question before taking his station, and maybe drinking in her attractive image once more.

Relena looked into that determined face of his. She could tell he really wanted her to succeed. He not only correctly apologized for what he had done to her, but now he was going out of his way to help her when she needed it the most. It felt great to be on the same side for once. Hopefully this would be the start of a great relationship.

"Yes I will, Heero." Relena confirmed. "Mission accepted."

AN: See, they're getting somewhere! Love you all! See you in 2020!

Hüsker Dü - "Something I Learned Today"

Hüsker Dü - "Broken Home, Broken Heart"

Sonic Youth - "Starpower"