If there's no one beside you

When your soul embarks

I will follow you into the dark

"I Will Follow You Into the Dark," Deathcab for Cutie

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Relena downed the wine in front of her, which Heero had thoughtfully procured for her. After he'd told her everything, she needed a drink. Or three.

"I doubt I'm explaining it well." Heero frowned before taking a long sip of his own wine. "It's... complicated."

"No shit," Relena muttered. Her cursing clearly took Heero aback, if the startled look on his face was any indication. "I thought we were going to steer clear of 'complicated,' from now on? Or whatever bullshit thing you said to me earlier today?"

"That wasn't bullshit." Heero's frown deepened as he set down his glass, then reached for Relena's. "I meant what I said."

"Well, I think you were bullshitting me, because you didn't want to tell me the horror story that is about to be my life." Relena crossed her arms defiantly. "But, then, I suppose you were right… our lives are about to get a lot less complicated. I mean, if we're going to be in cryostasis for the next several decades, or however long…" She went to lift up her glass, before she realized Heero had taken it. "Hey, what happened to my wine?"

"You finished it."

"Well?" Relena looked at Heero expectantly.

"Well, what?"

"Isn't there more?"

"No." He picked up the bottle, tipping it over to prove it was indeed empty.

"Well, I mean, there is more. Somewhere."

"Relena." Heero edged closer to her on the couch. "I know this is difficult to take in-"

"Do you?" Relena's eyes narrowed. "You're not the one who has to do this. In fact, I don't get why you're doing this…" Her brows knit together in puzzlement. "Wait… Why are you doing this?"

Heero looked at her blankly for a beat before answering. "I already told you."

"So you can protect me?" Relena threw up both her hands. "From what? The future? What, will there be aliens?!"

"I don't know." Heero did not look amused by her outburst. "But whatever there is... you shouldn't have to face it alone." His gaze softened, and Relena's heart flipped over.

"But…" She tried to speak over the loud thrumming in her ears. "But, why you?"

Heero gently brushed his fingers against her cheek. "Who else?" His tender expression changed into a smirk. "Wufei? Duo? I don't think so."

Relena was still hyperfocused on the fact that Heero was caressing her, but even then, she couldn't help but laugh. "You don't think any of the other Gundam pilots could handle it, huh? Not even Quatre?"

"Especially not Quatre." Heero shook his head firmly. "Not to denigrate his skills, but-"

"Well, you are the one who saved the world." Relena gazed at him fondly, unable to mask her admiration for him. "Do the Preventers really think they can spare you for this, though? I mean, you're going to be… out of commission. For a very long time."

Heero shrugged. "This was my decision."

Relena's face flushed. "But they must have offered you a position-"

"They did. I turned it down."

"Why?" Relena blinked at him in disbelief. "So you could… time travel with me?"

"Yeah." He made it sound as if he had barely given the notion a second thought before making up his mind.

"But…" Relena straightened in her seat, tucking her legs underneath her, still trying to comprehend what lay before them. "Doesn't it upset you at all, thinking about all the things you're going to miss while you're... asleep? Waking up in a new world you know nothing about? All the people you knew…" She clutched at her chest, thinking of her mother, brother, Pagan, Noin, and the other Gundam pilots, as all of their faces flashed in her mind. "Everyone could be… gone."
"Not everyone," Heero said, looking at her pointedly. Relena's flush darkened.

"You know what I mean, though," she sighed. "Everything will be different."

"It doesn't bother me." Heero shrugged, his face impassive as ever. Relena gawked at him.

"How can you be so indifferent about putting your entire life on hold?"

"I'm not," he said calmly. "We'll wake up unaware any time has passed at all. Similar to undergoing anesthesia. Then we'll continue our lives as we left off."

"In a whole new time period," Relena added. "And what if we're not… the same any more?" She lowered her eyes to her lap.

"Why wouldn't we be?"

"Well, maybe we won't remember everything… or anything." Relena felt panic prickling in her chest. "Do we even know what the potential side effects of cryogenic sleep might be?"

"We'll go over all that with the medical team, soon," Heero said. "Remember, you're not supposed to know about all of this yet."

"Right. It was going to be sprung on me during some board meeting…" Relena sighed. "Better to find out from you, I suppose."

Heero reached up and stroked her cheek again. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way. I didn't want to tell you just yet."

"No, you were just warming me up the idea," Relena teased, lifting her hand to rest it on his.

"I was going to tell you, eventually."

"Sure you were; only after another one of your torture - I mean, training - sessions." She waggled her brows at him.

Heero lowered his hand from her face and began twisting the ends of her ponytail. Relena blushed; she wasn't sure she could get used to him just casually playing with her hair.

"Training is important for several reasons," he began as though he were about to launch into a lecture. "For one thing, your body will recover faster from the… procedure if you're in peak physical condition. And then, like I said, you will be better equipped to handle whatever - and whoever - you might encounter when you wake."

Relena shuddered. "I don't like the sound of that."

"And you wonder why I insisted on doing this with you." Heero gave her ponytail a single tug before letting go, his eyes fixed on hers.

"Hm, I don't know Heero." Relena tipped her head and smiled at him. "I think you must like me a lot."

"Think what you want." Technically, he didn't deny it.

"Oh, believe me, I will." She grinned at him. "And I'm going to have an awful long time to think about it, apparently…"

"No, you won't." Heero shook his head. "Anesthesia, remember?"

"Right." Relena frowned as she tried to imagine it. She had never been put under for anything, so she couldn't fathom what coming out of a medically-induced sleep must feel like.

"I was in a coma for several weeks last year," Heero said, as if reading her thoughts. "I don't remember any of it. It was as if no time had passed at all."

Relena gaped at him. "Weren't you disoriented when you woke up?"

"Yeah, and I was in pain. But that's because I'd tried to blow myself up." Relena gasped and clutched her chest.

"You… what?!"

"I self-detonated my Gundam. Long story." Heero shrugged. "The point is, this will be different. We're not going to feel anything."

Relena was shaking her head back and forth. "No wonder you're so cavalier about all of this… you're willing to just toss your life aside, aren't you?" She looked at him sadly. "Don't you want to live, Heero? Or do you still think your life is meaningless away from the battlefield?"

Heero stared at her evenly. "I suppose that's a fair question. But no, I don't feel that way, any more. I managed to find meaning during the war. You may accuse me of having nothing to live for, but…" His fingers found their way into her ponytail again, tangling themselves in her long tresses. "That's just not true."

Relena's jaw dropped. "I didn't say you have nothing to live for; I said, you seem to think you don't."

Heero frowned but continued twisting her hair around his fingers. "That's not true, either. You know I don't think that way. Why else would I be doing this?" He raised a brow, as if to challenge her.

"That is what I'm trying to figure out," Relena sighed, closing her eyes. She had to admit, it felt good, Heero playing with her hair. It was every bit as relaxing as a massage.

"You already know," he replied.

"To protect me, I know…" Relena opened her eyes just enough to peer at him from under her lashes. "And yet, you also want to help me protect myself… Kind of contradictory, don't you think?"

"No." Heero glowered. "It's because I care about you. Therefore I care about your wellbeing."

"Uh-huh." Relena's eyes drifted closed. "You seem to care an awful lot, Heero. You could just ask me out, like a normal person."

He scoffed. "And do what? Take you to a movie?"

"Why not?" Relena opened her eyes to look right at him. "What's so crazy about that? Believe it or not, it's not nearly as crazy as this other thing you're planning to do." She smirked at him satisfactorily.

Heero's lips twitched. "I've done crazier things."

"Yeah? Take me to a movie, then." Relena grinned unabashedly. "Unless, of course, you're afraid."

"It's not the the safest idea," he growled. "Not to mention, it's stupid."

"Why?" Relena splayed her hands in the air. "What's wrong with wanting to act like a normal teenager every now and then? Not that I really know what that's like, any more…" Her voice trailed off into a sigh.

"Who cares? We don't qualify as 'normal teenagers,' anyway," Heero said. "Look around you. How many teenagers have their own castle?"

"How many teenagers pilot Gundams and save the entire human race?" Relena retorted.

"Five," Heero quipped. Relena rolled her eyes. "But that's my point," he added. "Why bother trying to be like everyone else?"

"Because. It's nice." Relena turned her gaze to the fireplace, watching the last of the flames doing their final dance before dwindling down to embers. "And, maybe... that's all we have."

She felt Heero's hands release her hair, sliding down her arms before stopping to grasp her hands, which were resting in her lap. She immediately swung her eyes back over to him.

"I'm sorry I can't offer you more." His eyes seemed to burn like hot, blue fire as they held hers captive. "This is the only thing I can do for you, Relena."

Her eyes immediately brimmed with tears, and she pulled back one of her hands to brush them away, but Heero beat her to it, running his thumb beneath her lash line.

"But…" She blinked at his touch. "There must be another way?"

"We've been over this," Heero said sternly. "This is by far the safest option."

"Couldn't I just find some safe place to hide?" Relena sighed. "Somewhere remote?"

"More safe and remote than Mars?" He shook his head. "No."

"What about, like, an underground bunker?"

"Believe me," Heero said, "I already suggested that. But we can't risk anyone finding you. It may sound unbelievable, but the PPP virus is very real," he added. "Your life, and countless others, are at stake; if you die, Relena, the nanotech will be activated and trigger the virus, which will then kill millions of people."

Relena shook her head in disbelief. "But how?"

"It was mass-released in the form of a vaccine," Heero explained. "Preventer is still investigating the when and how. But that's why the only way to save you, and the general public, is-"

"Is to knock me out and tuck me away for centuries," Relena finished for him. "Like Sleeping Beauty. I get it. It doesn't make it any less depressing, though…"

"Not for centuries," Heero corrected as he returned his hands to hers. "A few decades, at most. That should give scientists ample time to develop an antidote."

"But what if they don't?" Relena couldn't help but voice the question out loud. "Or what if I die during the freezing process?"

Heero frowned as he seemed to ponder these things. "Your chances of dying from an assassination or terrorist attack are far greater than during cryostasis," he said finally.

"Well." Relena grimaced. "That's good to know. But… shouldn't this be my choice?"

"It is your choice," Heero answered. "But if you opt not to go through with it… you'd have to live with knowing you're putting the entire population at risk." Relena shivered at his words. Heero noticed and moved to place his arm around her. "That's a burden you shouldn't have to bear."

"No," Relena said bitterly, "but I get the burden of choosing to effectively end my life, here and now."

"You're not going to die." Heero used his free hand to tip up Relena's chin. "I'm not going to let you." He looked solemnly into her eyes. "I've sworn my life to protect you, Relena."

"And that involves following me through space and time?" She couldn't help but chuckle at how ludicrous it all sounded.

"Yes," he said simply.

"You know, most guys just send flowers." Relena gave him a sidelong smile.

Heero's eyes gleamed as he traced a finger along her jawline. "We've already established I'm not most guys."

"Clearly." She managed to keep her voice calm, despite the fact that Heero was leaning over her, his hands on her face and shoulder.

"Ever since…" His voice trailed off as he furrowed his brow, seemingly searching for words. "I…"

"Yes?" Relena prodded him, her heart thudding wildly in her chest.

"Ever since we… connected during the war…" Heero scowled and quickly changed tack. "Relena," he said more gruffly, "I was raised to be a soldier. I don't form attachments to anyone. I never did, until…" He stopped mid-sentence and looked at her helplessly. Relena's heart swelled.

"Heero," she said gently, reaching up to ruffle his hair. "It's all right. You don't have to live like that any more. And you said yourself that we're friends now, remember?" She smiled warmly at him.

He seemed to be looking past her at some unforeseen enemy. "There's more to it than that, Relena. I… have a strong instinct to protect you." He lowered his voice. "It's all I know. In that way I'll probably always be a soldier."

Relena frowned at this. "Well, old habits die hard, I suppose. But what about our… friendship?" She cringed inwardly at the word. It didn't begin to describe how she felt about him or their budding relationship, whatever it was, but the term was benign enough to not annoy him. She hoped.

His scowl deepened and he turned his face from her. "My... other instincts make it hard to be your friend."

Relena felt a thrill run through her, although she wasn't sure, at first, if it was a good feeling or not. "What… other instincts?"

Heero's eyes glinted at her in the firelight. "Relena…" He made her name sound like a warning. She raised innocent eyes to his, although as he leaned closer, his face darkening, he looked anything but...

"Heero…" Her voice came out more thin and timid than she intended, but even as she trembled under his piercing gaze, Relena felt more nerves than fear. Even with Heero looming over her, dangerously close.

She opened her mouth to try to speak once more, but any words she might have said died in her throat as his mouth enveloped hers. Relena felt everything still to slow motion as Heero pushed her against the couch, deepening their contact. He ran his hands over her neck and collarbone before entwining them in her hair. Eventually Relena remembered how to move and snaked her arms around Heero's neck, reaching up to caress his face tenderly before tousling his hair.

Their kisses grew more fervent, more desperate as Heero lowered Relena down onto the couch, and both of their hands started exploring places they never had before. And Relena knew, then and there, they had passed a threshold, and there was no turning back.

A/N: Well... that escalated quickly!

Happy Tuesday, lovelies! Tuesdays are so random, at least when it comes to fic-posting... I tend to be on more of a Friday or Sunday schedule. But it's Taco Tuesday, so let's just throw caution to the wind, shall we? (And get some tacos, while we're at it...)

What to say about this chapter? I hope you'll have plenty ;) As you can see, this is not one of those fics in which our beloved OTP takes forever to get together... because I have already written a bunch of those, and I'm kind of tired of them. Not that I don't enjoy some teen angst now and then, but this one is going to have a little more fluff, at least for now... But then with all this Frozen Teardrop stuff looming, you just never know... mwuahaha.

As always, if you like this and want to see more, please follow, favorite and/or review!

Hugs & Heero,

- RFP