Catherine's motorcycle was parked behind her trailer with a helmet dangling from the handlebar. Trowa crept up on it. He was fairly sure that Catherine was in her trailer, but he was cautious all the same. He pushed up the kickstand and began to wheel the bike away from the trailer, the tires crunching over the gravel and dirt.

Once he made it to the road, there wasn't much he could do about the noise, but by then it would be too late for Catherine to chase after him. It wasn't that he didn't think she'd let him borrow the motorcycle; he knew she'd want to tag along, and Trowa was already risking his relationship with Relena by following her.

When the tires touched the pavement, Trowa hopped on and turned the key. The engine revved to life, and with a twist of his wrists, he threw the bike into gear and sped off down the road.

He pushed the bike to its limit. Who would have thought that he'd have to drive like a maniac just to keep up with Relena Darlian? The night wind skimmed past his skin, chilling him more than he expected.

The road crested slightly and over the hill, and he could see Relena's car speeding away. Trowa pushed the motorcycle a little faster, promising it that he'd slow down once he caught up. After a few more minutes, he could finally close enough to at least see the license plate, so he slowed down to keep an inconspicuous distance from her.

His curiosity continued to build as Relena took turn after turn, going further from the city, if the fading orange glow of Brussels was any indication. Relena took another turn, this time barely slowing down enough to keep the car on the road. The driver side tires skidded through the gravel next to the pavement, and the car fishtailed slightly as she overcorrected to get back between the lines of the road. Trowa dropped back a bit further from her as her chaotic speed began to slow.

Up ahead, Trowa could see a large structure. It looked almost like a military complex, surrounded by fences and guards. They passed a large sign that read Abbott Memorial Research Institute. Trowa slowed down further and shut off the motorcycle's headlight, cloaking himself in relative darkness. There was nothing he could do about the engine.

Relena drove up to the gate and slowed down. He saw her roll down the window and hand out the ID badge. The guard lifted the gate and waved her through. And this was where Trowa would need to get creative. There was no way he could get past that guard. Trowa slowed to a stop and cut the engine. He turned off the road and into the surrounding field, where he stashed the bike among some bushes and trees. Realizing he was not prepared for this at all, he opened the saddlebags, hoping that Catherine had some kind of weapon. To his relief, she had a five-inch pocket knife. Trowa took this and stuck it in the waistband on his jeans. On foot, he crept through the trees to the tall fence that surrounded the perimeter of the complex.

The fence surrounding the building had barbed wire coiled around the top, but Trowa didn't see that as much of a deterrent- the problem was the security cameras stationed every few feet apart. Trowa stayed low to the ground as he assessed the best way to get over the fence. The area was surrounded by trees, which would be an easy way for him to clear the barbed wire, but he'd risk being seen by the cameras. But perhaps this was one of those times when he had to just risk it.

Trowa slunk to the nearest tree that had long enough branches that he'd be able to climb on toward the fence. He leapt to the lowest branch and grabbed onto it. He pulled himself up with ease and swung his legs up. Climbing to his feet, he reached up to the next branch and pulled up, and, just for fun, did a mid-air somersault before landing on the next branch. He grinned to himself.

Back to business.

After climbing up one more branch, he thought he was high enough to clear the fence. Inching out along the branch, he kept moving until he could feel it begin to bend under his weight. The fence was close, and he thought that if he got enough height, he could fly over it and land with a tumble on the other side.

Inching closer and closer, he felt that he was at the very end of the branch where it would continue to hold his weight. He bent his knees until he began to feel unsteady. He took a deep breath and, while slowly exhaling, leapt from the tree. He tucked in his limbs as he spun his body around to give himself more speed. He saw the fence pass underneath him, so he twisted a little more and, as he reached the ground, softened his knees and allowed himself to land on his toes, pushed himself, and rolled over the ground. After clearing the somersault, he jumped back up into a standing position.

Nailed it.

There were even more security cameras on this side of the fence, but it was a little too late to worry about them now. Trowa took off toward the building, slinking through the shadows as much as possible. Near the main entrance of the building, Trowa saw Relena's car parked outside. It was empty, which meant she was already inside. There was a guard next to the door, and it looked like he would need to swipe a badge as well.

Trowa crept closer to the guard, though he knew he wasn't being quiet enough. The guard was already looking around, searching for the source of the noise. Trowa only had a moment, so he sprinted toward the guard, and as he skidded to a halt, pressed his hand down on the guard's neck, catching the pressure point that would cause the man to temporarily black out. Under his hand, he felt the guard go limp and crumple to the ground. Trowa stole the man's badge from his belt and swiped in through the door, which unlocked with a loud click. He pulled open the door and stepped inside.

Trowa's nose was assaulted by the smell he usually associated with hospitals. It was a very clean smell, almost like bleach. He began to walk down the hallway, mildly surprised at how few people there were walking around the halls. However, it was after 9 p.m. Assuming this place operated like any other business, most people would be at home. There were still cameras everywhere; Trowa assumed that someone knew he had breached the perimeter. It was only a matter of time before guards would come after him.

Instead of worrying about getting caught, Trowa observed his surroundings. All of the rooms along the hall were conference rooms and offices. At the end of the hall, there was a set of double doors that appeared to be locked down with more than just a magnetic lock that could be opened by swiping an ID badge. The curious thing was the sign hanging above the doors that read "Lab."

Trowa couldn't figure out what kind of place this was - a military base? A research facility? And what could Relena have to do with it?

Trowa heard the sound of voices coming through the door of a nearby conference room. He stopped and pressed his ear to the crack of the door. He thought he could make out Relena's voice, but it was too muffled.

Glancing around, he saw a vent in the ceiling that led to the air ducts. With a low grunt, Trowa jumped up and grasped the vent with his fingers. Using his weight, he pulled the vent from its holds. It broke free and when he landed, he held the vent in his hands. Tossing it aside, Trowa jumped up again and grasped a lip in the duct. Getting a good hold on the metal duct, he hoisted himself up and into the dusty metal duct.

He turned in the direction of the conference room and shifted carefully toward its vent. The voices became clearer as he edged closer to the conference room. He slowed his movements so that no one would hear him shifting around above their heads. Eventually, he made it to the light that was shining up through the vent, and he stopped moving. In addition to Relena's voice, he could hear several other, unfamiliar voices, and…

Wait.

A man was speaking, and his voice was very familiar. Trowa's eyes widened as he caught sight of him, clad in a white lab coat, a pair of thin, round spectacles perched on the end of his nose.

Wufei?!


Relena Darlian - disguised as Faye Oaks - sat at the head of a long mahogany conference table, her legs crossed. Normally, investors of the Abbott Memorial Research Institute were not allowed to sit in on their project meetings, but Relena had wheedled her way in, using skills she learned from years as a politician. Against her nature, she was forced to develop a persona that relished in total control of mankind.

She had to pretend to approve of certain divisions of ESUN funding this abominable research. She must appear, at all costs, to be a woman bent on supporting a revolt through the use of abhorrent technologies.

Her real motivations were much more personal.

"What is the status of the specimen?" she asked coolly, her fingers wrapping around the glass of brandy that the institute director had poured for her. Relena swung her eyes to the doctor in charge of the experiments. Despite her own role in this operation, she still had no idea how he'd managed to infiltrate the institute so deeply.

Doctor Feng Zan, aka Preventer Agent Jade- aka Wufei Chang.

"Weapon Z has surpassed all expected results of the nanomachine injections," Wufei said, glancing down at the papers in front of him. "Eyesight has surpassed perfect vision; strength has increased by two-hundred percent; former injuries have healed completely…" He trailed off, flipping through the papers his team had given him. "However, we have found one major problem."

"What is that?" asked Wilhelm Backer, the director of the institute, his fingers laced together in front of his face. Relena saw Wufei glance briefly in her direction, before reading another memo.

"It appears that Weapon Z has lost all of his memories," he said.

Relena fought to suppress a flinch, and her fingers tightened around the brandy glass.

"He has no idea who he was before?" Director Backer asked. Wufei nodded his head.

"All memories have been erased. I have the technicians working to find out why," Wufei said. "We suspect a glitch in the programming of the nanomachines."

Director Backer shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't consider it a setback. Memories can only serve as a hindrance, anyway. He is able to retain current memories and instructions?"

"Yes," Wufei answered. Relena noticed that he was becoming irritated. She silently willed him to calm down. Director Backer rose from his chair and stretched out his arms. He picked up his glass and finished off the last bit of brandy.

"This is all good news to me," he said. "We'll have another meeting in two weeks. I want to bring in a second specimen soon. Perhaps a woman this time."

Relena felt the director's eyes linger on her for a moment, before he excused himself and left the room. The other team members filed out after him, leaving Relena and Wufei behind. Relena stood and picked up her purse. Wufei stared at her, as if expecting her to speak. So she did.

"Why didn't you tell me about the memory loss before?" she asked, her voice a harsh whisper.

"I only just found out," Wufei mumbled, his hands crinkling his papers. "Right before this meeting."

"What are the chances of returning his memories?" she asked, closing the distance between them, wishing desperately that she had the power to intimidate Wufei. He merely glared back at her, matching her fury with disinterest.

"As far as I know, they hooked him up to some bastardized version of the Zero system, but that was before I joined the team. If we could find that file, we might be able to return whatever memories the Zero system saved."

Relena frowned deeply and pressed a hand to her temple. "That sounds absurd." Wufei shrugged.

"I'm only telling you what I know." Relena moved to turn away from him when Wufei reached out and grabbed her arm. "Don't forget, Agent Rain- his recovery is not part of our mission." She glared at him and wrenched her arm away from his grasp and made for the door. "We're here to stop them from creating superhuman weapons."

"You don't have to remind me," she grumbled as she left the conference room.

Relena stormed from the building, failing at keeping her emotions under control. She marched to her convertible, parked at an angle beside Director Backer's Lamborghini. Wrenching the door open, she slipped inside and shoved the keys in the ignition. The engine roared to life. Resisting the urge to throw off her wig, she backed the car up and turned toward the gate. She barely saw the guard wave to her as she sped out of the complex and onto the narrow road that led back to the main roads.

As soon as she was a safe distance from the complex, she threw the wig into the seat beside her and unclipped the ID badge from her leather coat. Wufei's words smoldered in her mind, repeating over and over until she thought she'd go crazy.

All memories have been erased.

Relena angrily hit the steering wheel with the palm of her hand and pressed her foot down further against the gas pedal. The Mercedes purred to life under her touch, until she was speeding along the countryside, back toward the orange glow of the city.


A/N: It's been a while since we have come across any 3xR stories on this site, so we thought we would give it a shot. Of course, the rule of thumb in most of those stories is to kill Heero off, so Trowa can swoop in and be Relena's knight in shining armor. Well... we are trying something a little different. Your feedback and follows are most appreciated!

- The Squad