When Trowa opened his eyes, he felt the pain in his head, pain he had never experienced before. Lifting a hand to the side of his head, he felt a large bump that was covered by a bandage wrapped around his head. He rubbed at the bump a moment, closing his eyes against the throbbing pain.
Looking around, he found himself on a gurney surrounded by Preventer agents, outside of the Abbott facility. It appeared that the place was now under Preventer control. He saw Une not too far away, issuing orders and barking at someone on the telephone.
He looked to his side and saw Wufei standing nearby. Trowa tried to lift himself up, but the pain in his head kept him firmly against the pillow. Wufei noticed his movement and stepped towards the gurney.
"You're awake," Wufei commented, his expression neutral.
"What happened?" Trowa asked. "What's going on?"
"Since Yuy escaped again, Une decided to raid the facility before we were ready. But we have enough evidence on Dr. Backer to put him away. Preventer is shutting down the entire operation," Wufei explained. Trowa raised an eyebrow, but even that small movement caused him pain. He closed his eyes.
"Where's Relena?" Trowa asked.
"No one has seen her since she left the facility," Wufei replied, his lips creasing. "No one has been able to get in contact with her."
"And what about Heero?" Trowa asked, but Wufei shook his head.
"He could still be out there, doing who knows what." Wufei glowered. "I knew it was a bad idea to let Relena talk to him." Trowa agreed with Wufei on that point.
"Barton," a brusk female voice said. He opened his eyes against the pain and saw Une standing at the foot of his gurney. "Glad to see you're awake. Wufei, if you're up to it, I'd like you to come inside and go over some of the evidence we found." Wufei nodded. Trowa wanted to join them, so he pushed himself up, ignoring the fierce pain in his skull, and slipped his feet to the ground. The EMTs nearby rushed to his side, voicing protests against his movement.
"I'm fine," he said, waving them away, though he knew that was a lie. He followed Wufei and Une into the facility.
They walked down the main corridor and turned into the conference room where Trowa had first overheard the entire situation. Stacks of folders, paperwork, and computer hard drives littered the long conference room table. Une motioned to the table and Wufei stepped up, shifting through stacks, glancing through page after page. Trowa leaned against the wall, one hand pressed against the side of his head.
"Gold," a young Preventer said, stepping into the room. "Miss Darlian has arrived."
"Send her in," Une said. The Preventer agent nodded and disappeared from the doorway.
Moments later, Relena strode into the room, glancing around until her eyes landed on Trowa in a cool, piercing gaze. Trowa knew right away it wasn't Relena he would be dealing with. He sighed and braced himself for the encounter.
"He's gone," Faye announced, planting one hand at her hip. The other hand was raised as she seemed to be examining her nail beds.
Trowa shot a look to Wufei. "We know," said Trowa. "We… saw him escape."
"No…" Faye looked at each of them pointedly. "He's dead."
"Dead?" Trowa felt his stomach drop.
"What?" Une gasped.
"You got him?" Wufei quirked a brow. "How?"
"I didn't have to do anything," Faye explained with a bored expression, as if she had somewhere more important to be. "He killed himself. A bomb."
For a second, Trowa thought he heard a quiver of emotion in her voice - Relena trying to pry her way out. But it was gone even faster than he could detect.
Trowa glanced to Wufei again, frowning. "He's blown himself up before," he said, thinking about how he and his sister had nursed Heero back from the brink of death, all those years ago, and the months he'd spent traveling with Heero around the world. The friendship they'd formed. Then the war ended, Heero took over Relena's detail, and Trowa hadn't heard from him since, assuming the two of them would just ride off into the sunset.
Apparently not everything was meant to be.
As Trowa stood there staring at this calloused version of Relena, the girl he'd met only after she'd tracked Heero down, all the way down in Antarctica, the voice of his old friend came back to haunt him.
"Perhaps I'll follow in your example."
"In that case I've got one warning… It hurts like hell."
Trowa had to work to stop the laughter that erupted at the memory. He harrumphed and looked at Wufei, who was clearly not amused, but he knew the other Gundam pilot at least understood Trowa's bizarre reaction.
"And you're sure he's dead?" Wufei asked Faye, as if he doubted it himself.
"Yep. Picked up the pieces myself," she said with a careless shrug. "You can see for yourself. I left the body in her car. Didn't want to tamper with the evidence."
Trowa watched as Une and Wufei exchanged looks, and the color seemed to drain from both their faces. And then Une was snapping back into action, barking out orders to the other Preventers and EMTs who were still milling about the room. A group of them rushed out to go recover the body.
The sick feeling in Trowa's gut returned in full force. Heero really was gone, and yet part of him couldn't fully believe it. He turned away from Faye, and thought of Relena. When she found out…
"I'm so sorry," he whispered. He glanced back up at Faye, wondering if Relena would show herself then. But Faye was already wise to his attempt to draw Relena out.
"Relena's not here right now," she said in a voice that was sickeningly sweet. "I'll give her your message at some point."
Wufei sighed and walked to join Une in another part of the room, clearly not caring to bother trying to argue with Relena's other persona. Trowa only listened to snatches of the Preventers' conversation as they discussed this latest development. He briefly wondered how Heero's death would impact the investigation. But at the moment, he was more worried about the woman Heero had left behind.
"Where is Relena?" Trowa asked Faye through clenched teeth.
"Somewhere safe," she replied casually. "Where she doesn't have to deal with all this." She gestured around them with a sweep of her hands.
Trowa felt something cold run down his spine.
"Well, then." He didn't know how to argue with this entity, or whatever it was that had managed to overtake Relena's mind. "You know you will have to let her come back, eventually," he warned, daring to take a step closer to the woman he'd had no trouble getting close to, mere days ago. "She needs to be allowed to mourn properly. Heero was the love of her life," he added, although the very thought made him ache. He knew it was true, and it was time to admit it.
It was time to let go.
"She already has," Faye quipped. "Two years ago, when he first disappeared. I've been here ever since to help her… deal." She spread her hands and gave him an easy smile.
"Yeah, well I think it's about time you made your exit," Trowa growled. "She doesn't need you anymore. She has friends to help her through this."
Faye burst out laughing. "Who? Like you, pretty boy? You think you're just going to show up and be her knight in shining armor? Is that it?" She whirled on him, her eyes glittering. "You're nothing but another fool," she cackled. "Pity, though. You were a good lay. I might even miss you, a little." She cocked her head at him, smirking.
Trowa stared at Faye in disbelief. "What the hell are you saying?"
"Aw, poor darling. You thought you had Relena all that time?" Faye threw her head back, roaring. "So many stupid men out there. I've lost track..."
Trowa pushed down the anger he felt welling up inside him. Whatever was happening to Relena, he knew this was not the woman he had started to fall for, foolish as it might have been. Still. He only hoped the real Relena might return one day, and that she might know happiness again. Trowa sensed she was going to need a lot of help to get there.
"Why don't you leave, then?" He turned back to Faye, trying to keep his tone level. Uncaring. "Leave Relena to sort out her demons. Starting with you."
Before Faye could utter another word, Trowa advanced on her. She looked at him coyly, her lips parting into a wicked grin as he approached. But Trowa darted his hand up to her neck, quickly located a pressure point, and squeezed just enough.
Faye's eyes jerked wide, then fluttered closed.
"I'm sorry, Relena." Her body went slack, and Trowa caught her in his arms.
"Barton, what the hell are you doing?!" Wufei came storming over to him, his obsidian eyes burning with fury. Une approached as well, confusion written across her face.
"It wasn't really Relena," Trowa said, defending himself and his action. "I needed to shut Faye up..."
"Faye?" Une asked, looking between Trowa and Wufei, who shared an intense look. "As in Relena's false identity?"
"Faye isn't real," Wufei barked, but Trowa shook his head.
"She's real, alright. I'm sure she'll be pissed when she wakes up later," Trowa said, looking down at the woman in his arms. Wufei shook his head, muttering to himself, but he gathered Relena up into his own arms and carried her from the room. Une shot an exasperated look at Trowa before following after Wufei. Trowa watched after them and caught a glimpse of Relena's face before she disappeared from view. In sleep she wore the calm, serene expression of the woman he had cared for. She looked every bit the fairytale princess… fitting, he thought bitterly, since it turned out his relationship with her was nothing but imaginary.
Trowa glanced around the conference room and realized he no longer had any reason to be there. He was certain Une would contact him to report on his version of events later. The past few days were already blurring into another haze of a memory in his mind. One he wouldn't mind forgetting altogether.
Another ill-fated piece of advice from his old friend haunted Trowa as he exited the room of the building that was now Heero's tomb.
"The only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions."
As a youth, Trowa had taken those words to heart. Now, he had to wonder if it was even worth the trouble.
"Sorry, old friend," he muttered as he exited the facility. "But I don't think I'll be following your advice any more."
With a final glance over his shoulder, he watched the Preventer agents move in and out of the facility like ants on an ant hill. He walked towards a large bush, where he had hidden Catherine's motorcycle. In spite of the throbbing in his head, he climbed on the motorcycle, and put his keys in the ignition, closed the choke and opened the throttle. With the rising sun's rays at his back, he drove away from the Abbott Memorial Research Institute, leaving so much behind.
-RGS
