Part 3

On Thursday Morning, she was standing by the coffee machine while Stacey chattered excitedly with her about the latest date she'd been on. Ami had selected a simple dark navy skirt, sleek with a slightly higher waist, stopping about four inches above her knee, and a sleeveless button up white blouse with dark navy pumps to match. She also wore silver earrings that had a tiny blue crystal dangling off, simple and yet elegant. She hadn't wanted to admit it at first, always preoccupied with finding clues to find her friends, but the wardrobe Setsuna had left her, both casual and professional, was much cuter than the clothes she owned in Tokyo and it had become almost fun to get dressed for work every morning.

"Well anyways, he was totally cute and he held my chair out for me and opened my door for me and like wow," Stacey gave a longing sigh. "He was such a gentleman!"

"Sounds perfect for you," Ami agreed, knowing how much Stacey loved chivalrous men. Ami poured herself a cup of coffee while Stacey agreed with her statement, diving into another explanation of her date to Laura, who had just approached for a cup of coffee as well.

"Well well, it sounds like you had a good time last night," Duo's voice cut in on the three, making Stacey instantly blush and Laura smile broadly. He and Heero had come to grab coffee, and Duo was as usual flirting with anything with legs.

"I did," Stacey said. "He was nice."

"Well, that may be true," Duo said, approaching Stacey almost sensually as he bent closer to her to speak. "But I'm sure he's no Duo Maxwell, am I right?"

"I wouldn't know," Stacey tried, but Duo's smile widened.

"Do you want to?"

Stacey and Laura, both of whom acted indignant at this point, were completely floored by Duo's actions.

"You're a perve," Stacey said with a laugh finally, acting like Duo had no effect on her at all as she dragged Laura back to the cluster of desks where Ami was positive the two would retell the tail to the other two secretaries in exact detail.

"You shouldn't do that to them Duo," Ami lightly reprimanded from where she stood taking a sip of her coffee. Heero watched her carefully, but he always did and Ami was sure this was just a sign of mistrust on his end.

"Do what?" Duo asked innocently, pouring himself and Heero a couple of mugs of coffee.

"Tease the girls like that," Ami said, shaking her head. "You just gave them ammo to daydream about you for another month Duo, that's not fair. Stacey just had a really nice date and now she's going to compare him to you and possibly mess up that new relationship."

"Ami, Ami, Ami, all of my intentions are pure when I flirt with the girls over there," Duo said flippantly, passing Heero the mug he had poured. Heero stared at Ami even more critically now as she reprimanded Duo.

"Really?" Ami asked, watching him before speaking. "So are you ever going to ask one of them out?"

Duo's smile faded as he tried to think of a plausible excuse, and for a moment Ami was sure she saw Heero smirk despite the fact that he was mad at her.

Duo didn't stay down for long, recovering quickly and grinning at Ami. "I will just have to prove you wrong then Ami. Choose a girl and I will ask her out."

"No," Ami said, shaking her head. "You're making it a game, I don't like games. These girls have feelings you know." Again, Heero was giving her that calculating look.

"Fine," Duo said. "I suppose I will just have to ask you out then. See most women don't speak to me the way you have been, and I gotta admit it Ami, I like it."

"Again, no," Ami said, grinning as Duo's face fell and touching his arm lightly to make him feel better. "I'm sorry, I just can't. It's not you, you're really very nice and I think we'll be very good friends while I'm here."

Heero was smirking again, and Duo looked stunned, apparently not used to being turned down, that much was clear. Ami felt bad, but was positive that the man would be chasing another woman in the building within the hour, so she didn't feel that bad.

"Right, good friends," Duo said lamely. "See you later friend," he added, grabbing his mug of coffee as Heero followed him into their offices. Ami shrugged, heading back to her desk and getting right to work.

Duo meanwhile entered the office where the other three pilots worked, hurrying Heero through the door, who glared at him, and then shutting and locking it. He turned to the other three in the room, Heero's smirk returning, as he spoke in a higher tone than normal, sounding worried.

"Is something on my face? Is my hair messed up? Do I look like I need sleep?"

The other three gazed at him oddly.

"What the hell are you going on about Maxwell," Wufei barked, trying to quickly gulp down his coffee and increase his tolerance for Duo. Trowa and Quatre exchanged glances, while Heero continued to smirk, speaking.

"Mizuno lectured Duo on teasing the secretaries and then turned down a date," he said solemnly.

The other three stared at Duo, who looked panicked. Quatre and Wufei burst out laughing, Wufei pointing, while Trowa smirked and shared a look with Heero.

Quatre quickly got himself under control, looking apologetic.

"I'm sorry Duo! I just, never thought I'd see the day," he said, Wufei's laughter causing him to laugh again. A smile tugged at Duo's lips, him unable to resist as he burst out laughing too.

Heero turned to stare out the window at Ami, who was diligently working at her desk as usual. She wasn't like the other girls, who liked to waste hours at a time goofing off, but was pretty focused on her work. He had been watching her that week out of his suspicions about his neighbours moving out so quickly when they had no intention to, but as of yet had observed very little about the woman. Also, that monster attack yesterday had left him suspicious as hell, but again he didn't know anything about it. Plus, she must have lied to him the first day he had met her about having low iron, since clearly she was ill with something. All he really knew about her was that she was beautiful and that bit of information he kept to himself, although he was impressed about how she had held her own against Duo. He had to wonder though why she was such a diligent worker. She really didn't seem much for distractions, odd since her job was 100% paperwork.

His eyes narrowed suddenly, watching as she discreetly pulled a small notebook from her purse and scribbled down a few things in it. Then she put the notebook away quickly and returned to searching through the papers.

Odd. That was confidential information, surely she knew that. Then again, perhaps she had just remembered something she had to do later and had written it down. That was plausible, but he didn't think so. Then again, he had no proof that she had written down anything to do with the paper she had been filing, so he decided just to keep an incredibly close watch on her instead. After all, too many things didn't add up. His neighbours moving out, her possibly writing down confidential information, her obvious lies about her sickness, and the monster attack from the day before all pointing to a problem.

"Keep an eye on Mizuno," he said to his loud friends, all of them stopping. "She's up to something."

Ami smiled a small smile of triumph. The group's name she had been interested in the week before, the Dark Alliance, had some more information today, involved with unexplained missing people and people found weirdly unconscious, almost completely "drained of energy needed to function" as the report said. That had her enemy written all over it. The report was from six months before, indicating that the enemy had been planning something for a while and also that there must be much newer and more detailed information to come if she continued to work diligently. She felt closer to finding her friends than she had the whole week, vowing to head into the city of the report, which was actually not too far away, and search for any clues she could find as soon as she found a third piece of unexplainable evidence indicating a recent attack in that city. If there was indeed an attack there or in any other city from them within the last month, Ami would check it out.

She reread the group name. "The Dark Alliance," she murmured. They would call themselves that, wouldn't they? So that meant that the attack at the park the day before had probably been from the Dark Alliance as well. She and Pluto had already searched the city she was residing in for the Dark Alliance headquarters and it wasn't here, so she figured that the attack in this city had been a first of its kind. The attacks seemed more constant in the city from the attack she had just read about, so it was very possible that their headquarters were hidden there. She looked up the city name again. Garderville. Yes, if she found one more report about a Dark Alliance attack in Garderville, she would go there.

She filed the report, about to grab a second stack of papers from her desk when an odd feeling came over her.

"No, not now," she muttered, standing abruptly and turning from her desk.

"What's wrong Ami, you look pale," Layanna, another secretary, observed.

Ami nodded. "I'm fine, just a bit nauseous," she assured, heading towards the bathroom at an even pace. This increase in power must have been much bigger than usual, because she felt like her head was going to split open.

She passed the other offices and turned into the hallway of the washrooms, almost doubling over in the empty hallway from how crippling the pain was. It had spread to her stomach, a blinding pain, and her limbs trembled as she gripped it and her head, trying to remain standing.

Heero, whom had followed his suspicious neighbour down the hall, stopped in the shadows as she turned into the deserted hallway leading to the washrooms. She stopped, rather than proceed, making Heero wonder what she was up to, before doubling over.

Seeing that she actually could not proceed any further he frowned, watching as she fell to her knees without warning. Still doubled over and body shaking, she coughed into one of her hands, which came up bloody, breathing heavily and concentrating on not getting any blood on her shirt so she could get back to work.

"Do you need an ambulance?" A cool voice asked, Ami recognizing it instantly as she looked up and met Heero's even gaze. He crouched down next to her, noticing the trail of blood from her mouth and correlating it with the previous night.

"No," she said quickly, shaking her head as she brought her other trembling hand to wipe at the blood at her mouth, keeping her hands a careful distance from her clothes and him. "I'm fine, you can go."

Heero stared at her critically. She didn't want help again? Why? From her heavy breathing and trembling form, he was sure she couldn't stand. Choosing his words carefully, he spoke.

"Like I said yesterday, coughing up blood and collapsing is not 'fine,'" he said in his normal monotone, not breaking eye contact with her as he spoke. He asked what he had been waiting to ask since the previous night. "Did you lie about having low iron?"

His voice was soft but commanded a response from her, and she had no choice but to nod and think of another excuse for a not too serious illness with these symptoms when her head didn't feel like it was going to split open.

"Why?"

Before she could try and respond Duo and Wufei came walking around the corner. Well, Duo came hurrying around the corner calling for Heero while Wufei followed him grumbling about how he should shut up.

"Ami! Are you alright?" Duo asked, Ami cursing her luck as she realized that she most definitely would be getting sent home sick if Duo didn't keep quiet. Apparently though, Duo had forgotten his previous depression at her rejection, because he was by her side in an instant glaring at Heero. "Where did this blood come from? Heero, did you hit Ami in the mouth?"

Ami almost laughed despite the pain she was in, gasping when she realized Duo was serious.

"Duo, of course not."

Duo nodded, Wufei smirking at Heero who glared daggers at Duo for the suggestion.

"Come on Ami, can you stand?" Duo asked, grabbing her arm. She nodded but Heero spoke.

"No, she can't."

Ami turned to glare at Heero. Taking in how pale Ami was and how much she still trembled, Duo nodded.

"Hang on Ami, let me get you some paper towels so you can at least clean off the blood."

He rushed into the washroom and left her with Wufei and Heero. Wufei stared at her somewhat intrigued, turning his attention to Heero when he spoke.

"Why did you lie about having low iron?"

Wufei frowned, not catching on, but was surprised when the onna grappled for a response.

"It was the.....easier explanation," she said finally, ignoring his piercing look.

Duo returned with wet and dry paper towels, Ami quickly wiping her hands of the blood and then removing traces of the blood from her mouth, crumpling up the paper towels. Duo reached out to take it from her and she shook her head.

"Ami, don't be embarrassed! There's a waste bin right there anyways," he said, grabbing it from her and tossing it in the bin. "Come on, let's get you up! What happened?"

"It's no big deal," she said quietly as Duo reached down to help her stand, Heero standing up next to Wufei. As Heero expected, Ami couldn't stand. He could see her struggling to just hold on to Duo as he grabbed her arms.

Duo pulled her to her feet and her legs gave out immediately, Duo gasping and catching her, crouching down quickly.

"Shit, Heero was right."

Ami turned away, her head swimming. "S-sorry. Leave me....I'll catch up."

"No way Ami, you need to rest. We should get you home," Duo insisted.

"No," she said, shaking her head and getting dizzy again. Duo caught Ami's shoulders as she blacked out a few seconds, her eyes trying to focus on Duo's face as he spoke.

"Ami, people here go home over slight headaches. You can't stand, we're getting you home. Did you drive?" Duo asked.

She shook her head. "....took a cab," she managed to say.

"Ami, you can't walk, how will you take a cab?" Duo reminded her. "I'll take you home. Heero knows which apartment is yours, right?"

Wufei shook his head at Duo excitement to get out of work as Ami spoke up.

"My purse....."

"Leave me out of this then," Wufei said, heading back to work. Heero began to tell Duo to go get the purse, but stopped himself when he remembered her notebook was in her purse. It was a low move, but.....it would definitely put his mind at ease.

"I'll grab it," Heero said stoically, causing Duo's mouth to drop as Heero stalked off.

Heero headed up to Ami's desk and grabbed her purse. The other secretaries seemed surprised that he had approached them but more surprised at him touching her purse.

"Excuse me Mr. Yuy, what do you want with Ami's purse?" Laura asked. Heero nodded at her, meeting her gaze and causing the woman to instantly blush.

"Ami's not feeling well. She's going home, I'm just grabbing it for her."

"Right, of course," Layanna cut in while Stacey and Nina nodded energetically in support. "She said she wasn't feeling well."

Heero nodded, grabbing the purse and stalking back down the hall. Before he reached the hallway where Duo sat with Ami, he ducked into his private office, unseen, and made sure the blinds were shut and the door was closed before he opened her purse.

Heero had never been taught not to go through a woman's purse, but it seemed like it was culturally taboo and he felt like scum doing it. Still, sometimes it was necessary....

With this thought, he rifled through her purse and easily found the small notebook. Opening it up, he saw that she had written in it a few times, as a couple of the pages were filled. She had written details about attacks, strange energy drainings, and missing people all revolving around the group "The Dark Alliance." He and the pilots had investigated them a few times under orders from the Preventers but usually came up empty handed, always being evaded. In fact, he and the others had suspected that the Dark Alliance had been behind yesterday's attack at the park. That monster with the Dark Alliance, whatever it was, had recognized her. Why did she need to know details about this group? Was she affiliated with them? Was she a spy? What the hell was she doing?

Quickly he snapped the notebook closed and moved to zip up her purse, stopping once he noticed two odd blue objects. One was what seemed to be a tiny computer, but when he opened it, it wouldn't respond to his fingerprint to unlock the screen. Also, there was an odd pen in her purse. It was beautiful to look at, gold with the symbol of Mercury on top. However after looking at it carefully, he realized it wasn't a pen at all. What the hell was it? He was taking too long, so he shoved everything back in the purse and grabbed his keys, stalking out of the room.

Turning the corner, he approached Ami and Duo. Duo was still sitting on the floor, holding Ami up by her shoulders. Ami's hands were clutching her head, perhaps trying to help with the dizziness or obvious pain but he wasn't sure.

Duo glanced up at Heero as he stopped in front of them. Heero looked monotonous as usual, but Duo saw a glint of anger in his eyes, only confirmed when Heero said something nice.

"You can stay here Maxwell. No worries, I'll get her home and come back."

Ami glanced up, releasing her head and frowning at Heero. She didn't want him to take her, and she also caught the slight anger in his eyes.

"Please...can I just call a cab?" she asked Duo, Duo taking this as a sign that she didn't want Heero to take her.

"But Ami, you can't walk. Really Heero, I'll take her." He received a death glare from Heero, and gulped slightly, Ami suddenly feeling sorry for the tensions she was causing between the two friends. Although, in all honesty she had no idea why Heero was angry or why he clearly disliked her.

Feeling sorry for Duo, she spoke up, reaching her hand up and squeezing his hand that gripped her shoulder. "It's okay. You're a good friend Duo."

"....and you're smart Ami," Duo said, also noticing that Ami had thought she had created a conflict between the two. Heero would never hold a grudge of course, he was his best friend, but Duo really didn't want to be on his bad side and for some reason Heero was suspicious of Ami. Duo didn't think Ami was deserving of suspicion but clearly Heero felt he had something to gain, perhaps information of some kind, if he took her home and Duo didn't want to interfere. Heero was hiding something and Duo would grill him later to find out what.

Standing and picking her up, he offered to walk the two to Heero's car.

"Fine," Heero said grudgingly, knowing Duo wouldn't interfere beyond there and that Duo had figured out that Heero knew something.

They took the back elevators, just down the opposite hall, Ami's head spinning. She wished the pounding in her head would go away but it just continued, making it impossible for her to think clearly. Why was Heero so suspicious of her? She had noticed that he had been cold the last week, but the last fifteen minutes suggested he thought something worse than simple mistrust. Perhaps she should just succumb to the blackness that threatened to take over and then Heero wouldn't question her. Then again, she didn't trust him enough.

She sighed, feeling like she needed a bottle of Tylenol as she leaned her head against Duo's shoulder as they walked across the parking lot. She felt secure around him, like he was an old friend. Perhaps it was his kind and beaming personality; he seemed to bring light into the room when he entered like some of her other friends.

Duo frowned down at the girl. If he didn't let Heero question her about whatever he was angry about, he would be accused of falling for a pretty face, but Heero was hardcore and he felt bad for the girl. After all, she was blacking in and out and had been coughing up blood, she was clearly seriously sick.

Heero drove a two seater, so he opened up the passenger's door and let Duo set Ami down on the seat and help her with the seat belt. He walked around the car and got in the drivers side, watching as Ami looked up at Duo.

"I'm sure you'll feel much better after a good rest today, but Ami, you should go see a doctor about that bloody cough and the blacking out, that's never good." She nodded blankly, looking up as Duo added "call me if you need anything." He passed her the purse Heero had grabbed, also slipping her his number should Heero lose it and flip out on the girl. Heero glared and revved the engine, so Duo stepped away from the car and waved slightly.

Heero drove out of the lot quickly, and Duo frowned, wondering what Heero knew that he had yet to enlighten them on. He was feeling sort of down until he spotted a pair of lovely long legs attached to a perfect figure walking towards the front doors.

"Hey gorgeous! Haven't seen you around before," he called, following her trail.

Heero drove quickly out of the lot, Ami grabbing her head with one hand and the door with the other, the speed not helping her condition. Heero either didn't notice or didn't care as he quickly headed to the apartment, which was only five minutes away by car.

Parking the car, he opened his door and slipped out, shutting the door and walking around his silver two seater to the other side of the car. He opened Ami's door, watching as she feebly undid her seatbelt but remained silent. She reached a hand to hold the door as she tried to find the strength to walk out of the car and not black out.

Heero unfortunately was not in a patient mood, reaching in and simply grabbing her.

"Hey," she protested.

"Are you saying you can walk?" He asked, and she went silent, gripping her purse in her hands and crossing her arms as Heero entered the apartment building and pushed the button on the elevator. It opened immediately, and he stepped inside and pushed floor five.

"I didn't know my neighbours had any intention of moving out, they had just moved in," he commented finally, Ami's jaw dropping. Was that really the only reason?

"Yes, I made them an offer that they couldn't resist," she finally said. Heero nodded, staring straight forwards and speaking.

"How much?"

Ami cursed her luck. She didn't know anything about property values in the area, let alone the cost of an apartment she had only been in once. Plus, she was a secretary. Her wages clearly weren't good.

"Ninety-five thousand," she said finally, noticing Heero's grip on her tighten, but he spoke calmly.

"Hn, that's odd. I was speaking with my neighbour only a day before you moved in. You see, he and his family had moved in about three months before. My neighbour had been discussing property values. You see, this is an up and coming area and he bought the apartment you are residing in for about one hundred and thirty thousand. He was predicting that within a year or two, the values would rise to about two hundred thousand, since the apartment was a decent size. Tell me something, why would my neighbour move out of his house and settle for thirty five thousand less than he paid and far less than what he expected to make on the apartment after recently moving in?"

It was the longest thing he had ever said to her and it made her blood run cold. She was totally unprepared to answer questions like this, knowing nothing about the area she was residing in.

"Well," she lied. "He had a family emergency. My agent got me the apartment the moment he decided to put it on sale. My offer was less than what he paid but convenient."

"And you moved everything in, right away."

"The next day," she said flatly, hoping he would drop it. He did, because he was walking down the hall of the fifth floor and stopping in front of her door. She gave him her keys and he opened the door, stepping in and not needing to put the lights on as sun streamed in through the windows in the apartment.

The apartment was immaculate but untouched, clearly not lived in much yet. He shut the door, setting her down on the couch as she placed her purse on the table next to it.

"One more thing, if you will?" He asked coolly, and she nodded blankly, knowing he would ask anyways.

"Why are you writing down confidential information on the Dark Alliance?"

His question caught her off guard, and she stared up at him in shock. No wonder he had been suspicious, but how had he known?

"I'm sure you know that you signed an agreement when you were hired prohibiting you from taking any information on our files outside of the office. It's confidential for a reason you know."

"I know," she began, wishing they could go back to the part where he was asking about the apartment now.

"Are you affiliated with them? Are you a spy for them?"

His question caught her off guard. "Sorry? No; of course not. I would never work for those people. Who gave you permission to go through my purse?" She demanded heatedly, ignoring the sudden rush of dizziness that took over her as she raised her voice.

Heero didn't show any regret at his actions on his face, although his face never gave away much as he shrugged and spoke coldly. "I saw you writing something from the files down. It's my job."

"It is not your job to go through people's purses, I could have been writing down something for myself!"

"But you weren't. This is grounds for being fired and possibly serving jail time if we can prove you're affiliated."

"I'm not affiliated!" She shouted now, bringing her hands to her head as she nearly blacked out. Knowing she was in the right state of mind for continued questioning, he pressed on. After all, she couldn't think of too many lies.

"That attack yesterday, at the park, was committed by the Dark Alliance. One of their monsters recognized you."

"I told you, I don't know anything about that monster," she said angrily.

"There was an odd looking pen in your purse, and it had the symbol of Mercury on top, except it wasn't a pen, what is that?"

Ami looked up, ignoring her head again as she became furious once more. Unbelievable, Ami never lost her temper but he was causing her to do so.

"It's a silly trinket from a friend, why do you care about it?"

"There was also a blue mini-computer with the same symbol on it," he continued, knowing her calm exterior had cracked.

"Again, something that is none of your business," she retorted angrily. He remained calm, only infuriating her more.

"Why were you looking into the Dark Alliance?"

"Curiosity," she responded.

"Try again," he said.

"I gave you my answer," she retorted.

Shaking his head, Heero pulled out his gun and approached her.

"Listen, the Dark Alliance is a bad group for you to be involved with."

She gasped at the gun, moving backwards on the couch but unable to do much more as she still couldn't walk.

"I don't work for them. I told you," she snapped back.

Heero shook his head again. "You may have Duo fooled, but even he would cringe at the sight of this group's name in a notebook belonging to you. Anyways, simple curiosity doesn't cause a person to write down exact dates, times, and locations of attacks."

Ami grew silent, her head about to split open from how much yelling she had just done. She was aggravating her condition.

He came closer with the gun, crouching down next to the couch she was sitting on and putting it eye level with her but keeping it about a foot from her face.

"I need an answer," he said quietly, his tone now even more intimidating.

Despite the gun being so close, she gave a soft reply. "You're not getting the one you're looking for."

Heero frowned deeply. "I'll have to get you fired then. Then I'll lead an investigation to assure you are charged and put in jail."

She glared at him. "I don't have the time for that right now."

"The- the time?" He repeated, a smirk taking over his face. "Oh really? You're currently being held at gunpoint by a Preventer, and that doesn't indicate that the situation is a little more serious?"

Ami moved away from him, finding the strength to move backwards on the couch. He stood, putting the gun away before he saw that Ami had her purse in her hand, unzipping it. Then her notebook was in her hand, and she was tearing apart the two pages with Heero's proof.

How could he have made such a rookie mistake? He cursed, lunging at her and trying to grab the papers, now in little bits on the floor.

He turned to look at the girl, now looking weak from how she had exerted herself by moving so fast. His glare was intense, far worse than what he had given Duo, but Ami refused to back down.

"It's my word against yours you know," he said stoically.

"True..."she said, feeling like she was going to black out for sure now but knowing she had to finish what she was saying. "But....indulge me in this. The girls saw you grab my purse...right?"

He nodded, not knowing what she was getting at. "They know I don't have a car. Obviously, you reiterated the fact that I was sick to them. They know you took me home. I was defenseless, couldn't stand, everyone who saw you and Duo carry me out of the building could see that. It's on the security cameras."

He nodded blankly, not liking where she was going with it. Ami didn't like where she was headed either, and she felt like a horrible individual for the threat she was about to make. She would never go through with what she was about to tell Heero, but saving her friends was more important than saving his feelings and she had to go back to work without a problem the next day.

"The apartment's security cameras, in the hall and in the elevator, have proof of you bringing me up to my apartment, entering, and shutting the door. From there on out, it's anyone's story, and you have been here a while."

A furious and uncharacteristic expression took over Heero's face. "You're not suggesting that you would......" he trailed off.

"I wouldn't unless I had to, but Heero you don't understand how badly I need this job. I would hate to have to tell anyone."

"They know I would never," he began.

"Well, many very loved and respected people have committed forcible sex offenses. I see no reason why you couldn't. I mean, it would make headlines." Ami felt sick at the words she was telling him. She was disgusted with herself that it would have to come to saying these awful things to save her friends.

Heero was furious, turning and punching the mirror next to him lest he take out his anger on her. The glass cut his hand but he ignored it.

"Well," he said suddenly, cooling off and playing her game now. The horrified look on her face when he had punched the mirror had been all he needed to know that she wasn't serious at all. She was softer than her words or actions indicated. He appreciated her tact, however low it was as he approached her. "You want to stay at your job and if I don't let you, you're going to tell everyone I forced myself upon you, correct? So let's just make things easier on both of us. I could have my way with you and then let you keep your job."

He was on the couch next to her in a flash, leaning over her as she leaned back over the arm rest, trembling at the warp hole she had just opened. He wouldn't.

"No," she said quickly, and he smirked, tracing his fingers up over her neck as he grabbed her face.

Her heart was thudding loudly in her chest and her head's pounding just reminded her how defenseless she actually was.

"Come on now," he said lowly. "You think I'm scum anyways, so why shouldn't I just go ahead and prove it to you? Then you keep your job and go on with your business with the Dark Alliance." His mouth was at her ear as he spoke, his breath sending shivers down her spine as she debated whether or not to believe him. He must have been playing games with her just as she had been. His lips trailed down from her ear, lightly touching her jaw and almost teasing her as Ami wondered what his intentions were. Her heart rate had doubled and Ami wondered how common it was for a twenty-three year old to have a heart attack.

Heero meanwhile could feel her heart pounding as he was leaned on top of her, wondering if she was just in disbelief or trying to figure out if he was playing games as well. He was, technically, however being in such close proximity to her wasn't helping him think clearly at all, almost as if his body had a mind of its own as he teased her, daring her to go through with her plan. He had to wonder, as his face rested just next to hers, inhaling the sweet perfume she had put on that morning, if part of his infatuation with Ami's "wrong doing" had come from his clear attraction to her, a fact he had blatantly been trying to ignore. His eyes travelled down her stiff body, perhaps from apprehension or disbelief. Her skirt was scrunched from his position over her, far more indecent than it had been at the office as it was scrunched to her upper thighs. He looked away immediately, trying to control himself and remember his original intent.

Ami chanced meeting his gaze as he raised his head slightly and looked at her, his breathing slightly heavier than before although she wasn't aware that hers matched. When she caught his eyes, there was unmistakable desire in them, far different from the look he normally gave her. No one had ever looked at her that way, and it scared and infatuated her at the same time.

He stared back, unaware of the look he was giving her but fully lost in her big blue orbs, which neither suggested that she was rejecting his false offer or accepting it. Ami couldn't move a muscle, stunned as to what to do, and his lips were crushing hers a moment later. Ami must not have been thinking at all as she responded a moment later to his heated kisses, opening her mouth and allowing his tongue access as she deepened the kiss.

Heero seemed to catch himself in what he was doing first, pulling away and staring down at her, his breathing haggard.

Mind whirling and now worried that he wasn't messing around even though she had fully responded like the idiot that she was, Ami was unaware how her eyes reflected her thoughts. Heero realized he had successfully scared her and in turn scared himself, unable to comprehend how he had lost control so quickly. He moved off of her quickly and to the edge of the couch, breathing deeply and allowing her to sit up slightly and breathe.

Heero was sure he had most definitely scared her, or perhaps she was afraid of her own reaction to him as she attempted to get off the couch entirely. He put his head in his hands, running them through his hair as he tried to rack his brain for something to explain his totally uncharacteristic actions in the last five minutes. It was surely her fault; he had never acted this way until he had met her.

Hearing a small thump shook him from his thoughts, and he looked up and saw that Ami lay limp on the floor. He cursed lightly. He had forgotten that she was sick and he was sure that in her apprehension the detail had slipped her mind as she had probably been desperate to get off of the couch and away from him. What illness did she have anyways? It seemed pretty serious, and here he was scaring her.

He picked her up carefully, laying her on the opposite couch as he tried to think. He could just go back to the office and ignore Duo's questions. That didn't sound too good, then again if he didn't return to the office soon Duo would call him a million times to make sure everything had gone okay.

Still, he couldn't leave without clearing up some of the things said and done today. Both he and Ami had way too much to discuss and he still was suspicious of her. Now he was ready to shoot himself. He was acting stupid and irresponsible, like Duo.

No, he shook his head. Even Duo wouldn't have committed all of the stupidities he had since this morning. What was this girl doing to him?

Said object of his thoughts began to shift on the couch, confusion as to why she was laying there automatically replaced with remembrance as she eyed Heero sitting on the opposite couch.

Heero stared back at her silently, and Ami, never knowing what he was thinking, decided to plunge right into an apology.

"I'm sorry."

He must have been confused, because his brows knitted together slightly as he tipped his head at her, although the rest of his face stayed emotionless.

"I'm sorry about what I said," she clarified. "I'm sure you figured it out, but for the record, I would never under any circumstance wrongly accuse someone of taking advantage of me. Just threatening you made me sick."

Her words, although he had known she would never do it, still cleared up some of the air in the room. Heero thought it best if he quickly corrected what had happened, an apology in no way leaving his mouth though.

"I was messing around with you. I would never really suggest exchanging sex for information or someone's job. What I suggested actually disgusts me."

Ami nodded, the two left in silence before she spoke. "I have to get back to work."

Heero stared her down. Why was she so desperate to go back? Ami held his gaze evenly.

"I won't write anything down," she promised.

"I assure you, I won't let you," he responded, before speaking. "Just answer me this. Why the hell do you care about the Dark Alliance?"

"My friends are some of the missing people on th Dark Alliance records. The monster that recognized me yesterday was one of the one's that took them." It was sort of true, although she doubted her friends were on record since they had been captured from the other dimension.

Heero debated her answer, staring at her calculatingly. He saw no lie in her face at the statement, but spoke. "You know Ami, people who go missing after having run-ins with these organizations are usually found dead."

Ami stiffened, and Heero mentally sighed. He hadn't meant it cruelly, he just wanted her to understand what she was getting involved with. "What can you do with any information you gather? Seek them out?"

She nodded her head, and he shook his own. "The Dark Alliance is one of the trickiest groups we've had to deal with since the war. They go from place to place like ghosts and even if they do strike a city two or three times, we still can't catch or trace them. They're incredibly dangerous and I don't think you should get involved any further."

She nodded again, knowing full well how dangerous they were. "Then let me have some peace of mind and figure out what happened to my friends."

He shook his head at her. "Listen, stay at work if you want." She began nodding but he cut her off. "You promise me something first though. You never follow a lead or investigate a crime report. The Preventers are there for a reason. If you think you have something, come to me or one of the others. Understood?"

She nodded again, thinking it wasn't technically a lie because if she investigated a lead and it was truly dangerous, then Sailor Mercury would technically be the one doing it.

He nodded, ignoring a second call from Duo on his cell and glancing at her again. "What are you sick with?"

"It's a combination of a few things, it's minor," she said. "By next year my doctor thinks it will go away all together."

"It doesn't seem minor. Why a year?"

She shrugged. "I uh- had surgery a year ago and I got a lot of complications from it, so hopefully by next year they should all be resolved."

"What kind of surgery?"

Ami wanted to hit him, he was so damn sharp. She knew he was her equal intellectually. What was serious enough to cause her these complications?

"I replaced a faulty valve in my heart."

He nodded, satisfied for now, as he stood.

"Then I'll leave you to rest."

She nodded and watched as he let himself out, falling back against the couch exhaustedly. This man would be the end of her. Anyways she still had to berate herself for kissing him back like that, what the hell had she been thinking? Shaking her head, she figured it probably was a good idea to get some sleep.

Heero shut Ami's door, opening his cell and calling back Duo as he entered his apartment and quickly patched up his hand. He then headed back to his car. He had taken a long time and was sure that Duo was convinced he had mistreated Ami in some way.

Duo picked up the phone almost right away, sounding panicky.

"What the hell is taking you so long?"

"Nothing, I just questioned her and stopped in my apartment for a bit," Heero responded, getting in his car and starting the engine. Duo grew silent, but he was sure his platonic answer had relaxed him.

"You're telling me everything when you get back here," Duo said.

"Right," Heero said, hanging up. Well, not everything. He would tell Duo that he had caught Ami writing down details on the Dark Alliance and that she had explained to him about her friends being captured. That was all. Everything else was a mess.

Please Review, I really need input!