Chapter 12: Discovered

When they arrived at the compound Wufei and Meika carried Heero to his room, with Relena close on their heels. They laid him on the bed and Wufei left, leaving the two girls with an unconscious Heero. Meika got to the first aid box and was going to start bandaging his wounds when Relena stopped her.

"Let me do it!" She growled at Meika, grabbing the box from her hands. "If it weren't for you he wouldn't even be in this condition!"

Meika watched sadly as Relena took care of Heero, when she was confident that Heero was being taken care of properly, she left the room.

Elsewhere, Ayame was tending to Duo. He was jumping around as Ayame tried to put the disinfectant on his wounds.

"You have to be still!" She said and pushed him back onto the couch.

"Noooo… It tickles!" He laughed.

"Well if you want to get better you have to let me do this!" Ayame stated as she pushed him back onto the couch and straddled him to get him to sit still. Realizing the awkwardness of the position they were in, they blushed.

"Sorry." She moved to get up when his hands wrapped around her waist and slid up her back pulling her closer to him.

"Don't be." Duo whispered in her ear before putting one hand on the back of her neck and pulling her in for a passion-filled kiss.

Meika walked back to Heero's room a few hours later to check on him. Peeking in the door she saw him sitting there with Relena, his back was to her, but she thought she could tell that he was eating something. This was a good sign. It meant that he was going to heal just fine.

"Thank you for saving me Heero." Relena gushed.

Heero sighed and looked down. "I didn't really save you. It was those three girls, they saved you and us."

"Who are they anyways? I haven't seen them around before." Relena said in a bitter tone.

"Katsumi, the one with the auburn hair, saved Quatre a few days ago. And Ayame, the shorter one, is the new full time engineer." Heero stated simply.

Meika who was listening from the door noticed he didn't mention her. Apparently Relena noticed this detail too.

"And the blonde you saved? Who is she?" Relena questioned further. It was obvious that she wasn't interested in the other two.

Heero thought for a moment. "I'm not sure that's any of your concern Relena." Relena looked taken aback. She was silent for a few moments then looked into Heero's eyes.

"You must know how I feel about you Heero! I always thought – thought after the war we could be together." Relena proclaimed. Meika watched the curiously from the door and gasped when the man she was falling in love with was kissed by this girl she had just met. Heero pushed Relena off him and looked to the door to see the source of the noise. He saw Meika standing there. He cursed.

"I'm…sorry." Meika stammered and ran from the scene. Heero turned back to Relena.

"Get out!" He yelled at her angrily.

"Heero? For her? You're leaving me for her?"

"Leaving you? We were never together! Now get out!" Heero was screaming at his point and Katsumi had come from her room down the hall to see if everything was okay. When she entered Heero's room she was greeted by Relena rushing out past her.

"Heero? I heard yelling. Is everything okay?" Katsumi questioned worriedly.

"Yeah, did Meika go past you?" he quickly inquired.

Katsumi nodded. "She looked upset, but said she was going for a walk." Heero put his head in his hands and leaned back on his bed thinking. Sensing that he wanted to be left alone, Katsumi left him to his thoughts.

Meika was wandering outside. It was a crisp night and there was a thin layer of snow on the ground, a good environment for clearing her head. She was upset, but she knew it wasn't her place to be. It's not like she and Heero were together. She want though a small gate and into the brush beyond.

She wandered around for about an hour before she decided she better head back. Then she heard voices. She didn't recognize any of the voices, so she crouched low to the ground and crept forward. Peering through the bushes, she saw at least a dozen people huddled around a campfire. She couldn't see them clearly, but the OZ emblem on the military truck was enough to tell her who they were.

Apparently they were following the trail left by the jeep earlier. Meika could still see it in the snow. She gritted her teeth. She had to get back and warn the others, she was sure that their truck could move faster than her. Meika backed up, but she stepped on a twig on the ground. The noise seemed to resonate throughout the forest. The talking solders quieted.

As the solders got up to check it out, Meika backpedaled as quickly as she could, climbing a tree at the first oppturnity. Three of the soldiers passed under the tree. She prayed they wouldn't hear her breathing or have the intuition to look up.

"We better head out as soon as day breaks. I'm sure the noise we heard was a terrorist spy. He'll be headed back to warn his comrades that we're here." A solider said, shaking his head.

"At least some of them are injured, and that alone will slow them down." Another one stated.

Meika jumped from the tree when she was clear. Running as fast as she could, she followed the tire treads back to the base. It was almost daybreak when she reached the compound, panting and exhausted. Duo and Heero were on watch when she came to the door.

"Meika." Heero moved towards her. "We need to talk." He stated quietly.

"I know. But now isn't the time!" She retorted quickly

"What's wrong?" Duo asked. Meika sat in a chair and tried to catch her breath. When she could speak clearly, she told them the story. Heero's eyes narrowed and Duo's widened.

"We need to get out of here right away. If they were leaving at daybreak, which is now, we only have around fifteen minutes before they get here." Heero muttered, getting shakily to his feet. He moved down the hall to the vehicle bay to prepare a way of escape.

Duo woke everyone up by yelling at the top of his lungs that OZ solders were coming. Quatre came out of his room still putting on his shirt and closely followed by Katsumi. Trowa and Wufei left their rooms immediately, and went to go help Heero.

Ayame awoke and went to Duo's side.

"Everyone's awake!" Meika shouted to get Duo to stop yelling. Trowa poked his head in and said that they better hurry up, the stealth jeep was ready. Ayame and Duo went to the jeep while Katsumi helped Meika gather some weapons.

"Wait! Where is that Relena girl?" Meika asked.

"Oh she ran out shortly after you, I think Heero was yelling at her. She took one of the trucks and left." Katsumi answered. Meika nodded and went back to work.

"Take! Yasu!" Katsumi called as her two cats ran to her. Heero and Quatre loaded some rations into the jeep as Meika and Katsumi put in the weapons. When they were done Meika climbed into the driver seat.

"Everybody in?" She asked looking back. Heero nodded with the rest and Meika started up the jeep.

Ayame could see the solders arriving on the horizon as they drove away from the base and entered the tree line. She felt Duo put his arm around her. When she looked at him, his normal grinning expression was touched with concern.

"Anything the matter?" He asked. Ayame shook her head, smiling lightly.

"Nah, nothing at all." She assured him