Relena let her eyes slide close, and she went limp in his arms.
a/n: I do not own Gundam Wing.
He brought Wing Zero back from Greenland.
Relena didn't really know what to make of that. After his break, Heero had come back reserved and withdrawn. She had gone to great him, and Heero had simply nodded and went off on his way. The Albion Eastern Coalition was keeping her busy enough, she didn't in the added distraction of Heero blowing her off. Whatever had rubbed him the wrong way, he obviously felt like it was her fault.
The meeting with Lady Une had been scheduled long ago, and normally, Relena would be excited to see the woman. After the war, Relena had begun to rely on Lady Une and her experience. It had taken a while to truly like the woman, but Relena knew that her father would have not approved of dwelling on the past. Lady Une was different now, and deserved a chance to make a life for herself.
"Miss Relena?"
She was startled by Lady, and looked up.
"Is something wrong?" Lady Une asked, looking up from the clipboard in her hands.
"No, nothing," Relena said, "I would like to move a small defensive force to the Mediterranean. Nothing that stands out, but something to monitor the situation."
"I believe we should be able to camouflage something. Perhaps a freighter."
Relena nodded, "Perhaps."
"I'll have some men on it, and they'll make sure to send a daily report. I'll see that it ends up on your desk."
"Thank you," she said, "Anything else?"
"I hear that Heero brought his gundam back. That's not a good sign."
Relena sighed, "No, but hopefully we won't need it. If I can head this off this problems in negotiations, maybe we'll be okay. The only problem is that the leader of the AEC refuses to speak to me. He says that I'll only plague he citizens with foolish talk."
"That's complete nonsense," Lady told her, "He's the only trying to start a war."
"How is Miss Mariemaia doing?"
Lady Une smiled. After the Dekim Barton affair, she had obtained guardianship of Mariemaia, and been living in the country ever since. Occasionally, Dorothy would drop by and visit them, but Mariemaia had simply been going to school and relaxing. The wound she sustained from the war gave her a weaker heart, but that hadn't stopped her from doing what she wanted. Relena looked forward to having chats with the young girl, even if she rarely understood a thing that Treize's daughter said. The girl was so imaginative and ambitious that Relena had a hard time following her.
"Well," Lady told her, "Eager for you to come and visit."
"I miss our talks as well," Relena said, "I fear, though, if this does not settle, I won't be doing much else."
Lady Une sighed, "Please take care, Miss Relena. There is talk that an assassination is being planned."
"That's nothing new," she said, "Last year, they tried three times to kill me."
"You should take this seriously."
"I'm always serious. It's just that I can't sit around waiting for someone to try and kill me."
The woman stared at her for a moment, and then sighed, "What has he done?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Heero Yuy. What did he do?"
Relena blushed, and looked away, "Nothing. Heero is simply Heero. He works on security and does a good job."
Exactly, Une thought to herself, that's all Heero is doing. No wonder she's annoyed.
"Are you angry that he brought his gundam back without permission?"
"Of course not. It's his machine, and this is his home too."
"Did he do something untoward?"
"No."
It was too quick of a response. Lady Une smiled, "Is it that he didn't do something untoward?"
"Lady Une!"
"He's an attractive young man and your a beautiful young lady. There's nothing wrong with being attracted to one another."
"Lady!" Relena's face was so red that Lady thought that the president would keel over.
"I'm sure, being a red-blooded man, that Heero probably is just as attracted to you."
"This is a ridiculous conversation."
Lady Une smiled, "Well, if you take any advise from me, Miss Relena," she stood up, "Let him come to you first."
"Huh?"
"He's like a caged beast sometimes. All those gundam pilots are. They are wild can't really be domesticated, but with a calm hand, I'm sure Heero will come to you on his own time."
Relena looked away, not really knowing what to say to that. She wasn't trying to pursue a relationship with Heero. Oh, she would like one, but she doubted that Heero did. He was always avoiding her, and trying to find some way to get out of being with her. Whether it was a meeting, or just a one-on-one talk. Lady slipped a disk out of her briefcase, and handed it to Relena.
"This is a transmission from Millardo and Noin. I have no idea what's on it, he told me specifically that he wanted you to listen to it alone," she said when Relena took it from her, "I'm sure it's something important if we can't all watch it."
"Sure."
"I'll have my secretary contact you to make another meeting time," Lady bowed slightly, "Good day, Miss Relena."
"Thank you, Lady Une."
The woman left, and Relena took out her computer to play the disk. She slipped it into the drive, and waited. There was a pause, and then she watched as Millardo settled in front of the camera for the recording. He looked a little haggard, his hair too long, and a little scruffy. Work on the Mars project had not been easy, but he was doing well as the leader of the project, and had been an excellent choice for a crew that basically was on it's own for four months at a time.
He went on to give her a report of the hydroponics, and how they figured out to grow better crops, and then moved onto security. He said that people were worried about the AEC and what the plan was, but they had every confidence in her.
"...on a personal note," he said, looking uneasy for a second, "I'm getting married."
Relena gasped, "What?" she said out loud, even though it was a recording and no one could hear.
"I asked Lucrezia to marry me, and she said yes. We'll be the first married people on Mars," he said, smiling. Then, a look of complete seriousness passed over his face, "Don't go getting married yourself until I get back. I have to give my approval, and I have to walk you down the isle. It's simply the way of things."
She glared. If she wanted to get married, she wouldn't make her fiance asked her brother like this was the dark ages.
"Watch your back, little sister. I'll see you when I get back. I love you."
She stared at the screen, and smiled to herself. Of course Millardo loved her, he was her brother. It was still strange to her to have one, considering she had basically been raised as an only child. Sometimes it was annoying to have someone keeping tabs on her, but Relena wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world.
She stood up, and walked towards the window. It was a beautiful day today, and she felt compelled to open the doors to let the warm breeze in. Leaving her coat on the back of her chair, she opened the balcony doors and wandered outside. Taking a deep breath, she let it sink in before going back. There was still paperwork waiting on her desk, and a few meetings to go to.
There was an odd noise, and she tripped. What was that? Birds were still chirping, and she could still hear people chatting down below. Relena swore that something was there, and walked to the railing to look around. Something was sticking to her shirt, and she raised a hand to touch her chest.
Something red and wet touched her fingertips.
"What?"
The red splotch bloomed in the middle of her chest. Relena frowned, thinking it looked quite odd, and wondering if she spilled something on herself without realizing it. Glancing behind her, she saw the blood speckled on the balcony doors.
Her blood.
The pain hit her all at once, and she slumped on the railing. Someone had shot her in the chest. It was the change of the guard outside, so no one would see her. Relena dropped to the ground, curling into a ball and feeling herself slip. The pain was horrible, and she almost screamed, but she didn't want to attract the shooter's attention. Looking forward, her vision was blurring slightly as she stared at the door.
If she could crawl to it, someone in the hallway would notice her.
Relena pulled herself along the floor, ignoring the blood on the floor. It dripped from the edge of her lips, smearing over her hands and clothes. She barely reached the door, and tried to reach up a hand to grab the handle. It was too far away and her hand slipped off.
Damn it, she cursed to herself, I'm not giving up this easily.
She reached towards the doors again, and her fingers slipped once more. Tears squeezed from the edges of her eyes. She couldn't do it. She was going to lay in that room die and no one would know.
Help, she thought to herself, I need help. Someone...
The door opened abruptly, and Relena looked up to see Heero. At first, he had stared into the room, and then his eyes caught sight of the smeared blood on the floor. His eyes traveled to her, curled up in the doorway of her own office. Her eyes pleaded with him.
"Relena?" he whispered.
The last thing she remembered was that for the first time since she had known Heero, she saw a look of utter horror on his face. Heero was never emotional. He never showed what he was thinking, Relena had to always guess. Curled on her side in the doorway, Heero dropped to the floor beside her. He didn't spot the wound right away, but only saw the blood.
"Relena?" he touched her face, "Relena, what happened?"
Her eyes were drooping, and she watched as he tugged at her clothes. Oh god, the pain got worse when he ripped at her shirt. He must have heard her whimper, because he looked at his bloody hands, and then at her face.
"Someone call an ambulance!" he roared down the hallway, "Now!"
"Heero?" she whispered.
"Hold on, we'll get you some help," Heero turned back to the rush of household staff, "Get the goddamn ambulance now!" he looked back at her, and frowned when her eyes started to close, "Stay with me, Relena. You have to stay with me."
She managed to smile, "Sorry."
He touched her cheek, "Relena?"
"Sorry," she whispered. She couldn't stay awake. There was more she wanted to say. Sorry for whatever made him withdraw from her. Sorry for whatever she did to make him go away. She wanted him to stay, not ignore her.