Hiding Scars

Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry I didn't update yesterday. To make up for it, here's two chapters :-)

"After that, I went to Lady Une and told her I had to disappear. I couldn't risk that man coming to my house again, and I couldn't risk anyone getting hurt. Lady Une helped me to disappear. Then a week later, I was Cassandra Cooper, on my way to a new home in Virginia. Relena Peacecraft-Darlian was no more."

Hilde was crying and the boys were staring at her in shock. Relena lowered her head to look at the ground, still holding her wine glass between her hands. No one said anything for a long time.

"The tattoo...?" Quatre asked quietly.

"They don't like to tattoo over scars, but I begged them and offered them a large amount of money to tattoo over the words. They finally did it, so I could hide what he did," Relena explained. Quatre rose and walked over to Relena, then pulled her into a hug. Duo, Hilde and Heero all joined him, the four of them circling her and hugging her, trying to give her the protection she should have had four years ago. Relena had no more tears for the story, but she gratefully accepted their comfort.

-

Heero stepped back from the friends circling Relena. He looked at her face. Her eyes were closed, but her cheeks were dry. She wasn't crying after retelling the entire story to them. Heero's fist clenched, and he could feel a rage boiling up inside of him. He was gone that week. Lady Une had sent him away. He should have been there. He should have been with Relena that night, and nothing would have happened to her. Heero could have killed the man trying to attack her. There were so many things that could have happened rather than the horrific event that transpired at her home that night. His mind was raging.

He hurt her. He raped her. He attacked her and made her bleed in her own home. He completely destroyed any security she had. He caused her to move away from all of us. He permanently scarred her. He tried to destroy her. I will kill whoever it was...

Duo had noticed that Heero had moved away. He dropped his arms from Quatre and the girls and stepped towards Heero. Duo grabbed Heero's upper arm, lightly, and steered him away from the group. They stepped down off the deck and walked around the side of the home. Beneath his hand, Duo could feel Heero trembling.

"Are you alright, man?" Duo asked. Heero didn't have an answer for him. His hands were hanging at his sides, fists still balled, and his eyes were focused on his shoes. He was trying to control the wild rage thrashing around in his brain, causing him to feel hot and shaky. "Heero?" Duo asked again. Heero shook his head. He didn't trust himself to speak just yet. Duo frowned and took a step back from Heero. Heero took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I don't..." Heero began to say, but he trailed off. He didn't know what to say. Footsteps in the grass caused the two men to turn, and they saw Quatre approaching.

"Heero, are you okay?" he asked. Heero just shook his head, trying to force his hands to unclench.

"I think I have to call Lady Une," he said. His friends reacted immediately. They raised their hands up, shaking them, saying, "No, no, that's not a good idea."

"Why?" Heero asked. His phone was already in his hand.

"She couldn't have known that something like this would happen after Relena's birthday," Quatre said.

"She knew someone was stalking Relena," Heero said. "She should have informed me about this right away!" Heero was having a harder time controlling his anger. "Why didn't I stay with her that night?" he asked himself.

"It's not your fault. There was so much to take care of after the shooting, and you were the best one to take care of that stuff. Relena must have just been able to slip through the cracks and go home by herself, since everyone was so preoccupied," Quatre said.

"Come on, buddy. Don't call Une," Duo said. Heero sighed.

"I have to," he said, then stalked away across the lawn, pulling up Une's number on his phone. It rang a few times before she finally answered.

"Hello Heero. Having a nice vacation?" she asked.

"Why didn't you tell me that Relena was being stalked?" Heero asked, his voice low and dangerous. Une was silent on the other line. "Well?" He heard her sigh.

"She didn't want to tell anyone. She was afraid for the safety of all her friends," Une responded.

"Why did you send me away from her, even though you knew she was being stalked?" Heero asked. There was an edge of suspicion to his voice. Une noticed.

"Are you implying that I purposely sent you away on that mission after her attack?" Une asked, her voice getting higher in her frustration.

"Well, is it true?" he asked.

"Of course not!" She almost screeched. "There was nothing that came from that guy that ever implied that he was planning a physical attack on the princess!" Heero had no response, and Une was silent for a moment. Heero's breath was moving rapidly through his lungs, and he could hear Une trying to calm herself down.

"You found her then?" Une said after a moment.

"Yes."

"And she told you everything that happened?"

"Yes."

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I don't know yet. But I do know I'm going to find that sadistic asshole and kill him," Heero said. Une sighed.

"That's not a good idea, Heero," she said.

"He has been threatening the Princess, and Vice Foreign Minister. As the head of the Preventers, you should have done more to protect her, or to at least find out more information," Heero was speaking in a completely calm voice. "Instead of secrecy, it should have been public. We have the resources to protect her in the case of anything. Instead, her protection was lacking, and that happened," he finished.

"I helped her to get away," Une said, trying to defend herself.

"And thereby undoing all the good she was working on in her position. Work that even if she wanted to come back, would take years to regain," Heero replied.

"When you come back to work, which I won't accept until your actual date of return from vacation, I will give you all my documentation about the stalker," Une said at last.

"Thank you," Heero said. They were silent again for a moment.

"Tell Relena I said hello," she added.

"Okay. Bye Une." Heero hung up his phone and stowed it away in his pocket once again. He let his hands drop to his sides, and he allowed his breath and his temper to cool off before returning to his friends. When he finally felt able to return to them, he crossed the lawn and climbed the steps of the deck. It appeared that his friends had all gone inside. He walked up to the sliding door and pushed it open and stepped inside the air conditioned home. Relena, Hilde and Quatre were cleaning up her kitchen, and Duo was sitting on the floor wrestling with Relena's dog. At least she had a dog to protect her while he could not be here.

Relena glanced at Heero from the sink where she was washing a pan. He nodded slightly to her and smiled. She finished washing the pan and set it down on the counter to be dried by Hilde. Quatre, without needing to be asked, stepped in to take over. Relena crossed the kitchen to stand by Heero. She took his hand and led him back outside onto the deck. She shut the door behind her and they sat down at the small wire framed table and chairs.

"I wish I could have told you what happened without everyone else around," she began. Her hands clasped in her lap once again. Heero reached across and touched her arm. She brought her hand out of her lap, and Heero held her hand in his own.

"I wish I could have been there to protect you," he replied. Relena shook her head. Heero gripped her hand tighter. "I have so much I want to tell you, and I don't know where to start," he said. Relena smiled.

"I feel the same," she said.

-

Heero had surprised Relena that day by showing up on her doorstep with cupcakes, a bottle of wine and a small box wrapped in shiny wrapping paper and a little bow. She let him into her house.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Relena asked, glancing at the items in his hands. Heero smiled at her and leaned over to give her a quick peck on the forehead.

"I will not get to spend much time with you during your birthday party, so I decided to come over and celebrate early," he said. Relena was touched. She smiled brightly and helped him with the various items he was carrying.

"It's nice out. Let's go to the garden," she said. Heero nodded and followed her through the house to the backdoor. The door led down a small flight of stairs onto a stone patio, which was surrounded by rose bushes and flower beds with all different kinds of flowers. There was one tall tree in the garden where Relena would frequently sit under and read or relax. There was a stone bench on the patio near the largest rose bush. It was there that Relena walked to, followed closely by Heero. She sat down on the bench, and Heero sat down on the stone patio in front of her. He opened the bakery box and took out the two cupcakes that were inside. He produced two candles from a pocket, one in the shape of a 1 and the other in the shape of an 8. He stuck the candles in the cupcakes, causing Relena to giggle. He smiled, and used a lighter from his jacket to light the wicks.

In a surprising baritone, Heero sang 'Happy birthday' to her while the flames on the candles danced in the light breeze. When he concluded the song, Relena leaned forward and blew out the candles. "Did you make a wish?" he asked.

"I didn't have to," she replied. She grinned when a small red flush crept up over his cheeks. He shook his head and plucked a candle out of one of the cupcakes and handed it up to her.

"I forgot glasses. Hang on," he said. He rose from the ground and went inside the kitchen to find some wine glasses and a bottle opener. When he came back outside, the cupcake in Relena's hands was already half eaten, and there was a small smudge of icing on her lip. Heero swallowed hard. He approached her and set the wine glasses down on the bench beside her and put his hands on the back of the bench, one on either side of her. He leaned in close.

"Heero?" Relena asked.

"You have a little icing on your lip. Let me get it for you," he said, his voice low with an edge of desire that startled Relena. He leaned in closer still and his lips met the spot on her upper lip where the icing had stuck. Naturally, it turned into a kiss. She tasted sweet to him. When he pulled back, Relena's face was a furious shade of red, and in her embarrassment, she lifted a hand to cover her face, and also tried to hide a smile, it seemed. Heero smiled at her and turned his attention to the bottle of wine. When he offered Relena a glass, the cupcake was gone.

"Did you have time to taste it?" he teased. Relena stuck her tongue out at him and took the glass he offered. She took a small sip. It was fruity and sweet, and complemented the taste of the cupcake she had just devoured.

"Both are delicious," she said, taking another sip. Heero poured a glass for himself and took a drink as well. He sat down, cross legged in front of her on the ground. She had pulled her own legs up under her and smoothed her skirt over her knees. Heero picked up the box and held it up to her.

"It's not very creative, but I thought you might like it," he said.

"I'm sure it's wonderful, whatever it is," she said. Slowly and carefully, or rather, politely, she untied the bow and peeled back the paper. As she tore away the paper, a white box was revealed underneath. She pulled open the lid and lifted out a white bear. Her face broke out into a large smile, and she pulled the bear to her chest and nuzzled it with her face. The fur was soft and smelled slightly like Heero's apartment. She kept that to herself, taking a deep breath of the smell of him.

"It's beautiful," she said, lifting her face to look at him. He was smiling. Relena relished in his smile, never wanting it to disappear. Of course, it usually did.

"I had something else to tell you," he said. Relena tilted her head and hugged the bear close again.

"What is it?" she asked.

"After your party, Une needs to me to take care of something out in space. I'll be gone for about a week. They are going to assign someone else to you during that time," he said.

"Why you?" she asked.

"Une seems to think I'm the best one for the job. Something to do with a bunch of what appear to be abandoned mobile suits drifting in space. Can never be too careful," he added. Relena nodded, understanding the necessity of taking care of those suits.

"I understand. I'm eighteen now. I'll be alright," she said with a smile. Heero met her eyes.

"You are so... " he started.

"So what?"

"Just so... " He found the words difficult to say. Though he knew, being with her, there would be many more phrases that would be even more difficult to say. "Beautiful," he finally said. Relena's mouth formed into a half smile.

"Who are you and what did you do to my bodyguard?" Relena asked. Heero shook his head.

"He's still here. He always will be," he said. Relena's heart melted to hear him say that. Little hints had been dropped before. The occasional kiss, the occasional touch, the occasional sweet words that seemed to come from somewhere deep within that war torn man. Anything that ever came out of his mouth was sincere, except of course, his promise to kill her.

"You should take my picture then, and keep it with you while you're on your mission. That way, you'll have to remember to come back to me," she said, daring to take their conversation further. Heero nodded and produced his phone. Relena set aside the white box and the wrapping paper, then set the bear on her lap with her arms around it, and smiled her best smile. Heero took a picture with a small click of the phone.