Hiding Scars

Chapter 15

A/N: If we've been bored, this chapter might remedy that.

-

"The boys are distracted by something, so Duo said we should just keep having a girls day!" Hilde said, walking back to Relena. They were back at Relena's house. She'd wanted to drop off her new clothes.

"Well, we could take Milly and her kids to the fair. They'd enjoy that," Relena suggested. Hilde nodded, though she would have nodded to any suggestion. Relena went to Milly's house and knocked on the door. One of the children pulled the door open, and cried,

"MOM! CASS IS HERE!" Milly shouted back from somewhere in the house that she'd be there in a minute. Relena and Hilde stepped inside the air conditioned house to escape the summer heat for a moment. Milly eventually appeared.

"Hey girls," she said by way of greeting. "What's up?"

"We just wondered if you and the kids wanted to go to the fair," Relena said. Milly looked contemplative for a moment.

"Actually, if you wanted to take them and get them out of my hair, I would be able to get some stuff done around here for once," Milly said.

"That's fine," Relena said with a smile. Milly looked appreciative, and she yelled to her kids to come to the door. Milly dug in her purse for some cash, which Relena tried to reject, but Milly insisted.

"It's enough that you're just taking them. I can't make you pay for them, too," Milly said with a laugh. Soon, the two kids were ready to go, so Relena and Hilde piled them into Relena's car, and they drove off to the fair.

-

The boys sat around the dining room table at the vacation house brainstorming. They'd already decided that Relena needed to be protected anytime she was at her house. They couldn't know the extent to which this stalker knew about her life in Virginia Beach.

"Shouldn't one of us be with her now?" Quatre asked.

"Hilde texted me saying they were going to the fair with Relena's neighbor's kids. It's a public place with a lot of people around. I think they'll be okay. I let Hilde in on what was going on so that she could keep her eyes open," Duo said. They fell silent again. Heero was tapping a pen against the table, his other hand holding up his head. His eyes were closed, but he was not sleeping. He was trying to imagine a way to lure in this stalker so they could catch him. The main problem was finding a way to do it without endangering Relena's life more. And the longer he thought about it, the more he felt like he was out of touch with his former abilities as a gundam pilot. The thought nagged at him in the back of his mind, no matter how much he tried to push it away.

-

Hilde had noticed that someone was following them about an hour ago. She didn't mention anything to Relena, who was having fun with her neighbors' children. Every once in awhile, Hilde would feign stretching or looking around for something, just to catch a glimpse of this person's face, to register where he was and how far away he was from them. Hilde wanted to believe that this person wouldn't do anything while they had two children with them, but if it was the same sicko that attacked Relena, there was no telling what he might or might not do.

While they waited in line for a ride, the man following them got detained by the crowd. Hilde took this chance to call Duo.

"Hey Duo," Hilde said, trying to come up with a discrete way of speaking to him without Relena catching on. "I think that you guys should come out to the fair. It would be a lot more fun if you were here," she said.

"Is something wrong?" Duo asked, catching on to her tone of voice.

"Oh come on! Maybe you can win me a teddy bear or something at one of those games. You're always so good at calling out rigged games," she said. She heard Duo say something to the guys.

"We're on our way. I'll call you again when we get there," he said.

-

"I'm not sure what is going on at the fair or what Hilde was trying to say, but we need to go there," Duo said.

"What did she say?" Heero asked.

"Well, she was talking like she was trying to convince us to go up to the fair, but it was her tone of voice. Something is wrong," he said.

"Do you think they're in danger?" Quatre asked.

"I think that is one of the only reasons she would call and act like that," Duo said. Quatre and Heero nodded, and in another moment, they were in their rented vehicle, speeding off towards the fair.

-

It took some time, but Hilde eventually convinced Relena and the kids to ride the Ferris wheel. She felt like it would be safe, because at least they would be moving and monitored by the ride operator, even if the ride operator looked a little shady. Her companions eventually agreed and they got in line to ride. Hilde noticed the man following them had gotten in line as well, but he was several people away from them. Hilde tried to hide her nervousness from Relena by chatting about the amusement park she and Duo went to on their honeymoon.

Finally, they were at the front of the line and were escorted to one of the seats. The four of them climbed in and the wheel started to move again. Hilde watched the crowd for the man, and she saw him watching them. She looked away quickly, hoping she didn't accidentally make eye contact with him. Otherwise, he would know she was on to him. And with him so close, she didn't want him to get away before the guys could show up. The Ferris wheel took several turns around, while Relena and the kids laughed and pointed out various places in the distance. As the wheel was slowing and allowing people to get off the ride, Hilde's phone rang. It was Duo, letting her know that they had arrived at the fair. Hilde informed him that they were at the Ferris wheel, and then the two disconnected the call.

Once Hilde, Relena and the kids were off the Ferris wheel, Hilde looked back up at it. The man following them was stuck at the top, and he was staring down at them from his seat. Hilde grinned and led her charges a little ways away from the ride. A moment later, Heero, Quatre and Duo appeared in the crowd and forced their way over to them.

"I'm glad you guys decided to show up!" Hilde said, winking at Duo. Duo kissed her.

"Well, we weren't really doing anything else, so we figured we might as well indulge your wishes," Duo said.

"What were you boys even doing?" Relena asked. There was a moment's hesitation while they tried to work out a story to tell her.

"We were relaxing at the house and got caught up in a marathon of movies on TV," Quatre said. "Jet lag is still kind of affecting us," he added.

"Well I'm glad you got a chance to relax," Relena said. "Hilde and I have been having a great time with the kids," she said. Heero smiled at her, then stepped up to her side and laced her arm through his. She was flattered at his gesture, but to Heero, he was pulling her into protection. Duo noticed a drink cart and pulled Hilde with him to get a drink.

"What's the situation?" Duo asked her once they were safely away from Relena.

"I noticed a while ago that someone was following us around the fair. I kept tabs on him as often as I could. I didn't tell Relena," Hilde explained. "I don't know who he is but he has definitely been following us and watching Relena." Duo scrunched his nose.

"We were going through the file that Une had about all this. If this is the guy, he's a sick bastard," Duo said, his eyes dark and serious. Hilde nodded, then turned and looked up at the Ferris wheel. The man was two spots back from the car that was currently unloading. Hilde nodded in that direction.

"That's him, there," she said. Duo looked over, casually, and saw the man sitting in the Ferris wheel.

"Alright," he said. "We have to walk, but we can't make it look like we're with you. Go pull Relena and the kids on ahead, and we'll follow behind," Duo said. Hilde nodded and left his side. As she was walking back towards the group, she spotted a haunted house attraction. She jogged to Relena and pulled her arm away from Heero.

"There's a haunted house over there! Let's go!" Hilde said. The kids jumped up and down and clapped their hands. Relena sighed dramatically and agreed. Hilde glanced back at Quatre and Heero and winked, then nodded to Duo, who was walking back to them with a paper cup in hand. Hilde dashed off with Relena and the kids. Duo called to them to wait. He stood with them, and waited until he saw the man Hilde pointed out cross by.

"That's the man that's been following Relena and Hilde," Duo said, nodding his head towards the guy. Duo felt Heero's body twitch like he was about to start moving, but Duo clapped a hand on Heero's shoulder.

"You can't just run up and start beating the guy senseless in the middle of the area. You'll be arrested," Duo said. Heero stopped his pursuit, knowing that Duo was correct.

"What do we do?" Quatre asked, his eyes focused on the man currently pushing his way through the crowd towards Relena and Hilde.

"We have to keep an eye on him and try to find a way to corner him," Heero said.

"But we have to be careful. If we try to question him, he's going to deny everything," Duo said. The man was a good distance away, so Duo motioned for the guys to start walking.

"He needs to do something that warrants us stopping him," Heero said. They were silent for a moment while they thought this over.

"I could run into him like I'm drunk," Duo said. "Maybe he'll fight back or something." Quatre shrugged.

"It's worth a try."

The guys waited until Relena and Hilde were inside of the haunted house. The guy was waiting in line for it as well, but once again was caught behind several other people waiting to get inside. Duo began to stumble around nearby, drinking from his cup, which only contained soda. Heero placed himself nearby, ready to shove Duo into the man stalking Relena. Quatre stood in line at the haunted house.

Duo stumbled into Heero, who yelled at him and shoved him. Duo, light on his feet, guided his stumble into their target. With an added push with his foot off the ground, he ensured that the collision would bring them both to the ground. Duo smacked hard into him, and they tumbled to the dirty concrete ground. The other people in line dodged out of the way. Duo landed on top of the guy, who began to swear and curse at Duo.

"Hey man... I'm sooooo sorry," Duo said, imitating his best drunken stupor voice. The man shoved Duo off of him.

"What's wrong with you?" the man shouted at Duo as he climbed back to his feet, brushing litter from his clothes.

"I said I was sorry," Duo said, still pretending to be drunk. Quatre stepped up from the line and helped Duo to his feet.

"Are you okay, sir?" Quatre asked Duo.

"Why are you asking him? He knocked me over!" the man shouted at Quatre, who responded by putting his hands up in front of him.

"Woah sir, calm down," Quatre said. Duo fumbled and fell towards the man again.

"Yeah man, calm down," he said. The guy pushed Duo again, and he lost his footing for real and crashed into another guy waiting in line with his daughter. Heero saw this and stepped up to the situation to haul Duo up off the man.

"You're fucking drunk," Heero said to Duo, pushing him away from the line. Heero helped up the innocent bystander and carefully slipped him a wad of cash. He leaned close and whispered, "Here. Don't say anything." The man looked strangely at Heero, but pocketed the money and pulled his daughter out of the line.

The stalker was red in the face now. He stormed up to Duo and shoved him back to the ground. Heero and Quatre went to the stalker and pulled him away from Duo, who was rubbing his tailbone and wincing. The stalker struggled against them, trying to throw punches in any direction he could. Heero and Quatre had to actually struggle to keep him from attacking the three of them.

By this time, Relena and Hilde had exited the ride with the two kids in tow. Relena and Hilde gasped and ran to the fight that was going on. The stalker looked up and spotted Relena so close, and that she seemed to recognize these people who were holding him back from punching the shit out of the drunken idiot.

"You bitch!" he shouted, and with a great force, launched himself off the ground, away from Heero and Duo and towards Relena. She screamed, but he crashed into her, bringing her to the ground with him. Hilde gasped, but pulled Milly's kids away while Duo, Heero and Quatre went for the man. Riley and Maria screamed and began to cry. Hilde wrapped her arms protectively around them and tried to assume them it would be alright. He had managed to land one solid punch at Relena, which glanced off her nose and into her eye. She shrieked and covered her face with her hand, which came away bloody.

Heero went nearly blind with rage when he saw the punch land on her face, and he thought the moment had arrived when he was going to kill the man, but at that moment, the guy with the daughter came through the crowd again with a police officer is tow.

"That man there! He started the fight!" the large man said, pointing to the man still pinning Relena to the ground. The office pulled his gun from the holster on his hip and aimed it at the stalker.

"Get up with your hands in the air!" the officer shouted at him. The stalker slowly rose to his feet, his hands out in front of him, palms flat. Heero quickly picked up Relena in his arms and backed away a few steps. Relena was still holding her hands to her nose to try and staunch the bleeding. The officer pulled the stalker's hands behind his back and whipped the handcuffs onto his wrists. The stalker was growling and snarling at Relena like a wild animal.

"I'll get you Relena Darlian! This isn't over!" he shouted at her as the office dragged him away. Relena flinched in Heero's arms, but he pulled her closer into the protectiveness of his arms. Quatre was already on the phone with Lady Une, following behind the officer as he dragged the stalker away. The man with the daughter walked up to Heero.

"I don't know what that was all about, but it looked like you needed some help," he said. He held his hand out to Heero to shake. Heero let go of Relena with one hand and shook the other man's hand.

"Thank you," Heero said, his eyes open and honest. The man smiled, then walked away with his daughter. The cash Heero tried to pay off the man with was back in Heero's hand. He stared after him for a moment before shoving the money back in his pocket. Hilde led the rest of her group away towards the first aid station to get Relena cleaned up. Hilde held the hands of the two children, who were still sniffling and frightened from the entire ordeal.

At the first aid center, Relena was helped by a young woman, who donned a pair of gloves and helped to clean up the blood on Relena's face and hands. Hilde helped by holding an ice pack over Relena's already swelling eye. Heero and Duo, reluctantly, waited outside in the crowd, waiting for Quatre to get in touch. By the time Relena was cleaned up and no longer bleeding, though her eye was nearly swollen shut, Quatre still had not called. Relena declared that she wanted to go home, so they trooped back to the cars. Duo texted Quatre to call them when he was ready to be picked up from wherever he'd gone off to. Hilde had to drive Relena's car back since her eye was swollen. When they arrived at Relena's house, the kids ran to their own home and excitedly told their parents what happened. Milly and Paul were there in an instant, making sure that Relena was okay. She persisted that she was fine and just needed some rest.

It took a while, but Relena finally got everyone to leave her house. Heero wanted to fight Relena to let him stay there, but he was afraid of making her too angry. His emotions were running high as well, and Duo suggested that Heero cool off before doing anything else. Heero reluctantly agreed and left with Duo.

Relena's habit of staring at her face in the mirror resurfaced, and she stood in front of the reflective surface, looking at herself through her one non-swollen eye. When the man jumped at her, instantly recognizing her face, Relena had flashbacks. Her mind went back to that day, in full detail, clearer than any other time she brought the memory up from the locked depths where she stored it. Though she did not see his face the first time, the way his hands touched her and the sound of his voice were as clear as if it had happened the day before. Relena, lying on the ground with him landing that punch on her face, believed she was going to die. For that moment, she truly felt that she was not long for the world. The look in his eyes when he stared at her, full of hate and malice, and a disgusting lust for her, terrified her into thinking she would die. Only when he was pulled off of her, and Heero claimed her once again in the safety of his arms, did she let go of that notion. It took several minutes for her to even process what she was seeing in front of her. Then the strange man shook Heero's hand, and she was all the more confused.

Relena turned away from the mirror and sprawled out on her bed. Her face was still in pain, but she ignored it. Absently, she crossed her arm over her chest and allowed her fingers to run over the words etched in her shoulder, now covered by ink. Relena wished she could cry, to release the pent up emotions inside of her, but she would not cry. Instead, she called Cherry to her, and the two of them passed out on her bed.