WARNING: This chapter contains major action and blood.

He held his head high as he headed down t her room, his best friend at his side; he went to face the woman that had broken his heart.

Somewhere I Belong

Chapter 4

It Hurts to See You

By: Miguela

The corridor was lined with Preventers in uniform, all grim looking and wary. They eyed the two companions as they strode down the hall.

"These guys give me the creeps the way they keep starin' at us," Duo whispered.

Heero nodded slightly, but kept silent. He knew that they'd have no trouble getting into Relena's room, what with his rank and that she knew the two of them very well... At least she knows Duo, Heero thought sourly, how can she know me if I don't even know who I am?

When they reached her suite, a guard stepped into the doorway to bar their entrance; he was big and burly, easily twice the size of Heero, with rippling muscles that looked like he was about to bust a seam in his Preventers' jacket.

"State your name and reason for coming," he said, crossing his arms imperiously over his large chest.

"Hee – Lt. Commander Lee Kodora and Special Lt. Duo Maxwell," Heero said, catching himself before he said his code name. "We're old friends of the Foreign Minister." He didn't want Relena to recognize him that easily. She'll see that I've changed, he thought to himself as the guard pulled out his two-way communicator and relayed the two names to the Preventers inside the room, confirming the two to be really old friends of their charge.

"Can I see your identification cards please gentlemen?" he asked, clipping the two-way communication to his belt.

Heero pulled out his card that he kept in his wallet. A Preventers' id card was especially formatted so that they could not be copied no matter how hard a person tried; in order to pass through security, you needed the card, which had an electronic strip on the back, and needed a fingerprint from the holder to complete the identification. People had found out how to copy the card, but the fingerprint was an entirely different matter.

The guard pulled out the proper scanner, and he and Duo had their cards and prints matched, then the large guard knocked twice, and stepped aside. "Miss Darlian is waiting for you," he said and opened the door for them.

Heero and Duo wasted no time in stepping inside, and the door closed behind them and locked leaving them in the same room with about a dozen other Preventers' officers, including Wufei and Trowa, who were standing off to the side of Relena's huge desk, and the Foreign Minister herself. She was sitting at her desk, though she wasn't doing any paperwork, but rather was just staring idly at the stack of paper that sat on the corner of the polished mahogany desktop and made no move what so ever that indicated that she was going to much more than that.

Duo practically bounded over to her, planting both hands firmly on the edge of the desk, and leaning over to stare into her eyes, though she didn't seem to notice at all, still lost in her own little world.

"Hey there Relena!" he chirped happily, waving his hand in front of her face to get her attention. "We're here!"

Her eyes snapped up to stare Duo in the eye. "What are you doing here?" she asked in amazement, rising from her chair. "I thought no one was allowed to come in?"

Duo shrugged. "We thought that you could use some company besides grumpy security guards," he replied, seating himself on the corner of her desk.

"Who's 'we' Duo?" she asked in confusion. "I don't know anyone by the name of Lee Kodora; is he a new friend of yours?" She folded her hands in front of her, playing the part of a refined politician the way she had many times before while meeting with the press and other important figure heads. Heero was used to seeing that position, one that didn't suggest that she held power, but that she was just a spectator to everything.

Duo chuckled. "Sure you do, it's just been so long that you may not recognize him, is all," he replied, and gestured to Heero, who was calmly standing near the door with his thumbs hooked in the pockets of his pants. He would've preferred to remain invisible to her eyes, though now that she was staring right at him, he knew that just wasn't going to happen.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked upon him for the first time in three years. She strode past Duo, her hands clasped to her chest, eyes full of tears and wonder. "Heero..." she whispered softly, coming up in front of him. She unclasped her hands, one waiting to touch his cheek, though she seemed to change her mind half way there, and slapped him as hard as she could, making his face whip to the side and his cheek sting. "How dare you come back?" she demanded angrily. "I thought I told you that I never wanted to see you again?"

He was stunned – he never knew that Relena could hit, let alone hit with that much force – as he stared at her in amazement. His hand came up to touch his cheek gingerly, feeling it sting.

Duo stared at the two of them. "What in the Hell was that?" he asked, preferring not to get in this lovers' quarrel, valuing his life far too much to be that dumb.

She glared at him with the utmost loathing. "Why did you have to come back?" she demanded, turning away from him, tears beginning to leak out of her eyes.

"It's not like I had any choice," he shot back heatedly. He felt his temper flare and he remembered that it was for this exact reason that they hadn't seen each other for the last three years. "I can't let you be assassinated, now can I?"

"I don't know Heero," she retorted, "can you let me be assassinated? It wouldn't really matter anyways; I'm only another one of your missions, so my feelings don't really matter, now do they?" She spun back to face him, blue eyes blazing. "Not like you cared before."

He was pissed. After all the things he did for her, all the sacrifices he made, she dare say that he didn't care at all about him? He glared, and he was sure he could see her shiver slightly under his intense gaze. "How would you know if I cared or not?" he hissed. "You never really paid attention to me to see if I really did care or not."

She matched his glare. "Well you sure as Hell didn't come back to make up with me," she countered. "Why don't you just stop trying and do your job?"

He grit his teeth in frustration, but he knew that she had won the verbal battle, though he knew also that the war had only just begun. "Fine," he growled, then stalked over to a chair over in the corner and sat down, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at all present, while Relena went back to her desk. Relena one, Heero zero.

The two of them didn't speak to each other for a long time, and poor Duo, who was stuck as the middleman in this situation, ran between the two of them, trying to coax the two of them into another conversation, though they steadily declined each offer.

Growling out of frustration after two hours of trying to get the two of them to even speak to each other, Duo sat down in the seat opposite Relena, who was now furiously working on her paperwork. She would sneak a glance up every once in a while to see if Heero was still sitting across the room from her, and then she would get back to her work without a word.

Finally, she looked up and glared intensely at him, "Would you stop staring at me?" she snapped irritably. "You haven't stopped staring for the last two hours!"

"I'm doing my job," he retorted. "That is what you told me to do, so I'm doing it."

She sniffed angrily, and then turned back to her work. Heero smiled to himself; Relena one, Heero one.

Finally, Duo couldn't stand the silence any longer, and got up to stretch. "You guys act like a couple of children," he said, popping his vertebrae. "Why can't you two get along for once? You're stuck together until this threat is over with, so quit being so stubborn."

Heero snorted. "I'm not the one who started this," he said, closing his eyes coolly.

"And I'm the one that did?" Relena shot back. "You're the one who asked if I loved my work more than I did you, for crying out loud!"

"Hey!" Duo raised his voice and drowned her out. "Look, can you guys just get along for a few minutes, or that too much to ask?"

"I'll cooperate, so long as it doesn't involve talking to her," Heero replied smoothly.

Duo groaned in frustration and buried his face in his hands, "You guys are hopeless!"

Time passed slowly after Duo's outburst, with Relena finishing her paperwork, and Heero beginning to pace around the suite. Something about the stillness of the hotel disturbed him deeply. There were other tenants in building, though none of them even tried to come and get a glance at the Foreign Minister during their time there.

Feeling rather paranoid, Heero decided to go for a walk to get away from Relena and to clear his head.

"Duo, could you watch Relena for me?" he asked, checking to make sure that he had enough ammo for his gun, and that he had his id card.

"Where ya goin'?" Duo asked from his slouched position in the armchair.

"I'm just going to get some air," he replied, but decided not to make any snide comment at this time.

"'Kay, hurry back," he replied.

Relena watched him leave, as she headed into her room to change into her pyjamas.

Heero walked down the corridor yet again, past the silent Preventers, and to the elevator. He pushed the button and waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive.

Why does she insist on being so stubborn? Heero thought angrily. I thought that we could get past that silly argument, that's all it was really, just a bump in our relationship. Why did it have to become a mountain?

He mulled over the last couple of hours in his head while the elevator doors slid open, revealing a soul occupant inside. Not paying him any heed, Heero stepped in and pushed the button for the first floor. It was only after the elevator doors had slid closed that he finally glanced at the other passenger, and he was startled to see who it was.

The bloodshot eyes of the drunkard that had warned him at the shuttle port stared back at him from under a wide brimmed hat. "You don't listen very well," he said, and the elevator was filled with the smell of alcohol. "I said that you are to surrender yourselves and the Preventer organization or we will retaliate. Now you'll pay the price." He pulled out a detonator from the inside of his trench coat. "When I push this button, the whole building will be blown to smithereens."

Heero's throat went dry when he thought at the devastation that would cause, but he kept his cool, glaring at the shorter man. "But if you push that button now, you'll be killed in the explosion as well," he reasoned. "What would be the point of that?"

"My life is insignificant; all that matters is that Relena Peacecraft be killed so that we may rule the new world," he replied slyly.

He realized then that he was dealing with a madman, one that would go to any measure to get rid of Relena Darlian Peacecraft. He also realized that he had to stop him from pushing that button at all costs. He pulled out his gun out of his holster, clicking off the safety and aiming it at the madman's head threateningly.

The man scoffed. "Is that the best you could do Gundam pilot?" he asked mockingly. "That puny thing wont be enough to stop my explosion."

But Heero wasn't thinking of killing the man, but just throw him off balance enough to make him drop the detonator, and give him a chance to stop the impending doom of the explosion. Though this gamble also had a flip side to it; if the detonator dropped from his hand and fell on the button, or he pushed it out of reaction, they would all be reduced to particles, but it was a chance he had to take. He aimed his gun at the automatic breaking system in the elevator, knowing full well that if he shot it, the breaks would bring them to an abrupt halt in the elevator shaft, jarring the occupants off balance. He took the chance, and fired a single shot, hearing the hiss of air escaping inside the damaged panel, and then felt the car grind to an abrupt halt. He was expecting the stop, and immediately clicked the safety on his gun, as it flew out of his hand, as the detonator flew out of the madman's hand.

He held his breath, as the small device flew into the wall and fell harmlessly to the floor. Both occupants had been knocked to the ground, and now they both scrambled for the gun, trying to gain the upper hand. Heero lunged for the detonator, while the madman picked up his gun and shakily stood up.

"Nice try Gundam pilot, but I'm afraid that your efforts will be wasted," he said slyly, clicking off the safety on the gun. "I have now gained the upper hand, and by exterminating you, one phase of our plan will be complete."

Heero stood up slowly, the gun training over his heart the whole time, but he wasn't intimidated in the least. He waited for the shot to be fired, so that he could rush the fool and knock the gun away. Then he would seize the upper hand in this fight.

As anticipated, he began to squeeze the trigger, and that set him into motion. He sidestepped, the bullet going through his right side to embed in the metal wall behind him, then brought his fist up in an uppercut, catching the guy off guard, having expected to kill him with one shot, and winding him. He grabbed the gun with his free hand, wrestling it away, and training it over the guy as he doubled over clutching his abdomen.

Heero breathed deeply, feeling the bullet dig into the muscle of his abdomen, though he did his best to ignore it, placing a hand over the wound to stem the blood flow, even though it hurt like Hell to do so.

"It seems that I've gained the upper hand now," he said smoothly. He watched as the man glared at him, as he regained his breath.

"That wont matter much," he replied calmly. "Your resistance will be futile in the end anyways, when the master and his friends come to crush you all with their brilliance."

Heero came closer, gun barrel just inches from the cowards face. In one swift motion, Heero hit him in the temple with the butt of the gun, and he slumped motionless to the floor.

Signing, Heero clicked the safety back on and stuck it back in its holster. He slumped back against the wall opposite the collapsed form of the would-be terrorist, clutching the wound at tightly as he could. Having damaged the breaking system to the point of no repair, he was stuck in the elevator with an unconscious body for a good while.

He pulled out his cell phone, having thankfully stuck it in his pants pocket earlier, and found the number for Duo's cell. He pressed send and waited for Duo to pick up.

"Hello?" came the voice of his friend over the line after a couple of rings.

He knew that his predicament would sound very pathetic, but he really didn't care at this point, what with the way his blood was pooling on the floor beside him. "Duo, I'm stuck in the elevator," he said quietly, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. Then he was at a loss on how to explain his situation now; his personal pride as one of the best soldiers in the world prevented him from coming out and saying that he was injured, though he knew also that it would be an insult to his pride if he bled to death in an elevator. "Have some of Relena's guards throw a rope down."

"How in the Hell did you manage that one?" he asked in disbelief.

"No time to explain Duo," he said quickly, "Just do it."

"'Kay, I'm on it," he replied, and Heero terminated the call.

His thoughts began to drift as he thought about how Relena would react to seeing him bleeding, judging on her previous reaction to seeing him again. She would probably make a fuss about the way he was bleeding profusely and that it he could've taken care of the threat without having to knock him out. It was just like her to say that they could've solved almost any situation without having to use violence, though he knew that there had been no way that he could've solved this diplomatically. If the guy had blown up the hotel many innocent people would've been hurt, including Relena – though, he thought viciously, he wasn't sure if she counted as an innocent person.

Out of boredom, and the fact that he could feel himself becoming light-headed from losing so much blood, he pulled out the detonator that he had stuck in his pocket for safe keeping. He checked the bottom to find that there was no remote transponder attached, which meant that it couldn't have blown up any bomb for there was no bomb attached to be blown up; it had all been a hoax. He swore and jammed the thing back in his pocket.

By this time, he could hear the grinding of gears as the doors on the third floor were pried open and the thud of a rope being tossed down on top off the elevator resounded. Voices reached his ears as two distinct people climbed down the rope and landed with a thud on the metal roof of the elevator. The top hatch was pried open and the faces of Duo and Wufei appeared in the opening.

"Hey man!" Duo called down cheerfully. "Miss us?"

Heero couldn't help himself and rolled his eyes sarcastically. They hopped down, and went to examine the unmoving form of the madman. They were busy checking him for vital signs, until they noticed the blood trailing down the floor, and the blood splatter on the wall.

"Heero, man, what happened?" Duo asked in concern, staring in concern at the blood pooling from his friend's side.

"The fool had a detonator and threatened to blow up the whole building with it," he explained tensely, pressing his arm as hard as he could against the wound. "I shot the ABS and it stopped the elevator, which caused him to drop the detonator and I my gun. He picked up the gun and this is the result."

"We had better get you out of here," Wufei said urgently and pulled out a communicator, signalling to the others on the floor above that there were wounded and to bring down a first-aid kit.

They decided to get him out first, since the other guy didn't have any life threatening injuries, though Wufei cuffed his hands behind his back just in case he came too while they were getting Heero out. It was an extremely difficult task to accomplish at that, having to tear off the beige t-shirt to have access to the wound to bind it. Since Duo said that he wasn't any good at tending to wounds, Wufei volunteered for the job, strapping Heero's side tightly, though not too tightly. Heero didn't make a sound throughout the whole time, though he did grimace when Wufei pressed a little bit too hard.

"Think you can make it up the rope?" Wufei asked, though Heero suspected that he already knew the answer to his question.

"Of course I can," he snapped impatiently, and even if he couldn't, he would try his best to get up without any help, though he didn't think that would go over well with Relena. To Hell with what she thinks, he thought bitterly.

He pulled himself up out of the whole in the ceiling, grunting with the effort it took. Once he was up, he gripped the rope and began to hoist himself up, pulling himself up towards the light at the top of the rope. His palms were beginning to sweat, as he continued to hoist himself along the shaft; he was almost at the edge of the open door.

Two Preventers were waiting at the top for him, extending their helping hands towards him, and he grudgingly accepted their help as he felt himself become light-headed. They pulled him up and out of the shaft and supported him slightly while he tried to find his footing and not fall flat on his face.

"Heero, what happened?" Relena's voice cut through the fog in his brain.

He waved her off, stumbling over to a wall, away from the helping Preventers, so that he could sit down before he fell down. He found a sturdy section of the wall that was free of decorations, and slid down along the length to sit at its base, leaning his head back and breathing deeply.

He felt a soft, feminine hand take his and squeeze it tightly. "Stay awake Heero," Relena said softly. "Sally will be here soon to take care of that wound."

His eyes snapped open, surprised yet again by her actions, which demonstrated that she had grown up more than he was giving her credit for. Her face showed deep concern, her eyes full of worry.

"Why are you worried about me?" he asked in astonishment. "I thought that you didn't care..."

She smiled softly. "You risked your life to protect everyone, so I think I'll repay you," she said simply, and he began to seethe yet again.

"Like if a dog does a trick, you'll toss him a bone?" he retorted, jerking his hand out of her grip.

She looked offended. "No, it's not like that at all..." she said softly, her eyes radiating hurt. "I feel obliged to help you after you saved everyone, but," her eyes hardened, "If you don't want my compassion, then I'll save it for someone who isn't pigheaded."

He sighed. "Fine," he replied coolly, "I'm glad you're safe." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her face brighten.

Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed! You've given me much inspiration to write this chapter! Please keep the reviews coming to keep the inspiration high!