Relena awoke to a pounding sensation in her head.
Her first instinct was to lift her hands to her head and press her temples, but she immediately realized she couldn't. She struggled for what felt like several minutes to lift her arms but they wouldn't move. Slowly, she blinked her eyes open, willing them to do so despite the mind-numbing pain. And all that light...
What seemed like thousands of points of light seared her vision. Her surroundings eventually came into view, and Relena saw that the room was wall to wall with twinkle lights. Otherwise the room was actually rather dark, but the sheer number of lights strung up was adding to her headache. The chloroform that had obviously been used on her hadn't helped, either.
She realized that she was sitting on a bed. At least her kidnappers over the years had often showed the courtesy of placing her somewhere comfortable. A turn of the head, and she saw that Heero was propped up next to her, still unconscious. She breathed a sigh of relief, mixed with worry.
"Heero?" she whispered, hoping he would wake up. His hands were bound behind him, too, but she knew once he was awake he'd figure out how to do something about it. He always did.
In fact, Relena was shocked that anyone had managed to kidnap the two of them, together. She wondered what kind of mastermind…
The door to the small room creaked open then, bathing them in more light from the hallway. A statuesque young woman strolled in casually, greeting the captives as if they were her guests.
"Relena!" she said brightly. "How are you?"
Relena just blinked in response. What was she supposed to say?
"I'm so happy to see you here." The woman folded her tall frame into a chair next to the bed. She leaned forward excitedly, resting a chin on her hand. It took Relena a second to notice that she and this woman were sporting the exact same haircut: long and blond with bangs. And she was dressed in a suit that was remarkably similar to Relena's Sanc Kingdom attire.
"Wha- who are you?" Relena stammered.
"The name's Kayla." The taller woman grinned at her "guest." "I've been dying to meet you. I'm a big fan."
"You- what?" Relena felt fully awake now. "A fan?!"
Relena knew she had fans. She had met them. They were usually five-year-old girls who wanted a hug and a photo and an autograph for their teddy bears.
"But how did you…" Her head was spinning, trying to lace together answers. This woman was larger than average size, but Relena could not see her taking down Heero. No way.
"How did I get you both here?" Kayla laughed. "Well, it wasn't easy. But I've had military training, you see. I'm ex-Oz, actually."
The hairs on the back of Relena's neck started standing up. "Really." She tried to keep her voice even. "What do you want with us?"
"I told you." Kayla leaned forward more, too close for Relena's comfort. "I really wanted to meet you. Both of you."
"But… why?" Relena wished Heero would wake up already.
"Because you're both my favorite people." Kayla sighed before leaping to her feet. "I've followed both of your careers extensively." She gestured to a large bulletin board that Relena just noticed was covered and photos… of her and Heero. Some of them together, others of them individually. They looked like they'd been taken from afar.
Stalker photos.
Relena shivered, then started trying to elbow Heero. She was just a few inches too far away from him.
"Why won't he wake up?" she finally blurted.
"Oh, don't worry." Kayla walked over to the bed, placing a hand on Heero's head and brushing back a few strands of his hair in a far too familiar, tender gesture. Relena wanted to slap her hand away. "I just had to use a stronger dose on him. But he should come to, soon."
"He'd better," Relena snapped. "And you had better give me some plausible explanation as to why you had to resort to kidnapping us in order to simply meet us. If that's really what you wanted, you could have approached us publicly." Relena felt her anger rising. "There's no need for this nonsense. Release us at once!"
Kayla threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, Relena, that's why I love you. You are so strong." The way she said it sounded condescending. "But no, of course that's not all I want."
Relena shuddered, working to control her facial features. She would not let her fear register. She focused on her breathing and kept her voice calm.
"All right," she said in her best diplomatic voice. Surely even a psycho-fan could be reasoned with. "What do you want?"
Kayla clapped both of her hands together, practically leaping in the air. Relena wondered how her head didn't hit the ceiling.
"I'm so glad you asked!" Kayla beamed. "I'll be right back!"
Oh my god… Relena groaned inwardly, wishing she had some inkling of what she was in for.
As soon as Kayla left the room, Relena saw one of Heero's eyes open.
"Ah-ha," she whispered triumphantly. "You were awake the whole time, weren't you?"
Heero didn't answer, but she knew it was true. She wondered why he decided to stay silent, and whether he planned to continue doing so.
"What do you plan to do?" she whispered.
"Quiet," he hissed.
She wanted to whimper at his harsh tone, but knew he didn't mean it. Some date… she thought sadly.
He was listening for footsteps, she realized, no doubt taking inventory of the entire house, or apartment building, whatever kind of structure they were in. Undoubtedly he'd already pinpointed their exact whereabouts and was plotting their escape.
Or so she hoped.
She just wished she could touch him, or that he would reach for her, offer her some reassurance. As usual he gave her none. She would just have to summon up her own strength until he managed to get them out of there.
But not knowing what faced them had her terrified. She'd stared down the barrel of a gun many times and faced death unflinchingly, but this situation had her more on-edge than ever.
Perhaps, she realized, it was because Heero was there with her. Not as her captor or her savior, but as a fellow captive.
A potential victim.
The urge to protect him was strong. That was it. That was why she was so afraid. It was his life she feared for.
"I love you, Heero," she whispered urgently.
He didn't answer, but he did swivel his head to look at her. While she couldn't read his expression, he didn't look annoyed or angry. In fact, if he'd been willing to speak, Relena would have bet that he was about to at least say her name. She hoped they would both live so she could selfishly hear him say it, over and over again…
The door pushed back open. As expected, Heero closed his eyes, playing "dead" once again. Relena wished he'd chosen to be awake instead, feeling like he was leaving her to face this alone. She wished, not for the first time, that she could tell what he was thinking.
"I'm back!" Kayla announced in a singsong voice. She entered the bedroom pushing a cart holding a large rectangular, metal contraption that spouted a bunch of wires and electrodes.
"What is that?" she couldn't help asking.
"Oh, this?" Kayla grinned. "This my 'happy place.'"
"Your… what?" Relena thought back to Happy's Pizza. Between this and that restaurant, Relena had had her fill of "happy" places for one night.
"I use this to regulate my thought patterns." Kayla tapped the metal box. "When I'm feeling lonely, or sad… I use this machine to fill my mind with certain images."
Relena frowned. "You can't just do that… mentally?"
"Oh, no." Kayla frowned, too. "Not with my condition. No, this little box helps fill my mind with happy thoughts. That way I don't do anything too rash." She laughed.
"I see." Relena nodded, trying to look as though she was deeply interested. "Now Kayla, tell me when and why you left Oz?"
Kayla looked subdued. She stepped away from the machine and sank into her chair.
"I'm not sure how old you are…" Relena continued, trying to spin her question into a compliment. "But you seem quite young. Did you fight in the Eve Wars?"
"Yes." Kayla's whisper sounded shattered. "For a little while. Then they kicked me out."
"Why?"
"Commander Treize said I couldn't handle combat." The frenzied look in Kayla's eyes reminded Relena of Lady Une, before she recovered from her dissociative identity disorder.
Relena kept her voice gentle. "How did that make you feel?"
"Angry," Kayla whispered. "And useless. All that training, for nothing."
"Did you ever fight the Gundam pilots?" Relena knew the answer had to be "no," or they would not be sitting there having the conversation.
Kayla shook her head.
"And you came to admire them," Relena concluded.
"Yes." The woman nodded vigorously. "Especially Heero." Kayla gazed over at him fondly. "The perfect soldier. So handsome. And courageous. There's no one on earth or in space like him. He's the one and only."
Relena's heart swelled. Of course she had to agree, but she wasn't about to say so. She tried to keep Kayla talking.
"And when was it you became… interested in Heero?" And in me, she almost added.
"After he saved everyone by destroying Libra before it crashed into Earth, of course!" Kayla declared.
Relena frowned. Heero's identity had been kept private after that incident. Even after he saved the world again the following year during the Christmas Eve battle in Brussels. Only the Preventers and a select few members of ESUN knew the identity of Gundam Pilot Zero-One. It was troubling that Kayla had somehow found out who he was, especially since she'd been discharged from Oz.
"Are you sure that was Heero?"
Relena was answered with a slap across her face. She winced.
"Relena, don't play dumb!" Kayla scolded, wringing her hand. "Sorry. I've always wanted to do that."
Relena thought for a second that she felt Heero stir beside her. Good. She hoped he'd spring awake before anything worse happened. A slap she could deal with, but her tolerance level depended on what was coming next.
"I know all about Heero," Kayla went on. "But, then, I've been tracking the two of you for some time."
Relena just glowered at her. "Then you followed us here?"
"Of course! I staked this place out months ago, knowing you were scheduled to arrive."
Relena searched her memory, trying to recall if she'd seen Kayla lurking around somewhere earlier that night, near the hotel or the pizza place. She wished she'd been paying more attention. She'd been too focused on trying to get Heero to take her on a date. Now she felt like a fool.
"But how-"
"Enough with all the questions." Kayla waved a hand. "It's really not that interesting. Besides, I never answered one of your first questions, which was why I brought you here."
"Right," Relena drolled, silently praying that Heero would leap up. Anytime. She couldn't see whether he'd managed to free his hands. She assumed that by keeping Kayla talking, she'd bought him plenty of time.
Kayla got up and began to fiddle with her machine. "I need some new images for my happy place," she explained, sticking electrodes all over her face and forehead. "I'm going to borrow some of yours."
Relena frowned. "How does that work?"
"Simple. I'll connect the two of us to the machine, initiate the transfer sequence - it's just like moving files, really - and voila, your memories will be mine."
Relena looked doubtfully at the metal heap. If she hadn't thought Kayla was completely crazy, that sealed it. There was just no way that, whatever the thing was, it was capable of doing much of anything, except for maybe giving both of them terrible headaches.
But what if something went wrong? What if Kayla ended up electrocuting them? Relena decided that she'd better stall for a little longer to avoid getting herself hooked up to Kayla's crazy contraption.
"What if you accidentally reverse it?" Relena challenged. "And I get all your memories instead?"
"Oh, you will." Kayla smiled slowly. "That's the point. We switch."
"We switch?" Relena echoed in disbelief.
"Yes. Switcheroo." Kayla laughed. "I'm sorry that you'll be stuck with my fucked-up memories, but I'm going to have so much fun with yours."
Relena started to squirm on the bed. "What exactly do you think you're going to find, anyway? I can't imagine why you'd like to be inside my head."
"Are you kidding me?" Kayla spun around, nearly toppling over her machine. "I'd get to see the years and years you've spent with Heero! Every precious moment. Every romantic gesture, every longing-filled glance. Every kiss. Every…" She looked like she was about to start convulsing.
Now it was Relena's turn to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Kayla whirled on her. "Why are you laughing?!"
"Because it is funny." Relena giggled. "You're delusional."
She was probably pushing the poor, sick girl too far, but Relena couldn't help it. She only laughed harder.
"Stop laughing!" Kayla lunged at her, grabbed her by the shoulders and started to shake. The woman far outweighed Relena, so the motion hurt, but Relena tried to remain firm.
"Kayla, I don't know what assumption you've been operating under," Relena choked, "but you seem to have gotten the impression that Heero and I are a couple."
"But you are!" Kayla gasped, her eyes growing wider. "I've seen you! You're always together, he's always right by your side, he's…" She shook her head vigorously. "It's so obvious to everyone! Don't try to deny it."
"You're imagining it," Relena smiled. "I'm sorry. But if Heero were awake you could ask him yourself, and he'd tell you the truth. Even if we look like we're together, well…" Relena tipped her head. "Appearances can be deceiving, I suppose. But I don't think either one of us has ever intended to look like we're dating. Honestly."
"That's not true!" Kayla was practically sobbing. "You're lying, hoping I'll set you free. Well, once we're both hooked up to my machine, I'll know for sure."
"And if I'm right? You really want my memories, then?"
Kayla released Relena abruptly, sending the smaller woman stumbling back against the pillows.
"I'll take them over mine," she said darkly.
"Kayla." Heero's commanding baritone stopped the woman short. "Let Relena go."
"You're awake!" Kayla sprang back to life, launching herself onto Heero's side of the bed. "I'm so happy to hear your voice! And to see you, at last!" She clapped her hands delightedly. "This is such a happy day…"
Happy, happy, happy… Relena cringed. She never wanted to hear the word again.
"Kayla, untie Relena. She doesn't need to be here. You don't need to steal her memories."
"But, why not?" Their captor's voice quivered. "This is what I've wanted for so long."
"Why don't you try making some happy memories of your own?"
The suggestion sounded strange, coming from Heero. Relena blinked at him, wondering where he was going with this.
"W-what do you mean?" Kayla stammered.
"Untie me and I'll show you." Heero smirked.
Relena felt her heart beat erratically. She could not believe it. Not for a second. Heero was flirting. Her Heero. She'd never heard him flirt. Or sound so… sexy. He sounded sexy to her all the time, of course, even when he was telling her to leave him alone while he worked on his complex coding, but otherwise…
She saw the exaggerated look in his eye. Of course he was acting. And badly. But Kayla was too naive to catch on.
"But… But Heero, I, ah…" The woman was quickly coming undone. "But… Relena's right here…"
"I don't care about her," Heero said flatly. "She's always annoyed me. I'm better off without her."
The words stung, even if they were false. Probably. Relena did her best to look hurt.
"Ouch, Heero. That's mean." So, she knew her acting was pretty bad, too.
"Shut up, Relena." Heero shot another saucy look at Kayla. "Why don't you let her go already. Then we can be alone."
"Oh, Heero!" Kayla squealed. "You're too much! But I can't just let Relena leave. She'll call the police. Or ESUN."
"Oh, I wouldn't dare," Relena gushed.
"Mmm… I don't believe you." Kayla swung back to face Heero. "So where does that leave us?"
"You can still untie me, at least. Then I'll show you why you can forget all about that little machine."
Kayla tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Very tempting, Heero. But I can't just take you at face value, either. How about I keep you tied up, and we have a little fun first?"
This is NOT happening! Relena grimaced. Lucky me, I get a front row seat…
Kayla was advancing on Heero. He shot Relena a quick glance. She was sure, in her heart of hearts, that he did not want to do anything physical with the other woman. Yet she wondered just how far he was willing to go, if it meant he could ensure their safety.
And just a tiny, tiny part of her wondered why she hadn't thought to tie him up first.
Bad Relena, a small voice scolded, reminding her where she was. In some strange woman's bedroom on an unknown colony. The odds of escaping this incident unscathed were not in her favor.
But, then, Heero Yuy was with her. And that always, always tipped the odds.
"Come on, Heero, give us just one little kiss…" Kayla was leaning over him, her face mere inches away. "If you're a good boy, I'll think about untying you."
Relena silently urged Heero to do it. Get it over with. Then maybe while Kayla was distracted, Relena could kick her, and they could go from there…
"You know, Kayla," Heero was saying, "I've only ever kissed one woman in my life…"
"Relena?" Kayla said breathily.
"Yeah," Heero answered, smiling up at the other woman. "And I intend to keep it that way."
Kayla toppled backward as Heero's fist connected with her jaw in a loud crack.
Relena knew Heero had to have something up his sleeve, but he'd manage to take her by surprise as well.
"When did you get your hands untied?" she asked him. "You weren't like that the whole time, were you?"
"You can grill me later," Heero responded, sidling up to Relena on the bed. "We're getting the hell out of here."
He'd knocked Kayla out cold, but the woman was big enough to take a hit. She'd surely be stirring again in a minute.
"All right." Relena nodded up at him. "Untie me, then, and let's go."
She saw Heero hesitate, just for a second, as he hovered above her.
"I don't know…" he murmured. "I kind of like you like this."
"Heero!" she gasped. "This is hardly a time to joke."
He grasped Relena's waist with more force than she was used to, quickly using a knife to sever the ropes that bound her hands.
He bent his head to her ear and whispered, "I wasn't joking."
Relena's face felt hot. But she refused to acknowledge the amorous statement; not in a situation like this.
"I'll deal with you later," she seethed, glaring up at him.
"You'd better."
A moan from the floor caused the two to tear their eyes away from one another.
"She's waking up," Relena whispered.
Heero was already on his feet and grabbing both of Relena's hands. He carefully helped her step over Kayla's body. They tiptoed out of the room before breaking into a run.
Relena was glad she'd traded her heels for flats earlier. It was much easier to keep up with Heero that way, or at least try to.
"We have to call the authorities!" she yelled after him once they had gotten a few blocks away from the apartment building Kayla had absconded herself in.
"We will. Back at the hotel."
Relena finally allowed herself to slow her pace. Her legs were burning. She paused to take in a huge gulp of air.
"I don't want to stay there," she gasped. Although she knew this was likely a freak incident, it didn't make her feel safe on the colony.
"We won't." Heero ceased his running, falling into step beside her. "Are you ok?"
"I'm all right. A little shaken up," she winced. "But otherwise, ok. How about you?"
"Fine." Heero cocked an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know, I figured you'd be traumatized." Relena peered up at him. "That woman nearly took advantage of you."
He chuckled under his breath. "That was nothing. I'm more annoyed she managed to capture me in the first place."
"How did she?" Relena frowned. She just couldn't picture it.
"Unfortunately, I was caught off-guard." Relena watched as Heero jammed his hands into his jacket pockets. "I wasn't paying as close attention as usual. I was about to say something to you, and…"
She sucked in a breath. "What were you about to say?"
He furrowed his brow. "I'll get to that…"
Relena realized that it probably wasn't something good. She recalled their conversation outside of the pizza place. About whether or not they were on a date. She hoped he wasn't going to tell her that it wasn't one.
"She came up behind you and put a gun to your head," Heero continued as they walked.
Relena frowned. "I don't remember that."
"You passed out almost instantly. That chloroform stuff is strong. That's how she got me, too. I managed to get the gun away from her, but she had way too much of that stuff for me to withstand. It's… not my proudest moment," he admitted.
"Wow." Relena clucked her tongue. "Maybe next time we should bring some back-up?" She reached out and squeezed his arm, hoping he could tell she was teasing.
"Hey," he barked, clearly not appreciating her attempt at humor. "I never claimed to be infallible."
"I know, Heero." She gave his arm a tug. "These things happen sometimes. I'm grateful for everything you've done for me, and-"
"It's this thing we're doing." Heero halted his steps suddenly, looking down at her, a frown etching itself deeply into his features. "It's a distraction."
"Heero…" Relena lowered her eyes, wishing she could take back her little gibe.
"It's my fault for letting it distract me, but still. I don't think we should continue this way."
Her heart felt as if it could break.
"Don't say that," she whispered imploringly. "Please. What about everything that just happened?"
"Exactly." His gaze was hard. "I can't be stupid about this, Relena. We can't just do whatever we want."
"What is it you want then, Heero?" She tossed the words up at him, hoping they'd land with him somewhere. "What was it you were going to tell me before?"
"It can wait," he said as they approached the hotel. Heero steered her toward the entrance. "Come on. We'd better get inside."
Relena had a feeling that it would be a long time until this matter came up again. But she relented, and traipsed behind Heero.
A/N: What happens when fangirling goes too far… Thank you to all of the readers and reviewers so far! More to come.