A/N: Stomach flu+ internet access= lots of updates! I've been bored out of my mind laying in bed all day, so here's another chapter to make up for lost time. Read, review and enjoy!
-picimadar
When You Run Among Shadows
Chapter 13: Loyalty
February 15, A.C. 200, X-18997
Relena sat in the dimly lit townhouse, waiting. It had been hours since Heero had left, giving her simple instructions: Leave, and I'll find you, and you'll probably be dead. The truth delivered so succinctly had left her rooted to the spot, legs tucked under her as she sat on the sofa, staring out the half-uncovered patio door at the small back yard Heero kept. It was surprisingly neat, with a few simple flowers and bushes growing along the sides of the yard, and an ornamental pond swirling in the back, fenced-in corner. Relena wondered whether or not there were fish hiding in the water, but didn't dare approaching the glass to find out.
The risk of staying in the home of her long-lost love was high, but being caught by anyone else on the colony would ensure the Foreign Minister never felt Earth beneath her feet again. Sighing, Relena relaxed back into the sofa, closed her hands in her lap and shut her eyes, willing time to pass faster… She startled herself and sat up quickly, her eyes open wide. Why, so he'll be back sooner? Rolling her eyes, Relena chose to ignore the sense of apprehension that welled up in her abdomen and settled back down into the sofa.
What seemed like seconds later, the door opened, and in an instant Relena was off the couch and hiding in the farthest corner of the room, somehow avoiding tripping despite the fact that the only light in the house came from the moon outside. She managed to knock a set of heavy books of an end table and they fell loudly. It wasn't until then that Relena realized Heero was not alone.
"What was that?" a curious voice asked, trying to gain entrance.
"Nothing," Heero answered quickly, clearly barring the man's access. The two stood in silence in the hallway for a few moments before the second man finally conceded.
"Fine, whatever you say. Look, you wanna meet up in the morning and go over some paperwork?" Heero gave a characteristic grunt before the door closed and the lights began coming on.
Relena pressed herself against the wall, horrified. She gasped into hands she had not realized were pressed against her mouth, a terrified sob escaping her lips as she hit the floor. "Oh, god," she whispered. "Neil."
"What's wrong?" Heero asked, walking into the living room. His hair was wet, and Relena realized it was raining, hearing the patter of the drops falling on the roof.
"Nothing. Don't!" She shouted, throwing her hands out. "Don't come any closer!" Relena stood unsteadily, pushing herself against the wall. Heero raised his hand in seeming surrender before he turned and walked into the kitchen, putting down a bag of groceries he had been carrying.
"Come here," he called, and Relena immediately resented herself for compulsively complying, but her hunger was more urgent than preserving her pride. She stalked into the kitchen quietly and stood in the doorway, causing Heero to jump as he stepped way from the fridge. Sighing, he continued loading the groceries into the fridge, putting a few items on the nearby counter. "There's electrolytes here for you and some vitamins. If you haven't been eating well you shouldn't expect to keep food down for some time." He looked around the kitchen momentarily before looking Relena over, who shivered under his scrutinizing stare. "What did you do while I was gone, sleep?"
"A bit," she replied quietly, not moving from her position near the doorway.
Heero continued to look her in the eyes a moment more before turning away again. "Good. You have to drink lots of water when you take these, otherwise they'll damage your kidneys."
"Like that even matters." Relena stared at the back of Heero's head as though she wished her glance were a destructive weapon. "You're going to kill me anyways, aren't you? And even if you don't, the second I get caught it's either back to prison or straight to my funeral. Who the fuck is going to care what my blood B12 level is?" Her now clean, long and wavy blonde hair hung in her eyes and she tossed it out of the way before pushing the overly long sleeves of the sweater she wore up to her elbows. Relena turned and began effectively turning Heero's kitchen inside-out, digging through drawers and cupboards, checking out appliances and gadgets before finally pulling out a large pot.
"What exactly are you doing?" Heero asked, almost amused.
"Making something," she replied coldly, filling the pot with water and putting it on the stove. It was not the same as the kind she had had at her home back on Earth, and she stared at the controls for a moment before Heero reached over and turned on the burner for her. Relena closed her eyes as his arm passed by her, close enough that she smelled the distinctive, clean smell of his skin. Kicking herself, she backed away from the stove quickly, trading places with Heero and rummaging through the refrigerator, taking a few vegetables out and placing them on the counter. Heero moved out to the adjoining small dining table and sat down, but not before taking his laptop computer out of its carrying case.
As he waited for the computer to boot up, Heero turned his dark eyed gaze toward the young woman still moving about his home. Relena had cut up the vegetables now and had put pasta in the boiling water, despite his direction that she not try to eat solid food. Relena knelt down to pull out a frying pan and Heero subconsciously admired the way her hair fell over her shoulder. It was then that he noticed the dark bruise lying there, as well as the one that framed her cheekbone.
"What happened to you when you were being held?" As soon as he asked the question Heero desperately wished he could take it back. Relena stood, put the pan on the stovetop and walked out of the room swiftly, darting into the main floor bathroom. Heero heard her slam the door behind her and winced as the sound of her struggling not to vomit reached him. Guilt washed over him temporarily, and he stood up, stirred the pasta, put the cut vegetables into the pan, and went to check on the young woman.
Just as he reached the door, Relena stepped out, wiping her mouth and sighing. "I'm fine," she answered before he asked. "Being… there… isn't something I want to talk about." Heero opened his mouth, but she held up a palm to him, looking away. "Ever". She flounced back to the kitchen and put the cutting board into the sink, pouring some detergent on it and washing it. Heero went and sat back at the table, frustrated, watching as Relena checked the pasta and stirred the vegetables again. She stuck one slice of red pepper with a fork and bit it thoughtfully, and Heero couldn't help but admire the way her lips looked as she chewed, the grace with which she did something as simple as cooking a meal... Shaking his head, he turned back to his computer, typing in a complex set of passcodes before finally entering the main operating system. Generally the laptop was only used for work, but Heero decided to check the local and global news instead.
He was somewhat aware of Relena pouring something and serving the food, but looked up in surprise as she placed a steaming bowl of the mouthwatering food in front of him. "What…" Heero asked, watching as she placed a knife and fork in front of him and took her own glass of the bright orange electrolyte drink to her seat next to him.
"Well, I have yet to see you eat, and I know how much you hate eating out so I figured you were hungry." She took a deep drink, closing her eyes as the precious fluids her body had been deprived of entered her body. "Consider it a small 'thank-you' for not shooting me yesterday. Or last night." She looked at him thoughtfully another moment. "Or this morning." Heero swore he saw her almost smile, but before he could get a good enough look her face turned hard again.
"I can't blame you, you know for keeping me here. Lavie must have given you a good deal, and I know this place is like a reservation for soldiers. There must be a lot of people you can identify with here." Heero felt her bright blue eyes on him as he ate. "I just can't believe that of all the houses on this colony, I ran right into yours." She laughed sardonically before pushing her chair away from the table and putting her glass in the sink. "It's almost disgusting, actually."
Heero stared into his bowl of pasta, not completely sure why her disgust seemed to hurt him somewhere inside.
"So, this is it," Trowa said, stepping off the shuttle staircase and entering the low gravity of the port, Middie following closely behind him.
"Looks pretty normal to me… Sure is quiet for a weekend afternoon, though." The two continued through the port and into the actual spaceport itself, towing their bags behind them carefully. "Sheesh. It's like a ghost town… I'm not liking the feeling of it."
"Me neither. Let's get to the hotel pronto." Trowa kept a wary eye on the few other people milling about the spaceport before he finally caught eye on a poster hanging on a nearby pillar. He casually ripped it of its staple and shoved it in his coat pocket before continuing after his companion.
"Excuse me, can I see your identification, please?" A young woman called after them as they approached the front doors to the small spaceport, and Middie smiled at Trowa.
"Of course, here you go." The stunningly blonde woman handed over both their passports and linked arms with him, staring up at his face in a completely fake but also entirely believable way, her eyes wide and full of adoration, her lips curled up into a small smile.
"Here you go. Everything seems to be in order, please enjoy your stay!" The spaceport worker walked away from them quickly, calling after another set of passengers from their flight.
"Sheesh. Glad we got these done now, aren't you?" Middie asked, shaking the passports at him before heading out the automatic door into the bright artificial sunlight. "Mmm, I love the smell of fake grass in the fake midafternoon. Come on, let's get back to the hotel, I need a bath like none other." Trowa simply followed after her, a perplexed look on his face. He was unused to such frankness of speech; even Duo and Wufei had learned some tact over the years, or at least Duo had learned the ability not to say every single thing that came to mind. Middie was completely unabashed and unapologetic, which had made the long, long flight to the colony more interesting than he had expected.
Middie had already hailed a cab by the time Trowa caught up to her and he took her bag, grazing her hand as he did so, before tossing it into the trunk and climbing in beside her. By the time they go to the hotel his eyelids were drooping; it had been a long time since he had traveled to space, and X-18997 operated on a different time-zone than Brussels. "Stay with me, baby," Middie said quietly, slipping on a large, dark pair of sunglasses. "We're almost there." Her lips curled up into a broad smile, and Trowa felt himself smiling back, although he couldn't place why. Something about how she looked at him was so familiar, but also so foreign, Trowa couldn't help but be captivated by her.
"Oooh, look at that," Middie said, lowering her shades so she could better see out the front windshield. "He might be a bastard, but he put us up in style. Where in the shit does he get the money for this stuff?" Trowa looked in the direction she did, seeing the towering building in the near distance, the glass of the windows shimmering in the sunlight, plants overflowing from planters placed all over the building, glass-framed elevators seen shooting up and down the height of the building.
"Yep, that's the Regent alright. Gorgeous building, that, pretty exclusive too. You're a lucky few to have a reservation. Enjoy yourselves, I hear the pool is amazing." The cab driver took the fare from Trowa and got out to help him retrieve their bags while Middie went inside and collected their room keys. Moments later the man's green eyes were roving over the enormous marble-floored lobby, taking in the fountains complete with live koi and the harpist playing next to the door to the adjoining restaurant. Definitely nicer than anywhere I've stayed before…
"Come on, we're up near the top. If I got us a penthouse I'm going to have to murder him… from happiness!" Middie jogged over and took her bags before clicking the button for the elevator several times, her heels clicking along the floor due to her restless feet the entire time. So that's what a 'happy dance' looks like, Trowa thought, and he smiled to himself again as he reached to put his keycard into his coat pocket. Remembering the poster he had tucked into it at the spaceport, his smile faded, and he walked into the newly arrived elevator with a look somewhere between dismay and deep thought.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Middie asked, putting a hand on his arm.
"I'll tell you after we've checked the room," Trowa answered, turning to look out the glass back of the elevator. It gave an excellent view of the part of the colony it faced, and Trowa tried to commit as many landmarks to memory as possible.
"It's prettier than I thought it'd be," the blonde woman remarked, putting a hand against the glass as she, too, took in the scenery.
"Most of the privately funded colonies are in better shape than the publically funded ones. Lavie must have money somewhere." The elevator stopped, and Trowa gestured for Middie to proceed, following her into the massive suite.
"Holy balls," Middie said, putting her bags down and walking into the bright, clean and unexpectedly lavish room. "This is awesome! Oh man, we have our own kitchen and everything! Oh wow, look at the bathroom, the tub is huge!" Middie continued her inspection of the room while Trowa headed inside, putting his bags down in a bedroom and coming out to look for her. The suite was big enough that it actually took him several seconds to find her. "Hey," she said, having calmed down slightly. "Tell me what's going on. The place isn't bugged as far as I can tell, and even if it is, it's not like anyone can just run in here without some kind of warning."
Trowa sat down next to her on the sofa in the 'living room' of the apartment-sized suite. "I saw these at the spaceport," he said, pulling the flyer out of his pocket. "It's Relena. She's escaped." Middie snatched the paper from him, reading it thoughtfully.
"I saw these, but I didn't get a chance to read any. I wanted to look like we knew what was going on… Shit. They must have these up everywhere by now. Her picture's on it and everything!" Putting the paper down on the coffee table, Middie leaned back and covered her face with her hands, rubbing hard. "That means this whole colony must be in on it. But if she got out of prison and they don't know where she is… Someone has to be helping her!"
Emboldened, she stood up and approached the provided computer. "Hey, you can't just use that for anything," Trowa said, approaching her before she could log in. She just looked back over her shoulder with an annoyed expression before continuing.
"I'm not stupid. If they'll monitor anything, it'll be the computer use. I'll get this set up so we can use it safely. Give me a few minutes… Actually… You might wanna go down and wait in the lobby. These," she said, absent-mindedly pulling two more room keys from her pocket, "are for Jesse and Liam. One's blonde, the other's brunette, they're twins. You can't miss 'em, trust me." Trowa took the keys and proceeded back out of the room.
"They work with you? With L'Ombre?" he asked, looking over the keys.
"Ha, yeah. Work is a nice way of putting it, mostly they just annoy me." Middie stopped her furious typing for a few moments before turning slightly to face him, her nose wrinkled up. "They're my younger brothers," she said, clarifying. "They work with me through L'Ombre, but mostly they just fight each other and get on my nerves." She waved a hand dismissively before going back to her work. "I'm sure they've been given your picture so even if you don't notice them, they'll know you. Just go down and wait, I'm sure they'll be hanging around." Trowa nodded once before leaving the apartment, but not before sneaking one last glance at the crumpled up poster on the table. She's alive, was all he could keep thinking. She's alive.
"She's alive?" Dorothy Catalonia nearly shrieked, and Wufei winced away before glaring at her.
"I'm pretty sure that's what I just said. She must have escaped from wherever they were holding her. We've got no reason to believe Relena would have left the colony, but they clearly don't know where she is. Either way, it's good news. It'll be easier to find her in a civilian place than it will in Lavie's."
Dorothy settled back in her chair, bringing a hand up to her chin. "Quatre's convinced Heero is hiding in space. What do you think the chances are that he's on X-18997?" Mingmei looked at her, raising a brow. "I mean, if someone like Heero Yuy knew Relena was roaming around that colony… there's no chance he'd be able to stay away."
"How does that help us? You think it's going to be easier to find him than Relena?" Wufei coughed out a laugh. "We'd be better off watching a dog chase it's tail than sending Liam and Jesse to find him."
Dorothy shook her head. "I won't argue with you about that, but you've got to understand what I mean. If we find one, we'll find the other, I can guarantee it."
"Hey," Carmen said quietly, sitting down in an empty chair. The Preventer cafeteria was quiet at this hour, and they were among the only people still milling about. "Got that message from Middie… Crazy, eh?" Wufei watched as her hand became a fist. "I can't believe they can be this obvious about trying to keep her on the colony. I wish we could just get in there and…" She sighed before turning her gaze to Mingmei. "What kept you two from going, anyways? You've always handled space better than Middie has, and there's always the risk someone will recognize Barton."
Wufei shook his head. "No one ever recognizes Trowa. He's just got one of those faces, I guess. Either way, we couldn't leave Mai here on her own."
"Of course. Well, who else do we have on the colony?" Carmen asked, leaning over the small piles of papers the group had arranged in front of them.
"Unfortunately not many. There's Olafson, he's generally reliable." Dorothy laughed, and Ming gave her a look to kill.
"It's too bad he can't handle a weapon to save his life. He's a pacifist. The best we could get from him is to get him monitoring the news and maybe some security footage."
"Fine," Ming said, irritated. "There's Rick and Laura Lane, too. They're both pretty seasoned, I think we could at least get them to cooperate with Middie and Trowa on this." The group collectively agreed, and the dark-haired woman set their file aside before sighing heavily. "And there's always Neil Oppen," she said quietly, and Wufei looked at her sharply.
"You can't be serious. Relying on him would be as good as shooting ourselves in the foot." He leaned away from his wife while Carmen tilted her head, staring at the others curiously.
"I don't get it. Who is this guy? I've never even heard his name before…" she reached for his file, but Dorothy snatched it away.
"It's not anything that concerns you," the blonde said coldly, tucking the folder under her hand. Wufei rolled his eyes and exhaled hard.
"There's no secrets amongst us, Catalonia. Get a grip." Carmen could practically feel the tension between them, but said nothing as she waited for Wufei to continue. "He was a possible recruit before you came along. Relena tried to bring him in before the Eve War, but there were… complications." Carmen opened her mouth to ask, but Wufei interrupted her. "He rejected the offer and essentially cut off contact with all of us. Something about the idea didn't sit right with him, apparently. Either way, we have reason to believe he's working for Lavie, now."
"Oh, god," Carmen said, understanding washing over her. "You think he helped them kidnap her?" Her eyes widened in horror before quickly growing dark with anger. "Who on Earth would do something like that? As if Relena could have done anything to deserve any of this…"
The rest sitting at the table remained silent, contemplating what the newer member had said, and knowing there was no way for her to be sure what she said was nowhere near the truth.
"But, but sir! Even if I had a way to contact her, as if she would trust in me now!" Samuel Creed sunk back in his chair, afraid, as Lawrence Lavie looked over the top of his reading glasses, his eyes severe. "She might be naïve, but she isn't stupid. Relena would know by now that I lead her right into a trap."
"Shut up, Creed," Lavie finally said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "I've been hearing excuses the past two days, and no results. Relena Darlian is running around this colony with no contacts, no money, and no way out. If I find out you are the one hiding her, I'll kill you."
Creed winced again, shocked at the sudden confession of violence from his unusually agitated leader. "Sir, I would never…" He stopped as Lavie slammed a hand on the table.
"I know you are in love with her!" he shouted, and Sam paled. "Don't bother to deny it, it's been the running joke of the organization for months. She trusted you, there must be something you are hiding from us, something we can use. If you don't tell me everything you know willingly, I will drag it out of you myself." Lavie stood up menacingly, and Samuel gasped before scrambling to get away.
"No, no! I'll tell you everything!" he shouted, holding his hands out in front of his face protectively. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know, I swear!" Panting slightly from fear, Sam loosened his tie as Lavie sat back down, the older man's stare urging him to continue. "I have more information at home, it's locked away in a special file. I didn't know what to do with the stuff, I just figured it might be good to keep safe."
Lavie rolled his eyes, sighing. "By 'home' I dearly hope you mean it is on this colony." Creed nodded, and Lavie relaxed slightly. "Fine. I expect that file and your presentation to be here, in this office, within the next forty-eight hours. Someone on this colony is helping our poor Foreign Minister, and I need to find out who, now."
Sam stood, swallowing hard as he adjusted his jacket. "What… what will do you when you find her, sir?"
Lavie stood and turned away from his pawn to stare out the large window. "That is none of your concern, Mr. Creed. Two days, and I better have that information. Now get going."
Sam turned and practically ran out of the office, stupefied with fear and unsure of where his true loyalties lay.
