A/N: Update for all you faithful readers! Enjoy, the plot's a-thickening, it's only a matter of time until things really come go a boiling point! (Alright, enough food metaphors.) Read and review!

-picimadar

When You Run Among Shadows
Chapter 14: Worth 1000 Words

February 21, A.C. 200, X-18997

Heero snapped the top of the laptop shut, nearly shutting Relena's hands in it. "Step away, now," he said, and Relena completely lost her temper. Grabbing the glass topped coffee table, she threw it on its side gracelessly, dumping the empty dishes, books, and the offending laptop onto the ground. Far from finished, she walked away before Heero could react and grabbed the side of the tall, wooden bookshelf near the patio door, heaving it off balance and jumping away as it fell, dumping its contents onto the floor. She was breathing hard now; gratified by releasing the rage she had held in now for a week, staring at Heero as she waited for him to do something. Anything, Relena dared him internally. Do anything you dare. The two stood here, Heero staring back at Relena impassively as she glared at him, her blue eyes taking on a sheen he had not seen for the past week, or years before.

Finally, Relena turned away, growling, and took off upstairs, enjoying the temporary strength her weakened body had regained from channeling her anger, the adrenaline pumping through her system blurring her thoughts. She reached the bedroom and began turning the place upside-down, throwing clothes onto the floor, turning over furniture, upending the trashcan. Finally, she came to the last remaining piece of décor in the room, a small nightstand. She ripped open the heavy bottom drawer and, holding it above her head, Relena threw it down on the floor, smashing it apart. She turned, almost heady with rage, and threw open the top drawer. To her surprise, it seemed Heero kept several trinkets in it; an old watch, a small, leather bound book, a small, velvet box she dared not to look into. All were thrown over her shoulder onto the floor, landing on the previously broken glass and wood with satisfying noises.

Finally, she reached into the back of the drawer and pulled out a picture frame, wrapped in a soft cloth. What she could see of the frame was silver, with decorative leaves weaving around it; it was clear that whatever photo it held was highly valued. She turned toward Heero, grinning at him as she held it above her head. Just as she went to throw it down, he stopped her.

"Don't!" he shouted, stepping forward, his hands out. "Put it down." His voice was calm, but had an edge that proved to her she had finally hit a nerve. She took the frame and turned it over in her hand, preparing to take off the cover. "Give it to me, now," Heero attempted to order, but Relena pranced away from him, ignoring the shards of glass and turned over furniture, keeping out of his arm's reach as she took off the cover and examined the photo.

She gasped as she realized it was a photo of them from years past. The wedding, she thought, looking at the dress she wore, its deep blue fabric falling off her body perfectly, her hand wrapped around Heero's as he had led her around the dance floor. The look in her eyes was one of adoration, and it infuriated Relena to think he had kept the memento of their last night together.

"What is this?" She yelled, storming up to him. To her simultaneous chagrin and amusement, Heero flinched away, backing away from her. "What the fuck is this?" She demanded again, practically throwing the photo at him. "Who the hell do you think you are, keeping that? How dare you!" Expecting no answers to the questions, Relena backed away from Heero tripping over the drawer she had broken moments before. Landing gracelessly on her backside, she pushed herself away from the man with her feet until her back met the wall. Laying her head on her knees, she began sobbing uncontrollably. "How could you," she said between cries. "I hate you." Heero approached her, putting the photo down on the bed, and knelt down in front of her before holding a hand out to take hers. "Don't touch me! I hate you!" she screamed, breaking down again into sobs.

"Just kill me," she said, looking out at him between her fingers. "Just kill me. I can't stay here anymore, I c-can't…" Broken down, Relena was helpless, her body shaking and weak without the aid of the adrenaline. Her arms ached from abusing the furniture, and her heart ached from the sight of her looking so admiringly at the man she had once loved. The man she had always loved.

The man she still loved.


"Mid, mid. Mid. Wake up," Liam said, tapping on the door. "Come on, lemme in already!" He looked up, surprised, as someone much taller and much manlier than he had been expecting opened up the door. "Ah." He smiled, holding out a hand. "So, you must be Trowa. It's a pleasure." He took the lithe man's hand and shook it hard before walking past him into the suite Trowa shared with Middie. "Sis, we got mail," he shouted.

"Yeah, I got it already. Shut up, you're giving me a headache," she shouted back from the bedroom before walking out, completely disheveled. Her hair was held back loosely by a band, stray strands tucked in odd directions by mistake. Her makeup from the night before was smudged, leaving dark rings under her slate-blue eyes, and she was wearing one of the hotel's robes, tied lazily around her waist. "Why the hell are you up so early, anyways?"

"We're on a different zone than Wufei; I figured it was probably a good idea to get up early in case he had anything for us." Middie nodded, taking a cup of coffee that Trowa had offered to her gratefully, noticing as she took the first sip how he had already tailored it to her liking. She smiled at the young man, taking in his form. He was wearing a pair of loose track pants, his toned and sleek upper body bared as he shook his long bangs out of the way lazily, waiting for her to continue the conversation.

"Well, what'd you think of what he sent?" she asked, moving past both the men and sitting on the plush white loveseat, flicking the television onto the news and lowering the volume to a barely audible level.

"I don't like it," Jesse said, mumbling through a piece of toast he held half of in his mouth as he wandered into the room, kicking the door open and carrying in several plates of food. He put them down on the kitchenette table gracelessly, clanging the expensive china and silverware against the glass. "I mean, the guy's an asshole."

"Who, Neil, or Wufei?"Liam asked, and the two laughed, hi-fiving each other. Middie rolled her eyes, throwing herself off the couch so she could check out the food.

"Either way, he might be the only hope we've got." She sat down, arranging the plate she had chosen in front of her and digging in, cutting up the French toast delicately.

"Hey, screw you! French toast was mine!" Jesse dove in to snatch the plate away, but Middie grabbed the plate and held it away from him, glaring as she chewed. The younger man groaned but grabbed another plate, sitting down across from her and starting in. Liam offered his choice of the two remaining plates, and Trowa chose pancakes and fruit. They ate quietly for a few moments before Jesse began again.

"Seriously, though. Dude's a dick. He don't wanna work with us, then fuck 'im."

"It's not that simple. Our visas are only good for three months, and we've got nothing." Liam stared into his plate, contemplative.

"It's only been a week. We're still getting settled in. Three months is lots of time. We'll figure this out, but I think Neil could help. He might help, if he knew... if he's working for Lavie, he has to know what happened to her. He could at least give us a timeline, or something… It's not like we're the only ones looking for her." Middie continued to eat, taking a cell phone out of her robe pocket and scrolling through some messages.

"I never really thought of that," Liam said, growing sadder. "God, what happens if they find her first? She got away once, there's no way they'll leave her alive."

"Shut up," Middie said. "I'm calling him, and he can't know you're all here. He fuckin' hates Jesse, he'd likely hang up if he so much as hears you breathe, so shut it, you little shit." Jesse tossed his head and sat back, but kept silent as the grave, all of them trying to listen in on the conversation.

"Neil? Hi, it's… Yes, I know. Look, I just… okay, fine. Sure. Well, I'm sure as hell not coming alone. Fine. Yes. No, it won't be Jesse." She caught her brother's glance and stuck her tongue out at him. "Yep. I really appreciate it. Tomorrow, at four? Okay. Fine. Bye." Middie tossed the phone down on the table, looking triumphant. "And that's what put bread on your table, kids."


A knock sounded at the door, and Relena jumped, startled. She stood up from the space on the ruined bedroom floor where she had been sitting the past few hours. Oh, God, she thought, what if he called them back. What if they're here to take me back? Her stomach clenched, and she carefully peeked behind a corner of the heavy drapes. Only one silver car was parked in the driveway behind Heero's black coupe, and she sighed heavily, hoping they would send more than one car's worth of men to take care of her. The knocking came again, and Relena left the bedroom and walked toward the stairs, creeping carefully to avoid being heard. If I can make it to the bottom without him hearing me… she plotted, but it was too little, too late. Heero was already standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring at her.

"Get back up there, now. Try anything funny, and you're dead." He patted his lower back suggestively, and Relena realized he had tucked his gun into his jeans. She sat down at the top of the stairs, resting her head against the enclosing wall.

The person outside knocked a third time, and Heero opened the door. "What," was all he said, and unexpectedly, the visitor stepped into the home.

"Nice to see you, too," Neil said, walking through the hallway and into the kitchen. "In case you've forgotten, we've got a job to do, and since you refuse to leave this house, I'm coming to you." Relena fought the urge to scream, clapping her hands over her mouth and frantically deciding whether or not to ascend or descend the stairs.

"Then let's go into the office. I was just getting ready to leave, anyways," Heero lied fluidly, reopening the door and stepping out.

"Oooookay then. You know, 'erratic behavior' is on our list, Caden," Neil said, his voice fading as he continued out the door, shutting it behind him. Once she was sure they had left, Relena ran to the front window, looking over the kitchen table as the car pulled out of the driveway. Caden, she said to herself, wondering what on Earth was really happening to her, and whom she could trust.

The thought stayed with her throughout the day, even though she tried to keep as busy as possible without making enough noise to arouse suspicion. Sighing, she walked sullenly into the living room and righted the coffee table, wiping it with a glass cleaner to check for cracks. Thankfully the large pane had withstood her onslaught, and she replaced the books and papers that had been on it carefully. After finishing, Relena continued cleaning, struggling and groaning to lift the heavy wooden shelf back onto its end, replacing the books on it carefully. Most were uninteresting to her, learner's books on programming languages, copies of old newspapers, and a smattering of novels. Leaving a few off the shelf, Relena decided, with growing fatigue, so start straightening the upstairs.

She entered the bedroom with a feeling somewhere between shock and awe. The room was completely torn apart, with wood, glass and clothes mixed together, covering the floor. Getting down onto her knees, she began pulling out the clothes, setting some aside that she thought may fit her better than the borrowed sweatpants she had been wearing for a over a week.

Over a week, she considered, and her stomach turned. If a week could pass this quickly without me being discovered here, in an open home, on a regular street in the middle of the colony, how long was I in prison? It was a question that had haunted her the entirety of her incarceration, and with Heero having locked down any and all media access while she was 'home' alone, Relena had know way of knowing how long she had truly been missing.

"The Preventers have stopped looking for you," her memory taunted, and she struggled not to cry as she continued to clean, finding a broom in a utility closet she could use to sweep the shards of glass and smaller pieces of broken lumber off the floor, emptying them into the broken, empty drawer of the bedside table.

She found the offending picture and sat, staring at it for some time, admiring the handiwork of the frame, and the way the dress had fit so snugly against her once-admirably-shaped body. Looking down at herself, Relena grimaced. The time she had spent in prison had taken her thin, sickly form and made it bony, hard and completely unattractive. She sighed before putting the frame on top of what remained of the bedside table. Finally, the room acceptably clean, Relena sat down on the bed, exhausted. Unable to imagine waiting around for Heero to return, she laid her head down on the pillow and began reading one of the few novels Heero seemed to own, Atlas Shrugged.

She didn't realize she had fallen asleep until her eyes flew open at the sound of the front door slamming shut. The bedroom was completely dark, and Relena tried carefully not to move. If he thinks I'm asleep, maybe he'll leave me alone. Heero climbed the stairs and entered the room, clearly looking for her. The hall light had been turned on, and Relena quickly clamped her eyes shut, begging her breathing to slow. She heard his footsteps cross the room, and Relena realized he must be surprised that she had bothered to clean anything.

It wasn't until she felt his weight on the bed that she started to panic, her mind racing as she continued to urge her body to stay still. Heero continued to be silent, and Relena braced herself to keep from flinching as he reached out and, with a shocking amount of gentleness, tucked a lock of her long blonde hair behind her ear. Mentally counting to five with each breath, Relena waited until, finally, Heero stepped away and closed the bedroom door behind him. She sprang up in bed once she heard him reach the bottom of the stairs, flicking on the nearby light.

The picture was gone.


"So, I need you to do something with me tomorrow," Neil said, taking a deep drink out of his glass. Not expecting a reaction from the man, he continued, "I think I've got an in on where to find Relena. Doesn't seem like we're still the only ones looking for her." Heero'd head lifted at that, and he took a deep few swallows out of his own glass before the man spoke again. "I've got a meeting with someone tomorrow, but I ain't going alone. You gonna back me up?"

Heero looked into the other man's eyes. "Guess so. Got nothing better to do, anyways."

Neil laughed. "You sure about that? You've been acting awful strange, Heero… Methinks there's something you're hiding from your beloved partner." The dark-haired man put a hand over his heart, the alcohol and stoic company ramping up his dramatics. "Oh, fine then. I'll pick you up at 3:30 tomorrow. I've gotta head out anyways, supposed to be up early." He took the last swig of his drink before heading out. "3:30, don't forget!"

Heero didn't forget. By 3:15 he was waiting outside the door, praying Relena continued her relatively obedient streak. He knew she could gain nothing by turning herself in, but he knew Relena was far from ignorant; he stood to lose everything if she was discovered. Neil pulled up on schedule, and Heero walked over and climbed into the car before the other man could so much as open the driver's-side door.

"Alrighty then, right to business, eh? Good to see that hasn't changed." Neil pulled out of the driveway quickly.

"Where are we going?" Heero asked, showing interest in the man's sudden plans for the first time.

"Gotta meet a pair at this bistro downtown. It'll be crowded, but it's better than getting seen alone with them. They might be working against us, but they're… old friends. I don't want anything too bad to happen to them, if we can help it."

Heero felt his heart drop. "You got names?"

"Yeah, but I ain't givin' 'em. Sorry, but rules are rules. You don't have to tell 'em yours, but I can't tell you theirs. I'm just bringing you along to make sure they don't pull a fast one on me; besides, you're better at picking up the little things than I am." Heero nodded, understanding why he was needed, and praying that it wasn't anyone he had once known they were meeting with. The bistro was at the other end of their "quarter", and during the entire drive Heero indulged in something he normally avoided: fretting. His mind was working, running himself through any number of scenarios he could encounter when they finally arrived and met these mystery informants.

By the time they finally arrived, Heero felt prepared, but tense. "Chill out, man. It's not like they're going to just stand up and shoot you," Neil joked, slapping his friend on the shoulder before opening the door and ushering him in.

"Oh my fucking god," Jesse said, before grabbing his sister's arm. "Don't fucking turn around. Oh my god, be cool. Be cool."

"What is it?" Middie hissed, glaring at her brother and tearing her arm away. She was already regretting not just bringing Trowa, but the risk of him being recognized, especially by one of Lavie's people, was too high.

"You wouldn't believe me if I freakin' told you," Jesse said, shaking his head, before he slouched back into his chair and took a deep sip of some kind of specialty lemonade. Middie turned her head casually, meeting Neil's eyes and waving him over, before turning back around.

"Oh my god. I'll fucking kill him." She growled through a false smile once she had turned back around. The two men sat down at the table, and Middie turned on her well-renowned charm. "Hey, Neil! Long time, no see!" She stood and hugged the man, staring down over his shoulder at the man she was sure was Heero Yuy. "You remember Jesse.."

"Who could forget?" he said, rolling his eyes as he sat down. "Not every day someone nearly runs you over with your own car." Jesse smiled behind his lemonade glass, remembering the incident, while Neil simply stared at him before continuing. "Anyways, I didn't come here to talk about that. Tell me what you know."

"Ha! Or what? If you think that's how this is going to work, you're nuts." Middie crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, angry.

"Tell me what you know, or I report you to Lavie, we find where you're staying, and you get put into prison." Jesse flinched, realizing they had walked right into a trap.

"We know she's alive. She got away from you sometime in the last two weeks, and someone on this colony is hiding her. It's unlikely she'll be able to just sit at home all day much longer, she'll have to leave sometime, and when she does, we'll find her."

Neil arched a brow. "That's a lot of ground to cover. How can you be so sure you'll be the ones to catch her?"

"Because we're not trying to catch her, we're trying to save her. Your orders are to kill her, aren't they? Her and whoever's been hiding her, to cover up the facts. She got away from you, and Lavie's embarrassed. Let him be, the fucking prick. We'll find her and get her out of here, and then she's gonna kick some ass." Middie stood up and pulled her wallet out of her purse, throwing a few bills on the table. "I can see this was a waste of time. You phone us in, and I swear to god, I'll hunt you down and kill you both."

She nodded to Jesse, who stood up and followed her out, practically jogging to keep up with her brusque pace. "Did you get it?" she asked, and Jesse nodded, tossing a phone to her. Clicking a button, Middie smiled as she saw the display. "Alright. Follow them, find out where he lives and meet me back at the hotel as soon as you're done. Don't fucking get caught."

Jesse laughed, jogging out to his rental car. "Oh, please. I learned from the best, didn't I?" He took off to where he had parked down the street, and Middie smiled briefly before turning and taking off toward her own small rental. Man, wait 'till Trowa sees this… she thought, driving as fast as she could without endangering anyone to get back to the hotel. Arriving, Middie tossed the keys to a valet before running inside and tapping the elevator button no less than seven times, tapping her foot with impatience. When it finally came, she clicked the number of their suite's floor and, upon reaching it, burst through the door.

"Trowa, come look at this!" she said, running into the living room. Trowa looked at her, leaning forward off the couch.

"That was fast. What did you find out?"

"Well, they basically didn't tell us anything, just confirmed what we know. But look, I gotta show you this…" she pulled out Jesse's photo, but Trowa turned away, uninterested. "Hey, what's wrong?" She sat down on the couch, tossing down her purse. "Talk to me."

"It just feels impossible. We've been here over a week and haven't done anything. I just want to find her and get home." He was avoiding her gaze, staring out one of the large windows. "It just feels like there's no progress."

Middie smirked before calling the phone photo back up and showing it to him. "How's that for progress?" she asked. Trowa immediately grabbed the phone, holding it so that he could see it clearly, without the glare. "Right?" Middie said, proud of herself, but Trowa could do nothing but keep staring at the grainy, but still impossibly clear picture of Heero Yuy, alive and in the flesh.