A/N: Hello again! Here's another chapter for all you lovely readers. As always, I love reading your reviews, keep 'em coming! Good or bad, there's always something to be learned from the feedback of others!
Enjoy!
-picimadar
When You Run Among Shadows
Chapter 15: Best Laid Plans
"Trowa, where are you going?" Middie shouted, jumping up off the couch and following Trowa out toward the elevator.
"I'm going to kill him," the man growled, staring at the sheet metal doors until the chime sounded and the doors opened.
"Whoa! Wait, Middie, what the hell?" Jesse shouted as Trowa shoved him back into the elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor. "So it is him? Jesus… this whole thing just got ten times more complicated than it was this morning." Trowa crossed his arms, ignoring both his companions, while Middie just barely slid through the closing door and swiped her hand down a half-dozen floor numbers.
"You can't just run out there and find him. It's him, we're positive. If anyone's going to find Relena, it'll be him! We just have to wait, and we can find the bastard and take them both. You'll be a hero! It's not worth jeopardizing her to get some petty revenge." Middie looked at Trowa, trying to make eye contact but unable as he stared at the floor.
"This isn't about some petty revenge," Trowa said, and Middie looked at him incredulously. The elevator speaker chimed, and when the doors opened, Trowa quickly grabbed Jesse and threw him into his own suite, clicking the DOOR CLOSE button behind him. "Heero tried to kill Wufei and Duo. Both of them were hospitalized for weeks because of it. This isn't some escape; it wasn't him getting away from us. He attacked us, and now he's working with them. If he doesn't know where Relena is by now, she's likely dead and buried."
"I… I didn't know," Middie said, walking closer to Trowa. "I mean, Relena always talked about you guys since she met you, but him… she was always on about him. I think she really loved him, and now he's… well, fuck." She put her arm around the taller man's, resting her head against his bicep.
"She did love him. She loved us all, but everything she did for us, she did for him. And this is how he's repaying her?" Trowa was almost yelling now, his muscles tensing beneath Middie's small hands. The doors opened again, and Trowa lowered his voice. "This is unbelievable. We thought he was alive… I mean, there's no killing the bastard. He couldn't even kill himself properly. But here? Christ… If Relena's out there somewhere, we don't stand a chance of finding her before they do." The doors chimed and opened a final time, and then the elevator continued speedily down to the ground floor. "He deserves to die, and I swear to god, if I see him, I'm gonna-" Trowa stopped dead in his tracks three steps out of the elevator, staring Heero Yuy straight in the eyes.
"Don't take out your gun. I don't think the concierge would like it too much, especially considering they're probably in Lavie's pocket." Heero didn't step any closer, but instead continued to stand, relaxed, in the middle of the hotel's grand entrance.
"How the fuck did you find us?" Trowa asked, advancing on the man, shrugging off Middie's grasp. She stood, silent, her eyes wide as she took in the scene between the two men, the tension enormous, and yet completely inconspicuous to the other frequenters of the hotel, who continued to walk past quietly.
"It really wasn't that hard. I followed the kid she brought with her earlier. Once they split up I realized they'd figured me out. I've never seen you before," Heero said, looking the strange blond woman over, "but it's not terribly important."
Trowa was furious now, but bearing it as he did all his other emotions; quietly, leaving it roiling beneath the surface, clouding his eyes and furrowing his brow. He advanced on Heero quickly, staring down over him. "Give me one good reason not to shoot you dead right this second." To his chagrin, Heero smiled.
"I know where she is, and if you kill me, you'll never find her." He stepped away, half-facing the pair. "If you follow me, you'll never see her again." Heero walked out away, the front doors automatically opening and letting him walk out into the evening air.
"Why don't you follow him?" Middie asked, shocked and confused. "Come on, if we get out there we can still-" Trowa grabbed her arm, staring off after where his old friend had been standing.
"We'll see him again. And we'll see Relena." He turned back and walked to the elevator, waiting for it to come back to the main floor.
"How can you be sure? He just said if we follow him, we wouldn't see her…"
"Because he also said he knew where she was. She's alive, and if we don't follow him, we'll see her." The one-time soldier was calmer now, as the elevator dinged and opened. "Heero may work in round-about ways, but he keeps his promises."
"Wake up," Heero said, turning on the overhead lights in what was once his bedroom. Relena groaned and sat up abruptly, afraid, as she had been every time she had woken since freeing herself from her former prison.
"God, what time is it?" she said, rubbing her eyes and looking or the small alarm clock, turning her gaze embarrassedly as she recalled that it was yet another thing she had broken the night before.
"Three. Put these on," he said, tossing her a set of clean clothes. "We're going out."
"Out?" Relena asked, climbing out of bed. She looked at the clothes briefly before pulling off the t-shirt she wore, tearing it over her head and tossing it on the floor before replacing it with a clean one. Heero couldn't help but stare, able to see where every svelte curve had once been, her bare chest, her ribs pushing painfully against her thin, pale skin…. He turned away quickly, trying to give the woman some privacy while she smirked at him. "It's not like I have anything you haven't seen before," she murmured, and she pulled on the smaller than usual jeans and tugged socks onto her feet. "Where did you get these?"
Heero cleared his throat and turned back around, inspecting her. "Borrowed them from a coworker. We'll get you something that fits better later." He gestured for her to follow him out, and turned the light off before them. Relena felt her stomach begin churning with nervousness.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked quietly, unable to hide the waver in her voice. God, not back there… she thought frantically, her hands still working to tie on the shoes Heero passed to her, zipping up the jacket he handed to her. Telling me to get comfortable would be the perfect way to trick me right back into being in prison… She stopped, finally, looking next to her to where Heero sat, quietly tying his own shoes on the base of the stairs. "Tell me the truth."
He looked up and met her eyes. "To a department store. There's one across town that's open twenty-four hours. You need clothes that fit; we can pick you up whatever it is you need to stay for a while. No one should recognize you. Here," he said, pulling a hat out of his bag, "wear this." Watching as she tugged the hat on, he nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Come on, then." Relena followed obediently, climbing into the passenger side of his sporty and luxurious car, snapping on her seatbelt.
"Lavie pays well, hmm?" she said, looking out the window at the artificially lit street. Not expecting a reply, she continued to stare out at the rows of identical houses, tiny parks and stores dotting the streets before they headed out to a larger highway. Surprisingly awake, Relena sat up in her seat, looking curiously out the windshield.
"Planning another escape?" Heero asked, smirking at her slightly. Relena narrowed her eyes before grinning back.
"Seemed to work out pretty well for me the first time, and I didn't even know where I was at, then." She tossed her hair haughtily as Heero turned away, seemingly upset by her pointing out the weakness in his team's security. "You never told me what happened to those guards. I'm sure the one didn't survive…" her voice quieted as she remembered the night, the memory seeming far enough away to have been years before, instead of barely over a week.
"He didn't. Emergency showed up, but by the time they got him to the hospital he was dead." Heero kept driving, keeping the speed limit as he led them through the colony's wide highways. "Apparently being crushed by a transport truck does that to you." Relena winced, upset that she had been forced to cause the man's painful demise.
"I did what I had to," she replied, continuing to look away. "I didn't want to have to kill him, but it was the only way…" They pulled into the parking lot of the department store Heero had described, and Heero kept the doors locked as he parked the car.
"If you try anything, they'll pick you up in an instant. This isn't like the Earth; everyone works for Lavie first, and their career second. If you try to escape, you'll get taken back without a doubt." He was looking directly at Relena now, and she finally turned back and stared at him. "I'd appreciate it if you'd think twice before trying to murder me here." He unlocked the doors, and watched as Relena spoke before stepping out.
"If you ever treat me the way they did, I'll kill you, too." She shut the door forcefully behind her and stood waiting in the dimly lit lot until Heero caught up to her, locking the car behind them. He looked at her, seemingly surprised, before they walked into the store together taking a small cart with them. Heero guided them over to the general women's department and looked around briefly, his expression somewhere between clueless and disinterested. "I don't know exactly what you want, just pick out enough of whatever you need."
Relena looked at him with a raised brow. "Well, how long are you expecting this vacation to last, dear?" she asked, tilting her head in mock innocence as another shopper passed by. Heero paused, seriously considering what she had asked.
"Just get enough clothes for a week. I have a washing machine in the basement." Relena nodded, perusing the cheap fabrics and generic clothing interestedly. She grabbed a few things, throwing them over the side of the cart. "That should be fine, but…" Heero watched his strange companion as she blushed softly, avoiding his gaze.
"What?" he finally asked, becoming annoyed.
"Well, there are other considerations… other things I might need," she said quietly, the pink in her cheeks becoming brighter. Heero was almost happy to see the colour rise in her face; not only it was a sign her body was becoming more balanced, but it didn't appear to be caused by an unholy rage.
"Like what?" he asked curiously, not entirely understanding her vague approach.
"Well, I have the unfortunate burden of being born female, and if you get my body fat back up I'm sure said body will presume natural functions," Relena finally spat out, annoyed that Heero hadn't simply picked up her nuance. Your turn to blush, she thought, crossing her arms.
"Well… I guess we can pick up whatever you want before we leave." Heero finally said, pushing the cart farther into the store. Relena nodded slowly, sighing and following after him.
"So, what should I call you?" she asked, tossing a few packages of panties and socks over her shoulder and into the cart. "I assume what I know you by isn't what you go by here. I heard N-" she paused briefly, mentally slapping herself, praying Heero hadn't heard her slip, "-your visitor call you Caden the other night. Is that what you prefer?" She looked back at Heero over the end of the slowly filling cart, examining him through her crystal-clear blue eyes. "I'll take that as a yes," she finally said, turning around and walking further into the store, picking out some pajamas and, finally, a few bits of makeup and the female 'necessities'.
"I guess that's everything I need. Is there anything you need? I'd feel bad if you made this whole trip just for me…" The dark haired man rolled his eyes, nearly disbelieving that the woman could worry about him spending time on her, even in their current situation.
"It's not a problem, you would have needed all this some time or another," he said, pushing the cart into a checkout and tossing things onto the conveyor and asking the clerk to bag them up. The young woman looked exhausted, her deep brown bangs hanging in her face as she bagged the groceries and clothes quietly. "How's Shawna?" Heero asked, and the girl looked up, her eyes brightening slightly.
"She's doing awright. Still in the 'ospital, but should be out by nex' week, they say." She smiled, nodding her head and telling Heero the total, to which he handed over a plastic card. She swiped it quickly and handed it back, keeping up her newly interested expression, staring at the young man almost adoringly as Relena gathered up the bags and helped him out to the car.
"Who was that?" Relena finally asked, surprised and infuriated by the jealousy welling up in her stomach.
"A coworker's sister. Their mom's quite sick, I guess, but it sounds like she's out of the worst now." He put the last of the bags in the trunk before unlocking the doors and climbing in as Relena did on her side.
"I just can't believe this. No one even looked at me twice. I walk out my front door anywhere else and it's a zoo, but here…" She looked at Heero, her lips pursed.
"You're just another person, now," he replied, pulling the car out of the lot. "If you don't walk like Relena Darlian and talk like Relena Darlian and get expected to be Relena Darlian, eventually people are going to stop caring." He stopped at the end of his last sentence, realizing, in his own heart, that there was no way that could be true. He started at the woman sitting next to him, her long hair held back, a ball-cap obscuring her face, and old, plain clothes on, and new that Relena Darlian could be anyone, and he would still care.
"Would it kill you to let me read the paper?" Relena finally asked the next morning, her hair still wet from the shower, clinging to the plain blue t-shirt she wore and dripping down her back. Heero looked at the woman warily; she had been so calm most days, almost accepting of her fate, clearly aware that this was a better alternative to whatever her arrangements had been prior, yet only two nights before she had also torn his house apart in a blind rage. He knew that there was plenty hiding beneath the surface of Relena Darlian's skin, but the blind terror he saw in her eyes when she woke, suddenly, from those dreams that kept him awake even downstairs, the tenacious fury that she showed whenever he touched her, those were unexpected, dangerous, and worrisome.
"I guess not," he finally said, tossing her the copy he had picked up off the street soon before. The young woman snatched it up greedily, pulling a rubber band off it and reading the first page thoughtfully. "Despite what you think, the universe hasn't been laid to waste because you 'disappeared'." Relena didn't look up from the page, but tears were streaming from her eyes now, silently. "Oh, come on," Heero said, almost exasperated at his inability to predict her emotions. Not that it was ever my strongest suit…. ,"it was just a joke."
She looked up at him, and he almost flinched away from the sorrow in her eyes. "It's been two months." Whispering, she put the paper down in front of her, her hands shaking as she brought them up to her face, hiding those ultra-expressive eyes from him.
"You didn't know?" He said, getting food out of the fridge as he tried to avoid staring at her. Relena was clearly still crying, her posture crumbling in on itself as she struggled to try and compose herself enough to make a response.
"They kept me in the dark… I could only guess while I was in… that place." The shudder that ripped through her at the memory was obvious even from the corner of Heero's eye, and that made up his mind. Whatever Lavie told us was a lie, he thought decidedly, putting a container of milk back in the fridge. "I know it's been a week that you've kept me here, but I didn't know… I don't know what I thought. It felt like six months. I guess I should be happy." When Heero closed the door, Relena was resting her head against the back of her kitchen chair, staring at the ceiling.
"Happy?" He asked, taking his bowl and sitting down across from her.
"Yes," she said, wiping the tears from her face. "It's only been two months. They'll still be looking for me." Heero shook his head, and Relena smiled at him as she looked into his eyes. "You know they will. You know they'll never stop. Une can tell them whatever pleases her; those men will never leave me here alone. And when they find us, you'd better have your story straight."
Heero swallowed, hard, watching as Relena stood and walked out of the kitchen and back upstairs, taking the paper with her, knowing she was right. They'll never stop looking… he thought. I just wonder exactly what they'll find.
A little over an hour later he was at work, entering the gleaming mock-office building and completing his security check. "Good to see you, Mr. Li," the tiny receptionist greeted him quietly. "I believe Mr. Cairns left the information you asked for in your office."
"Thanks," Heero murmured before entering the elevator and progressing to his out-of-the-way office. It was a small space, half the size his office had been when he worked with the Preventers, but he worked for Lavie now; he was no longer a Gundam pilot, the head of security for powerful people, or even anyone exceptional for reasons other than his performance in the past few years he had spent under the older man's command. He flicked on the lights, putting his bag down and seeing the package on his desk. Caden- Here's that footage you asked for. Destroy it when finished, or return to me, the note read, and Heero quickly pulled it off it's sticky backing and tossed it into the trash, viewing the data stick curiously.
Connecting it to his laptop, he opened the main folder and saw weeks worth of surveillance files, all from one specific place: the basement room where, against his knowledge, Relena had been held for nearly two months. He recalled the day Lavie had debriefed them on the subject, the day he had learned Relena Darlian had, truly, been captured…
"She's to be held in my care, at my estate on the north-colony," Lavie said, smiling to himself.
"I still don't understand what you need her for. She's wiling to sign the paperwork, isn't that enough?" An intern had asked, young and inexperienced, but wondering the same things all the others who were involved with the high-stakes kidnapping were.
Lavie laughed. "There will always be more to it than paperwork, you fool. We have her, now, the adored little angel of the Earth Sphere. They'll do anything to get her back, they'll be sick with worry over her. You see?" he said, bringing his hands together, still smiling. "It will be the perfect time to strike."
Heero clicked on the file of Relena's first day in the secret detention rooms buried into the 'ground' of the colony, and sighed. The room was dark, and he fast-forwarded through several hours before, finally, light splayed into the room as a door was opened, and Heero quickly put in a pair of headphones just in time to hear the struggle as Relena was shoved roughly into the dark chamber.
"Don't you dare leave me in here alone! Help!" Relena was practically screaming, pounding on the door with her hands in fists, relentless as she kept up her tirade of anger. The anger turned to threats, which turned to bargaining, which, as he clicked through the days, punctuated only by brief meals and check-ins, turned to begging, and finally, to desolate silence. Seemingly beaten only ten days into her 'sentence', Relena sat quietly in the corner of the black room, barely able to be seen by the light-receptive security camera. A man entered the room, and as quick as lightening Relena was on her feet, snatching the tray of food from his hands and beating him with it, kicking him and yelling at him nearly incoherently before he backed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Heero felt strangely proud of the young woman as he watched, knowing he had contributed some of her newly utilized defensive training. Each time a new man entered the room, she had the same reaction, the same intense, blinding fury that he had briefly been exposed to time and again since she had become his new housemate. It seemed as though she was preparing herself, punishing her guards in advance… and then Heero saw why. The next day, Relena was chained to the wall, her hands and feet held at awkward angles, forcing her to stand on clearly weakened legs. That was when her true hardship began: men he knew and some he did not entered the room, slapping Relena hard when she spat in their faces, refusing to tell them the information they demanded; access to her accounts, information on other workers, where to find certain people. During all these interrogations, she held strong, pushing her limits until finally, Relena could see that she would not be killed for keeping her secrets.
The rest of the time the guards were cruel to her, no longer young, untrained men, but older, harsher agents, those Lavie reserved for his own personal guard. They taunted her, touched her, and Heero felt himself grow sick with an aggravation he could not name as he watched them violate her, always stopping at the edge, never truly damaging her, but never allowing her to feel safe, almost always leaving her chained up for hours at a time.
A knock sounded at the door, and Heero slammed his laptop shut and yanked out his headphones. "Come in," he said, irritated and unsettled.
"Just me," Neil said, falling into the chair across from his desk. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing," Heero lied, "just trying to catch up on some things."
"Anything interesting going on in the life of Caden Li lately?" Neil asked, snapping open the paper he had carried in with them. It was then that Heero realized the headline that had so shaken his houseguest: WHO IS SEARCHING FOR OUR PRINCESS? "Guess that's a no, hmm?" Coming back to reality, Heero shook his head. "Well, that's all for the better. I guess Lavie wants to see a bunch of us, there's a meeting going on upstairs, floor twelve. Wanna head up?" The two men headed for the elevator, Heero locking his office up behind him. "Can't believe they still haven't found her. I mean honestly… what's to stop them from just sending a few thousand guys up here and kicking our asses upside down looking? It's not like they don't have the man-power…"
"She would never let them. Une, I mean. With the politics involved, she wouldn't be able to justify sending that many men after one lower-level official."
Neil shrugged as they reached the twelfth floor. "I guess. It's not like she's just anyone though, you know?" More than you, Heero thought to himself, temporarily distracted, thinking of the way Relena looked when she slept, the captivating clarity of her eyes when she woke... "Yo, stay with me, bro," Neil said, clapping the man on the shoulder before coming to the large conference room. "Whoa…. How big is this meeting? I feel underdressed."
Heero had to agree, seeing hundreds of other men and women beginning to fill in the seats in the massive auditorium. "Thank you all for coming," Lavie's voice sounded, and a hush passed over the room as the two men took their empty seats. "As you are obviously aware, there has been an unfortunate incident regarding the transport of our prized prisoner, the Foreign Minister, Relena Darlian. Not only has she escaped, but she also murdered one of our trained agents and severely wounded two others." Lavie pressed his hands against the podium, an angry look visible even from the back rows. "She has been deceiving us all from the beginning. This cold-blooded murder was no work of some innocent pacifist! Pushed in front of a moving transport! A painful and unnecessary death, and for what? We know this conniving 'princess'," he practically spat the word, "is hiding out still on this colony. We still have her in our grasps, ladies and gentlemen. We need to find who is hiding her, who is keeping her here, and bring her back into safe care immediately, before she can hurt anyone else." Murmurs of agreement passed, and Heero began to feel his anxiety rising.
"As some of you are aware, we have big plans for the Minister. She refused to give us the information we asked for, and so we will have to go on without it. The manufacturing for the weapon is still in place." Neil looked at Heero, briefly confused.
"What weapon-" The large white canopy above Lavie's stage lit up with a series of complex blueprints and technical details.
"It is coming along at an amazing speed, thanks to all our talented engineers and manufacturers." A few whoops were heard, and Lavie smiled slightly. "We project it should be operational by April, well before our target date. If all goes as planned, we could hope for an early launch. Now, I know this is all quite new information for some of you; expect to receive more throughout the week. I cannot debrief you all individually, but your team leaders will fill in the blanks. Now, return to your work, we have much to prepare for!" Applause rang throughout the auditorium, and Heero and Neil looked at each other, the same strange looks on their faces.
"This just got so much more complicated than my brain can handle, today," Neil finally said as they waited for the elevator. "Any idea who our team leader is?"
Heero took his phone out of his pocket, flicking through his new messages.
"Lavie," he replied, surprised.
"Wow, the top brass himself. We must be like… the ultimate brown-nosers or something, huh?" Neil smiled, and for a moment Heero was reminded of his old friend, Duo Maxwell, the same contagious, devilish brightness in both their eyes.
"Yes, I guess so," Heero replied. He thought back to the last time he had seen his dearest friend, and looked at his newest one carefully, quietly. With the old, he had committed a heinous betrayal, and knew that with each passing day he kept Relena's presence a secret, he was dallying with committing yet another.
