A/N: Yay! Update! I've been trying to keep up my writing pace, but my seasonal job kicked my ass this past few weeks so I haven't had much time to write, and I apologize. We're getting into the nitty-gritty now, so get prepared! Read and review, I love hearing anything you've got to throw at me. Enjoy.

-picimadar

When You Run Among Shadows
Chapter 16: Pinned

September 9, A.C. 194, Sanq

"Mind if I sit down?" Relena lowered her book carefully, staring just over the tops of the pages at the sudden disturbance. Great, she thought, the new boy. He continued to stand, clearing his throat awkwardly while shifting his weight on his feet. Struggling not to roll her eyes, the young girl moved over on the bench she occupied carefully, tucking her skirt under her bottom and crossing her feet at the ankles.

"It's a free country," she finally replied dryly, going back to reading as the boy sat down. The dark uniform he wore matched the darkness of his eyes and hair, and Relena watched him carefully from the corner of her eye.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" he said, smiling, his bright white teeth contrasting with the darkness of his tan skin. Relena nodded, not taking her eyes off the page. "What are you reading? Is that the book for St. James' class?" The boy was staring at her intently now, and Relena sighed, realizing that there was simply no way to politely ignore the conversation.

"Yes. I'm afraid I got behind and I'm trying to catch up." She folded the book on her lap, putting a finger on her page to keep it.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be fine. You always school him whenever he tries to trick you. Which I had that kind of tenacity." He smiled at her again, the motion almost causing him to close his eyes.

"It's Neil, right?" Relena finally asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

"Yep, that's me! Sorry to bother you, but Patricia suggested I talk to you. She's got it in her head that you're incapable of being mean to the 'new kid'… or is just playing a foul prank on me."

"I'm capable of a lot of things," Relena said, half amused. Neil laughed, settling back onto the bench, staring out over the green, well-manicured schoolyard.

"So Pattie said. She told me some pretty interesting things about what you get up to after hours. Can't say I'm uninterested." The tone of the boy's voice was different now, lowered, conveying subtlety that Relena hadn't been sure Neil was capable of.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Relena said back sharply, reopening her book and flipping back to her page.

"Of course not. But hearing the same story from Pattie, Middie and Wufei makes your denial a bit less… convincing." Relena sighed heavily, putting down her book and looking over at him, eyes narrowed.

"What do you want?" she asked, not bothering to hide her irritation.

"I want in, clearly," Neil replied, turning toward her. "Oh, don't ignore me! I'm serious!"

"I get that, Neil, but it simply isn't going to happen. This isn't some Weekender's club. It's not even a big deal, it all just started because I needed people around I could trust, and now I have them. Besides, I barely know you at all." Picking up her book, Relena stood, straightened her skirt slightly, and went to walk away, glad to put the incident behind her. L'Ombre is dead, she thought, I want it to stay that way. She was startled as she felt a hand take hers, and looked back to see Neil holding it, looking at her imploringly.

"Then get to know me," he said, stepping closer to her. "I want to know you."


March 7, A.C. 200, X-18997

Relena's eyes fluttered open and she sat up, gasping as her vision filled with not the sun-filled, blooming back yard she had been expecting, but the darkness of nightfall. "Oh, dammit!" she exclaimed, jumping off the lounger she had so carelessly fallen asleep on and running to the patio door, throwing it open and dashing inside, slamming it closed behind her.

"Shit!" Throwing the borrowed sunglasses down on the coffee table, Relena whirled around as the front door closed loudly. "Shit!"

"You don't have to hide, it's just me," Heero said. It still jarred him to hear Relena swearing, knowing that even though she could, the woman would rarely curse unless it was warranted.

"Of course it is," Relena said, almost mournfully. I wish it had been anyone else…

"How was your day?" Heero asked, his deep voice almost amicable as he deposited his lunch dishes in the kitchen.

"Pretty boring, as usual," Relena said, refusing to return her captor's charm. "I did some reading. Dinner's in the fridge." She took her usual place, leaning against the doorframe that led between the living room and the kitchen, crossing her arms. Heero took in her form almost hungrily, her long legs bared underneath a pair of shorts, a slim green tank top contrasting the highlight in her hair, the newly tanned colour of her skin. Wait... tan?

"Where were you reading, exactly?" Heero asked, stepping toward her.

"Uh, just here, in the house!" Relena said, and Heero almost laughed. You still can't lie to me.

"So how, exactly, did you get sunburned?" he asked, grabbing ahold of Relena's hand and examining the dirt under her nails. "Been gardening?" Relena growled and pulled her hand away from his angrily, stalking over to the small dining table.

"What does it even matter? Your neighbours are gone all day and the fence is six feet tall. There's no way anyone would have seen me, and besides, it's just like you said; If I left, I'd be dead by now." Leaning her cheek against the palm of her hand, Relena watched as Heero pulled his dinner plate out and microwaved it. "Speaking of which," she said, crossing those enticing legs, "have you figured out what you're going to do with me, yet?"

"What?" Heero asked, burning his fingers slightly as he pulled out the overheated food.

"You can't keep me here forever. One way or another you're going to get caught." Heero cringed at her analysis of his situation, knowing she was ultimately right.

"Do you want to go out?" He asked impulsively, trying to change the conversation.

"I'm sorry?" Relena was looking at him incredulously now, her brow arched dramatically.

"I'm tired of left overs, no offense. There's a good Thai place down the street I thought you might like." I know you will like, he corrected himself, knowing Thai was Relena's favorite cuisine.

"Why?" Relena asked, surprising him. "Why would I want to do that? Aren't you worried I'll run away? What if someone recognizes me?"

"You won't run away, there's hair dye in the bathroom, and because you want to eat something that isn't whatever you cooked already? You only made enough for me, and you haven't been eating enough as it is. Besides, I know you hate being stuck here all day. I'm trying to do you a favour."

Relena laughed harshly, the sound grating against Heero's nerves, reminding him how far it was from her usual light, airy giggle. "Yeah, I'm so eager for you to do me more of those," she said sarcastically, pushing away from the table and heading upstairs abruptly. Heero could do nothing but stare after her as she left, waiting until he heard the shower running before realizing that, in the end, she was still going to accept his offer. Re-wrapping his plate and putting it back in the fridge, Heero headed upstairs to his bedroom, searching through the dresser to find less casual clothing, groaning as he bent down to open a low-lying drawer. I need to get a more comfortable couch, he internally noted, pulling out a dress shirt.

Pulling his shirt over his head, Heero turned as he heard the bedroom door close behind him, Relena nearly shrieking as she realized it was occupied. Her newly darkened hair lay lank and wet about her shoulders, dripping water along her bosom tantalizingly, the small white towel she'd used wrapped tightly around her middle.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't realize… Just let me grab my clothes and I'll get out of here," Relena said, blushing with embarrassment. Before she could move, however, Heero had approached her, bringing a hand up to her deep brown hair curiously, moving her lengthy bangs out of her eyes. The sudden interest and touch terrified the young woman, her thoughts racing as she remembered the unwanted caresses she had suffered in prison. Her pulse raced, and she lowered her eyes, taking in Heero's well-muscled form, and realized that the reaction was not just because of her past trauma. What is wrong with me? She thought, still unable to move away from the man's body as he stepped closer to her again, his chest nearly pressed against hers now, trapping her against the door. "Heero," she murmured, feeling his breath against her lips, before he finally bent down and kissed her deeply.

Heero marveled briefly at the softness of her skin beneath his fingers, the delicious taste of her lips against his, before a sharp smack against his cheek brought him back to reality. "What is wrong with you?" Relena said, pushing him away from her roughly. "What, you think you can just Stockholm me into doing whatever you want? You're disgusting!" She moved away from the door, protecting her back from him, before she opened the drawed that was 'hers' and pulled out a few articles of clothing. She held them to her chest before glaring back at Heero. "Why are you still here? Get out!" Heero quickly obliged, nearly running out of his room and slamming the door behind him.

He groaned, leaning back against the door and brining a hand up to his face. "What in the hell was that?" he asked himself, almost as shocked at his own compulsive need to kiss her as Relena was. He mentally kicked himself for being so uncontrolled. After everything she's been through, as if she'd ever want you again, stupid. He sighed, leaning harder into the door, still holding his shirt in one hand carefully. Eventually the door swung open, surprising him and toppling him over onto the floor.

"Get up and put your shirt on," Relena ordered, standing over him. "You might be a complete ass, but I still love Thai food."


"So, what's the update?" Mingmei asked over the vidcom screen thoughtfully, Wufei seated next to her.

"Not much, I'm afraid. We've narrowed down where we think she could have gone. There's still been no word about Lavie's people finding Relena, so we know she's still out there, somewhere."

"Yeah, not to mention the fact that he's such an asshat, Lavie would be trumpeting it from the rooftops if he'd managed to catch her." Middie rolled her eyes, as though such behavior was unbecoming, even to a confessed 'loud-mouth' such as herself.

"Well, could you use backup? There are lots of us willing to come up there, and it looks like Lavie hasn't been able to talk the ESUN into letting him completely close up his 'borders' yet." Wufei leaned in, looking at them both in earnest.

"Who could you send?" Middie asked.

"Myself and Ming, definitely," Wufei started. "Charlotte as well, but we'd have to come off the books. Jenkins, Philips, Valdez…"

"Honestly, he could go all day. There hasn't been one person who's said 'no'," Mingmei said, interrupting her husband.

"You got ahold of everyone?" Middie said, practically in awe. Trowa was unsure of why she was so impressed, but he was only basically aware of the numbers of L'Ombre's members.

"What, you mean the those I met weren't everyone?"

Wufei laughed, and Trowa was almost startled to hear it. "Not even close. Since when have you known Relena to do anything by halves? When she puts her mind to something, she does it. She got shipped around a lot as a kid, you know. She wanted to make sure all her bases were covered, I guess. There are at least fifty members for every continent, more in space… Even more who are just members by association." He paused, realizing how much he had just given away. "There are a lot more people than just us who'd give anything for that crazy woman." Mingmei rolled her eyes, elbowing Wufei hard before turning back to the conversation.

"Point is, we're coming up there."

"What? Come on, this is our deal! You can't just keep sending people up here with no work visas, no excuses, and expect it to end well! We'll count ourselves lucky if all that happens is deportation!" Middie shouted, frustrated, before leaning back in her chair.

"You're going to have to deal with it. We'll come up next, and bring up others if we need to. Our main goal is to get Relena out, we can deal with Lavie and his cult later." Wufei terminated the connection before Middie or Trowa could argue, drawing out another frustrated groan from the notoriously impatient blonde.

"Seriously. Ass. Hat." She said, rising from her seat and continuing into the kitchen of their shared suite, grabbing a carton of juice out of the fridge and drinking from it freely. Trowa raised a brow but said nothing, watching her close the lid and put the box back in the fridge. "So why, exactly, are we not telling them about Heero? Kinda figured that'd be major news."

Trowa sighed, sitting down at the kitchen island. "When Heero left, Wufei and Duo went after him, trying to reason with him. He almost killed both of them. Telling Wufei now would turn this whole thing into a witchhunt. Heero happens to know where Relena is; we can't risk scaring him off again before we find her." Middie nodded, sitting down next to him.

"So what's this guy's deal? I mean, he as a Pilot, right, isn't he supposed to have some kind of… like, care about you guys?"

"You'd think so. Heero's always been the odd one out, I guess. When the war ended, he never seemed to be happy with how things worked out."

"Well, none of us were supposed to live, right?" Middie turned toward her companion, a compassion and understanding in her eyes that Trowa had rarely seen, especially from a woman. Especially from a beautiful woman.

"Exactly. I guess Heero dealt with that the hardest. He just kind of took off out of the blue… it really broke Relena. She lost her mother so soon after… it changed her. I just hope she comes out of this… whole." He looked up at Middie, smiling slightly, though his eyes betrayed his worry. "I guess I'm not telling you anything you don't know already, though."

"Nope!" Middie said, patting him on the shoulder. "Now quit moping, let's get dinner. Besides, you deserve to hear about how Lena and I met. It really is quite the thrilling little bit." He could tell she was trying to cheer him up, but Trowa didn't mind at all, standing up. "Come on, I know this awesome Thai place. It was Lena's fave before Lavie took over."


Heero flipped open his phone, pressing it to his ear while holding the steering wheel with his free hand. "Yuy, here. Yep. No. Sure… No!... Oh, piss off," he said, said, snapping the device shut and tossing it onto the dashboard thoughtlessly. "Work," he said, answering a question that hadn't been asked, hoping his vague answer would be enough to keep Relena from becoming more curious. He looked at her briefly, but she remained in her old position, staring out the window, shoulders angled purposefully away from him, avoiding any and all contact with him. Good job, Yuy, you really stepped in it now. For a moment, Heero felt as though he was having an out of body experience, or dreaming; a year before, he had been sure he would never see Relena Darlian again, except for on the news, and here she was, living in his house, riding in his car, sleeping in his bed…

"Are we almost there?" She asked, finally, breaking the silence.

"Yes."

"Oh, thank god." She said, slouching farther into her seat, crossing her arms angrily. Heero sighed, and for a moment Relena regretted being so cold to him, remembering the scortching feeling of his lips against hers, the way he had held her close to him, and suddenly the regret turned back into full-blown justification. Am I punishing him for doing this to me, or am I punishing him because I… No. She shook her head at her internal argument, quashing her conscience as they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. "Forget it," Relena said, holding up a hand as Heero opened his mouth to speak. "I know the drill already. 'Don't run away, don't say our names, don't do anything stupid.' Got it. Now let's get in there, I'm starving." Heero massaged his temples as he opened his car door, shutting and locking up as he followed Relena inside.

Relena was practically overwhelmed by the sights, sounds and smells that permeated the restaurant. Being held in prison on top of being captive in an empty house most of the day had left her unprepared for the sudden return to normal life, and she felt airy and over-stimulated as the hostess greeted and sat them at a small table in the corner of the open building.

"Just water," Heero said, and Relena suddenly became aware that the waitress must have asked them what they wanted to drink. "You okay?" Heero asked after the perky blond girl had left, and Relena glared back at him.

"I'm fine, dear," she practically sneered, replacing the glare with a smile as the girl came back, leaning extra low as she placed the young man's water on the table, smiling provocatively before looking at Relena as though she wondered what on Earth someone like her was doing with someone like him. Relena returned the disdainful look, immediately dropping it as her eyes met her 'dates', realizing how childish she was acting.

"Anything I can order for you… two?" The waitress asked, and before Relena could speak Heero had ordered both his own meal and her favorite off the menu. He remembered, her mind whispered, seemingly separating the part that still loved the man she stared at with the part that so vehemently saw him as the enemy.

"Thank you," she managed to choke out, reaching for a glass of water and taking a deep drink. The rest of the meal passed in relative silence, Heero watching Relena's demeanor soften as she took in her favorite foods, finally smiling at him. "This was actually a good idea," she complimented him, and Heero temporarily thought that he had merely imagined their moment in the bedroom just a few hours before. He stared at Relena now, watching her drink her water along with some kind of sweet-smelling liquor, her dark hair falling long and curling at the ends, framing her face and trailing down her back. Her top was decorated with a smattering of sequins, making the black face sparkle, showing just the faintest slope of her breasts, her newly tanned legs shown off beneath a short grey skirt.

"It doesn't look that bad, does it?" Relena asked, running a hand through her 'new hair' self-consciously.

"You look beautiful," Heero answered. Ugh, next time I should just save Relena the trouble and stab myself instead. But, surprisingly, Relena merely averted her eyes back to her plate and blushed quietly at his flattery. "I have to use the restroom, but I'll be right back." Pushing out his chair, Heero walked away, and for once Relena had a clear view of the entire restaurant. Many other couples were seated there, and Relena examined them over the top of her glass as she drank deeply, savouring the affects of the alcohol working through her system.

Putting her glass down sharply, Relena almost spit out the sip she had in her mouth before swallowing hard and staring at a nearby couple, entranced. It can't be…. Oh, god, don't let me be dreaming, she begged as she stood up from the table, crossing the floor quickly. Before her eyes, Middie Une and Trowa Barton sat, occupying one of the few free tables, one obviously meant for a group of four. The didn't seem to acknowledge her presence at all, and Relena realized that even her own best friends likely wouldn't recognize her. I have to get over there now! Her mind urged her, and Relena quickly scampered over to their table and threw herself into a chair facing away from the rest of the dining room, breathless.

"I'm sorry, can we- Jesus chri-" Middie practically yelled before Trowa could clap a hand over her mouth forcefully. He held it there as he fought to remember to breathe, staring at an overly thin, brunette version of the woman who was most definitely Relena Darlian.

"Oh, my god, Relena…." He breathed, releasing Middie's mouth and taking her in his arms, shocked at how frail she felt. "You're alive!" Tears sprang to both their eyes, but Relena pushed him away quickly.

"I love you," she whispered, "but I'm not here alone. It's Heero. He found me, or I found him… Either way, he has me trapped here! He goes by the name "Caden", I don't know his fake last time, and Neil is here, and they're both working for Lavie… Oh god, Middie, tell me the others aren't coming." The brunette reached across the table and took her friend's hand hard, and Middie flinched.

"They weren't just going to leave you here to rot. We're getting you out of here. We're going to find you, get out of here, come back and beat the shit out of these assholes," Middie whispered back.

"I love you. Oh, my god. I've never been so happy to see either of you in my life. I have to go, he could be back any minute. Find me," Relena said, releasing both their hands and walking back to her table, sitting down and taking another long drink. The two simply stared at her, mystified, before Heero re-entered the room and sat down, obscuring her from their view.

"Holy fucking shit," Middie said, leaning back in her chair, running a hand through her hair. "Told you I had some good goddamn taste in food. Let's get the hell outta here before he sees us." Tossing some bills on the table, Trowa followed Middie out, but not before he caught one last glimpse of his missing princess, blowing her a quick kiss.

"Aww, never would have taken you for the romantic type!" Middie joked, elbowing Trowa kiddishly as they made their way into the parking lot. The restaurant wasn't far from their hotel, and so they had walked the short distance there. "Man! I just can't believe it! Of all the luck… and now we have a name. And we know that bastard Neil knows Heero! Brother, this goes so much deeper than we though-" Middie found herself unable to speak as Trowa pressed his lips against hers, thoroughly silencing her. She melded herself against him easily, both their joys at finding their lost friend combining with the tension they had both felt growing between them over their time together, and once they separated, Middie smiled up at Trowa coyly.

"Guess you won't be sleeping in the other room tonight."


"Thank you for the dinner," Relena said, her perfectly groomed manners never slipping despite not only the boiling anger she felt for her captors, previous and current, but also the overwhelming emotions that flooded her as she recalled seeing her dearest friends' faces, knowing that somewhere on this very colony, they were looking for her. They found me. I knew they'd never stop looking. Heero's puzzled expression told her she was still smiling broadly at the memory.

"You're welcome…." He answered carefully, and Relena practically danced her way inside the house as he opened the front door for her. "What's got you so happy?" he asked, and Relena turned toward him, sporting a grin so devilish even Duo himself would have been jealous.

"They're looking for me. You're going to get caught, you know." She hung her jacket up on the wall hooks carefully, kicking off her tiny flat shoes. "The best part is, if my people find me, I get out of here free, and I get to take Lavie down. The sad part is, my dear," she said, walking toward Heero, pressing a hand to his chest. She pushed him against the door roughly, pressing her body against his in a way reminiscent of that morning, leaning forward and breathing in his ear, "The best part is that if my people find me here, you go to prison for life, and if your people find me here, you die with me."

She spun away from him then, leaving Heero stunned, pinned to the door by an unfamiliar and hated emotion: fear.