A/N: Enjoy, and thanks to all my reviewers!
-picimadar
When You Run Among Shadows
Chapter 17: Hold On
March 12, A.C. 200, Brussels
"Something's not right," Wufei said, tapping his fingers against his coffee cup irritably.
"It's not like Trowa to lie," Dorothy said, for once solemn and almost agreeable.
"Like you can have an opinion. You've spoken to him three times in your life," Wufei spat, his thoughts turning in circles.
"What, exactly, is your problem?" Dorothy asked, her brow furrowing in aggravation before she took a long sip of her well-brewed tea.
"Something Quatre said to me a while ago. He's convinced Heero is in space, likely on X-18997." Dorothy tilted her head, nodding slightly.
"Well, it is a 'warrior's paradise' there. It would make sense for someone like him to escape the pacifism of Earth by going there. Did Quatre say how he knew?"
"Just said he felt it," Wufei admitted somewhat sheepishly, annoyed that Dorothy was pointing out his faith in something as subjective as feeling.
"Seriously, Wufei, you know how he is. You can't put so much stock in something like his gut feeling," Dorothy chided. "That said, he's rarely wrong…"
"Only with you," jabbed the young man, eliciting a slight growl as he grinned into his mug, taking another deep drink of his black coffee. Swallowing, Wufei changed the subject. "I think Ming and I are going to head up to meet with Middie and the others. They've seen her, and I think they know where to find her."
"I heard. I was so happy to hear the little Princess is all right. I can't imagine what she's been through, poor thing. Where do you think she's been hiding all this time?"
"Damned if I know. Trowa will find her, but we need to have a plan to get her out of there when they do."
Dorothy rolled her eyes, crossing her long legs and tossing her long blond hair over her shoulder. "Don't be ridiculous, Chang. You going up there will set off enough bells. It's a miracle no one's recognized Barton by now. Besides, we need to figure out a plan of attack." She smiled, catlike.
"Attack?" Wufei asked, disliking where the conversation was headed.
"Yes, definitely. It's not enough that they kidnapped Relena. You remember what she warned us about; they're up to so much more than just a simple abduction. They needed her for something. I think it's a distraction, and Katarina agrees. There's a much larger picture here, and we need to be prepared. I for one am not happy sitting around, waiting for Une to get 'approval' to make a move. L'Ombre needs to make the first move now and eliminate Lavie and his plan before he can make it reality."
The two sat in silence, quietly pondering. "I'm not a planner, Catalonia," Wufei finally said.
"How unlike you to admit your failings! You must really be off your game."
"Shut your trap," Wufei barked harshly. "This isn't just about me. If I write this up and we fail, who knows what could happen? My entire colony was a biological weapon. I know the dangers of what could be lurking on that colony, not to mention the population. There's a million ex-cons and soldiers up there, all in Lavie's pocket, just waiting for us to go up there and do something stupid." He paused, collecting his thoughts briefly. "We don't even have close to the numbers among us to make a difference. It'd be a bloodbath."
Surprisingly, Dorothy smiled. "I think I have a few solutions for that," she said coyly, taking another sip.
"Do I want to know?"
"Let's just say blood is thicker than water, hmm?" The blond stood, grinning again at the shocked and nearly dismayed look on Wufei's face as he watched her turn and leave his small home, walking past Mingmei as she arrived home, arms loaded with groceries.
"What was she doing here?" Ming asked, putting the bags down and taking in the stupefied look on her husband's face. "Wufei, what's going on?"
The man groaned, slouching back into his chair and closing his eyes. "She's going to bring Bella back," he said, and Ming sat down gracelessly, rolling her eyes in disbelief.
"Well, you can't deny that it'll help the numbers." Ming reached a hand out and took his carefully. "You can't fight this, Wufei. We need all the help we can get."
"So you have seen her?" Katarina asked brusquely, stepping into Middie's suite. "Is it true?"
"Yeah. She looked okay, actually. Dyed her hair, but it's her, all right." Middie smiled, her feet resting on the coffee table.
"I don't see how you can be happy, Une. Is she not also in the care of Heero Yuy?" Trowa and Middie both froze, staring at her.
"How the hell did you know that? I never told anyone… Don't you dare tell Wufei," Middie growled. As a past spy, she knew the value of information better than almost anyone, and hated when it was thrown about loosely.
"As if I'm that stupid," Katarina snapped, stepping farther into the suite. "I worry for her. He had a great deal of… influence over her. If he can convince her to stay, we could lose her, not to mention lose sight of getting rid of this pest Lavie."
"I agree," Trowa said, the typically quiet man startling both women. "We know his alias, we're working on finding his address. We know where to look, we're going to find him and get her out of here. We need you and the others to work out how we're going to prevent whatever's going on here from reaching Earth. Can you do that?" Katarina nodded, seemingly both placated and chastised.
"Keep in touch," she murmured, turning quickly and leaving the apartment.
"Man... She's creepy." Middie pulled her hastily hidden laptop out of the plump, cushioned couch, reopening it and typing in a set of passcodes rapidly. "Okay. His place has to be one of these," she said, pointing to a few locations on a map she'd drawn up. "Relena escaped here, and they couldn't find her anywhere after here. I bet you it's one of these, right on this side street."
"Nice place," Trowa said. "Lavie really takes care of his people."
Midde scoffed disgustedly. "So does Relena, and she didn't have to indoctrinate us, control all the media we see, the food we eat, who we can interact with and where we can go either. This guy's a freak, Tro. We gotta get Relena outta here."
A sharp ringing disturbed their research, and Middie reached across Trowa, blushing slightly as she placed a hand between his legs for leverage, grabbing her phone. "Yo," she greeted before her face contorted into a glower. "I don't fuckin' care. What do you mean, you changed your mind? Yeah, just like that, I'm gonna believe you. What do you think I am, a moron?... Well, why… You can't be serious. She looked fine!... Well of course we found her, moron. That's why we're here! Look, you wanna pull a double agent? Prove it to me first." She jabbed at the OFF button angrily, throwing the phone onto the coffee table.
"Neil, I presume." Middie nodded her head, sighing hard.
"He's convinced that Lavie's all evil and crazy now, and wanted to help us. What a moron. We already practically have her in our hand! What the hell do we need him for?"
"There's more to this than just Relena, Middie," Trowa said quietly. "Don't lose sight of that. If we save Relena and doom anyone else, we'll disappoint her more than anything. She's prepared to lose her life for the safety of others. If Neil knows something, we need to find out what it is."
Heero sat up abruptly, panting. The living room was still quiet and dark, the artificial sunrise long past, sunlight shining into the slit between the blinds on the large patio door. Running his hands over his face, the young man stood up, shedding off the bedding and straightening his sweat pants. He stretched, raising his arms above his head and then swinging them, loosening his shoulders, trying to shake the unsettling feeling he had clouding his mind. She's too quiet.
Heading upstairs, Heero saw that the door to his bedroom was slightly ajar, but the windows were completely shrouded, leaving the room dark and seemingly empty, save for the sound of Relena's breathing, punctuated by tiny, quieted sniffles. She hasn't cried since she's been here… Heero realized. He opened the door cautiously, attempting to keep from disturbing the young woman. From his vantage point by the door, Heero could see her lying on her side, legs curled up, chest contracting with sobs, her dark hair obscuring what he could have seen of her face. He stepped further in, hoping to be able to just grab his clothes for the day and leave without disturbing her.
"Tell me the date," Relena said, her voice calm and cold despite the sniffles he could still hear.
"March thirteenth," he replied quietly, not moving from where he stood, frozen, by the end of the bed. Relena turned her head and looked at him briefly, her eyes twin pools of pure misery, tears continuing to spill over. Finally, her look of calm collapsed, her face contorting as she turned back away from him, covering her face with her hands before weeping openly, the sounds of her sobs filling the room. "Relena what's wrong?" he asked, crossing to her side of the bed and sitting on the mattress.
"Nothing," she replied shakily, pushing him away with one hand, still covering her face with the other. "Please leave me alone." She took his hand in hers and pushed it away, electrifying Heero with the feeling of her skin.
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's the matter." He shifted closer to her, leaning towards her prone form gently.
"My mother," she whispered, starting a whole new cascade of tears, her cries becoming increasingly mournful.
"Relena, your mother is fine," Heero said, trying desperately to soothe her.
"My mother is dead, you idiot!" She sat up, her brow furrowed menacingly as she stared at him. "She died, not that you would know anything about that. You left me alone! You never even asked, you never even looked! Do you know anything about what's happened to me? Do you even know what your own 'boss' did to me?" Hysterical now, Relena hit him, open handed, on the chest, pushing him away from her as she backed away down the bed. "God, I just want to go home! Can't you please just let me go, please?"
Heero sat, stunned by the news. "Relena, no one ever said anything about your mother… how was I supposed to know?"
"Don't give me that! You planned my days down to the letter. You always knew where to find me, even while I was here! You didn't care! You would have left me here to die!"
"That's not true! I didn't know they were hurting you! I never would have let…. I didn't know!" Heero was exasperated now, troubled and hurt that Relena believed he would intentionally lead her to be treated as she was, locked away in Lavie's secret chambers.
"You work for him! I bet he practically worships the ground you walk on, for goodness' sake! How could you not know?"
"Because Lavie lied!" Heero finally spat, grabbing Relena's wrists to stop her punctuating assault on his abdomen. She stopped, staring at him wide-eyed.
"What do you mean, he lied?" Heero loosed his grip as she lowered her arms. "You really didn't know? You haven't told him where I am? Heero, why?"
He let her arms go harshly now, turning away slightly, letting his hands fall limp in his lap. "Because he lied to me. Us. He lied to us. They were supposed to keep you here, safe, not torture you. Not ever to hurt you." He looked over his shoulder at her, the pain evident behind his eyes. He lowered them quickly, avoiding her stare, instead looking at the impression of her legs beneath his thick downy comforter, her hands pressed against her knees. They sat there quietly for a time, Heero's eyes traveling along Relena's now darkly tanned skin, stopping briefly as he noticed, on each arm, several long, thin scars.
"What happened?" he asked, reaching out and grazing a thumb over one of the scars carefully. Relena wrenched her arm way, folding them against her chest.
"Nothing," she said defensively. "None of your business. Look, I'm sorry to have bothered you, but you have to let me go."
"What?" Heero asked, surprised at Relena's sudden ordering tone.
"If you don't, you know what will happen. If you turn me in now, you might be able to make a deal with Lavie." She looked away from him, her expression blank, her arms falling into her lap again, revealing those matching scars.
"I'm not… Just forget about it," Heero said, standing up from the bed.
"Wait, Heero," Relena said, and Heero closed his eyes, savoring the sound of her saying something as simple as his real name. "Don't go. I don't want to be alone, not today." Her clear blue eyes met his, a question in them he couldn't identify.
"Why are you doing this? I saw what they did to you, what Lavie let happen. Why would you even offer to go back?"
Relena smiled sadly, tears coming to her eyes, blinked back furiously by her long lashes. "Because I love you," she whispered quietly, lowering her gaze. "You came here to be free, to be around people who could understand you and let you live your life. You deserve to have that, not be trapped here with me."
"Relena…. I was never 'trapped' with you. I never wanted to leave…"
"But you did. You did leave me, Heero. You just left." Tears tracked down her face, running along her pristine cheeks, dripping off her upturned nose. How do you do this to me? Heero thought, feeling his heart practically constrict as he realized, in person, the pain he had caused the woman before him. How do you make me feel so much? Heero climbed further onto the bed, pressing his palms to Relena's cheeks, smoothing away her tears with his thumbs.
"I never wanted to go," he nearly whispered. You have no idea how much I wanted not to go. He kissed her then, softly, and for the first time since he was the best man at Duo Maxwell's wedding, Relena didn't struggle, pressing her lips back against his, taking his hands in hers, reaching out and feeling his arms, chest and face. Heero could practically feel the tension drop off both of them, the curtain of hurt, questions and deception that had separated them falling. They separated briefly, and Heero pressed his forehead against Relena's, sighing. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, but Relena shushed him quickly, pressing a finger to his lips.
"Don't, Heero," she whispered, leaning back and pulling him over her by his shoulders. "Just be with me. Don't leave me alone." Heero all too readily complied, pressing his lips against hers again, pressing a hand into the bed next to her head, his other tangling in her long, darkened hair.
The two soon collapsed, breathing heavily, onto the sweat-wetted sheets. Heero rolled onto his back, resting his head on the pillow, his thoughts quickly slowing, his mind clearing of the overwhelming fog of desire. Oh, god, he thought, remembering Relena's reaction to their kiss days before, she's going to murder me. He stared at the young woman's back, watching her breathing gradually slow as she faced away from him. Finally, she turned her head his way, resting her head on her pillow. The artificial sun was setting now, and Relena moved closer to Heero, settling her head onto his shoulder, placing an arm against his chest. Sighing, she settled into his embrace and quickly fell into a deep sleep, her breathing even and restful, making Heero confident that tonight, at least, she would have sweet dreams.
