AN: Damnit all to hell!!! I hate FFNET sometimes. Every time I upload a document, then try to make changes, it says that it's saved, but it hasn't saved a damn thing. Ugh. That's seriously ticking me off. So please forgive any spelling errors, as I normally use FFnet's editor to spell-check my chapters. This chapter is all Heero-centric. And let me know what you're thinking! I love reviews!

Waking Up In Vegas

Chapter Twenty

Heero refused to wear a tux.

Outright refused. But Relena had no complaints as she kept sneaking covert glances at him; his messy hair only a shade more tame than usual and looking quite.... yummy.... in a silken cobalt blue shirt tucked into smart black slacks that skimmed down his long, lean legs. A light sports coat in the same midnight black completed the look and gave him an elegant but care-free look that matched Relena's own. She'd left her hair down, pulled back with only her usual two twisted braids- secured behind her with an ornate Mother-of-Pear comb. A light dust of eyeshadow and simple ballet flats complimented her knee-length, one-shoulder black dress. A very simple, girly look but still mature and polished.

Heero, an uneasy feeling coiling in his gut, kept glued to Relena's side as the butler ushered them into the parlor to wait with Tsubarov and the other early arrivers. Heero's eyes took in the governor, and there was Dekim Barton... and Quinze. A trinity of powers that would probably like nothing more than Heero's death or imprisonment. He was in the midst of his worst enemies... and he got the feeling that something was going to happen tonight... something he hadn't planned on.

Something wouldn't go according to how he plotted it out.

"Welcome!" The governor exclaimed with false enthusiasm. "Miss Relena... Mr. Yuy," he skimmed over the name. Relena made polite talk with them, and Heero kept silent as they sat side by side with their worst enemies. Within a few minutes, the door to the parlor opened, and a dark haired house-keeper in a trim long-sleeved black dress and white apron brought in a silver tray and tea set.

"Thank you, Jenny," Tsubarov said to her once she'd poured the cups. Would you wait by the door? I might have need of you again."

She nodded, and stood and turned, facing Heero for the first time. Normal people might have looked as though they'd seen a ghost, but Heero's face betrayed no emotion... though his eyes did.

The girl was a few years younger than he... about twenty or twenty-one. Her raven-black hair was cut short, skimming her shoulders in an arrow-straight fall. Her face was heart-shaped, with high duchess's cheekbones under pale, milkmaid skin that was dusted with make-up, foundation and blush just as any other twenty-year-old girl. Chocolate brown eyes stared at him. No shock or surprise was evident on that face, or in those almost flat-looking eyes, but an almost imperceptible smile ghosted across those red lips.

The hair wasn't long enough- it was supposed to be waist length and wavy; and it wasn't the right color- pale silken moonlight blonde. The face was too heavily painted- makeup where there should have been just smooth, creamy skin. The lips, painted a bright red, were supposed to have been soft pink, with a pout-y little smile. And the eyes... too flat and dark, when they should have been a blue-gray that shimmered silver in the light.

Most people would not have seen even a bare resemblance... but Heero knew that face better than he knew his own. That face haunted his nightmares.

Prussian blue eyes narrowed on the all-too familiar face. Murky brown eyes- contacts, he thought- met his, and he read the silent communication she mouthed to him.

Love You.

He blinked once, the un-whispered words affirming what he already knew. Speaking up for the first time since their arrival, he asked if he might use their restroom.

Tsubarov glared at him. It seemed clear he didn't trust Heero alone in his house. It was just as Heero had hoped.

"Jenny, please escort Mr. Yuy to the restroom, and then escort him back. It is a fairly large house, sir. I wouldn't want you to get lost."

"Of course, governor."

Heero caught Relena's curious gaze, but he merely nodded to her. He knew what he was doing; she would have to trust him. Relena could not see past the facade... past the paint, polish and posh get-up. Relena did not see the ghost standing right in front of her.

"This way, Mr. Yuy," Jenny said demurely. Even the voice was wrong, a slightly European tilt when there should have been a soft southern drawl. She motioned for him to follow her. He did, and she kept just a step ahead of him, meekly almost. Silently he followed her. And the door she opened wasn't a bathroom, but a broom closet. He almost grabbed her arm and jerked her in behind him.

"Jezzy, what the hell are you doing here?" he hissed.

Eyes that were the wrong color glared, and suddenly all meekness was gone. She shed the charade and stood up straight.

"And it's right glad I am to see you too, 'Ro," she snapped back, south Alabama ringing in her voice.

"God, Jezzy," He slumped back against the closet wall as she flipped the light switch on. The next thing he knew, Jezebel Hartisan's arms were around him, and vice versa. "God, I thought I'd lost you," he breathed into her hair. "I thought you were dead. You were *supposed* to be dead. I... I don't...."

She giggled at that. "Heero Yuy, if I ever die, it won't be by your hands; that much I can tell you." She pulled back, and looked him up and down. "God, but it's great to see you in person; pretending to be someone you're not is tiring."

"You, too. But, Jezzy, why the hell are you here? Of all places? Why aren't you... dead?"

Her eyes hardened. "I was in a coma for about a month; Soma thought it best if everyone thought I died. She said that if there was any way to find out anything... it'd be here. Heero, Dekim and Quinze and Tsubarov are up to something. Just the other day, I caught Tsubarov on the phone with Dermail. DUKE Dermail," she hissed. Heero blinked. That hadn't been counted on. If Dekim was in league with such a powerful French diplomat.... something troubling was underfoot.

"Jezzy, I don't want you here. It's too dangerous."

She laughed. "Heero; I'm a ghost- it's not that dangerous. And you're like a brother to me; you should know danger is my middle name."

"Is not. You're middle name is Marina."

She laughed again, resting her head against his chest. "I'm needed here for the moment. I promise you I'll get away as soon as I'm no longer needed."

"As soon as your position is compromised," he negotiated.

She nodded. "Fine. Gee, you haven't been back in my life for ten minutes and you're already bossing me around." His arms tightened around her, and he quickly explained what all he knew... explained about Quatre and Dekim's grandson. She nodded gravely.

"I can't say I'm surprised. Heero... I think it has something to do with ZERO."

Heero's sharp intake of breath didn't go un-noticed. "But..."

"I don't know why, Heero. I have no evidence, except a few shady calls and a loosely tied together theory."

"If it's about Z... if it's about that, then we have to move NOW! Quatre is is dan...."

"Shhh," she placed her finger over his lips. "Let me explain. No one outside of me, you, Soma, and Doctor J know anything about Quatre and Iria being the ones to create ZERO. As far as the public... and our enemies... are concerned, it was a collaboration of Sandrock's lead researchers. From what you tell me, Quatre is only a target because he owns the industry. If Sandrock goes out of business, then the research goes up for grabs. Including ZERO. And if my theory is correct..." she took a breath. "Me and you are in more danger than Quatre."

"Why...." Heero was usually quick to grab onto plots and theorys, quick to plan out all the different paths a plot could take. But there was much too much going on in his head.

"Think about it, 'Ro... Only three people have ever *tested* ZERO. Only three people have used it, much less used it successfully."

"It wasn't a success... You....." His voice trailed off, broken and almost sobbing. Jezzy wrapped her arms tight around him, as if trying to assure him this wasn't some dream... that she was here and alive.

"I'm alive, Heero. It *was* a success. You didn't kill me. I'm alive. But you, me and Quatre all used the program... we all three used that system."

"Only, no one knows Quatre did," Heero breathed, the reality finally hitting him.

"No. As far as official reports go... Heero Yuy and Jezebel Hartisan are the only people who know the ZERO system inside and out. We're they're top targets."

"And Jezebel Hartisan is presumed dead," he whispered.

The way Tsubarov looked at him came back to him in a flash. It wasn't hate or derision... it was calculating.

Tsubarov didn't want him dead... Tsubarov wanted him to get to ZERO.