AN: Dedicated with love to Animechan123, because I promised this chapter to her ages ago. Though she doesn't think I should, I will share credit with Violet Eyed Demon, because she's my personal bouncy little trampoline and without her... this chapter wouldn't have happened for like another two weeks, and certainly wouldn't be as great as it is! So thanks to both of you!

Oh... and a challenge to all my readers... can you find ALLthe lines that I've quoted and/or paraphrased from the series? Mwahahaha...

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Waking Up In Vegas

Chapter 45

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Heero spared a glance towards the smirking, obviously curious Rin, before taking Trowa's arm.

"Come. Getting drunk solves nothing. Rin taught me that."

The bartender pouted. "Just like me to chase off the best paying patrons." She sighed dramatically as Heero tugged Trowa out of the bar. "Come and see me again, won't you? I'd love to know how this story turns out!"

Heero shook his head and resisted the urge to chuckle at the woman.

"Let me go, Heero," Trowa said, trying to pull away.

"No. We've gotta talk, you and I. Why are you in a bar trying to drown yourself in whiskey?"

"Does it matter?"

"Seeing as your married to my best friend, yes. I think it does matter."

"The marriage is a fluke," Trowa grunted, turning his head away.

"Quatre doesn't just up and sleep with guys, drunk or not. So don't pass it off as a fluke. I've seen you two together. There's a spark there, and you can't deny that."

"Shut up and go away," Trowa growled as Heero pushed him off of the road and into the shaded alley beside the bar.

"I can't do that," Heero sighed. Trowa growled again and tried, yet again, to vainly pull away. Heero let out a sigh and turned to look at the man his best friend was in love with. How could two such stubborn people ever make a relationship work, he'd have no idea. But he was bound and determined to give them the chance.

"Why the hell not?" Trowa demanded, glaring at the Japanese soldier.

"Because I may not personally like you, but you're far too damned important to Quatre for me to leave you here to drink yourself into a coma. I've already done that and trust me... it's not a good way to go!"

Trowa stared angrily. "Oh, that's so original coming from a government military dog."

Heero's Prussian eyes snapped. "I haven't been a part of the military since they told me I killed my baby sister!"

"Well, that's interesting," Trowa blinked. "A soldier with a heart."

"Of course I have a heart. Or did you think Quatre was in the habit of befriending evil heartless bastards?" Heero sneered. "Oh, wait. Isn't that what he did with you?"

"Heartless?" Trowa's eyebrow twitched with restrained rage. "I am not heartless. What the hell are you thinking, asshole?"

Heero shrugged, never letting go of Trowa's arm. "Just that Quatre's too fucking soft-hearted for his own damn good. He can never say 'no' to anything or anyone whos' broken or needs fixed. Just like the pathetic down and out artist who needed a little pick-me-up from the rich soft-hearted down and out business man. Too bad Quatre's too dim to see what a gold digger he really found..."

There was no warning, but Heero was still prepared for the fist that flew at him. He easily caught it. He had the thought that if he were not drunk, Trowa would have given him a run for his money, but inebriated as the artist was... it was entirely too easy to pin Trowa face first on the concrete of the alley floor.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Heero hissed, his mouth next to Trowa's ear as the taller man struggled. "I though you loved Quatre?"

Trowa's struggles stopped abruptly.

"That's the problem," Trowa groaned, letting his face hit the pavement softly. "I don't know if I love him. For all I know, it's just lust and misplaced hope."

Heero sat up... still sitting on Trowa's back. 'So that's what this is about?' he thought.

"You fucking moron," Heero hissed with annoyance. "That's what this is about? What did Rin tell you back there? Love is found, not made. And you're stupider than I thought you were if you can't realize what you feel. Let me tell you a little story..."

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*FLASHBACK*

"ETA three minutes," Heero whispered.

"Roger that, Heero," Allelujah's voice echoed in his ear. Heero kept low as he crept forward down the hall. "SWAT is on your tail, so don't worry."

"Relena's being held hostage and I'm not to worry?" Heero asked skeptically.

"Figure of speech. GPS still puts her at on the roof. I think they're waiting for a helicopter. Maybe they figured we were coming?"

"Maybe," Heero muttered, then decided not to say anything else. Silently, he made his way to the roof, gun drawn, and peered out of the door. He managed to crack the door and slip out to hide behind a ventilation duct.

"We know you're there," someone said. "Come out before the lady gets it."

Heero slowly rose from his hiding spot, gun pointed. There were two of them... and they held Relena between them. A vest of some sort was draped over her thin shoulders... and Heero could clearly see the wires of a bomb.

'Shit'.

It was at that point the sniper shot. One of the two men fell, dead on the spot. Relena ducked, hands covering her ears as all hell broke loose. SWAT swarmed the rooftop, pouring out of every door and window and crevice, quickly taking out the second man. Heero rushed forward.

"Relena!" He pulled her hands away from her ears and made her look up at him. Her eyes were full of fear and hope, warring with each other. Heero yelled for the others to stay back as he tried to disarm the bomb. It wasn't a very large bomb... but certainly enough to take out a person and a little more.

The countdown was set already somehow. He managed to get the vest off of her, but it still ticked down. So as the seconds ticked down... he tossed the bomb off the roof, hoping that it would land in the harbour below and that the water would absorb the explosion.

The vest thudded against a billboard that Heero would later swear had appeared out of nowhere- though really, he'd only thrown too high... a foot less elevation, and his plan would have probably worked. The vest thudded against the billboard, though... and fell back. It hit a ventilation duct, then, in slow, mocking, motion, it landed a few feet away from them.

'Oh, shit!'

"RETREAT!" Heero screamed, taking and pushing Relena away, towards the nearest group of SWAT team members... hoping to get her away from the blast. But the bomb exploded. The roof beneath their feet creaked, groaned, and gave way even as the heat wave blasted over them. Heero watched as both he and Relena fell, the floor beneath them giving way. He wrapped his arms around her as they fell, twisting so that when they fell... he'd take the weight of her fall. It might not be enough to save her.

But he would try.

*END FLASHBACK*

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"You were willing to die for her?" Trowa asked quietly.

"Willing? I did. According to paramedics, my heart stopped for one minute eight seconds en route to the hospital. We fell through two stories of that building. I still have the scar on my back where I landed on a twisted piece of metal. I was wearing a bullet proof vest, and it tore through it. Relena had no protection. She would have died."

"I couldn't possibly be as decisive as you," Trowa sighed. "If someone challenged me... using Quatre as a hostage... I have absolutely no idea what I'd do. Would I follow in your footsteps?"

Heero looked down at Trowa, and moved to sit beside him and let the other man sit up.

"In that case... let me tell you something. Dying hurts like hell. But living hurts worse. The difference is, in dying- you get no second chance. Living is different, because we hurt... time and time again. We hurt others and ourselves. It need not matter... the pain is still *there*. I have no idea what went on between you two, but I can guess. And at this moment... you've hurt Quatre by walking out. You're *living*. You can have a second chance. This is your second chance. He thinks you understand. He *wants* you to understand. He's stubborn... and so are you. But the difference is... he loves you more than you know. More than *he* knows, and he'll listen to you. You just need to take the chance... if you think you can handle it." Heero stared at Trowa... who in turn stared at his hands. "What are you going to do?"

"Can I make Quatre change his way of thinking?" Trowa wondered aloud.

"Does Quatre need to change his way of thinking?" Heero backfired. "That's what this is all about. Differences. Just because you think it's wrong... does that make it wrong? Where's the compromise, Trowa? Give a little and get a little."

"Is it that simple?"

"Nothing's ever that simple. But the only way to truly live is to live by your emotions. At least... that's what my father told me."

"Then... I'm going to help Quatre. That's my decision. Besides... I'm just the same as you. A man driven by emotions."

"It's going to be dangerous..."

Trowa blinked clear green eyes up to Heero, a small smirk playing on his lips. "I know all about danger. I'm used to walking on a tight-rope."

Heero looked at him, one eyebrow quirked up. Trowa chuckled.

"What? Cathy and Delana roped me into gymnastics as a kid. Plus... you've met my family."

Heero thought about the ever annoying Duo, and he had to nod.

"Point taken."