Author's Note

I know I just updated yesterday and maybe the story hasn't had a chance to settle yet but admittedly there is a lot of set up so I just wanted to get that stuff out of the way first. But really, I'm just enthusiastic and from my experience, people don't really mind quick updates.

False Starts

Buenos Aires, Argentina

March 30th, AC 198

"You know who I am?"

The man squeezed his eyes closed and held his breath. He hoped, he prayed, that when he opened them, that none of this would be happening, that this was all just a bad trip. He promised himself that if he made it through this, he was done with meth for good. Or cocaine for that matter. He would be on the straight and narrow from now on.

No such luck.

He opened his eyes. He was still there, head pinned against the bar, bleeding from his mouth, watching through his blurred vision as the club was being emptied of all of its patrons. Black uniforms everywhere, faceless men carrying semi-automatic rifles. The kinds that he used to boost from ESUN transports and sell to local drug dealers. The music had stopped and the lights had been turned on. It was funny, because he had been to this establishment more times than he could count. He even knew the owner. But he had never seen the place this... bright.

He focused on his breathing, something he should've paid more attention to in yoga class instead of staring at the blonde's ass that came every Tuesday and Thursday. His shoulder was still in pain, his wrist more so, but at least he had regained his ability to breathe. There was still something cold and hard pinned against his temple.

But at least he had regained his ability to breathe.

"I'll ask again. Do you know who I am?"

"You're… you're a Preventer," he managed to stutter out.

"Good, you know who I am," Noin said as she drilled the tip of her pistol deeper into the man's skull. "Then you know Preventers don't work stolen property. So maybe you should ask yourself; what did I do or who did I piss off to get a Preventer on my ass?"

She could feel the man quake underneath the pressure of her gun and her questions. She could see the sweat dripping from his nose, intermixing with the small puddle of blood on the bar's surface.

"Where is he?"

The Valknut, Preventers Headquarters

Brussels, Belgium

8 hours earlier

"Yeah, I think I know the guy."

An effortless smile appeared on Noin's face as she stared at her monitor and leaned back against her standard issue swivel chair. She gently rocked back and forth, tapping her finger against her coffee mug, at once feeling satisfied and amused yet annoyed. Odin Lowe. She was staring at the mugshot of a man who died ten years ago. She remembered hearing about him through the grapevine back from her days in OZ. He was something of a legend, from the days before OZ scrapped its Clandestine Services Division.

But this was not the man she was looking for. Indeed, only a few people even knew of this man's name and most of them took that knowledge with them to the grave during the Eve Wars. There could only be one person still using that name. And he more commonly went by another name, also stolen.

"This doesn't make any sense," the Preventer on Noin's monitor said, looking utterly confused. "He doesn't match the physical description we got at all. Unless he was lying…"

"No, I don't think he was lying," Noin countered as she took a sip of her coffee. "I just think Mr. Lowe here has a few tricks up his sleeve."

"I'm completely lost," the man said.

"He likes it that way," Noin said with a muted chuckle. "I'm going to send you a photo and a list of aliases. Cross reference them with the municipal and territorial databases. You'll find him."

"Wait, what about you? What are you going to do?"

"I'm coming to see you."

Buenos Aires, Argentina

The next day

Heero balanced the bag of groceries between his chest and his left arm as he fiddled with his keys in his right hand to open the door. He kicked the door shut as soon as he was in. By sheer instinct, he immediately dropped his bag of groceries, reached underneath the bench next to his shoes, and pulled out the .38 pistol he had taped underneath. He charged into his living room, pointing the gun forward. He didn't even know who was in his apartment, merely that his senses told him that something was off.

"Jesus Christ…" The words slipped out of Heero's mouth.

He found his partner, Hugo, sitting on his reading chair, bloodied and bruised. But before he could react a hand reached out, grabbed the barrel of his gun, and forced it downward. He had a split second choice, roll with the gun and be thrown onto his back, hold tight and resist and probably break his fingers, or let go. He wasn't about to be disarmed in this situation so he chose to roll.

As soon as he landed on his back, Heero opened his eyes and looked up. A familiar face stared back at him.

"Hmm… missed one," Noin said as she stood over him, and with a swift yank, took the gun from Heero.

Noin tossed the gun onto the dining room table with the rest of them.

"You keep two guns under your foyer bench?" Noin asked casually.

"No one ever checks for the second one," Heero answered with a hint of a smile.

"I'll be sure to remember that, next time."

Heero took a moment to push himself up off the ground. Noin paced around his apartment looking at the life Heero had created for himself since she last saw him in the hospital after the Battle of Brussels. It was quite impressive. His walls were adorned with prints of famous Argentine and Chilean painters. His furniture was an eclectic mix of American Empire and mid-century modern. He had quite the collection of books and music, and he even had a couple of violins on display. It made him almost seem… human.

"I'm assuming your men have surrounded the building," Heero casually commented.

"You're getting rusty," Noin said as she shot him a devious smile from across the room.

"You know I can still get out of here."

"Let's not make a big thing of it," Noin said as she browsed his bookshelf. "But no, you can't."

Heero took a second to ponder what that meant.

"Hey, Wufei," he said.

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Hey," a familiar voice came in through the radio on Noin's belt. "Nice shirt."

"What do you want, Noin?" Heero asked as he took a seat on his couch.

Noin looked at Hugo and gave him a nod. Hugo clamped his hands together in gratitude before getting up and running as fast as he could out of Heero's apartment.

"Is that what this is about?" Heero asked. "A few stolen diamonds?"

"You make it sound like you're not breaking the law," Noin commented as she continued to browse his books.

"What do you guys care? Since when do a few stolen diamonds constitute a threat to world peace?"

"You know, I knew you would get bored," Noin said as she turned to face Heero.

She grabbed a book off of his bookshelf and sat down on another couch across from Heero. She reclined into the leathery seat, crossed her legs, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes. For a moment, she enjoyed the breeze from the open window next to her.

"But I can see why you like it here," she continued. "The weather, oh my god, the weather here. And the air... Heaven on earth. Paradise."

"A backwater where ESUN is concerned, a few branch offices of the territorial government and a tiny contingent of your cohort who don't have a clue who I am. I count that as a benefit."

"You know how we found you?" Noin asked as she flipped through the pages of the book in her hand.

"Because Hugo's an idiot."

"You need better people," Noin said with a chuckle, not looking up from the book. "The local police picked him up at a food truck, hours after the job. He dropped your name as soon as they stuck him in the interrogation room, Mr. Lowe."

"The name came up in the database, got referred to the South American station chief, who then sent it to you, yeah I think I got it," Heero said as he tried to hide his impatience.

"Why do you use that name?" Noin said as she leaned forward. "Did you want to get caught?"

"As you said, maybe I'm bored. Maybe, I needed it to be a little more challenging."

"Not the best use of your skills."

"If you haven't noticed, there aren't exactly many wars these days. I've had find other ways to apply my trade."

"It seems like you've made quite the life for yourself here," Noin said as she looked around once more at his apartment. She then picked up the file that she had left on his coffee table and began to flip through it. "You have a job, software engineer, some hobbies, teaching jiu-jitsu and violin at the local community center..."

Heero remained silent.

"A girlfriend?" Noin said with genuine surprise. "Wait til I tell Relena about this."

"She would be happy for me."

"I'm sure you're right about that. But you and I both know better. This is an act. This is all a charade. It's just you running, I found the sleeping pills in your bathroom. Did you tell your girlfriend about that? Does she know anything about you? Mr. Matsuda," Noin asked as she dropped the file onto his table. "How long do you think you can keep this up?"

Heero looked away.

"What do you want from me?"

"The diamonds for starters," Noin said as she leaned back once again. "You can't steal the governor's diamonds and expect to keep them once you've been caught."

"Is that it?"

"No," Noin said sternly as her voice grew more serious. "I have a mission for you."

"I don't work for you people."

"You won't work at all if I turn you over to the local authorities," Noin said sharply. "Is that what you want? To spend the rest of your life in prison? I feel like we've had this conversation before."

"What's the mission?"

"Relena―"

"No."

"Heero, you're going to have to deal with this eventually."

"There's nothing to deal with."

"Really?" Noin said incredulously as she leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. "A year later, halfway across the world. Stealing diamonds because you're bored. You put enough distance between you and her yet? Yeah, clearly you have nothing to deal with. You once told me, the war is over, time to move on. Well… time to move on."

Heero looked down and said nothing.

"Don't pick prison over her," Noin said softly. "She doesn't deserve it. Neither do you. Don't pick prison because life has been about hardship and pain for you. Just because it has been doesn't mean it always will be. Don't pick prison because Relena makes you feel something you've never known and don't know how to deal with. Let go of the war. You don't have to be defined by it forever."

"She doesn't want to see me."

"You don't know that…" Noin said. "Anyways, think about it at least. It's nothing complicated. Relena's going to be attending Vustgaarde University in the fall. She insists that she doesn't want a full security detail while she's in school. She wants to be… normal."

"That's unwise."

"Exactly, that's where you come in. We'll get you enrolled, you watch her, take the classes she takes, vet the people she interacts with, try not to blow your cover."

"She'll make me immediately."

"Hm," Noin chuckled as she closed her eyes and shook her head. "You sad fool. She'd love a chance to go back to school with you there. Relive all those memories from when she was fifteen. Besides, it doesn't matter if she knows. She's not stupid, she'll figure it out immediately. What's important that they don't know!"

Heero sat there, staring at the file, mentally reliving those memories, the early days of Operation Meteor, when he swore that he would kill her. How foolish he was then, how single-minded and arrogant. Perhaps he was single-minded and arrogant still.

"Anyway, as I said, think about it," Noin said as she got up to leave. "And return the diamonds."

Vustgaarde, Sanc Kingdom

August 9th, AC 198

She lay in her bed awake, staring up at the light fixture above her. She hated it. That was something she would have to fix when she moved in. Despite that, everything else about the place was great. It was small enough that she could run it without any help, but large enough that she didn't feel claustrophobic. The three storey townhouse was located a mere ten minutes walk away from the university. It was absolutely perfect. She had been dreaming of the day when she would be able to return to school.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy her work as the liaison between the Colonies and the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. She did and she understood that it was important. But sometimes, she did miss her previous life. She missed worrying about homework, and getting good grades, and giggling with her girlfriends over boys. All of that seemed so light and simple compared to negotiating asteroid mining rights and settling trade zone disputes. In many ways she was ill-prepared for the job that she had been inadvertently thrust into by right of birth and circumstance. There was much she didn't know and much she could gain from a formal university education. She was excited at that prospect of taking some political science courses to solidify her knowledge and expand her horizons. But she also enthusiastic about the opportunity of learning something new, exploring other aspects of herself that she had for so long neglected. She was a Peacecraft and a Darlian, diplomacy ran through her veins. But what else was she?

She got out of bed and quickly got dressed. It seemed odd to her that the landlord not only allowed her to view the space privately but also to spend the night. Perks of being a public official, she surmised. She appreciated the opportunity and only accepted the invitation because she was pretty sure that she was going to rent it anyway. Truthfully, she could've probably bought the whole row of townhouses but she didn't want the trouble. She wasn't looking to become a property magnate. She was already overseeing way too many construction projects as it was. The Peacecraft Royal Palace also almost complete but not quite yet. Neither she nor Quatre took into account the labour shortages. But in hindsight it was obvious, considering how many young men had given their lives to the war. Still it was complete enough that she could and had been living in the west wing of the palace for a couple of months now. But even if it was finished, she didn't plan on spending much time there during the school year. She was busy enough already, managing the construction and redevelopment plans for the other Peacecraft estates, her career with the world government, and school coming up in the fall. She couldn't afford to waste time being shuttled to and from her secluded countryside princess palace.

She sat in front of her vanity and brushed her hair. She hadn't done that in quite some time. Truthfully, she enjoyed it. Being waited on hand and foot was nice but she liked the feeling of being independent, knowing that she was in control of her own life. Even if it was something as simple as doing her own hair and makeup. Her plan was to live as simply as possible during school year (except during exams). She knew that this may be the last time in her life that she would get to feel normal and she didn't want to squander the moment with servants and security. In fact, she had Pagan running the day to day operations of the Royal Palace so she could be all alone in her new townhouse. She did however plan to have a maid come and clean her place twice a week. Baby steps, she thought.

She cooked herself breakfast in the kitchen and even managed to clean up afterwards. She was quite proud of that fact. Sure, all she did was scramble some eggs and sprinkle in some salt and cut up an apple, but considering that she had never made a meal in her life, she counted it as one of her most important accomplishments. She savoured every moment of the meal. Despite its simplicity, or perhaps because of it, it was absolutely delicious. She imagined her life a month from now, could this be it? Could she imagine herself, sitting at the kitchen counter legs dangling, in her boyshorts and a tank top, with her tablet, her pens and notebooks, with a plate of homemade food, eating breakfast while preparing for class? Oh, how she wished she could fast forward time to the beginning of the school year.

There was a knock on the door. Relena jumped out of her chair and dashed to open the door. It was her landlord.

"Good morning!" Relena greeted her with a warm smile.

"And a good morning to you, Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian," she replied.

"Oh please, call me Relena," Relena said with a simple dismissive wave of her hand before stepping aside and letting the old lady in.

"Only if you call me Margrete," she replied.

"Alright, Margrete."

"I hope you found your stay agreeable."

"It's absolutely wonderful," Relena said as she clasped her hands together. "To be honest, I knew this was the place for me the moment I saw it."

"Well, I am truly honoured."

"It's just the light fixture in the bedroom, would you mind terribly if changed it?" Relena asked nervously as she bit her bottom lip.

"Of course not, I'll send someone to do it right away," Margrete said.

"No, no, that's not necessary," Relena said apologetically. "I won't be moving in for another three weeks. And I'll get someone to do it for me. I'll pay for everything. I insist."

"You're a very sweet girl," Margrete commented.

Relena blushed. She liked getting compliments from people other than diplomats and politicians.

"Now come, I was informed by your assistant that you have a press conference at the university today," Margrete said mustering up her stern voice.

"Oh god, they go to you too," Relena said with a defeated sigh as she turned to look at herself in the mirror of the entrance hallway.

"You should be grateful to have people looking out for your well-being, Relena. It is not a luxury most people have."

"I know, I know," Relena said absently as she adjusted her hair. "I am grateful. It's just, sometimes I need a little room to breathe."

"Breathe later," Margrete said. "Be a princess now."

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Relena pouted as she put on her heels. "And I thought we were becoming such good friends."

The street was rather empty except for a few people. No cameras, no paparazzi, at least Cindy told Margrete to be discreet about her new abode. Although, realistically, it was only a matter of time before they found out about this place. The paparazzi had been tirelessly camping outside the front gate of the Peacecraft Palace ever since they found out that she was renovating it and living there. Every day that she could evade the tabloids, she counted as a victory. She waved goodbye to her new landlord before opening the door of the limo and getting in.

Once inside, Relena took a second to close her eyes and calm herself. A press conference, how ridiculous, she thought to herself. How was she supposed to be normal if she had to hold a press conference to officially announce her enrollment? Normal students don't have to hold a press conference when they entered university. But she was wise enough to understand, as much as she wanted to be normal, she wasn't and she never was. She was royalty and now, a public official. There were strings attached. There were responsibilities. And a certain level of cachet, that which the university was keen to take advantage of. She didn't begrudge them for it. She understood, it was important for the university's reputation. Still, she didn't have to like it.

"Alright Pagan, let's get this over with," Relena said with a heavy sigh.

The car began to move and pull into the street.

"And I thought I told you I don't need a driver, the university is well within walking distance. And who's running the house right now?" Relena asked as she stared out the window.

"Pagan, or at least that's what Noin told me."

Her eyes widened at the sound of that voice. She jumped a little in her seat, nearly hitting her head on the roof.

"Seatbelt please."

"Heero?!"