For Revy679

After Hours

Heero didn't immediately say anything. He wondered if he should say anything at all or wait for Relena to continue. He could tell by Relena's voice that she was angry. Her severe expression only confirmed his intuition.

"It's not what it looked like," Heero blurted out.

After a few tense seconds, Relena gathered up the strength to rise from the couch. Slowly and methodically, she made her way towards the kitchen where Heero was standing. Her bare feet against the cold hardwood floor mimicked the feeling of ice in her veins. She didn't like that answer. It was the response of someone that was guilty and she really didn't want him to be guilty. The foundations of her life suddenly felt very shaky. And she dreaded the next few moments.

"I can't believe I even have to ask this," Relena said with a slight quiver in her voice.

"Then don't!"

Relena was taken aback by the tone of his voice. He yelled at her. He never yelled at her before. She had never heard such uncontrolled emotion out of him. Perhaps, this was a good thing, she tried to rationalize that to herself. Guilty people don't tend to just accept their guilt. They tended to express shame or remorse. Heero, most of all.

Was it all just wishful thinking?

But she had to know the truth. She couldn't live a lie, not after all that had happened. Not after all they had gone through. She wouldn't compromise herself.

"Did you fuck her?" Relena's resolve stiffened again.

"Are you accusing me of cheating on you?"

There was that indignation again. So unfamiliar. Reassuring and painful, all at the same time.

"Did you fuck her?"

"Relena, you can't be serious."

Deflection. No, that's bad. That sounds like avoidance.

"Why aren't you answering me, Heero?!" Relena screamed desperately.

"No I didn't!" Heero shouted back.

Good! That's what she wanted to hear. But was it real? Was she fooling herself? She pushed through. She needed answers.

"Then why did some tabloid photographer catch you two together?!" Relena continued her barrage.

"Because I'm in a veterans support group with her!" Heero returned fire.

That stopped her in her tracks. She was dumbstruck. She didn't know how to feel. Her first registered emotion was relief, quickly followed by confusion.

"What?" She whispered after a few seconds of silence.

"I occasionally go to a veterans group." Heero lowered his voice as well.

Relena fell silent again. She simmered in her confusion. Why was he being so guarded about this? Why didn't she know anything about this?!

"Since when?" Relena asked.

"October."

"October?!" Relena shouted reflexively. Her mind quickly raced through her memories, almost half a year. What was happening in October? Her mind quickly began to construct a rough timeline of events. It was a little bit difficult considering how much had happened since Heero returned into her life. Noin's going away party that he never showed up to. "Since before we started dating?"

"I haven't gone very regularly since I got back from Buenos Aires," Heero said as put his hand against the kitchen island.

She watched him as she moved to the other side of the island and sat down on a stool. He looked like he was carrying a thousand pound weight. She had never seen Heero like that before. He was the mirror image of that man she found waking up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. But instead of a frantic fear of the viscerally near, Heero looked like a man carrying the weight of a thousand years of pain.

Tears began to well up for Relena. She couldn't help it.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Relena asked, gently, trying her best to suppress her frustration.

"I don't know," Heero said quietly. "It felt stupid."

Those words pained her. How could he possibly think that something like that would feel stupid to her? Relena turned away. Her expression broke and in that instant she didn't want to show that to him. But of course, there was no hiding the hurt that she felt.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Relena began to weep.

"Nothing, it's not your fault. It's mine," Heero said defiantly. "I'm the one that's fucked up."

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Relena asked.

"I thought I was handling it," Heero answered quietly.

"Why do you keep me at arm's length?" Relena asked, her voice cracking with desperation. "Don't you trust me?!"

"Of course I do!"

"Then let me let me in!"

Heero turned away as if he had been slapped by those words.

"I'm afraid, Relena," he whispered.

"Of what?" Relena asked.

"Of what you might find."

"Have I ever given you reason to believe that?" Relena raised her voice once again. She wasn't sure if she was angry or heartbroken, perhaps both. "Don't you believe me when I say I love you? Haven't I always been on your side?"

"Yes, of course!" Heero said, emphatically, desperately.

"Then what, Heero?"

Mae Hong Son, Thailand

The group of scientists and engineers waited at the hangar bay doors. They stood their silently, watching as the Wing landed on tarmac of the old Alliance era runway that they had been using as their test facility. They didn't need to be standing that far away. The Wing was far quieter than it had any right to be. It was just a habit for those guys. One by one, they emerged from the presumptive safety of the hangar and approached the Gundam as the glow of the Search Eye dimmed and then faded.

Vincent held on to the tether attached to the boarding crane as the motor slowly lowered him from the cockpit to the ground.

He took off his helmet and flipped his hair. The engineers and scientists waited with bated breath. He looked like he was in a good mood.

"Increase the engine output by at least 100% percent," Vincent finally said. "It tends to stall if it doesn't have enough speed. This was an issue with the original design as well. Don't worry, the frame can handle it."

"Yes sir," one of the lead engineers said. "2Xing the engines is quite drastic… however—"

"Buddy, I have more hours on this machine then you will ever have," Vincent interjected. "Do you want me to show you? Look, you're treating this thing as if it were a Leo. It's not a mobile suit. It's a Gundam!"

"Come on, leave the poor guy alone."

Vincent looked up and into the crowd. It took him a second to find her. She was wearing a hardhat and a tan jumpsuit just like the other engineers. His attention was immediately drawn to her and as soon as that happened the crowd began to disperse. Some of them went back into the hangar. The others went to inspect the machine.

"It's cute," Kerestina said. "You playing chief engineer."

"I spent hundreds of hours working on the original," Vincent said. "I know what I'm talking about."

"You're in a good mood today," Kerestina said.

"Well, how often do I get to fly these days?" Vincent said as he took a deep breath, inflating his chest. "I can't wait until I get this thing up to the standard of the original. It'll finally have what was stolen from me."

"Wasn't Heero Yuy the first choice to pilot the Wing?" Kerestina flashed him a sly smile.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood today," Vincent said.

Vincent placed his index finger on her collar bone. Her jumpsuit had not been zipped up, as was her way. He gently traced a line from collar, between her breast, down to her belly button. She watched him—amused—as he did so.

"Nice try." Kerestina finally slapped his hand away. "I'm not yours."

"Not anymore," Vincent said. "Not yet."

Relena picked out a bottle of white wine from the glass enclosed white cellar mounted on the wall next to the kitchen area. It came with the suite but Relena found it useful for storing the endless bottles that were sent to her as gifts from various foreign dignitaries and aristocratic notables alike. She hadn't had much use for it over the last few months as she had mostly been spending their time in Vustgaarde and at Peacecraft Palace. But after returning from her trip to L2, and having been confined to the hotel suite mostly due to the lockdown, Heero and Relena had found the winerack quite useful.

She grabbed a couple of glasses from the ceiling wine glass rack that was mounted above the standalone bar next to the entrance to the terrace. She sat down at the kitchen island, opened the bottle and began to pour Heero and herself some of the white.

Heero was fileting the fish that he had bought at the fishmonger just hours ago. Relena watched intently as Heero slid the fileting knife underneath the skin of the halibut and sliced to detach the top layer of scales from the flesh underneath. He then grabbed a clean towel and used it to grab the loose skin and with one strong motion ripped off the rest of the skin.

Relena's eyes widened. She was impressed. And while this wasn't the first thing she had watched Heero prepare food, something about that moment felt different. Perhaps, she was a little more keen about everything he was doing as in that moment everything felt a little fleeting.

"Want some help?" Relena asked.

She tried to break the awkward silence between them.

"I'm fine," Heero replied.

She had to try. He was pissed. He had every right to be. After what she had accused him of the moment he returned home. This was his way of punishing her. To cook for her. To be nice to her. To remind her of what he does for her, what he's always done for her. She suppose she deserved it. But it only made her feel worse.

Wilson decided that he wasn't going to contact the big man until he was filled with some greasy fats and some carbonated sugar. If he was gonna get chewed out over the phone, he'd at least be doing do so with some of the effects of his hangover mitigated. Some of the effects. He waited in the driver seat of his car as it sat in an automated line that took control over his vehicle and pulled it through the drive-through of the Burger Shack. He stared at his phone and the number that he knew he had to dial. He was nervous as hell.

His burger, fries, and large drink was delivered to him by a robotic arm that had about his much grace as one would expect out of a twenty year old machine that a local burger joint bought second hand. It hit the top of his car as it clumsily attempted to deliver WIlson's food to him. It probably left a dent.

After scarfing his burger and fries, he sipped on his cola and watched as the automated line of cars just in front of him moved rhythmically like an assembly line almost lulling him to sleep. He was putting it off. As he had done with so much of his life, he really didn't want to make this call.

But he had no other choice.

He dialed the number.

He wait.

And waited.

Until he heard a voice on the other end.

"Yeah, it's me," Wilson said suppressing the womble in his voice. "I need to talk to him."

He waited for the man on the other end to stop speaking.

"I wouldn't be calling if it wasn't important!" Wilson tried to sound annoyed and even a little angry. He was scared shitless.

Again the man spoke, and it was all Wilson could do to keep it together.

"It's real!" Wilson protested. "You think I like being his errand boy? If it were up to me, I'd never call this number!"

A few moments later. It was all over. The man on the other end of the call ended the call. Wilson sunk into the seat of his car and let out a deep sigh of relief. He needed a drink.

Relena helped set the small breakfast table near to the kitchen, against Heero's initial wishes to sit at the large dining room table. She couldn't tell if he wanted to sit in the big formal space because he had bothered to do the groceries and make a date night out of it or because he wanted a little bit of space between them. They had both been so busy this last week, they practically lived on room service and takeout. It was nice to be able to have an intimate dinner together for once. At least it would've been. She still felt terrible about what she had said and was feeling worse and worse as the night went on.

Dinner was a quiet affair. They talked very little and what they did speak about was confined to polite small talk about the plans for the next few weeks. Relena recounted the Ainsley interview to Heero it could have potential ramification for the funding of the Mars Terraformation project. Heero for his part, performed his perfunctory duties of agreeing with her and asking standard follow ups that left very little room for conversational flow.

He didn't mean to do that. He could see himself doing it almost as if by instinct. Heero, on some level, understood that he hadn't liked being accused of cheating, and that perhaps that's why he was behaving in the petulant way he was. He didn't like that about himself. But more than that, he didn't like that he wasn't completely in control of it. Had he always been like that? Was this the same instinct that so readily drove him into suicide missions? Was this the self immolation that they had talked about in group? Was being cold and distant with Relena the same as pressing the self-destruct button?

At the same time, Heero also understood what it must've looked like from Relena's perspective. Putting himself in her shoes, it would just about destroy him if he saw Relena into a car with another man. How he would rather face another thousand years of battles than that.

He also didn't like that he had yelled at Relena. He realized that was the first time he had ever done something like that and it made him feel ashamed. He promised himself that he would always be under control with her. She was the most precious thing in the world to him. And he couldn't risk being reckless with her.

"Thank you for cooking dinner," Relena said as she took a sip of her wine. "It was delicious."

"You're welcome," Heero just about managed to say, forcing himself to be conciliatory.

Just as Heero was about to get up and clear the table, Relena stuck her hand out to intervene.

"I can do it," Relena said.

Heero didn't know how to respond. He merely just stared at her in confusion for a couple of moments.

"You sure?"

For whatever reason, that set her off. She stood up and quickly gathered the glasses and plates together and blew out the candle.

"Heero, I can load a dishwasher!" Relena said defiantly.

With a bit of clumsiness, Relena managed to get everything loaded until the stack of plates, including the glasses with the delicate stems (she figured out to flip them over upside down), and move the entire mess over to the kitchen island.

It had never bothered her before when Heero cleaned up and did the dishes. In fact, she really appreciated it. But somehow, that night was spiraling into a really weird place and more and more it felt like Heero's courteousness was somehow an indictment on Relena's inability to do basic things. And while that may be true (she was at least willing to admit that to herself), she wasn't about to take it lying down.

Thank god, she watched him load the dishwasher a couple of times before.

The Valknut, Preventers Headquarters

"Don't be an asshole."

The tall Preventer agent said condescendingly as he paced around the small interrogation room in a small circle. Jacques was thoroughly unimpressed.

"We have your entire stash. Even your little emergency," the agent continued. "That's not as smart as you think. Your apartment is littered with takeout containers. You didn't think we would check the oven?"

Fuck. Okay, he did need that. Maybe these Preventers weren't all idiots. They caught him after all. And if they have the hand guns and the money he had stashed away in the oven. They must have his go bag behind the radiator. This just got a lot harder.

For a brief second, Jacques did consider cutting a deal. Afterall, they weren't really after him. They wanted Kerestina. But just as that thought crossed her mind, he remembered that Kerestina had just put a bullet through a man's skull at three kilometers. Probably best to stay on her good side. He probably wasn't going to sleep tonight.

Duo and Hope watched the interrogation from the adjoining room. They had been there for hours. And both of them were starting to get tired.

"This is going nowhere," Hope remarked with a yawn.

"It's early," Duo said. "Give our man here some time to work."

"We've been here four hours," Hope said. "He's clearly not going to break."

"Pffft, four hours is nothing. If he doesn't last at least 24 hours, I'll have lost a lot of respect for mister… Jacques St. Pierre," Duo said as he peaked down at the name on the document on the table in front of him.

"What, are you saying?" Hope asked. "You respect the guy?"

"Well not with that name…" Duo said, taking a second look at the file. "Are you serious? Is this a pseudonym?"

"Duo!"

"Hmmm?"

"This guy, seriously?" Hope said pointing at the one way mirror in front of them.

"What do you want me to say? He's one of yours! Ex-OZ soldier, it says here," Duo said. "He didn't take the general amnesty, and decided he'd rather run guns instead. It takes some balls to do that."

"You guys are incorrigible." Hope shook her head.

"Incorrigible… incorrigible…" Duo reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He pretended like he was checking a message and the while Hope could hear him mouthing the letters as he attempted to sound out how to spell the word.

"It means fucked up!"

"Oh!" Duo said looking up from his phone. "Well I could've told you that."

She stared out at the skyline of the city, a sea of thousands of little flicks of yellow and white light that illuminated the horizon underneath a full moon. It was cold outside on the terrace but she wasn't planning on staying outside for long. Relena just needed some fresh air. The atmosphere inside the suite was still rather tense even after tempers and emotions have calmed over the course of the evening. She was still kicking herself over her earlier comments.

Relena thought about the beginning of the day and how quickly things spiraled out of control. Heero had woken up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare. That was her primary concern at the time. He had been evasive about it in the morning and she was looking forward to a nice night alone with him for the first time since they had returned from space. But then the videos of Heero jumping into the car with Tanya immediately sent Relena into a bad place. Even if he hadn't cheated on her, had he been with Tanya before they started dating? He obviously hadn't lost his virginity to her the way that she did for him. If it wasn't Tanya, who was it? Did it matter? It shouldn't. But it did. Her mind immediately raced back to the moments before the trip when she learned that Heero had been on birth control and all of the insecurities that she felt then came racing back.

What's more, she felt hurt that he felt it unnecessary to tell her that he had been seeking help for his PTSD. As if that wasn't her concern, that there were pieces of him that weren't for her or weren't her concern. She couldn't decide what she hated more, the fact that he withheld this information as a way of protecting her from himself, or the fact that he thought it was so unimportant that he didn't bother mentioning it at all. There was so much of Heero that still remained a mystery to her. But was he obligated to reveal all of himself to her? If not all, how much, and when?

It was all a little too much for her.

Her train of thought was broken by the sound of cars, voices, and the tiny flashes of light that she immediately recognized to be the paparazzi. She looked over the railing to the street level area in front of the lobby to confirm. Of course, she thought. And this didn't help her predicament. These people weren't here for her. They were chasing down Heero. There had been an unspoken balancing act in their relationship. Heero was the superhuman Gundam Pilot that she loved and adored. She was the glamorous princess that was everything anyone could wish for, but was secretly—that at least in her mind—much more ordinary. He was a ripped Olympian hero straight out of the romance novels of her youth while she had to work tirelessly to keep up with him. But at least, he was all hers. The world didn't know about him.

But it felt like that was all about to change.

Grand-Place, Brussels

At the very heart of Brussels was the Grand-Place, the ancient city square that was home to several of the city's most prized architectural achievements. Through the centuries the design of that part of the city had been meticulously preserved by the city government and private charities alike, regardless of the whims of whatever multi-national sovereign happened to be ruling over them.

The Grand-Place had suffered some minor damage during the Mariemaia Insurrection. But as it wasn't a deemed a strategically vital area of the city, only a handful of Serpents had been deployed to secure the area during those crucial few hours. As a result, some of the tiled stonework of the square, unable to support the ground pressure and weight of the Serpents, cracked, leaving clear footprints of the mobile suits behind. But that was the extent of the damage and was quickly repaired after the rebellion.

In AC 199, the area was once again thriving. The sun had long since set, and yet the market square was as busy as ever. Duo and Hope walked through, passing by the shops and restaurants, enjoying the sound of laughter of children, and the mumbling conversations of the adults alike. The glow of the restaurants and the public lamps lit up the square, accenting the beautiful architectural details of the surrounding buildings. This was what peace felt like. And getting themselves out of the dingy interrogation rooms of the Valknut to remind themselves of what life was like in the outside world, was not only refreshing but necessary.

"This was a good idea," Hope said as she took a sip of her coffee.

"I figured I needed to get you out of there," Duo said. "I was worried you would crack before he did."

Hope giggled.

"Shut up!" Hope said as she playfully shoved Duo's shoulder.

Duo did a weird little wiggle pretending to be off balance before he straightened himself up again.

"Alright, mister know-it-all, how long?" Hop asked.

"How long what?"

"How long until he breaks?"

Duo thought about it for a second before answering, "Tomorrow night at the latest."

"And you're sure about that," Hope said.

"If he has any self-respect," Duo remarked. "You never did torture training with OZ?"

Hope merely bit the rim of her coffee cup and meekly shook her head.

"Officers get all the perks," Duo said.

"Oh and you're so badass?" Hope commented snidely.

"I made it through your dumb obstacle course, remember?" Duo said.

She had forgotten about that. That was only a few months ago and yet it felt like another lifetime ago. "That's true…"

"So you're impressed by that, are ya?" Duo was being smug. Hope couldn't decide if she found it endearing or insufferable.

"I dunno," Hope said. "You're just kinda… different."

"Different how?."

Hope merely shrugged. "Heero, he fits the mold. Silent, serious, brooding, I kinda expect him to be a badass."

"Yes, everyone's always so impressed," Duo said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"But you're like this… happy-go-lucky guy," Hope said as she came to a stop and turned to face him.

Her gloved hand played with the lapel of his leather jacket. Her fingers, tracing the ridged teeth of the zip, as she struggled to find the words. Ever so slightly leaning in, her eyes pointed down, away from his gaze. If she felt embarrassed to say it, it's only because there was a fifty-fifty chance that he would react like an insufferable prick. Please don't be like that.

"But then, you know, when it comes down to it," Hope finally said. "You got this whole other mode."

"Well, you can't let the job define you," Duo said.

"That!" Hope said emphatically as her eyes darted up to meet his. "That right there. The job. Being a Gundam Pilot is a job, is it? The God of Death is a… what?"

Duo paused. He thought about it for a second.

"Well, it was a thing I did," Duo said. "Trying not to let it define me."

"Is it working?"

"Ha!" Duo let out a large laugh. "No… it's not working."

She closed the doors to the terrace tightly, trying to keep the noise of the paparazzi to a minimum. Relena made her way over to the kitchen island and poured herself another half glass of the white wine she had opened earlier. She looked around. Heero was sitting on the couch in the living room. He was silent. Relena took a sip of her drink and made her way over to the couch where Heero was. He was reading a book. She sat down beside him on the couch.

The TV was off. In fact, the TV had never been turned on ever as recalled. They have never watched a movie together. She didn't know his favourite movie. She didn't know if he even had a favourite movie. This would have been a perfect night to snuggle up and watch one but she felt that she had ruined that opportunity.

Instead, she just sat quietly next to him, pulled out her phone, and started browsing. Perhaps, she felt like she owed him that silence.

She browsed for poles and researched how they could be installed in bedrooms. But her resolve didn't last long. She wasn't Heero. She couldn't even think about such things when they were in a fight. She just didn't have it in her to leave things unaddressed. Especially when he was sitting right next to her. It was different during the war when they were separated by circumstance and battlefields. But this was ridiculous.

"Whatcha reading?" Relena finally mustered up enough courage to ask.

Heero's concentration snapped. He looked over at her, then at the paperback in his hand. He flashed the cover at her.

"Moby Dick," Heero finally answered.

"Have you read it before?" Relena continued.

"No, why?"

"I dunno, it just seems like you've read everything and done everything," Relena said.

"What does that mean?" Heero asked.

Relena sighed. She picked her feet off of the carpeted floor and sat cross legged on the couch and turned herself to face him directly.

"You were this fifteen year old kid that I randomly found on the beach, then you showed up at my school." Relena began to recount their history. Perhaps it was a good time to remind themselves of how far they had come. "And you were like… good with horses, and good at fencing, and you pilot a giant robot. And then you saved the world. Twice. And years later I find out that you're super well read and you're good at math and science and you know a lot about history and you can cook…"

Heero merely stared at her curiously, unsure of what she meant by any of this.

"It's not unreasonable that you might've read Moby Dick before," Relena said.

Heero closed his book and set it down on the end table. He shifted himself slightly towards her. He wasn't sure exactly what Relena was getting at. It kind of sounded like praise. But why would she say those things now? He didn't do anything particularly impressive lately that would warrant praise. Heero didn't have the proper emotional mechanisms to understand compliments. For him, praise was a mechanism for achievement. In his childhood, he only ever received praise for accomplishing a task.

"I guess I never thought about it that way…" Heero said. "Dr. J made me read a lot during my training. I think it was to keep me busy and out of trouble."

Relena lunged over at him and wrapped her around his waist and buried her face into his stomach. She nuzzled her face into the soft fabric of his shirt and took in his scent before she turned her head to look up at him.

"I'm sorry I accused you of cheating on me," Relena said, affecting a slightly pouty juvenile voice. "I don't know what's going on with me lately."

Heero relaxed. It was as if some great weight had been lifted from him. He didn't realize until that moment how much an apology could mean. He reached out and began to rub Relena's side as if stroking a cat. She was sure acting like one. He kissed her forehead gently.

"It's okay," Heero said.

Relena rested her head on his chest and let out a deep sigh.

"Don't forgive me so quickly, I don't deserve it," she said despite desperately loving his words.

Hamid stated out the window of The Merchant's office into the depths of the lush jungle below as a recording of a voice conversation played out in his ear. He listened intently for the intonation and vocal affections of the two men talking, trying to focus through the static of the recording. When the recording ended, he took the ear piece out and continued to stare out into the jungle, saying nothing.

"What do you think?" The Merchant asked, trying not to sound too anxious.

"He's telling the truth," Hamid finally said. "At least he believes that he is telling the truth. Although your man is not very steady."

"Good help is hard to come by," The Merchant said. "We do need allies, given the state of Earth's Aristocracy at the moment."

"Just because they want Relena dead does not automatically make them a suitable ally," Hamid said.

"The convergence of interests then," The Merchant said. "With Toro out of the way, we have breathing room. But we are also stalled. And we do need more money…"

A blinding flash of light momentarily blinded the both of them. In the distance a large white beam seemingly shot out of the canopy cover of the jungle and just as quickly disappeared. A few seconds later they were villa was hit with a thundering sonic boom that shook everything.

"Given the costs of manufacturing that monstrosity," The Merchant remarked as he sat down on his chair and swiveled to look out the window.

"Then why do you indulge the boy?" Hamid asked.

"I appreciate his talents." The Merchant suddenly sounded far more jovial. "He's a good pilot. Probably the best that we can get. One of two of Jay Null's Perfect Soldier project. You know, the defective one… but still… even then that's still pretty good."

The Merchant paused to take a sip of his tea.

"We're going to need him when the time comes."

"He's erratic," Hamid commented.

"They all are at the end of the day," The Merchant said dismissively. "Occupational hazard."

"We do need to start recruiting as well," Hamid spoke as he began to pace. "One mobile suit, no matter how powerful, won't be enough."

"We have a shipment of Serpents inbound from L3," The Merchant said. "We will need pilots. And it would seem that the World Government has been doing its best to be accommodating to the soldiers of OZ's wars. Trying to make up for past mistakes, I suppose."

"And you think these people can provide you with soldiers?" Hamid asked.

"We're running out of options," The Merchant said.

Hamid didn't say anything else. He knew The Merchant was right. Given the current political client and the general war-weariness of the population, they were having a difficult time recruiting on Earth. It was very much possible, given the millions that had either served in Treize or the White Fang's armies. But the strong Preventers presence on the Earth Sphere make the task that much more challenging.

"Right then," The Merchant said. "Fancy a trip to outer space?"

It was amusing how impressed he was with the results of the dishwasher. As if Relena having operated the it would somehow ruin the proper functioning of the machine. Heero took a clean kitchen cloth that the hotel maids had left for them in one of the drawers and began to wipe away the residual moisture of the dishes that came out of the dishwasher and began to put them away. Relena sat on the kitchen island eating her ice cream.

"So now we're having this jurisdictional fight over what legal precedents apply in the newly proposed territorial governments," Relena said as she licked her spoon.

"You had to have known this was coming," Heero said as he put another stack of dishes away.

They were back to talking about work again. Which was what they did a lot in the brief moments they had together. But now it was different. They didn't have the weight of their unresolved fight hanging over them anymore. They had worked things out, at least they thought so.

"Yeah but we haven't even formalized their entry into the Assembly! Let alone held their first elections," Relena said as she took another bite of her ice cream.

"They're new, they don't want to be seen as pushovers," Heero said.

"I wouldn't have sponsored their bid if I didn't think they could contribute to the Assembly," Relena said as she held out her spoon with scoop of ice cream on it.

Heero took the bite. "You're their ally, sure. But if they get representation in the Assembly of Nations they are going to get picked apart by the established territorial governments. They want to make a statement."

"Can't they just have declare their Representation Day a territorial holiday like everyone else?" Relena said with a sigh.

"You're worried about stability," Heero said as he hung up a skillet. "It's natural. But this is how a democracy works. Or so I've been told."

"Excuse me if I think stability is a good thing." Relena let out a sarcastic quip as she set down her little bowl of ice cream beside her.

Heero picked up the bowl, ate the last spoonful of ice cream and began to rinse it out in the sink.

"So… speaking of stability…" Relena said, suddenly sounding a bit nervous. "Valentine's Day is in a couple of days."

Heero shut off the water and placed both the bowl and the spoon on a fresh towel beside the sink (the hotel didn't have a drying rack). Heero turned around to face Relena. He leaned against the counter.

"Should we do something?" Relena asked.

Heero scratched the back of his head. He wasn't quite sure what to say. It occurred to him in that moment that they hadn't really gone on a proper date yet. Their lives had been so busy since they got together and that fundamental aspect of being in a relationship had thus far alluded them.

"I mean… I know, that's it's only been a little over a month," Relena said. "But—"

"It feels longer," Heero said, cutting her off.

"Yeah," Relena said, finally letting herself smile.

"Are you busy then?" Heero asked.

"I don't know… probably," Relena said. "But who cares? I'm always busy. That's not an excuse."

"It's a lot of pressure," Heero said, sounding a little unsure of himself in a manner completely foreign to Relena. She was seeing all sorts of new dimensions to Heero tonight.

"Yeah… you're right," Relena agreed. "A month isn't that long. We should… take it slow. Slow and steady."

Heero approached her. He placed both his arms on the countertop, flanking Relena on both sides. He leaned forward and kissed her gently. She smiled.

"How do you think we did?" Relena asked in a hushed whisper as they broke their kiss.

"Did what?" Heero asked.

"Our first fight."

"Was that our first fight?" Heero asked.

"Well it was the first time you didn't just stand there and take it from me," Relena said as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I think that counts."

"Do you want a letter grade?" Heero asked softly.

"Yes, please," Relena whispered.

He kissed her again.

"You taste like vanilla ice cream," Heero said. "A+."

45 miles outside of Brussels

"You know cloak and dagger is just an expression right?" Sally said as her windows rolled down automatically as her vehicle pulled up along side Une's. "We can just meet in your office."

Their cars were parked in the middle of the road. And if this were anywhere near a population center of any note or even if it weren't in the dead of night, perhaps they would be facing a cacophony of blaring horns and angry people shouting at them. Luckily, and mostly likely predictably, the orientation of their vehicles weren't much of an issue.

Une sighed, her eyes seemed to staring a thousand miles into the distance. "I wish that were true."

Sally pulled her vehicle behind Une's and followed it the rest of the way. At some point, Sally couldn't be sure when or where, they had pulled off the main road and were now following some unnamed dirt track. Perhaps it had been paved once, she couldn't be sure. It was too dark to make out the ground clearly. The only semblance of a road was the fact that Une's car seemed to be fine and that the was in fact a blue line underneath the icon that was her vehicle on her navigation system.

A few minutes later they came to a clearing. It was still pitch dark but at least now Sally was able to make out some stars in the sky and the vague shape of some sort of warehouse. They park their vehicles next to each and continue on foot. When they reached the gate, there was a guard there. He flashed his flashlight in their faces causing the two of them to wince.

But before they could enter. The guard held up his hand towards Sally.

"Seriously?" Sally asked incredulously. "I can't just say, I'm with you?"

Une said nothing, she complied and flashed her badge.

Sally rolled her eyes. She did the same.

"Okay, what is this place?" Sally finally asked when they we well clear of the gate.

Entering the warehouse itself, Une pulled out a flashlight and weaved her way through the abandoned machinery until she came to a set of stairs. They descended down to the underground section. Once they were down there, the darkness was replaced by bright red lights that bathed the sterile corridors in an ominous warm glow.

"We just got word from Trowa that at least eight Serpents are Earth-bound on a deep space transport" Une finally said. "He's tailing them right now and reports that the transport just took on fuel by passing the L5 cluster."

They came upon another door. Une scanned her badge against the infrared censor before placing her eye up to the retinal scanner. A moment later, the large metal door cracked open with a loud bang.

They entered.

Walking along the gantry, a row of large automated spotlights lit up one after another right in front of them. Once they reached the end of the gantry the final light lit up reveal the Tallgeese. Restored to its former glory.

"We need to be ready," Une said.

Sally was at a loss for words for a few moments.

"What about the Orbital Defense Squadron?" Sally finally managed to ask.

"Bunch of rookies with some beat up Space Leos," Une said dismissively. "Plus, we would need Parliamentary Force Authorization to utilize them. And with elections coming up, no one wants to rock the boat. Heard the Budget Committee is trying to slash the Peacekeeping spend again this year."

"You're going to do this alone, aren't you?" Sally looked at Une with a look of grave concern.

"What choice do we have?"

"You're going to need a pilot."