I do not own Gundam Wing.  This fan fiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this.  

 

Chapter 11

 

            Relena couldn’t stop the crash.  The Lincoln slammed into the back right of the Mercedes as it continued its dangerous slide across the four-lane road.  She recovered quickly, punching the gas pedal to propel the car back to the right side of the street.  The semi-truck smashed into the Lincoln, as the Mercedes straightened its course in the opposite direction.

            Visibly shaken, Relena took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on the long drive ahead.

            A few minutes later, Heero told her to pull over.  When the car stopped, he got out, and switched places with a very relieved Relena.

            The group continued to ride in silence.  The lights of the city were growing more distant every second, but Heero had yet to divulge their destination.  Suddenly, he leaned over and whispered something to Relena.

            She opened the glove compartment, and pulled out the revolver that Heero had taken off the dead man in the Governor’s mansion.  She turned and handed it to Duo.  He looked at it closely.

            “How did you get this?” Duo asked his friend, obviously surprised.

            “When did you lose it?”  Heero asked evasively.

            “I didn’t.  I had it the night of the drug bust.  I haven’t really needed it since then.”

            “Hn.”

            Relena looked over at Heero.  “You didn’t answer his question.  How did you get it?  And what is it?”

            “It’s my service revolver,” Duo answered.

            Relena looked up at Heero expectantly.  He remained silent.  “Well?”

            Heero looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

            “How did you get my service revolver?” Duo asked again.

            “He took it off the man that almost killed me tonight,” Governor Darlian replied.

            “WHAT?” Relena cried out, turning around to look at her father.  “Someone tried to kill you?”  She turned back towards Heero. “That’s where you went tonight?  To stop someone from murdering my father?”

            Heero still didn’t say anything.  He seemed to be concentrating on the road.  Realizing she wasn’t going to get any more answers out of him, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes with a sigh.  Finally releasing the pent-up tension from her stunt driving, she fell asleep in a few minutes.

            “What’s going on,” Duo asked in a whisper.

            Heero met his eyes in the rear view mirror.  “Later.”

           

            They arrived at a motel situated just off the highway, not too far from the airport.  They checked into two adjacent rooms under assumed names. 

Before she could protest, Heero pulled Relena into one of the rooms and shut the door behind them.  The Governor looked like he was about to go after them, but Duo suddenly cried out in pain, and grabbed the older man’s arm for support.  Mr. Darlian unlocked the door to the other room and helped the injured man forward.  Duo could barely contain his laughter as he leaned heavily on the Governor and groaned in what he hoped sounded like pain. 

Heero turned towards Relena, hoping to steal a kiss, but met with a hard slap to the face.  He noted that while it still didn’t hurt, her hand did seem to have more force behind it than the last.  Her action only served to heighten his attraction.

Relena crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at Heero.

“What was that for?” he asked gruffly and grabbed her right arm harshly jerking her forward.

“You pointed a gun at my head!  How dare you!” she choked back a sob and brought her left hand up to slap him again.  He caught her arm mid-swing, and brought it to his waist as he pulled her into a warm embrace.

She fought against his firm hold, working her arms up to pummel his chest.  He continued to hold her for several minutes until she stopped struggling, and her sobs quieted.

            Relena turned away and wiped at the few tears that still stained her flushed cheeks.  “What’s happening?  I don’t understand what is going on!”

            “It’s Barton.  You knew this would happen.  I told you what I had to do.”

            “But the bomb, and the…They tried to kill father?”

            Heero nodded.

            “Why were they at the hospital?”

            “To get Duo.”

            “Why?”

            “That’s something I have to figure out.”

            “Oh,” she looked down at the floor.  Then she turned around.  “What can I do?”

            “You have to stay here,” he said flatly.

            “But I should help.”

            “You can’t.”

            “Look, just because I’m a woman, doesn’t mean…”

            “It has nothing to do with your gender.  Duo and I are trained to handle these situations.  You are not.  You will stay here.”  There was finality in his tone of voice, but he once again underestimated Relena’s stubborn streak.
            “You can’t force me to do anything I don’t want to.  I can leave as soon as you’re out of sight.”

            Heero looked smug.  “You won’t.”

            Relena smiled mischievously, “Why not?”

            He looked deep into her eyes, “Because you’re in love with me, so you’ll do what I say.”

            Relena sputtered as she tried to think of a cutting remark, but failed.  She glared at him.  He laughed at her expression, as she turned away from him in a huff.  He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.  She didn’t try to pull away.  His hot breath tickled her ear as he whispered, “Believe in me, Relena.”

            She turned and looked up at him questioningly.  He bent his head forward and kissed her lightly on the lips.  She closed her eyes and smiled at the gentle touch. 

            She felt him move away, and opened her eyes languidly.  He was already at the door.  “I’ll be back, soon.”  He started out the door, then stopped.  “Don’t let anyone in.  No one, you understand?”

            Relena nodded in acquiescence.  Heero smiled slightly and went out the door.  “Lock the door, Relena, and put the chain on.”

            Relena obediently crossed the room and locked the door. Heero waited on the other side until he heard the sound of the chain being fastened in place before he went next door to see Duo.

            As he entered, he glared at the Governor.  He still didn’t trust the man completely.  “Come on, Duo, let’s go.”

            Duo stood up and limped over to the door. 

            “The three of us are leaving,” Heero lied. 

            Duo looked at him surprised.

            “You, Mr. Darlian, if you know what is good for you, will stay here.  Do not try to contact anyone.  I don’t think it is possible to exaggerate the situation you are in.”

            “Are you threatening me?”

            Heero just glared at him, and then turned and walked out the door.

            Out in the hall, Duo looked around puzzled.  “Where is Relena?”

            “She’s in her room.”

            “Why did you tell him she was going, too?”

            “I don’t trust him.”

           

            Heero and Duo got back in the Mercedes and took off.

            “Where are we going?” Duo asked.

            “I need a computer.”

            “We could go to my office.”

            “No, someone’s trying to frame you.  We can’t trust anyone at the PD.”

            “Not that office,” Duo replied with a sad smile.

            Heero gave him a questioning look.

            Duo pulled out his FBI badge and flashed it.

            Heero arched a suspicious eyebrow at his friend.  “So they knew.”

            “They suspected.” Duo said evasively. “It was a big gamble on their part, sending you in.”

            “Are you at least going to let me finish what I started?”

            “I owe you for saving my life.”

            Heero nodded and drove towards the place he hadn’t seen in two years.

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            He supposed he had spent too much time around Trowa to be completely comfortable in the confines of Duo’s office.  Heero sat down at the desk and started working.  He paused only to ask Duo for passwords to the requested documents.  He didn’t want to add hacking the FBI’s servers to his growing list of felonies.

            Heero’s eyes flicked over the documents, absorbing their contents quickly.  “Why did the Governor say the FBI had found nothing?”

            “Because we didn’t want to alert anyone that we had found anything, yet.”

            “So, he’s not involved?”

            “Well, let’s just say he appears to be only a minor player in this.”

            “Hn.”

            “We think a certain aide is the major player in his administration.  But so far, we’re stumped on how she communicates with the leak in the PD and Barton.  I’m hoping you may have some clue,” he said, bringing a file picture of Dorothy Catalonia up on screen.  She was young looking, probably in her late twenties or early thirties, with long, pale blond hair and ice blue eyes.  She was the Governor’s top aide, and one of Relena’s good friends.

            “Never seen her.”

            “What about him?”  Duo asked, bringing a picture of an arrogant-looking man with short platinum blonde hair and a smirk curling his lips, up onto the screen.

            Heero glared at the picture, then Duo.  “What do you think, I’m an idiot?”

            “Well, we know he’s the chief of police, I was just wondering if you had ever seen him around Barton, or…”

            “No.  But I’m sure you know he’s Relena’s brother.”

            “Yeah, which makes her the link, but I can’t believe she’s involved.”

            “Is that why Treize wanted me to get close to her?”  Heero asked, remembering his last set of instructions given in the dead of night six long months ago.  As their investigation had narrowed in scope to a possible link between Quinze and Governor Darlian’s administration, Treize had ‘suggested’ he get close to Relena.  

            “Yeah.  So, is she?”

            “Involved?  If she is, it’s not intentionally.”

            Duo scrutinized his friend’s face.  “I don’t think you can be objective about this.”

            “You don’t believe she’s mixed up in this, either.  Why?”

            Duo smiled.  “Doesn’t add up. “

            “Hn.”

            “Why don’t you think she’s involved?”

            “I said she isn’t intentionally involved.  I think she is the key to all this.”

            Duo looked puzzled. 

            “It makes sense.  Barton was angry about losing Relena.  He told me himself that he loved her.  So, he wanted revenge on those that turned her against him - her father and brother.”

            Duo interjected, “But you said he gave her to you?”

            “Yes.”

            “Then, I don’t understand.”

            “You don’t know what it is to be in love with her.  And you don’t understand Barton.  Trowa ‘gave’ her to me to protect because he knew he couldn’t.  Quinze would have forced him to kill her.”

            Duo nodded silently.

            “As much as Trowa hurt when she left, he couldn’t kill her.  If she was seen in the organization as my girl, then it would become my responsibility to keep her from doing anything stupid….or killing her if she does.”

            “So, that doesn’t explain why he would go after Darlian and Zeches.”

            Heero got up and crossed the room.  “It can make you crazy….To Trowa, he had lost the only good in himself.  Whatever part of him didn’t want to be a hardened criminal died when she left him.”

            Duo had a sneaking suspicion they had stopped talking about Trowa.  “I guess I’m still not following how this all fits together.”

            “I’m guessing that Darlian had backed Zeches into a corner over the task force.  He wanted to make a move.  So, Zeches sent his accomplice to warn Barton about the drug bust.  But Trowa wasn’t thinking clearly; instead of backing off, he sent his guys with the intent to kill.  He wanted to embarrass the Governor.”

            Duo nodded.

            “He caught all kinds of hell from Quinze about the drug bust fiasco.  Resentful of the reprimand, Trowa vowed to get even with both Zeches and the Governor in one shot.  He sent an assassin to eliminate Darlian, and tried to frame someone in the PD - you.”

            “Guess they bought my idiot routine,” Duo said with a grin.  “I knew shooting Wu-fei in his bullet-proof vest would pan out…. Well, and it felt good, too…”

            “Hn.”

            Duo’s smile faded.  “Now that you’ve helped me figure this all out, you know what I have to do.”

            Heero nodded.  “May I make one request?”

            “Depends on what it is.”

            “Help me get her out of here.”

     *            *                *                *                *            *            *            *                *

   The two arrived back at the hotel and went inside.  A white Ford sedan pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later.

            Heero went directly to Relena’s room.  Duo was still a little slow with his leg, as he made his way back to the other room.  He laughed when he found Heero stuck at the door, unable to convince Relena to let him in.

            “You said no one.  That means you,” she teased.

            “Relena, take the privacy chain off.”

            She laughed at him.

            Their discussion was interrupted by the sound of footsteps.  In a flash, Heero whipped out his gun and turned on his heel only to come face to face with, “Treize.” Heero spoke the name in greeting.

            Treize nodded, “Yuy.”

            Relena had finally decided to quit tormenting Heero and opened the door, stepping out into the hallway.  Her smile faded at the sight of a stranger.

            He was a little over six feet tall, with short brown hair and well-chiseled features.  He stood there looking casual for six o’clock in the morning, wearing a starched white dress shirt, open at the collar and navy slacks.  His sports coat was slung over one shoulder like he was posing for a magazine.  To Treize’s subordinates, this was no surprise.

            Heero put down his gun.  Duo moved to his side.

            Relena could sense the tension in the air as Duo made the first move.  “Treize, we stopped the Foundation from killing Darlian, he’s in there,” Duo said motioning to one of the rooms with an incline of the head.

            “And your report?”

            Duo glanced at his longtime friend, then turned to glance briefly at Relena.  Memories of his many years of friendship with Heero flashed in his mind.  But the one that stuck in his mind was the two of them getting caught with that hamster.  Heero had tried to take all the blame, but Duo wouldn’t let him.

He took a deep breath and smiled, “Negative, sir.  There may be some question as to his methods, but he’s clean.   He’s the one that saved Darlian.”

            “Good work, then, Yuy.”  His ice blue eyes glanced over at Relena, he smiled faintly in approval.  “I see you met all your mission objectives.”

            “Yes sir.”

            Treize nodded.  “Well gentleman, now that we know who is involved, we just have to bring them in, right?”

            “Actually, there is one thing we still haven’t figured out,” Duo replied.  “And that is, if Dorothy was the connection, how did she, Zeches, and Barton communicate without Heero ever seeing them together?  We found no communications - no email or telephone records.”

            “Dorothy?”  Relena gasped.  “What does she have to do with this?”

            “Quiet, Relena,” Heero growled. 

            “Then maybe it isn’t Dorothy.  What about her?” Treize asked motioning toward Relena.

            “No, we’re pretty certain she’s not involved,” Duo answered.

            “We’re positive she at least didn’t do anything intentionally,” Heero amended.

            “What?” Relena cried out in indignation.

            “Relena, I told you to be quiet.  Now is not the time.”

            He wasn’t facing her so he didn’t see the look of anger pass across her face.  He did, however, hear the door slam as she went back to her room, and the privacy chain slide back in place.  Heero sighed inwardly.

            Treize chuckled.  “She’s quite feisty.”

            Heero glared at him.

            “I hope you didn’t fall for her.  The Bureau knew you two had history together, but we were assured that the feelings were all on her part.”

            “Damn!”  Heero said to himself.  “Why did everyone else know she loved me, except me?” He continued glaring at Treize.

Duo took that moment to break into the conversation, “Let’s not have this reunion in the hallway.”  He opened the door to the Governor’s room and the three men filed in.

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            “No!” Heero shouted heatedly.  “I won’t allow it.”

            “She’s the only one they’re not after.  He’ll believe her,” Treize reasoned, his voice sounding annoyingly calm.

            “Maybe, but what if he doesn’t?”  Heero retorted.  “Or worse yet, what if he does?”  He asked himself while mentally trying to put aside the thought of her playing up to Trowa.  Anger threatened to boil over as he pictured the other man touching her, kissing her…. “NO!” he roared out at three stunned men.

            “I don’t think he likes the idea very much, Treize,” Duo said grinning at his usually reserved friend’s outburst.

            Treize raised an eyebrow as he regarded Heero’s flushed complexion.  “Seems you got a bit too attached, Yuy.  We can’t trust your instincts on this; your feelings have gotten in the way of your mission.”

            “Let me go, instead.  I can talk to him, he’ll trust me,” Heero replied coldly.

            “No, we’re going to stick to the plan to send her in.  She can handle it.”

            Heero’s fists clenched at his sides as he glared at his superior.  “Fine, but don’t let this guy,” he snarled motioning to the Governor, “out of your sight.  I don’t trust him.”

            The Governor looked up in surprise, but backed down at the fury in Heero’s eyes.

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            They finished strapping the microphone onto her chest, and she pulled her shirt back on.  Treize went over her instructions again, for what seemed like the hundredth time.  Relena tried to keep from rolling her eyes as he explained how to use the emergency alert button, in case she felt her life was in danger.  Instead she glanced at Heero, who glared coldly at the space in front of him.

            She sighed, and tuned out the rest of Treize’s ranting, and wondered again what was wrong with Heero.  Ever since Treize had shown up he had become distant and cold.  She remembered what his superior had said when he saw her at the motel, about Heero having met all his mission objectives.  She didn’t like the sound of that, but couldn’t dwell on it at the moment.  She suddenly noticed Treize had stopped talking, so she smiled and nodded at him.

            “Good.  Maxwell, Yuy, you guys are in charge of getting her in.  I’ll organize the back up team, and surveillance.  Go,” he said and climbed out of the Mercedes.

            They stopped a few blocks away from Trowa’s mansion and let Relena out.  She walked over to the awaiting car Treize had arranged.  She climbed in and drove off.  Heero still hadn’t said a word to her.

            Relena got out of the car and walked up to the iron gate.   She squared her shoulders as she prepared mentally for the part she had to play.  She stepped forward to press the intercom button on the gate.

Suddenly, there was a whirl of movement behind her, and she felt a heavy hand press down on her shoulder.  She tried to turn around, but a white cloth was clamped violently over her nose and mouth, muffling her scream. Instinctively, she struggled against her captor, kicking as she was lifted off the ground.  She smelled something sickeningly sweet just before a blanket of darkness enveloped her senses.

            Heero bent over and picked up her limp form.  He walked a short way down the drive and placed her in the backseat of the car. He turned to Duo.  “You’ll just have to trust me on this.”

            “I do.  Are you all wired up?”

            “Yeah,” he said and pulled his gun out of the holster to check its cartridge.  Satisfied, he replaced it.  He started to walk away, but stopped after only few steps.  He turned back towards the car. “Thanks.”

            “For what?”

            Heero glared at him.  “And take care of her for me.”

            “Nope.  You’re going to take care of her, and that’s an order,” Duo replied with a grin.  “Don’t die,” he added in his mind.

            Heero nodded and walked away.  Duo watched until he reached the gate and then drove off. 

            “Damn it!” Duo cursed and smacked his forehead.  “That coward!  He left me to deal with Treize!”

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            Heero entered the mansion through the rear door.  He drew his gun and made his way through the house to Trowa’s office.  Muffled voices sounded from within the room.  He took a step back and kicked the door in.

            The sight inside was shocking, to say the least, but Heero didn’t flinch.  Quinze was standing near the open door, while two men held a bleeding and bruised Trowa on his knees.  A third, Heero recognized as Vinny, was obviously rearranging some of the young man’s finer facial features with his fist.  Vinny was not a guy to mess with; he was a large ItalHeero man with a fist the size of Texas.  The expensively tailored suits he always wore did nothing to diminish his ability to intimidate.  But there was one guy in the organization that Vinny truly admired and respected. 

They all stopped and looked at Heero standing in the doorway with his gun drawn.

            “Let him go,” Heero commanded the three men.

            They all stared at him for a second, then helped Trowa to his feet.

            “Yuy,” Vinny said in greeting.  He owed his life to Heero Yuy.  Heero had saved his neck on more than one occasion, and even took a bullet for him once during a surprise police raid.

            Quinze was incensed that they were disobeying his orders.  “What the hell are you doing?”

            Vinny frowned and turned his attention to the short, pudgy gray-haired man that had just yelled at him.  “Fuck you,” he said in a throaty New York accent. 

            Heero was quietly moving around the room towards the desk Trowa was slumped over.   So far, Quinze hadn’t noticed his movements.  The older man grabbed his gun and pointed it at Vinny.

            “Put it down, Quinze, or I will kill you,” Heero snarled.

            Vinny smirked as his adversary lowered the weapon.

            Trowa pulled his head off the desk and coughed up some blood.  He looked at Heero silently across the room, and gave an almost imperceptible nod of the head. Heero nodded in understanding, and continued towards him.

            “Who do you think you are?  I’m in charge, I give the orders here, not you!” Quinze shouted angrily.

            “Not anymore,” Heero replied impassively.  He reached the desk, and looked down at Trowa.  His face was swollen and cut.  “Get him some ice.”  One of the other subordinates left the room. 

            “You’re going to take the fall, Quinze.  The Governor is going to talk to save his own ass, and your ‘Foundation’ will come crashing down.  Trowa will be giving the orders around here.”

            “You….” Quinze spat at Trowa, “this is your fault!  After all I’ve done for you, you ungrateful son-of-a-bitch!  This is how you repay me?  Selling me out to the Feds?”

            Trowa glared at him.

            “Feds?” Vinny asked, looking nervous.

            “Yeah, Yuy over there is with the Feds - you fucking idiot!”

            “He’s not with the Feds,” Trowa hissed.

             “Then why the fuck did he stop your assassin?”

            “Trowa didn’t want him dead.  His boy just got stupid,” Heero lied.

            Something flashed in Trowa’s eyes, but he didn’t argue.  Instead, he bent over and coughed up more blood.

            There was the sound of a vehicle coming up the drive, then a door slammed shut.  Footsteps sounded down the corridor, and a tall, middle-aged man with short, neatly kept platinum blond hair strode confidently into the room.  He stopped just inside the door, as a man with dark brown hair moved the gun to target him.

            “Zeches,” Heero hissed and narrowed his eyes with hatred.

            “Quinze, you said there was an emergency.  What the fuck is this?” Zeches asked motioning towards the gun trained on him.

            “Heero Yuy.  He stopped the assassination on the Governor last night.”

            “Thank God,” he said in obvious relief, then looked over at Trowa.  His lip curled into a snarl and he started forward.  He stopped when Heero tightened his grip on his weapon.  “Barton, God damn it, where’s my sister?”

            Heero smirked,  “Warming my bed.”

            Zeches looked up at him with pure hatred. 

            “I won’t hesitate to kill you.  I don’t give a damn if you do still hide behind that badge.  That’s all you’ve ever done - is hide behind it.  You certainly never upheld the law,” Heero sneered.

            “Who the hell are you?”           

            “You don’t remember?  You should.  It’s your fault my brother died.”  

            Zeches smirked.  “I’ve killed a lot of people.”

            “The name Odin Lowe ring any bells?” Heero asked, his voice dripping with venom.

            Zeches’s eyes widened.  “Heero Yuy…you son of a bitch!” Zeches yelled and lunged for him.  Vinny caught him just in time to save his life.

            “You promised to get him into rehab if I went quietly.  I upheld my end of the bargain, and left Relena alone.  I later found out you never helped him - but by then he was already dead.”

            “That’s because he was a loser.  Just like you.”

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            Treize and Duo were listening to the bizarre exchange inside the van located down the block from the Barton house.

            “What the hell is he talking about?” Treize asked.

            Duo shrugged.  “He knows what he’s doing.”

            “We have enough on the assassination to get Trowa.  What’s he up to?  That was what we needed, instead it’s like he’s covering for him,” Treize hissed.

            “I think he wants to get enough on Zeches to put him away, too.”

            “But it’s the Barton Foundation we want – Quinze, Trowa, and their whole organization.  Zeches will talk once we back him into a corner.  The soon to be former Police chief will tell us what we need to know in order to avoid a lengthy prison term.  He’s the weak link...”

            Treize’s sentence was cut-off by the sound of gunshots resonating through Heero’s microphone.  It startled the two back to the situation at hand. 

            “Oh God,” Duo murmured and looked up at Treize.  His eyes were full of concern as the sounds inside the house continued to filter in through Heero’s mike.

            Treize blinked, then reached for his walkie-talkie.  “Everyone into position.  We’ve got a man down.”