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 19
Trowa and the FBI’s team of relocation specialists arrived just after dark at the motel that was serving as a safe house for the night. Relena greeted him at the doorway to his room. She smiled as he took her hand and kissed it gently, and then moved passed her into the suite. There were two agents already in place within the room, as well as two posted right outside. Catherine, plus the two agents disguised as delivery drivers who accompanied her and Trowa to the safe house in the unmarked white van settled into the adjoining room to Trowa’s suite.
Relena noticed that Trowa looked more pale than usual, his green eyes dull with exhaustion. She smiled at him before turning to Catherine and politely asking if their group could leave her and Trowa alone for a while. Agent Bloom readily agreed and offered to send them dinner in an hour.
“Thank you,” Relena replied as she watched the flurry of activity move into the other room. Though she stood directly facing the ‘delivery driver’ while she shut the door to the suite, she missed the cold stare of familiar blue eyes that focused on her every move.
Once they were alone, Relena turned her full attention to Trowa. “How did it go?” She asked quietly, sitting down next to him at the small, unremarkable ‘dining’ table. She was genuinely concerned about him; he looked completely drained.
“Fine,” Trowa replied, shutting his eyes while sitting stiffly in the high backed motel chair that was as uncomfortable as it was ugly.
“Oh.” She wondered briefly at why he was shutting her out, but dismissed his behavior as being due to the emotional strain of the day’s ordeal. “You look tired, Trowa, you should get some rest,” she said worriedly.
He nodded slightly. “But we have to talk first, Relena.”
“I’m sure it can wait until tomorrow, Trowa,” she said with a hint of a sad smile playing on her lips. “Or the next day. We do have our whole lives…” her voice trailed off as his eyes opened and she froze beneath his piercing gaze.
Trowa inwardly sighed at her words. He had done a lot of thinking the previous night and during the drive to the motel. It wasn’t fair of him to ask her to go, not when he knew she truly loved someone else.
He and Yuy had been through a lot together during the last few years, developing a love/hate relationship that in all reality, he was going to somewhat miss. They understood each other like they were truly brothers. He knew that losing her again would hurt his friend deeply, and he just couldn’t go through with it – no matter how much he wanted to keep her by his side. “That’s just it, Relena. I’m not taking you with me,” he said firmly, his eyes intense despite the slight glaze and dark circles surrounding them - the emptiness he felt was evident in his voice.
“What? But I thought….”
“Relena,” he said harshly. “You’ll be in too much danger with me.” He decided to use the slightly less-than-honest approach, although it was another valid concern. She could be in danger with or without him. But here, Yuy could protect her. Out there, wherever they were supposed to be going, Trowa wasn’t sure he could keep her safe.
“I promised, Trowa. I won’t go back on my word.”
“Then think of it as me going back on mine. I don’t blame you Relena, you’re not at fault, and I believe that you would stay true to your word. But I am no man of honor; I am a killer and a thief. Ask Yuy about that sometime.” His voice had that same hard timbre of command he used with his former associates, but at the last sentence his tone softened, the end result being barely above a whisper.
She paled at the mention of her lover’s name. “Trowa, I don’t believe that,” she whispered, placing her hand over his. He flinched at the contact and pulled away. She looked at him, hurt evident on her face. “I’m sorry,” she said and bent her head to stare down at the floor.
In the room next door, Catherine watched as one of the agents dressed up like the delivery driver paced the floor in what appeared to be aggravation. The other driver and one more agent had already left to go pick up dinner for the group. A fourth agent had gone to the lobby to keep watch there.
Annoyed beyond belief at the man’s relentless motion, she finally addressed him with false cheerfulness. “Hey hey, you might want to slow it down there, pal. You’re wearing out the carpet.” She looked at him and suddenly realized that he was handsome, despite the cruel look in his eyes. She struggled to remember his name.
“The room may not be secure. Are you certain it’s safe to leave them in there alone, without surveillance?” The agent asked gruffly.
“We’ve gone over the room a dozen times. No one knows we’re here. And besides, it is the night before their wedding, I was thinking they might want a little privacy,” Catherine laughed. The driver stopped and shot her a cold glare that made her blanch. “Wh-what’s your name? I’m afraid I’ve forgotten….” She asked, visibly shaken.
“Special Agent Maxwell,” the man replied coldly.
“Oh, pleased to…” but Maxwell cut her off.
“This is precisely the lack of planning and poor decision-making that will get Trowa Barton killed. You don’t know who is on your team, nor did you check thoroughly into your agent’s backgrounds. I could have been anyone dressed up like a delivery driver, passing unchecked through our most secure areas! I’m taking over and calling the shots from now on,” he commanded. “Open those doors, now.”
“But…” Catherine protested weakly.
“I outrank you, Agent Bloom. Open the adjoining doors, you and I are going to stay in that room until the others come back with dinner and can relieve you,” Maxwell barked.
Catherine moved to the door that adjoined the two rooms, and knocked loudly to alert the occupants of her intended presence. She found them sitting on the bed, leaning back against the headboard, fully clothed. Relena had her head on Trowa’s good right shoulder, and held his hand in hers. They appeared to have been talking about something serious from the look on their faces. But the expression on Relena’s face drastically changed as ‘Special Agent Maxwell’ stormed into the room behind Catherine. Relena stiffened immediately, sitting up straight in her surprise, and stared at the man that glowered at them from the doorway. “Heero?” She questioned, noticing how Trowa’s grip on her hand tightened at Yuy’s entrance.
Heero fought to keep his temper under control as he strode quickly to the other side of the room, and pulled her off the bed. Relena struggled in his grasp. “Heero! Let go of me!” She shouted as she squirmed in his grasp. She got her right arm free and lashed out, accidentally striking his left shoulder. He cried out, and released her. She caught herself, and looked up at him, her eyes quickly filling with concern. “Oh! Your shoulder, I’m sorry. Are you all right?” She gasped, while he doubled over in pain. “Heero, you’re hurt. Here, let me look at it.”
He waved her away. “Go with Catherine, Relena. There’s something Trowa and I need to discuss.” He said through clenched teeth, glaring at the amusement he found in Trowa’s usually stoic gaze. “Alone.”
“I was wondering when you’d show up,” Trowa began once Catherine and Relena had left the room. “I knew you wouldn’t let me go without saying goodbye,” he said in his usual toneless voice.
Heero glared at him. “What more do you want from me, Trowa? Why this?”
Trowa smiled enigmatically, “You assume too much, my friend. This wasn’t about you. You know how I feel about her.”
Heero narrowed his eyes. “You’re putting her in danger, Trowa, if you care so much, you’d let her stay where she would be safe.”
Trowa’s smile faded, and his jaw clenched. “Yes…you mean let her stay here with you.”
“I’ll protect her.”
“Ah, yes, you were good at watching my back. But I’m afraid she needs more than that. You realize that she’s alone now, my testimony puts her brother in jail for life, and her father’s official announcement of his resignation will happen in a few days. She doesn’t need just another man in her life, Heero….”
“You’re giving me relationship advice?” Heero asked incredulously.
“She said that you didn’t love her. She offered to go with me, to make me happy. I accepted her offer, gave her my word. Certainly, you don’t want me to break my promise to her of a new life.” Trowa sat back and waited for Yuy’s angry explosion. It did so amuse him to watch his friend’s ruthless temper. It was entertainment he wouldn’t be seeing again any time soon. But it never came.
“Fine,” Heero said flatly, ignoring the fact that a familiar feeling of wrongness suddenly overwhelmed him at his chosen words. Trowa was right; she didn’t need just another man in her life. And that was what he was. Another man that would bring her heartache, and that had already caused her too much pain. She had enough people manipulating her destiny already, and here he was again, bargaining for what would make his own self happy, regardless of what she wanted or had decided to do. He suddenly realized that he couldn’t be a party to this, it was her life and this was what she had chosen. He stood up from his chair, a distant look on his face, as he stared at the emptiness of defeat. “If that’s what she wants, I won’t stand in the way. Just take care of her, Trowa, and watch your back. I won’t be there to do it for you anymore.” He quickly crossed the room and left, never bothering to look back.
Trowa’s eyes followed him out of the room, marveling at how easily Yuy had given up the woman that he loved. “Your scars run too deep, my friend. And I’m not ready to attend your funeral.”
The other door opened, and a blond head peeked in. She glanced around before her eyes settled on Trowa, unmistakable pain flashing in her eyes as she regarded him. “Did you tell him?” She asked timidly.
“No, Relena. I haven’t changed my mind, though. You’re still going in the morning, but would you stay until it’s time for me to leave?”
She smiled at him warmly, realizing what he was asking her to do. She could never truly give him her heart, and yet she cared enough to indulge him in this fairytale, if just for one night. She didn’t hesitate, for that would have ruined the gesture – letting unwanted reality slip in through the crack under the door - and settled next to him on the bed in their same positions as earlier. She took his hand and rested her head on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and sighed in all the contentment a dream can bring before it disappears in mists of light and truth. By the time the sun began to rise in the eastern morning sky, casting its beam in a cheerful glow, she was holding him close, and stroking his hair while he clung to her like she was a fleeting fantasy or a fading memory.
As he left for a brand new life, alone, Relena noticed gray storm clouds in the distance and looked up to see tears fall from the dawning heavens. He cupped her cheek and bent to kiss her softly before turning to go.