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 7

 

            “We have a mole,” Trowa said to Heero as he walked into the office.

            “Hn…pesky little things…” Heero replied with a hint of sarcasm.

            Trowa stopped, his face contorting into a strange smirk beneath widened eyes.  “You are a better man than I,” he said.

            Heero had been astonished last night, in the heat of their passion, to find out that he was Relena’s first.  “That must be why Trowa kept Sophie and Isabelle around….” He mused.  “Hn…” he said aloud and frowned to disguise his satisfaction.  “Did your informant give a name?” 

            “I won’t sign someone’s death warrant that easily… Besides, they gave us good information on the drug bust, why would they lie now?”

            Heero shrugged, crossed his arms, and leaned back against the wall.  “Did ‘they’ say who the mole was?”

            “No, and that troubles me.  You’re the only one I can trust.”  Trowa held his gaze.

            “What if it’s me?”

            “Yes, I see…” Trowa bowed his head, hiding his eyes and whatever emotions he was feeling.

            “Give me the name of the informant,” Heero pressed.

            “In due time.  There’s still more I need to know.”

            “I can’t believe you entered into this ‘war’ with the governor.  You can’t just go around killing cops, and expect to get away with it.  They won’t stop until they get you, Trowa.”

            Trowa looked up, staring at a point behind his friend, but not really seeing. “That’s why I’ll take out the head.”

            Heero dropped his complacent mask, eyes widening with realization.  He stood up from his relaxed pose against the wall. “The governor?”

            Trowa smirked.

            “Is that what you called me in for?”

            “No, I already gave the assignment to someone else.”

            His pulse quickened, and his entire body felt hot. “What? You didn’t trust me for this!”

            “No, I trusted you.  I just didn’t want to cause you trouble, my friend,” he said with a knowing look.  “Your emotions could have gotten the better of you on this one.”

            “Damn you, Trowa,” he scowled at him, feeling that nauseas feeling settle in his stomach.

            Trowa laughed.  “You know, at first, I wanted to kill you over her.  It hurt me deeply when she left.  But the two of you,” he paused to look at Heero, “make things so much more…interesting.”

            “Hn…” Heero growled; he didn’t like where this was going.  He crossed his arms and looked away.

            “We were even, you and I. You saved my life, just like I had spared yours.  You were no longer indebted to me, and could have become a threat.”  He was studying Heero’s face as he spoke.  “You could have tried to go back to your mission, assuming you had kept your superiors at the FBI in the dark as to your real activities.”  Trowa’s eyes sparkled with amusement.

            “But now, you can’t – you won’t risk her life, whereas you never cared about your own.”

            Heero turned and glared at him in silence. 

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            Relena stretched languidly before getting out of bed; she smiled as she thought about her lover.  He had asked her to trust him, and she would.  It didn’t matter to her anymore what secrets he was hiding. She just wanted to be by his side.

            She showered and dressed, then switched on the TV.  Relena sighed as she thought of how little had changed from her being a prisoner to being… “What am I?  Am I truly a mobster’s harlot, now?” she wondered, but quickly dismissed the thought.

            The door flew open.  She looked up and smiled at Heero.  But her smile quickly faded when she saw the look in his eyes. 

            “You have to leave,” he said, glaring at her.

            “What?”

            He hardened his heart to the look on her face.  “I’m taking you back to your father’s house.  Get your stuff.”

            “I can’t go back there,” she said, shaking her head.

            “You can’t stay here.”

            “Why?  You don’t want me, anymore?” Hurt clouded those blue eyes he knew so well, stabbing his heart and weakening his resolve.

            The words he had practiced formed on his lips, but he couldn’t say them – they would destroy her.  “Relena, you’re in danger.  I can’t protect you if you’re here with me,” he said, pulling her into his embrace.

            “I can’t go back there.  I want to stay with you,” she said softly, resting her head on his chest, and breathing in the scent of his cologne.

            “Relena…” he whispered, and buried his face in her hair.

            “Tell me…let me help you.  You don’t have to do this alone.”

            He drew back enough to look in her eyes.  He sighed and switched off the TV.  He was failing miserably in his plan to push her away.  All he wanted to do was embrace her tighter.

            “What I am about to tell you can never leave this room.”

            Her eyes widened, but she nodded her head in agreement.  She had made that pledge to him before.

“Heero,” she said, gaining courage, “I won’t say anything.  I promise.  I just couldn’t…” her voice trailed off at the cold expression on his face. 

            “Two and a half years ago, I was sent on an undercover assignment by my superiors in the FBI to infiltrate the Barton Foundation and gather information on their activities.  It was rumored they had some very powerful political figures on their payroll.  I had just graduated from FBI training…”

            He thought back to graduation day. 

Duo Maxwell was grinning like an idiot, waving at him.  “So, top of the class, huh? You nerd.”

“Hn.”

“Don’t you know, girls don’t go for brains…”

“That’s obvious.  Look at Hilde.”

Duo appeared unfazed by his friend’s dry barb.  He just grinned wider, “I’m proud of ya, buddy.”

            “Thanks Duo.”

            “Sorry your brother couldn’t be here, man….”

            “Hn…”

            “So what’s your first assignment?  There’s all kinds of rumors going around… They say Krushrenada’s department is vying for you.  The Organized Crime Unit…,” Duo continued babbling.

            “I haven’t been told anything for certain, yet.  Whatever it is will be confidential,” Heero said in a warning tone.

            “Yeah, yeah, I know…”

            Treize Krushrenada did indeed have an assignment for him.  His first mission and they gave him no room for error.  He was just a kid then it seemed, even though he was twenty-two.  The world looked different then, brighter, somehow…. Working for Trowa, killing for Trowa had made him old before his time. 

            They had become fast friends.  He remembered meeting the silent young man with the piercing green eyes, and thinking he couldn’t possibly be the son of a Mafia don.  But the FBI had really done their homework on the two young men.  They had both grown up on the streets after having suffered abuse at home, and had to claw their way out of the sewers on their own.  It was a bizarre twist of fate that they ended up on different sides of the law.   

            Trowa’s father, Quinze Barton, had only come to power within the organization a few years before.  Trowa was really his adopted son, having won his respect and love over time as his most trusted associate.

            Those first few months, Heero rose in rank until he was second only to Trowa.  Others became jealous of their friendship, and rumors he was a plant flew like crazy.  Trowa ignored them all.  But he was no dummy…

            “I found myself almost forgetting we weren’t really friends.  And I struggled to keep my equilibrium on what was right and wrong.” He paused for a moment. 

Relena encouraged him to continue. 

He remembered the night he was found out…

            Trowa sat at his desk, faint moonlight glowing from the window behind him.  Heero walked soundlessly into the room.

            “You know, we’re the same,” Trowa said in his quiet voice, “you and I.”

            There was silence in the room as Heero tried to read that always-impassive expression.  He broke out into a cold sweat.  He knew what Trowa had called him there to discuss.

            “Yes.”

            “Then work for me. Be my brother.”

            “I already…”

            “Don’t lie to me.  If Quinze knew, he’d have me kill you.  But I’ve seen the way you struggle.  You know we’re the same.”

            Heero remained silent for a while.

            “We came from nothing, doing what we had to do to survive.  What does your FBI know of that?”

            “Trowa…”

            “Do they know of your past?  Do they accept you for who and what you are?  Think of all you can have here: money, women, cars, drugs - whatever you want.  I can give it to you.”

            “I don’t need those things,” Heero growled. 

            There was silence between them for a moment.

“I already pledged my loyalty to you, when I said we were the same.”  Heero started to turn away.

            “Then we won’t speak of it again, brother,” Trowa’s one visible eye gleamed in the darkness as it met cold prussian blue.

            Heero nodded and left.

            Heero looked at Relena.  She stood up, turning away from him.  “So you really are…”

            “What I pretend to be.  Yes, I am,” his voice was devoid of emotion.

            She turned back towards him.  He didn’t meet her gaze; he knew what would be there.

            “You need to go.”

            “I told you I want to stay here, with you,” her voice was soft but held an undercurrent of determination. 

            Their eyes met for a moment, and he realized what she was saying.  “Relena?”

            “I won’t leave.”

            “How…how can you want to stay with me, after what I told you – after all that I’ve done?” Heero was confused.  He had been so sure that she would hate him; that the only reason she had loved him was because she thought she saw something in him that was no longer there.

            “I believe in you…. Don’t you remember?  It was so long ago….”

            He closed his eyes and let the past wash over him like a thick and heavy wave. “Relena, how could I forget?” he asked quietly.

In his mind he saw flashes of a classroom, the overhead lights were suddenly switched on, startling him.

             “Heero?” she called out in a whisper. 

            “Relena…”

            “Are you all right?  What were you doing here in the dark?”

            “I belong in the dark…”

            She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.  “It’s all in the past now,” she said soothingly.  “We both have so many regrets…. Tell me, where do we go from here?  Why are we in such danger, Heero?”

            “I have to complete my mission.  I have to take Barton down.”

            To his surprise, she smiled.