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 16

 

            Heero barely remembered the shuttle flight back to L1 or the car ride back to the college.  Brian greeted him at the door with a look of deep concern on his face that Heero wanted none of.  He immediately threw himself into his schoolwork.

            His friend watched him go directly to his desk and open his laptop without a word.  He had heard the media announcement declaring that Relena had been caught and brought to Preventer headquarters awaiting the beginning of a legal battle over the Princess’s actions and punishment.  He felt awful for her and for the man that loved her.  He wanted to say something, but he had no idea where to start, or what words of comfort he could possibly offer his stoic friend.  Instead, he flopped down on his bed and opened a book, periodically looking up at Heero to see how he was faring.

            After a while, he noticed that the furious typing had stopped, and that the former-Gundam-pilot-turned-future-soccer-star was staring blankly off into space.  “Heero, man – I’m sorry…”

            Heero whirled around and glared at his friend.  Still maintaining his silence, he got up and left the room. 

 

            Hours later, Brian began to get worried.  Heero was one that stuck to a pretty close schedule, and he was usually in the room and in bed by eleven o’clock.  Debating for a moment with himself, he finally decided to go look for his friend.

            He found him on the school practice field, launching soccer balls at the pitch-back style soccer goal.  It was a clever invention that was similar to the regular net on the goal, only designed to rebound the ball instead of just containing it.  Brian watched the white ball sail into the net, and then bounce back toward the kicker.  Heero would trap it expertly, then send it back with renewed vengeance behind each kick.  Brian knew how soothing it could be to take one’s frustrations out on that little ball, and smiled slightly.  At least he was venting…

            “Hey,” he called out to his roommate.  “You gonna stay out here all night or what?”

            “Hn,” Heero grunted and punished the ball again for daring to come back to him.

            “You wanna talk about it?”

            “No.”

            “You’re gonna be sore in the morning, and we’ve got a game tomorrow night,” Brian admonished.

            “You’re not my fuckin’ mother, Brian, get lost,” he growled and sent the ball flying away again.

            Brian sucked in a deep breath at the words.  “No, I’m not your mother.  I was just concerned, that’s all. I thought I was at least your friend.”

            “Hn.” 

            “I suppose it wouldn’t make you feel better to tell you that it’s not your fault…”

            “No.”  Heero chest-trapped the ball back down to his feet.

            “It’s not, you know.”

            “Isn’t it?  Would she be in this situation if it weren’t for me?  If she wasn’t trying to protect me and my all-important future that means more to her than it ever did to me?”  He kicked the ball angrily.

            “I can’t answer that.  I don’t know the whole story, but I know she wouldn’t want you blaming yourself, or punishing yourself like this.  You’ve been out here training for hours.  Have you even eaten?”

            “Hn.”

            “That’s what I thought.  Come on, let’s go get something to eat.  It’s my turn to buy.  If you want to talk, I’ll listen.  If not, you don’t have to, okay?”

            “Hn.”  He launched the ball into the air again.

Brian moved in and stopped the ball.     “Great, I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”

*                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

“Relena, these men are here to see you,” Lady Une said as she let three men dressed in expensive business attire into her room.  One was a little taller than the others, standing probably six foot three, with dark brown curly hair cut short on the top and sides.  He wore glasses that weren’t very thick, most likely for reading, which did little to hide his cold hazel eyes.  He and the man in the gray suit with light brown hair and green eyes were carrying briefcases, while the third man was holding a suit bag.

“Miss Peacecraft,” said the man in the brown suit, “I’m Mr. Holden.  These are my associates, Mr. Levy and Mr. Braun.  Mr. Levy and myself are with the law firm Holden Levy associates, and are here at your request.  Mr. Braun is here at our request.  He’ll be your publicist, advising us on precisely when we can allow you out in public, under what circumstances, and how you should look when we do.”  He reached out and shook her hand.  Relena nodded in understanding.  “Let’s get down to business, shall we?”  He asked crisply then turned back towards the door where Lady Une still stood.  “Could we get three more chairs in here, Colonel?”

“Yes, I’ll have someone bring them right away,” she responded curtly and then left.

 

            “Your highness, we’re deeply honored you chose us for your defense.  We think we have some very solid grounds on which we plan to base our appeal.  The part that bothers us the most is the fact that the vote itself was sealed by the assembly, which has never been done before or since,” Mr. Levy began.

            “I don’t see the significance of this, I’m afraid.  Please forgive me,” Relena said quietly.

            “Well, we don’t know what the importance is until we get them to open the vote, of course, but the point we are trying to make is that the circumstances are somewhat suspicious as to why they would need to seal the documents,” Mr. Holden explained.

            “I see.  Please continue,” Relena commented.

            “Well, every defendant has the right to face his or her accuser, and as such, a sealed vote robs you of that right.   We have already filed the petition on your behalf with the first level court of appeals.  It will be a few days until we get their decision whether or not they’ll hear the case, so we’re asking you to sit tight until then.  We have also filed a petition for a stay of execution, not that there was a date set, but just in case ESUN tried to move forward on that point,” Mr. Levy said in a very professional manner.

            “Sounds like you are on top of everything.  I will be certain to tell Mr. Winner how much I appreciate your assistance.  Send your invoices to his attention, and they will be paid immediately,” Relena said firmly.

            “Thank you, your highness.  We won’t take up any more of your time, but Mr. Braun did bring you an assortment of clothing that you will need in the future.  Be prepared to spend quite a bit of time in the courtroom, we’re expecting to get a re-trial,” Mr. Holden said as the other two made their way out into the hallway.  He turned to make his own exit, but stopped in the doorway.  “Don’t worry, your highness, we can drag the legal battle out for years if we have to,” he said with a ghost of what was supposed to be a reassuring smile on his face.

            Relena only nodded.  He closed the door quietly behind him.

            Left alone once again, Relena buried her face in her hands for a moment.  “That’s supposed to make me feel better?” She thought in despair.

              *                    *                      *                      *                      *                      *

            "So you're really not going to talk to me about this, are you?" Brian asked Heero across the vinyl-covered booth they sat in at the all-night burger joint across the street from the campus.  A television blared comfortingly in the background for the relatively few patrons there at that hour.

            Heero just glared at his food, and didn't say anything.

            Brian sighed. "I don't know how you can eat that crap and still be in the shape you're in.  One of these days, it'll catch up with you." He said looking with distaste at the greasy french fries and bacon-double cheeseburger on Heero's plate. He picked up his own grilled chicken sandwich without mayonnaise and took a bite.

            "Not likely," Heero replied in a cold voice.

            Brian frowned and swallowed his bite of sandwich.  "You know, you're not invincible. And you can't be responsible for everything that happens.  It's not your fault."  He gulped nervously and inched into the corner, trying to prepare for anything as he started the next sentence.  "And God forbid they do, well, you know… Life still goes on.  I hate to say it, but…" His voice trailed off as Heero finally looked at him.  With one unguarded glance, his friend told him everything, and it made his blood run cold in his veins.  "You can't possibly mean that you'd…"

            The mask came back up, and all that was left was the familiar cold fury burning in eyes the color of the midnight sky.  Heero glanced down at his virtually untouched food, and shoved it away.  He got up and walked angrily off into the night.  Brian sighed miserably and took off after him.

 

            In a stroke of luck, even though the blond senior couldn't catch up with his roommate, apparently Heero had no desire to go anywhere but back to the dorm.  When he opened the door to their room, however, they were greeted by the quiet voice of Trowa on the videocomm screen. 

            "Heero," he said from the active matrix screen on the desk from across the room.

            Brian blinked.  This was a new one; he hadn't seen this guy's face before. 

            Heero nodded in greeting.  "Trowa."  He said and moved to sit in the front of the monitor.  He noticed that Trowa hesitated for a second, looking over Heero's shoulder, and shrugged.  "He's all right."

            "I've been waiting.  I sent you the documents that were filed on Relena's behalf today.  They should already be downloaded to your hard drive."

            "Hn.  Thanks. What else?"

            "We still don't know what the Preventers are investigating, or who."

            "Damn. But why the hell would anyone want to start a war?"

            "No, Heero, I don't think that's what they're after.  If you listened to her words, she was very precise. 'Men that are steering the government down the wrong path….' and 'a path that could lead us all to war.'  It doesn't sound like they're trying to start one, just that it could be a result of their actions."

            "Hn.  So you don't know who these people are?"  Much to Heero's surprise, Trowa scowled bitterly.

            "No, but I have found something quite disturbing of its own."

            Heero's eyebrow quirked up with curiosity.  "What's that?"

            "Cathy's on 'inactive' Preventer status, and has been for two years."

            "Cathy?  I thought she was working as a secretary or something."  Heero said with a frown. 

            "Yes.  For the Representative of the Western European Region."

            Light suddenly dawned on him.  "Undercover."

            "I'm afraid so.  It's the only logical conclusion, is it not?"

            "Hn."

            "I'm still deciding whether I want to reactivate my commission or not, but Quatre says that Une is not too thrilled about the possibility.  She doesn't want any of us near headquarters."

            "No, she just doesn't want us near Relena."

            Trowa smiled slightly.  "Which brings me to the next topic of discussion.  The others are worried."

            "About?"

            "You, my friend."
            Heero arched an eyebrow.  "They should be worrying about Relena."

            "She's a fighter, same as you and me.  Death is always a possible consequence of battle."

            "Hn."  The dark scowl returned to Heero's face. 

            "If she dies, will you be all right?" Trowa asked bluntly, silently studying his friend's face for a reaction.  There was a flash of something in those normally cold blue eyes, and Trowa knew the answer before it even fell from his lips.

            "No."

 

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