By Lady Minya

AN: Geesh, I’d never thought I’d get yelled at for having Heero and Relena separated for a while and having Jalise sleep at Heero’s place…for sometime. But anyway, once again, like I said in my e-mails to those who e-mailed me (that one persona) Heero and Relena…they WILL be together…Heero and Relena…I do believe this site is a dedication to the two.

And the usual: Disclaimers-I do not own the characters from the series, I’m just borrowing them and I will return them when I make it big...did I say that? I meant when I’m finished with the fic writing days *sweat drop*

Chapter V

Dean parked his car in the underground Preventer’s parking lot and grabbed his suitcase. As he rounded a corner to a nearby elevator, a pair of hands grabbed him and pulled him out of camera view. Shoved harshly against concrete wall, he came face to face with the barrel of a 357 magnum.

"Uh, that’s the wrong end of a gun, I can see," he stammered.

Despite the fact it being sunny outside, it was very shady and he could barely make out their faces. But he was able to identify their clothing. ‘Mechanics? Morrel’s Auto Body? But that’s in outer space…’

"Yes it is Dean Claude. And we wouldn’t want what’s inside to come out now do we," came the raspy voice.

"N-no, certainly not. We wouldn’t want anything to come out-"

"Good then. I do believe you’re here for a very important meeting with Lady Une?"

"W-well no, not important. She called me over because of the-"

"The accident that took place in your lab not too long ago. And that does involve someone in particular."

Dean straightened out his tie and took a deep breath. ‘If Lady Une found out that I gave out any information, she’d has my head and I don’t even work for the Preventer’s.’

"I don’t understand-" His attacker grabbed his neck and pushed him again. This time he cocked the gun and pushed it up under Dean’s neck. Dean dropped his suitcase and held up his hands…a sign of defeat.

"Okay, okay. I…we somehow brought a girl here form another time. She was about twenty-three, twenty-four years old and after Ms. Po checked her up I have no idea on where they sent her."

The perpetrator pushed the gun harder against the sensitive area, causing him to gag. "Kenneth…Kenneth took her to a Preventer home base in outer space and then they brought her here, but she’s staying with one of their officers at the moment."

"Which one?"

"I don’t know the answer to that one." He pushed it up against his throat. "Honestly, please, I would tell you if I knew."

The head of the trio stood ‘round until Dean fixed his clothing. He was handed his suitcase, but before he was set free one of the men grabbed his arm.

"Call the number and give me the necessary information. Tell no one of this little scenario. You took the blame for the lab and I’m sure you wouldn’t want the blame for the death of your friend’s family."

Before Dean could protest, they walked off. Dean, frustrated and scared, walked to the elevator and pushed the ‘up’ button. He had to do something but without screwing up. He entered the elevator and waited. ‘But I always screw up something.’

Jalise stood at one of the windows and looked out over the city. Heero stood by the door; Trowa sat at the rectangular table that stood in the middle of the room along with Duo and Sally.

Jalise shifted her weight and sighed, causing Trowa to look over in her direction. ‘I was told I’d meet the man that did this…not men.’ Trowa got up from is seat and joined her by the window. "Mind if I-"

"No I don’t. Doesn’t matter anyway. I’m going to have a seat." She took one glance at him before sitting in his former seat and grabbed a nearby pen. She began to fumble with it, trying her best to ease her nervousness. Trowa walked over and sat next to her. She glanced around a few times noting the familiar faces, except for a man that looked Chinese whom had his hair pulled back in a low ponytail and had on the same uniform everyone else had on. He sat comfortably in his chair, arms crossed, and eyes closed. She studied him a bit until he opened his eyes and looked her way. She redirected her gaze back to the pen.

Jalise sighed and listened to how quiet it had become. No one spoke a word. That made her even more nervous. She found the pen being no help and decided to fumble with her thumbs. Then she asked for a glass of water. After it was placed in front of her, all she did was stare into it as if she were trying to make it move. But she was thinking about home. ‘Mom…you’re probably tearing your hair out of your head right now.’

Wufei found it amusing and decided to break the silence. "Are you telekinetic?"

Jalise snapped out of her daze and looked over in his direction. "N-no. I was just thinking about someone, that’s all." She looked back at her water and decided to take a sip. ‘Mm, pretty good.’ She gave a small smile and shook her head. ‘Does water even have a taste?’

"Who?" She looked at Trowa a bit confused.

"I didn’t catch your question."

Duo answered for him. "Who were you thinking about?" She looked over at Duo and stared at him before looking away, tears swelling up in her eyes.

"My mother and what she must be doing right now. Nothing of your interest."

"Why wouldn’t it be," Heero asked from his corner. As quickly as they came, her tears disappeared and she looked over at Heero with a hint of disgust. ‘Ugh, he’s getting on my nerves.’

"Why would it be?" She retorted. "Why would you be interested to know how my mother…how my family is feeling right now, Heero?"

"I guess you’re right. It’s not of my interest." She narrowed her eyes and tried her best to keep calm. She sat back in her chair and sighed aloud. "Where’s Lady Une?"

"She said she’d be in here as soon as Professor Claude gets in." Jalise looked over at Sally and thanked her.

"Well, she’s not here now so do you mind if I go to the bathroom?"

Before she could give an answer, Heero interrupted. "I’ll take her."

Jalise stood up and glared at Heero. "I don’t need you to supervise me Heero Yuy."

"Then I’ll stay outside of the bathroom." Jalise balled her fists, growing angry. Sally interrupted before they could argue.

"Let her go Heero. I’m sure she’s-" Sally was interrupted by the opening of the conference door. In came Lady Une followed by both professors. Seeing that Jalise was standing she told her to have a seat.

"Please Jalise, have a seat. Let me introduce you to these two gentlemen." As Jalise sat down, they were introduced. "This is Professor Kenneth Ward and Professor Dean Claude." They reached over the table and shook hands. After everyone was seated, the meeting began with Kenneth giving her a small explanation.

"Ms. Dales…my colleague and I are here to tell you that you were involved in an accident a couple of weeks back, involving the transport of different plants from other worlds and time. See we were able to pinpoint a certain object and ‘zap’ it here. Dean tried to get a plant, well he succeeded, but brought you along as well."

Jalise looked at both men back and forth. "I know, I was told. My question to you is how do I get back home?" Telling from their expressions, there was no going home. Dean decided to break the news.

"Jalise, when you were brought here, it caused an override in the system and severely damaged it to the point where it’s not possible to be fixed." Jalise looked at Sally then at Lady Une.

"Is this-"

"I was told not to use the machine again because I brought something here that caused chaos on that colony. But I was so eager to get the flower, that I decided to do it once more. Then the accident happened."

"Accident? Wait, you mean to tell me that I’m not going home…that I’m stuck here and I have to get myself together here?"

"Yes, that’s what I’m saying." Jalise sat back in her chair and stared blankly at the edge of the table. She felt as if the world just turned against her. And all of the information that she just received went through her head so fast that she began to feel dizzy. She closed her eyes and tried to focus and calm herself down. But every time she opened her eyes, everything was spinning. Heero stood by the door, still, and watched the showdown. ‘They hadn’t mentioned her safety and since she was on the edge, they might as well push her off now.’

"Not only is she not going home, she’s also in danger too, am I right?" All heads turned and looked in his direction except for Duo and Dean whom was watching Jalise. Jalise was now confused.

"Wha-what are you talking about Heero?"

"Word got out to the wrong ears Jalise and now these people are looking for you. But we have yet to find out why. And the Earth Sphere United Nations fear that this may cause and uprising. Not everyone is aware of your arrival," Lady Une said. They watched as Jalise clutched the arms of her chair.

"What has the ESUN done about these people that are after her," Trowa asked.

"All they’ve done was put us in charge, since we were there when it happened," Lady Une responded. "This may also have a connection between Relena’s disappearance as well."

"Do they think Relena was kidnapped by them," Trowa questioned.

"That’s what they think, since these people only said that they have her. But there isn’t sufficient evidence to say so," Sally answered. "They…want Jalise in return for Relena, but we don’t know for what reason."

Jalise only sat there quietly and listened to them discuss the current situation. ‘Who’s Relena…I heard about the ES…and why me…but…’ Her thoughts were interrupted by Heero’s answer.

"They’re out for trouble. In return for Relena, they’d use Jalise as an excuse try to cause an uprising. Then they’d probably convince the ESUN that it was because of Relena’s disappearance that something like this happened or, like Lady Une said to me before, they’d probably cause something big, putting the blame on Jalise."

"People have their ways," Wufei added.

"That’s logical," Trowa stated. Before Trowa could add on to it, he looked at Jalise to see that she was distant. "Jalise, are you all right," he asked softly. With watery eyes and trembling lips, she looked at Trowa.

"Am I okay," she asked softly. She looked at the Professors and stood up slowly. "Am I okay," she said barely above a whisper. She looked down at the table causing tears to fall and land on the hard surface.

"If you like, I can find you a place that’s safe enough to stay in until all of this is over. I’ll support you until you get yourself together," Kenneth said. Jalise looked at Kenneth then at Dean. Without saying a word, she picked up her glass of water and splashed it in Dean’s face. Lady Une was shocked by her actions, but didn’t say a word. ‘He deserves more than that, Jalise…’

Jalise walked out of the room leaving everyone to drown in their silence.

After five minutes went by, Duo decided to get up and go check up on her. But when he reached the door, Heero grabbed his arm. "You’d probably be the last person she’d want to see Heero. She didn’t need to know everything right now."

Dean sat and watched the two as random thoughts went through his head. ‘How do I tell them? Where would I start? How ‘bout from the beginning…’ Deciding to intervene, he spoke up. "Let him go young man. We have more things to discuss."

Heero let him go and opened the door for Duo. Duo left with only one thing in mind: making sure she was all right so she doesn’t run off again.

~**~**~**~**~

Jalise sobbed against the door of the stall, falling to the floor. She didn’t care if other people came in a heard her cry like a baby. She didn’t care. ‘No more. I’ve given up hope…I give up!’ She pounded her fists into the stall over and over again until she couldn’t do it anymore. She was stuck in a world that was so foreign to her and she had no one to turn to. ‘And Heero’s a dick head.’ She gave the small garbage can on the side of the stall a good hard kick, causing it to fly off the wall and behind the toilet.

When it landed with a loud clang, she stopped, with a sob every now and then. ‘That’s destruction of…of…whatever.’ She got up and walked to the sinks and turned one on. Plunging her hand under the ice cold water, she splashed her face until the tears stopped falling. But when she looked up again, it started all over again.

But as she brought her hand up to her mouth to try and muffled her sobs, She heard the door open. Not bothering to look to see whom it is ‘…Not like I know anyone here anyway’…she rushed over to the towels and grabbed one to dry her face. Once she was finished she fixed her wet bangs and turned to leave when amber met violet.

~~**~**~**~~*

From where he was standing, he could clearly see the red in her eyes. Seeing the few strands of hair that was plastered to her face, he figured she wet her face to calm herself down. He continued to stare at her as she played with the sleeves of her shirt. She wore a long-sleeve three-buttoned tan shirt with a pair of dark blue jeans (both piece of clothing fitting her curvy form) and a pair of black shoes that seemed to be boots.

"What?" The word was barely audible and as he took steps towards her, she backed up, until her back hit the button for the dryer, startling her. Duo stopped his approach and plunged his hands in his pockets.

"Are you okay?"

Jalise tightened her jaw to fight back the tears and tried to answer his question. She shook her head and looked down at his shoes. "No," she whispered. She glanced up at him and saw how concerned he was, but talking wasn’t her option at the moment. She decided she was going to take a walk around quarters until they called for a search party to find her when Heero was ready to go.

She began heading for the door, thinking she’d get by easily, until Duo stooped her with a hand to her stomach. "Where are you going?"

Not bothering to look up at him, she answered, "For a walk around quarters."

Duo turned her so that she faced him, but she only stared at his chest. He attempted to lift her chin but she only grabbed his hand. She looked at it, pushing it away as if she were forbidden to touch it. She looked up at him and backed away slowly.

"I’ll be fine. But I just wish to be alone for a while. Thank you for your concern." She took one last look at him before she exited the ladies room, leaving Duo behind in his thoughts.

Well that’s chapter five. I finally finished this one up. That was touchy…wasn’t it? But she’s still living with Heero, don’t forget that. Hehehe…I can’t wait for the up coming chapters *author laughs evilly* I can’t wait!