Relena squeezed Damion's hand for luck when their plane landed in the Taravren international airport.  It was a short flight and they hadn't spoken much.  Damion was obviously preoccupied.  There was a far-off look in his eye and a seriousness about his face she was unaccustomed to seeing, but he seemed to take comfort in her presence and held her hand most of the way.  He was dressed formally again in princely attire, as he had when they first met, and there was an air of grandness about him that meshed flawlessly with his expression.  She felt plain beside him.  Yet when they stood, he smiled at her and she saw the light of warmth flicker in his eyes as he took her hand and helped her to the door.

Manny followed her and Damion silently, carrying Damion's briefcase and a bag of his few personal belongings.  Terrese was with him.  She had demanded to come with Relena to make the visit look more official, provided she stay out of the way.  Relena suspected something more, but she didn't say anything.  That Manny took a great deal of trouble helping Terrese out of the plane was confirmation enough.

They descended the pull-away stairs to the airstrip in a stately manner.  There were quite a few people waiting below, all of them expected.  Damion immediately shook hands with an older man in a black suit Relena took to be Farnworth.  He was not the only one present.  There were other black suits and several people packing things up on carts and into trucks.  Manny handed most of Damion's things to them.  Relena took them to be the equivalent of palace servants.  There were also a few Preventors, most of whom Relena did not know well, but Wufei was among them.  Damion and Farnworth spoke in low tones and Relena caught Farnworth glancing at her with hard, unfriendly eyes.  She blinked in confusion, wondering what he was thinking.

In moments, Damion nodded and walked away from Farnworth, taking Relena's hand and pulling her close.

"What was all that about?" she asked, tilting her head to look at him.

"The people are moving.  An attack on the palace or my person could happen at any time.  We need to hurry."

She nodded, unafraid.  "He looked at me strangely," she added.

"It's nothing to do with you personally," Damion assured her.  "I need to see my father and Farnworth is concerned about my father's reaction to our relationship and your presence here.  The trouble makes it worse."

"Why?" she asked.  "Your parents disapprove of me?"

Damion just shook his head.  "Not you, no," he said, and floundered uncertainly, looking lost and pained.

"Never mind," Relena said, smiling, but with a note of determination in her tone as she straightened the collar on his coat.  "Let's take care of what we came here to do.  We need to get you safely to the palace, though I suspect even it will not be safe much longer."

He nodded, his eyes a hard, steely gray as he turned his head and opened his mouth.

A roar interrupted whatever he was about to say.  A great wind surrounded them and Relena gasped, clutching Damion's coat as the Wing Zero alighted on the airstrip in the form of a plane and sped past them, slowing to a stop.  "What in the..." she muttered breathlessly.  "That's Heero."

Damion's gray eyes caught fire and he took her arm, pulling her back, his other hand lightly touching her waist.  She let him, but she couldn't tear her eyes away as Heero climbed out of the Wing Zero and dropped solidly to the pavement below.  She hadn't seen him since that night...  Her eyes drank in the sight of him as he rose and straightened, every curve of his body, every structure to his face, drinking it all in like water.  She would have known him blindfolded, could have traced his face with her fingertips, could have drawn a picture.  She re-memorized the strands of hair that shadowed his face and fell over his eyes.  Oh, his eyes...  Her heart felt like a lump of ice in her chest.  They were as they had once been, cold, dark and possessing a hidden strength.  Abruptly she realized he was staring at her too, or perhaps at her and Damion, but blankly, and a moment later he turned coolly away, as if the pair of them were nothing at all, and approached Wufei with the walk of a leopard.

"He seems different," Damion said quietly behind her.

Relena could not answer, but she nodded and clutched at Damion's hand.  "That is how I remember him," she whispered.  "What is he doing here?"

Wufei began walking toward them, leaving Heero to linger behind.  Heero wasn't even looking at them, but was scanning the airfield and the buildings in the distance with a hawkish intensity.

"He's your bodyguard," Wufei informed Damion curtly.

Damion and Relena stared at Wufei in an uncomprehending fashion.  Relena felt Damion tense behind her and curled her fingers about the hand he had wrapped around her waist to calm him.

Wufei was unmoved.  "I know there are...difficulties between the two of you," he said dryly, eyeing Relena in an unflattering manner, "but even I have to admit that Heero Yuy is the best.  The city streets are dangerous, and growing more unpredictable the longer we stand here.  Heero will get you through them.  He is more dedicated to the mission than ever and he's never let any personal feelings stand in his way before.  I've never seen him so focused; you should have nothing to worry about."

Wufei turned away and began barking orders to the other Preventors.  Guns were passed out and a wide circle of armed Preventors and Damion's own personal guard formed a circle about Damion and Relena.  At the last minute, Manny slipped in with Terrese in tow.   Heero was there too, though no one saw him enter, but he stood a ways from his charge, watching the front of the line, out of earshot.

"He's different," Damion said under his breath.  "Cold, they said.  I think I see it now.  Is he always like this on the job?"

"Not just on the job," she said quietly.  "All the time."  So cold, as chill and uncaring as a winter storm, but it was only a front.  She had pierced it once, or thought she had.  She had seen kindness and care in him, wrapped in layers of dedication and poisoned by a total lack of a sense of self-worth. Heero, she cried in her heart, you are more than missions.  Why can't you just let yourself be loved?

Maybe he had just come to realize that desire when she abandoned him for Damion.  The thought was so sudden and so tragic she could not face it.  But it would explain why he went so crazy.  Did he love her, or think he did?  No, no.  She couldn't let herself think that way.  She was caught, trapped in an accident of no one's making.  And there did not appear to be any method of resolution.  Either way, it seemed Heero had vanquished whatever had driven him so wild before.  She had done the same.

The procession began its careful march into the city.

Damion watched Heero as wearily as he did the streets.  He never glanced at Damion except to verify his position in the center of the circle, but if his eyes occasionally lingered over Relena, it was difficult to notice and there was absolutely no emotion on his face or lurking in his eyes.  He held a gun in one hand as if it were an extension to his body, and the deadly grace with which he moved was intimidating.

At first, people fled from the armed escort as they passed through the gates and down the street, but soon they began to gather until the sidewalks were filled and overflowing with bodies.  There was a hum of muttering in the air, some of it angry, some of it frightened.  Damion observed it all in bewilderment.  He felt like he was walking in some foreign place.  This was not the way he remembered this city or its people, so hostile, so dangerous, so furious.  He realized that it was his responsibility and his alone to fix it.

Abruptly, Heero crossed the space between Damion and himself and shoved Damion and Relena apart, pushing them to either side of the armed circle.  There was a ring of shouts as Manny caught Damion and Wufei caught Relena as they stumbled.  Damion regained his feet in a flash, furious.  Even now he would!....  but his anger abated when he saw the slender bullet strike off the pavement with a soft ping... exactly where he had been standing.  Heero twisted, arm and gun extended toward the roof of the building towering on their left.  One shot, fired with a silencer, and there was a shout from above as a sharpshooter, an assassin, fell with a soft thump.

Damion swallowed as Heero turned and met his eyes.  Damion met him stare for stare and at length nodded his thanks.  Neither said anything, but Heero ignored Damion's gesture and turned away again, once more sweeping the crowd with hard, cold eyes.

Damion shivered as the party resumed its pace.  This was how Relena remembered Heero Yuy?  This was how he was most of the time?  It was almost unbelievable.  Damion traced his own memories.  He had met Heero in the hills, horseback riding.  He had seen the determination, the strength he saw now, but he had seen his reaction to Relena as well, the emotion, the jealousy.  He remembered the fight on the hilltop, Heero's wild, fevered eyes, the pain and the rage and the lust evident there.  Remembering that, he was afraid to let Heero anywhere near Relena, but he wondered what had sparked such a dramatic show for a few short days, such passion and fury, if this clear coldness was all that remained.

"I burn for her!"

"you... only want to sleep with her."

"That's not true."

It had been said in barely a whisper, but what had been in the eyes before the rage and the knife?  Damion couldn't remember.  Looking at Heero now, face blank as a brick wall, eyes intent on the situation but ignoring the people, he found himself doubting that fight on the hill had even happened.  He even had the scar to prove it.  Whatever had been in Heero's eyes and heart during that storm was gone now, vanished like it had never been.

"I love her!"

Damion's head ached.  Had someone said that?  Damion himself hadn't, not then.  At the time, it seemed to Damion that anyone with the lust he saw in Heero might swear love in delusion, but seeing Heero now, Damion was unsure it had been said at all.  Heero did not look like one easily deluded, nor the type that would say anything of the sort so casually.  Damion didn't want the think about it.  For better or worse, Relena was his, and he loved her, he was sure of it.  He knew he wanted to be with her, and there was no reason why that opportunity should be denied him because of someone on the outside.  Besides, Heero did not even appear human now, much less a man with a claim to love.

The procession began to pick up speed as more angry people filled the streets.  It was turning into a regular mob, mindless, menacing, and full of rage.  Damion's party began running lightly, and he prayed no one would get shot before they came to the safety of the palace gates, if the palace was safe at all.  Not long ago, these he would have considered his people, if they still were not, and he did not want to be responsible for their deaths.  And he would be responsible, simply for being a prince, whether it was his fault or not.

The gates loomed above them up the streets, but Damion's smile of relief fell as a they got closer.  Of course the way had been blocked!  He could see his own people behind the gates, lines of men with rifles and helmets, but they dared not shoot at the crowd.  And yet the crowd would not budge, and they could not get passed.

"Another entrance?"  Relena suggested.

"There is," Farnworth said, "on the other side, but it can only be opened from the inside, and only by three levers pulled simultaneously from different locations.  Those levers are always guarded."

"But won't they let us in?" Manny said, sweat beading on his brow.  "There are cameras!"

"They're no longer our guards," Farnworth said.  "Some of our people have turned over to the other party for higher pay.  Most of the palace is still in our control, but those three rooms are not.  If Damion doesn't meet with the third party and a compromise of some kind achieved, the gates will be opened to the crowd and the palace overrun.  There will be a revolution."

"But how am I to compromise if they don't let me in?" Damion muttered.  "And who is this third party?"

"You need to speak with your father if you have not already guessed," Farnworth replied.  "If you go to the gates and beg to be let in, I'm sure you will be admitted," he added wryly.

Damion shook his head.  He couldn't do that.  He didn't come here to sue for mercy or plead away his kingdom with pirates.  He did not intend to beg to be let into his own home.  The cameras would catch that, and he would lose face to the entire world.

"I'll take care of it," Damion heard Heero whisper suddenly, but when he turned, Heero was gone.

Damion swore under his breath. "It does no good standing here," he said loud enough for everyone to hear.  "We'll go to the other entrance, but I have no intention of begging."

It seemed he had to depend on Heero Yuy.

Heero slipped out through the circle by Wufei.

"By the garden wall," Wufei murmured without turning his head as the circle closed again behind him.

Heero wove his way through the crowd, ignoring their mutterings.  Most of them were not against Damion or the royal family specifically, but they gathered anyway, for other grievances, real or imagined.  Mobs of any kind had a way of getting out of control, and there were enough instigators in this one to inspire the rest to tear down the palace without cause.

Trowa was waiting by the garden wall.  "It's climbable," he said stoically.  "You were right."

Heero said nothing to that.  "The others are already inside?"

"Yes.  They'll wait for you to contact them.  The lever rooms have intercoms for communication just like said."

Heero nodded.  He had thought they would.  "You remember what to do?"

"Of course," Trowa said.  "I'll be with Damion and the others on time."

Heero nodded and latched his fingers onto the wall.  There were grooves in the stone, just deep enough to provide fingerholds.  He scrambled up the side and swung over the top.  Trowa saluted him from below and strode off into the crowd as Heero dropped to the inside and landed in a crouch.

Drawing his gun, he bolted for the wall, running low to the ground.  At the corner, he paused, listening for noises.  He caught them, two guards, speaking quietly.  It didn't matter if they were on Damion's side or not.  He slid down against the wall and lifted a small pebble by his shoe.  He tossed it into the wall behind him.  The noises around the corner stopped and he heard the sound of boots and guns being drawn.  The first guard to round the corner fell to a swift blow in the head, the handle of Heero's gun.  Heero spun the weapon in his hand as the other guard shouted in surprise as his fellow guardsman fell, coming to check it out.  The second guard came face to face with the barrel of Heero's gun inches in front of his face.

"Is the door open?" Heero asked.

The guard swallowed, sweat beading on his face.  "Yes," he said.  "Please don't..."

Heero free hand snaked up to the guard's neck and applied sudden press.  He crumpled, slumping over his comrade.  Heero pulled them both up beside the wall, stepped over them and rounded the corner.  The door was open.  He went in.

Once inside, the door shut softly behind him, Heero made his way north, working from memory.  He had been here before with Duo, Quatre and Trowa two weeks ago.  He had insisted on infiltrating the palace.  The others had not thought it necessary, but he was glad now that he had pushed it.

He hid in the shadows and in adjacent rooms as people passed, mostly servants and a few guards, but there were courtiers too, and members of the senate.  He wasn't sure which were enemies, but it didn't matter.  He wasn't here to do violence.  Relena... no, none of that.  Images of her flashed in his head, snapshots of her arms, her hair, her face, but he suppressed them all and continued north, slinking through the halls, carefully rounding the corners.  He had heard rumors in Newport that she and Damion had...don't think!   Too late.  He wanted her, even still, more than life itself.  But no matter; there was a mission.  It might have been faster to steal a uniform and walk casually, but with the way things were, he didn't have the time, and he might be commanded or his loyalties questioned.

At length he came to the northern lever room.  He withdrew the tranquilizer gun from his jacket and knocked on the door.  It opened and Heero walked in.  The man who opened it attempted to grab him, but Heero shot him in the leg as he passed and the man slid to the floor like his bones were made of jelly.  There were another two men in the room, and two more darts.  Both went down with darts in their necks as soon as they turned to see what was happening.

Heero stepped over the first man and approached the screen.  He scanned the control panel with his eyes until he found the transmitter to rooms A and C.  He activated it and two vidscreens opened before him.

"Yo, Heero," Duo waved, lounging in the chair in room A.  "You ready?"

"Hey, Heero," Quatre said with a smile.

Heero looked at his watch.  "You remember what to do next?"

Duo shrugged, Quatre nodded.

"In thirty seconds," Heero said.  "Trowa should be there by now."

Damion waited at the gate, watching the vidscreen uncertainly.  There were guards on the other side, on his side, but though they tried opening the gate manually, they did so to no avail.

"Heero won't fail," Relena said with a smile, putting a hand on his arm.  "Relax.  This will be over soon."  Damion felt uneasy, and something in his eyes must have communicated his thoughts.  "I'm yours," she said soothingly.  He felt a spring of love well up in his heart for her, surprising him.  He wanted to kiss her, but felt that would be inappropriate.  She seemed to see it in his eyes and they stared at one another in silence.  Was he in love with this girl?  He thought he might be.  No, he knew it.  The thought made him smile a little foolishly.

Abruptly, there was a stranger standing beside them.  "In thirty seconds," the man said in a bleak tone.  "The gates will open for a window of twelve seconds and then swing shut again."

Damion stared at him for a moment but wasted no time.  "Stand back!" he said to the guards trying to open the gates from the other side.  "Prepare to enter the palace grounds!" he said to his own party.  Heads turned, but no one questioned.  Farnworth gestured and the elite of his command formed a three-man barrier tightly around Damion, Relena, Manny and Terrese.  Wufei and the stranger hung back, conversing quietly.  Damion shook his head.  Of course, another gundam pilot.  They were probably all here.  A few seconds later, they left the group.  Damion blinked in wonder, but he didn't worry about them.

The vidscreen flickered and Heero's face appeared above the gate.  "Proceed," he said, and the image vanished.

The gates opened, swinging inward.  Damion and his party strode in, the gates shutting almost directly on their heels.  "Farnworth," Damion said quietly.  "Take Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darilan and her secretary to a safe location."  Relena opened her mouth, but whatever she was about to say died on her lips as he looked at her.  "Manny," Damion continued.  "Look out for them both."  He gestured to the elite of his personal guard.  "The rest of you, accompany me to the council room.  I must speak with my father immediately."

He began walking and the group immediately split up.  Farnworth took the others to the door on the side where Damion usually entered after riding in the mornings.  Damion strode straight to the main entrance.  The doors were flung open wide for him.  The guards bowed.  He entered his own home with an armed escort, boots passing from concrete to marble flooring and then to velvet carpeting.

"Damion!" Clara's voice came anxiously from the lobby.  She lifted heavy maroon-coored velvet skirts and ran toward him.

"I am to see my father, Clara," he said dismissively without slowing.  "I will speak with you shortly."

She slowed to a stop, deflated and angry as he passed her by, entering the council room where he knew his parents would be waiting in all their formality.   The guards opened the double doors for him.  His personal bodyguard stopped in the hall.  He alone was let inside.

Damion stood alone in the vast grandness of the council room, what used to be called and still was the throne room.   Pictures of kings past ringed the high walls.  Heavy velvet draperies cascaded to the floor.  It was a room designed to make one feel small and insignificant, but Damion was prince here.  His father and mother sat, arrayed in their most formal and elegant clothing.  His mother wore a dress the color of gold, but its warm glimmer did not touch her eyes.   Her face was stern as she looked at him.  His father's face was graver.

They were angry.  Damion swallowed and knelt on one knee, pressing one fist to the floor.

"Rise," his father said.  Damion rose and lifted his head to meet his father's eyes.

"Welcome home, son," Jacob Ravineere said softly.  "I'm glad you are safe."

Relena paced the floors in what appeared to be a dining hall uneasily.  She felt a tenseness all about her, and new the palace wasn't safe, not at all.  Farnworth and the guards had left her, Terrese and Manny alone in this room when an urgent call came from the front gate.  Civilians were breaking down the gates.  There was only one door and no windows to the dining hall, so it was easily defensible from the outside, but she felt nervous.  There were only a few guards protecting them now, and though she could see no reason why anyone would be after them, she felt insecure.

The thought made her start in surprise.  Since when had she become so concerned about her own safety?  She should be doing something, not waiting patiently here for someone to come fetch her.  What had happened to all her inner strength?

The door opened and she turned.

"Clara," Manny said from beside her, Terrese just behind him. "What are you doing here?"

The woman who entered was stunningly beautiful.  Her eyes were as dark as her hair and set in a flawless, heart-shaped face.  She lowered long, black lashes demurely and curtseyed.  "Waiting for Damion," she said, "much as yourselves."

Relena fidgeted.  She had seen the love in Damion's eyes at the gates.  She had almost melted into them the emotion was so strong, so obvious.  Was it this that had stolen her strength?   Where was Heero?  The thought made her angry.  It was horrible that she could think so beautifully of Damion loving her and then wonder about Heero.  She didn't know who she loved.  She felt wretched.

"Do you know what's going on?" Terrese demanded of Clara.

Clara rose straight-backed and did not respond, but gave at Relena with a long, weighing look.  "You are Relena Darilan?" she asked simply.

Relena frowned.  "I am."

"I have heard you are seeing Damion," she said, glancing at the ground.  Every move she made was graceful, soft.

"Yes," Relena confirmed, feeling a sensation like spiders crawling up her spine.

Clara nodded thoughtfully.  "I have known Damion all my life," she said.  "We grew up together.  I have always loved him.  When we were young, I was promised to him, informally, but it was important to me."  She folded her hands in front of her.  "Those promises are no longer applicable since Taravren ceased to be an official nation.  I have not decided whether or not to be angry at you."

Relena felt pity, but also coldness.  This woman's tone was cold.  "I'm sorry," she said.  "I didn't know."

Clara smiled.  "It doesn't matter anyway.  It is his promise to keep, not yours, and I have seen to it that he will keep it."

Sudden realization dawned on Relena.  "You couldn't possibly...!" she began in outrage, but before she could continue, the door opened again.

"Be careful, Relena," Heero said, striding into the room with a gun in hand.  Relena swallowed as her pulse began to race.

A second later a half dozen men with guns came in on his heels, weapons aimed at the gundam pilot, eyes unblinking.

Clara did not even turn around.  "Welcome, Heero Yuy," she said.  "You can put your gun away.  I mean Relena no harm.  And provided you don't interfere..." she turned her head to look at him, a devilish light in her eyes, "you can have her in exchange for Damion's life, which belongs to me."

I had a little writer's block in writing this, but I think I've got all the kinks worked out now.  Consider the implications:  Protecting Damion is Heero's mission and Relena is the prize for betraying Damion.  Any guesses as to what will happen?  What you want to happen?

It has come to my attention that I've spelled Terrese's name several different ways throughout this fic.  Sorry.  Also, the promise Clara speaks of does not make Damion a liar for saying there was nothing between them.  It was informal and something he doesn't even remember, just in case you were curious.  

EMAIL ME!!