Heero's Peace Sequel - Part 6: The Rescue, Phase II

Disclaimer: This whole disclaimer thing is getting so old by now. We all now I don't own Gundam Wing!


Relena sprang up from the bed to run to him, but her pace slowed and she stopped just a few feet in front of her husband. As Relena drew nearer, she realized that he was leaning on Trowa and barely standing on his own. Heero smiled weekly at her, glad to see that she was safe, but his expression changed to one of pain when he let go of Trowa's shoulder and made an attempt to straighten his posture in order to stand on his own. Once he steadied himself, Heero reached out for his wife, and she took a step closer, allowing herself to be enfolded in his waiting arms. His embrace was unusually weak, and Relena could feel the difference as his normally strong and sturdy body was giving way to tremors and his breath came out in gasps. As she rested her cheek against his, she noticed that it was cold and clammy against her own, and she pushed away so that she could look at him. He was pale. Very pale. She placed a hand on his icy forehead and her eyes only widened, denoting more concern. "Heero, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Giving Heero no time to answer, she looked past him to the other pilot, " Trowa, what happened?" But it was Heero who answered.

"I'm alright. It's not important." He put a hand over the wounded area, trying not to double over from the sharp pang rising in his side. He recovered after a moment, his face betraying very little of the torment his body was going through. Instead, he looked directly at Relena. Leaning down, he kissed her gently, and whispered, "I'll be fine. We need to get out of here."

Although she had been thinking of little else for the past few hours other than getting out this room, she seemed to forget the last part of what Heero had just said. "You," she said in her most authoritative Vice-Foreign Minister voice, "are not 'fine.'" Heero felt a wave of exasperation shoot through him, paralleling the pain, and he knew he had to take control of the situation. 'She can be so stubborn!' he thought to himself.

"Relena, we don't have time for this now," he said, looking down at her sternly, trying his best to sound as strong as he wanted her to believe he was. Of course she knew that he was right, and surrendered for the time being. Still, she eyed him worriedly and looked thoroughly unconvinced. Trowa sidestepped Heero and handed Relena a large, bulky space suit that looked very much like his own.

"Put this on, Relena," Trowa said kindly. Then he turned to Heero. "I'm going back to the bay to get the ship ready."

"Right," Heero nodded as Trowa turned to leave. Looking at Relena, Heero added, "We'll be there in five minutes." With that Trowa left the room and Relena took off her jacket and began to pull the space suit over the rest of her clothing. Heero watched her she dressed, noticing how the buttons of her un-tucked blouse were straining around her mid-section. 'She really is having a baby,' he thought to himself. 'Our baby.' A slight smile crossed his face, obliterating his previously sour expression. Relena must have seen the change and known what he was thinking, because she smiled back, giving her tummy a quick pat before she fastened the suit to hide it. She made her way back over to him and he helped her tuck her long hair into helmet as she placed it over her head. Heero fastened his as well and took a deep breath, willing himself to make it to the shuttle bay.


***
Trowa froze right before the entrance to the bay. This was not good. He never should have left their transport alone, and he could have stayed if he were sure that Heero wouldn't collapse on his way to Relena's room. Possible plans and tactics raced through his head as he silently watched the three nosy attendants unloading the cargo hold of the shuttle. Perhaps there was still time. If he could get them away from there before they saw Zero... Too late. "No longer an option," Trowa said to himself, stepping back as suddenly the attendants started shouting for everyone in the bay to come and see what was in the hold. In a split second, the unmistakable noise of an alarm being sounded echoed through the base. Trowa quickly replaced his helmet and did his best to blend in to the surroundings while staying close to the ship. "Hurry up, Heero."

***
The alarm was deafening as they moved through the hallway. "Heero, what is it?" Relena asked, her voice barely audible through the helmet.

"I don't know for sure, but I have a feeling it isn't good." Heero's feeling was confirmed as a group of armed men ran past them towards the shuttle bay. 'Please don't let them have Trowa,' Heero silently pleaded. He was finding it hard to keep on walking, and he wanted more than anything to pick up the pace, but try as he might, he could not go any faster. Heero could feel the blood flowing beneath the layers of his suit; the feeling of warm liquid coursing its way down his side. Still he kept moving.

Trowa saw them from the end of the corridor. 'He can barely walk.' Returning his attention to the action going on in the shuttle bay, Trowa waited for his chance. He had to create enough of a diversion so that Heero and Relena could make it onto the transport. With the knowledge that his two companions were not far off, Trowa did the only thing he could think of. He took off his helmet and walked nonchalantly over to the ship. The crowd had dispersed for the most part as everyone was dispatched to search the base for intruders. 'How long till they notice Relena's room is empty?' he wondered as he made his way across the floor. Two men had been assigned to guarding the cargo while the remaining soldiers canvassed the compound. "What do you have there, fellas?" Trowa asked, doing his best to seem as though he had no idea what was in that hold.

"What, didn't you hear the alarm? You deaf or something? That's a GUNDAM in there! Intruders in the base!" The guard said this almost as though he were proud of it. The man was apparently middle-aged with a sizable potbelly and a greasy mustache over his thin lips. He smiled a yellow-toothed smile, looking down at Trowa. "You ever seen one of these, sonny?"

Trowa fought off the momentary urge to laugh, and widened his eyes, trying to look intrigued. "No, a gundam... really?" He stepped farther into the cargo hold, craning his neck to catch a glimpse of Zero.

The second guard, a much younger recruit with a red face and short black hair, stood in his way.

"Captain's orders. No one touches this," he said, puffing out his chest as he pointed over his shoulder at Zero.

"Oh, come on Bixler," the older man croaked. "If the kid wants to see a gundam, let him look. It's not like he can do anything with it."

"But, Dooly! The captain said..."

"Oh, Captain What's-His-Name has bigger problems right now. These things are legends," Dooly said reverently.

Bixler, looking annoyed, stepped aside. Trowa poked around, pointing out particular aspects of the machine to the astonished guards.

"For never seein' one of these you sure know a lot about 'em," Dooly drawled.

"You could say they're a point of interest for me," Trowa said before climbing into the cockpit.

"Hey, you shouldn't be in there!" Bixler cried, running over. A look of horror overtook his face as Zero's green eyes flickered. His face got even redder, if that was possible, and he pointed up at Trowa. "I know you. You're #554."

"Well, not really," was Trowa's reply as he closed the hatch and watched Dooly and Bixler run out of the hold at top speed.

***

Heero looked at Relena as they stood by the doorway. "Trowa started up Zero. We've got to run for it - now!" As they started off, Heero was dragging Relena behind him, but in no time it was she that was running out ahead of him. They were about three quarters of the way to the ship when she turned around to see Heero doubled over, looking ready to collapse. Relena stopped and ran back to him.

"Heero! What is it?" He was breathing heavily, well, more like wheezing. He looked up at her, his features contorted from the pain.

"Go! Get to the ship. Trowa will get you out of here! Go!" He could barely get the words out. Relena turned around to see a flood of troops entering the bay. They had found out she was missing and had heard all the commotion from Zero's engines.

"Not without you," she told him. She lifted his head so that he was looking at her. "I thought I'd lost a few weeks ago. I won't lose you now." She put his arm around her shoulders and helped him to his feet. He began to protest, saying something about hurting her or the baby. Relena cast a glance behind her as members of the White Fang started closing in on them, raising rifles and handguns. Their weapons clattered to the ground when they caught sight of Zero looming over them. "This baby needs it's father," she said to Heero as she helped him to the shuttle. "I could never leave you behind."

Heero sat down at the console and started the engines. The bay doors were already open and he maneuvered the ship out of the base, followed by Trowa in Zero. They hadn't gotten far when enemy suits flew out behind them. The ship jolted fiercely, having taken a hit, but Trowa made short work of the rest of the suits. It was not long before he appeared on the ship's monitor. "The Preventers are coming in. Judging from the number of suits, it's safe to say the enemy has moved most if their weapons to the earth. We'd better get back there. I'm docking Zero." Hearing the sound of the shuttle's cargo doors open, Relena looked over at Heero, sighing in relief. The sigh was caught in her throat. Heero was slumped over the control panel, not moving.

"Heero? Heero!" Relena jumped out of her seat and ran to his side. She eased him to the floor and removed his helmet. Seeing the bluish tinge around his lips she knew he was barely breathing. She unzipped his suit only to find that the clothes he wore underneath were soaked in blood, which was already pooling beside them in a thick red puddle. Trowa entered the room and Relena all but screamed for him to call Sally. "Heero, can you hear me? Open your eyes, please, Heero!" Relena pushed his hair away from his damp forehead and held him. His eyes fluttered open and he began to speak in a barely audible whisper.

"Do you forgive me?" He asked quietly, rasping out the words.

"F-forgive you? For what, Heero?" Relena asked desperately.

"The gundams - do you forgive me? Do you understand why I...?"

"Yes!" She cried out. Fighting back tears, Relena looked into Heero's half-closed eyes. The last thing he heard her say was, "Heero, there is nothing to forgive." Then the darkness overtook him.

End Part 6

***

Heero: That's it?! So what happens to me?
Stella: Be nice and I MIGHT just let you live, but I'm not going to say...
Wufei: You dishonor yourself, woman. Cliff-hangers are injustice!
Stella: You're just mad because you weren't in this chapter.
Wufei: I certainly am not!
Stella: Too late! * Rummages around in the attic and comes back waving a pink frilly dress and hat triumphantly *
Wufei: NOOOO!!!
Stella: Now that ought to fix your little red wagon!
Quatre: * Looks at Wufei* Calm down. By the way, that's a lovely shade of pink - and the hat is rather...
Wufei: Silence! I'll show you where you can put this hat! *Tries to lunge towards Quatre, but can't move * Hey, I'm stuck!
Stella: Oh, yeah. Well, you see, all you figurines kept diving off the top of the monitor, so Kevin got a little bit of that tacky putty and stuck you all in place! *evil grin *
Duo: What do you mean 'stuck us all in place?'
Stella: We had to do it! Trowa fell down behind the desk at least a half a dozen times yesterday, and the cats kept trying to chew his bangs off while he was on the floor. Look at them down there, circling like sharks (cue the theme music from JAWS), just waiting for one of you to drop! They're crazy I tell you!
Trowa: Yeah, I'm used to dealing with lions and all, but those two are pretty vicious!
Stella: * grumbles * I swear they ate paint chips as kittens or something.
Heero: We don't want to hear about your evil cats! Get back to the story. *glares *
Stella: Hey, don't look at me like that! You still have to teach me that glare, by the way.
Wufei: But it's a...
Stella: Don't even say it! That's quite enough craziness for now *shakes head *. Thank you all for reading chapter 6! I have another two to go, I believe, and then Heero's Peace will be laid to rest. All the same, thanks as always for reading. Please let me know what you think - suggestions are always appreciated, too! Love, Stella.