Disclaimer: Yadda yadda I don’t own Gundam Wing and so on.

The Symbol of Temptation

Chapter Eleven

”Master Yuy?”

A voice.

”Master Yuy?”

Go away.

”Master Yuy, please, wake up!”

Wait. That voice.

…Peagen.

Heero slowly opened his eyes, their lids heavy and tired. It was dark. Dark was bad. Things can’t be seen in the dark.

But he could see. He saw Peagen leaning over him, his expression worried.

“Master Yuy,” he said, “I fear it is now too late.”

Heero sat up, eyeing the old man wearily as his last moments of consciousness came back to him. Alex was in the room. He was disguised as Peagen. He’d taken his mask off and-

“He looks just like you,” Peagen said, sounding bewildered. “I should have figured it out sooner.”

The image of his own face staring back at him filled his thoughts. Alex was him now. Alex was wearing his face.

Alex was going after Relena with his face.

“No!” He exclaimed, attempting to stand up but falling back down in the process. His muscles were still drained, and felt like nothing but wet noodles. He was completely and totally helpless.

“Master Yuy,” Peagen said again, catching his attention, “Please remain still. The serum that was injected into your system will wear off soon, but you must relax or your muscles will remain useless for hours.”

The old man’s eyes held uncertainty and genuine concern. It was obvious that he was the real Peagen.

“How did this happen?” Heero asked.

Peagen looked at the floor. “I didn’t realize there was someone impersonating me until I met him face to face,” he said, shaking his head. “I’d been walking around this house for weeks with a double in my shadow, and I never even knew. Then, you arrived, and not three days later I was locked in here,” he took a moment to sweep his arm around the room. There was nothing in it, not even a bed. “This has been my prison ever since. There is no way out of this room except for that door, and believe me when I say I’ve tried to get through it. I’ve been kept alive, of course, because in order for the transition to be successful, the original Peagen must return to take Alex’s place.”

Heero was confused. “What do you mean, ‘transition’?”

Peagen lowered his hands to his lap and stared somberly at him. “Alex’s transition,” he said, “Into you.”

His head snapped up. Of course. Why hadn’t he figured it out before? Alex was able to move about the mansion so easily. He had constant access to Relena. She must have told ‘Peagen’ of her plans to marry him. And that’s when he’d decided to take his place. He should have known it when he received that note:

She may take your name, but she won’t marry you.

Again he tried to sit up, but a sharp pain went up his back and made him fall flat on the ground. He twisted his face in anger and rage, swearing to himself that he would rip Alex apart. Then, he realized something, and stopped moving altogether.

Relena didn’t know.

Relena thought she was about to marry him. She had no idea that Alex had taken his place. Not to mention the fact that Alex was able to change his voice and act just like the person he was impersonating. He’d convinced them all that he was Peagen for over a month, even Relena. There’s no way she could know that she was about to marry Alex.

His eyes began darting around the room. The ceremony! It was due to start in about an hour when Alex had shot him. How long had he been unconscious?

“Peagen,” he said, noticing for the first time that his throat was dry, “How long was I asleep?”

The old man looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “Around forty minutes. When he brought you in, he also brought in this,” he pointed to a two-foot long black box laying a few feet away from him, unlabeled and seemingly unimportant. There was one thing that was peculiar about it, though. A wire extended from the back of it and reached all the way to the wall.

“Open it,” Heero said, unable to do so himself. As Peagen moved away from him, he tried to roll over onto his stomach so he could push himself up. He got about halfway when his muscles gave out again. His eyelids began to close.

“Stay awake!” Peagen shouted at him, shaking his shoulder. His eyes slid open again and his vision began to clear. “Please, you must stay awake!”

Heero nodded and watched as the old man slowly opened the box, revealing a flat, blank screened monitor and a note. Peagen opened the note and read aloud, “Before I am rid of you, I want you to watch as you lose her. To me.” He quickly crumpled up the note and dropped it on the floor.

Heero saw Peagen squinting to see through the darkness, since there was almost no outside light. The only light source was from the monitor, where a bright orange light was blinking every few seconds.

“Turn it on,” he ordered. Peagen pushed a button next to the blinking light and quickly shielded his eyes as the screen lit up.

He blinked a couple times while his eyes adjusted to the bright light now filling the room, then his vision focused on one thing. The man on the screen.

It was him. No, it was Alex. The angle at which they could see him suggested that they were watching the feed from security camera 5C in the formal hall. Alex was standing at the alter, Quatre on his left and the priest on his right. Across from them, Noin stood smiling at Alex as the Matron of Honor. Quatre said a few words into his ear and he smirked in response. Heero’s stomach turned.

They thought it was him. They were convinced it was him. But it wasn’t. It was Alex. How could he convey that to them?

They must have started the service ahead of schedule, probably worrying that Alex would disrupt it if they started on time. Suddenly, everyone in the room stood and turned to look back up the isle. Alex and Quatre stiffened, and Noin’s eyes became watery. Relena came into view on the screen, and Heero’s heart stopped.

She was so beautiful.

No, she was beyond beautiful. She was glorious. Magnificent. Her dress fell to the floor, the skirt fanning out around her and the waist hugging to her slim form. A long veil fell over her face, upon which she had put very little makeup. That was just like her. That was his Relena. She was everything he ever dreamed her of being on the day she would become his wife.

And she was becoming Alex’s wife.

Heero jerked up into a sitting position and practically roared with fury when his whole body exploded in pain. He twisted and writhed and dug his own fingernails into his skin in sheer agony.

She didn’t know. She didn’t know!

He felt two surprising strong arms wrap around him and hold him until his muscles began to quake. He shook for few minutes and then relaxed, the pain fading away. He steadied his breathing and told the old man ‘thank you’ before motioning him away. He looked back over at the screen to see Alex taking Relena’s hand away from Zechs, who’d walked her down the isle. He even went so far as to nod at the taller man before he set his eyes on his bride.

His bride.

She smiled brightly at Alex for a moment, then her face slackened a little. She looked questioningly at him and blinked a couple of times.

Did she know?

How could she know?

“There appears to be a button to provide sound,” Peagen said, “Shall I turn it on?”

“Yes,” Heero said hoarsely. As soon as Peagen had the volume up, the sound of the audience murmuring filled his ears. Alex’s lips moved, but he was whispering so Heero had to read his lips.

“Is everything all right?”

Relena blinked up at him a couple more times. Heero read her lips as well.

“Everything’s fine. It’s just-” She eyed him with curiosity, “Something’s different about you.”

Alex’s eyes flickered for a moment. “I’m fine. I’m just glad this day has come.”

Heero’s heart raced. Don’t fall for it, he thought. Don’t you fall for him, Relena.

Their attention turned to the priest as he began to speak. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here, in the sight of God…”

Heero tuned out the rest of what he was saying. All of his attention was focused on the woman in the screen, as she continually glanced over at Alex with her eyes seemingly questioning him. A few times, he glanced at her at the same time she glanced at him, and as their gazed locked her eyes would widen a little.

Come on, Relena, he thought. You know it’s not me.

Finally she and Alex turned to each other and joined hands. Heero’s heart beat faster and faster, his mind becoming desperate. If only he could move. If only he could get to that room…

“Do you, Heero Yuy, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, through sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

“I do.”

“And do you, Relena Darlian…”

Don’t do it, Relena.

“Take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband…”

Don’t do it, Relena!

“To have and to hold…”

You know it’s not me.

“Through sickness and in health…”

You know!

“As long as you both shall live?”

Silence filled the room as everyone awaited the expected answer. Relena’s eyes searched those of the man before her, and as she spoke her answer he was filled with shock.

“…No.”

The sound of about fifty gasps reached his ears, but they could have been screams for all he knew. She’d said no! She knew! He didn’t know how she knew, but she knew! She was his. She was his, and Alex knew it.

Which put her in extreme danger.

Noin laid a hand on her shoulder and asked Relena if she knew what she’d just said. Relena turned to her with her mouth quivering, then looked back at Alex and turned to head back up the isle. Before she could leave, Alex grabbed her arm and jerked her around.

“What are you doing?!” He yelled. She tore her arm away from his grasp and hissed out, “Don’t you touch me! Don’t you ever touch me!” She spun around and ran up the isle, people standing and staring after her as she went. Noin ran to catch her as Zechs and Quatre approached Alex. Quatre touched his arm and he jerked, shoving the blonde man away from him.

“Keep your filthy hands off me!” He yelled, pushing by Zechs to run after Relena as well. Heero’s sense of triumph was instantly replaced with dread.

If he found her, he’d kill her. Or worse.

Heero stood, ignoring his pain, and stretched his muscles as far as they would go. His body felt like it was being torn in two, but he bit back the pain and focused on regaining the use of his muscles. A sudden rush of adrenaline had caused him to not care if his body suffered any permanent damage. All he cared about was that Relena was out there, and that she’d said no.

Picking up the monitor, he charged at the door and smashed the black box into it with all his strength. Having made a sizable dent in it, he began swinging the mangled box at the door over and over until it fell apart in his hands. He threw it aside and rammed his shoulder into the door, causing a series of cracks to form on it. He rammed his shoulder into it one more time and then punched his right fist through the center of the dent, busting through and then punching again. He punched and kicked until there was a hole big enough to pull himself through, then turned back to Peagen.

“She knew,” he said, “I’ve got to find her. Can you get through this?”

Peagen eyed the hole and raised an eyebrow. “Just send someone back here to get me. Go. She’s looking for you.”

Heero nodded and turned back to the door, pushing his upper body through the hole and then pulling his legs through. As soon as he hit the floor he was running, down the hall and up the stairs. In the back of his mind, he noted that he was in the basement of the mansion. He’d find out how that was possible later.

At the top of the stairs he turned right, running in the direction of the formal hall. The mansion was big, but it seemed even bigger knowing that Alex was chasing Relena through it. Where would she go? When she wanted to think, she went to the gardens. When she was upset, she would go to her office. But when she wanted to see him, she went straight to him.

And there she was.

She stopped dead in her tracks as she came around the corner, locking eyes with him. He stopped only for a second at the surprise of seeing her, wedding dress and all, and then ran towards her as fast as he could. She ran towards him as well, and when they met halfway they crashed into each other so hard that the wind was knocked out of both of them.

Heero crushed her against him, burying his face in her neck and breathing in her scent. He felt her squeezing her arms around him and crying into his shoulder, “I knew it! I knew it…”

He pulled his head up and cradled her face in his hands. “You said no,” he breathed, in awe of her presence.

“I knew it wasn’t you,”

“You knew…How?”

She raised a hand to his face, caressing it so tenderly that it felt like she wasn’t even touching him. “When I saw him, I just…knew. Anyone can look like you, Heero, but no one can be you.” She closed her eyes and whispered, “There is only one you.”

In a second he had lifted her veil and planted his lips firmly against hers. When she gasped the kiss deepened, and he lost himself in her.

From behind Relena, Heero heard Noin’s voice say, “What? But I thought-”

“No!” Heero recognized his own voice from behind Noin’s. He pulled away from Relena and looked over at the only thing that threatened to come between them.

“Alex,” Relena said, turning around. He was standing behind Noin, his face bitter and jealous, as he stared at the two of them.

“You…betrayed me!”

Noin turned her head to look at Alex, then at Heero, then back again. Realization set in on her face and she began to move away. Zechs and Quatre came around the corner and they also did a double take.

Zechs’s body went rigid. “Alex.”

Alex turned to him. “You!” He pointed his finger at the blonde man. “You took her away from me!”

Zechs stepped in front of his wife before saying, “Because you didn’t deserve her.”

Alex growled. “I am the only one who deserves her!”

Heero made a move to go forward but Relena’s hand on his arm stopped him. Instead he said, “What you deserve can only come from me.”

“No!” Relena yelled, moving in front of him. “Heero,” she said, her hands on his shoulders, “Don’t sink to his level.”

“It’s not about ‘levels’. It’s about you.”

“All the more reason.” She turned slightly to glare back at Alex. Zechs was sending Noin out of harm’s way and Quatre was moving around to Alex’s left, flanking him. Now was the time to attack him. Now was the time to make him pay. “Heero, if you hurt him, if you kill him for my sake, then everything I’ve worked for has been for nothing!”

He looked into her eyes, trying to understand why she would ask this. The truth was that she was the one that didn’t understand, and there was only one way to change that.

He pushed her aside and ran at Alex. A sickening sneer spread across the other man’s face and he charged as well, quickly followed by Quatre and Zechs. Heero was determined to hit him, at least once, and ran faster. When they were close to collision Alex threw a punch, which Heero easily blocked and countered. He rammed his right fist into the other man’s gut, then the left fist into his jaw. He could feel Zechs and Quatre trying to pry them apart, and when they were far enough away Alex tried to punch again. Heero jerked his way free of Quatre’s grasp and grabbed Alex’s arm, twisting it up and around behind his back. He lifted it higher and higher, until he heard Alex wail in pain. A part of him found the sound purely disgusting, while another side of him enjoyed it.

The next thing he was aware of was a cold, hard, smack on his left cheek.

He let go of Alex, and turned, stunned, to a seething Relena. Alex fell to the ground and was instantly seized by the other two men. Heero lifted a shaky hand to his cheek and gently touched the now tender patch of skin.

“You hit me,” he breathed, in complete disbelief.

“You gave me no choice.”

Zechs looked up at his sister and then at Heero, motioning to Quatre that they should take Alex out of sight. Heero twitched when he heard Alex mumble, still groaning about his arm. When he was on his feet he attempted to kick at Zechs, and Heero turned to attack him again. Relena grabbed his fist in mid air and said, “Don’t!”

He stopped, frozen by her tone. Her glare wasn’t any more merciful. He kept trying to push away the nagging thought that he had done something wrong. It wouldn’t go.

“Why are you stopping me?” He snapped. Over he shoulder, he watched the security detail arrive and restrain Alex on Zechs’s orders. Quatre glanced at him and then looked away.

“You promised!” she cried, tears forming in her eyes. “You promised you wouldn’t do anything to him!”

“Why do you care?!” he yelled, earning him a few cold stares from the people around him as they moved away, Alex in custody. He ignored them.

“I care because you’re ruining yourself. Don’t you see? You’ve become everything you’ve been fighting against! You’re so consumed with how much you hate him that you don’t see what you are! You’re better than this. You’re not so weak that you give into your first instinct without a second thought. You’ve proven that over and over again these past few months. Stop being such a fool and think for a second! What did you almost do?”

That didn’t take much thought. “I almost killed him.”

“Say that one more time.”

“I almost killed him.”

“Again.”

“I almost-” he stopped. The last few minutes replayed in his mind, and he began to see what she was saying. “I almost…killed him.”

“Yes, you did.”

Now he realized it. He had just betrayed everything he’d promised her since she’d told him about Alex.

“Relena…” he didn’t get to finish. She’d already wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could. He felt like scum. He wanted to melt into a little puddle and slip away, never to bother her again.

“Stop it,” she whispered, stroking his hair. He didn’t know what she was referring to. “I forgive you, just stop it.”

He looked down at her shoulder. “You shouldn’t.” She hugged him tighter.

…There was a tapping on his leg.

He looked down to see Laura staring up at him.

“Don’t you want any of your cake?” she asked.