Love Me or Leave Me Alone (3/5)

[Loyce]

Disclaimer: I don?t know Gundam Wing.

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Love Me or Leave Me Alone
Part Three
By Loyce
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A few days later, Relena waited outside the limo, silently pacing the tarmac. Thunder threatened the arrival of rain, but her heels clicked in rhythm as she stalked relentlessly across the ground next to the car.

Her escort was late. When she had shown up at the spaceport nearly 20 minutes late, she had expected him to be waiting at the bottom of the stairs, dictating order between his mutterings on how the female race would forever be weak if they could never get anywhere on time. But when the car had pulled past security, she didn't notice her dark haired escort. Uneasiness moved to her stomach at the absence of Wufei; it wasn't like him to be late.

Pulling back the sleeve to her blouse, Relena walked over to the driver's side of the limo and knocked on the tinted window. The motor for the automatic window whined as it lowered into the door as Geoffrey's face appeared on the opposite side.

"Yes, Miss Foreign Minister?"

"Could you please hand me the communicator?"

Geoffrey sent Relena a puzzled look but reached for the communicator hanging on the dashboard. As he placed the device in her hand, the air was filled with the sound of screeching tires. Relena whipped around to see a black motorcycle skid to a stop behind the limo. The black clad rider climbed off the seat and began to remove their helmet.

"Duo, do you think you could make a little more noise?" Relena asked, crossing her arms across her chest and making her way over to the back of the vehicle.

When the helmet was lifted, a short cap of black glossy hair was plastered to the rider's face; no meter long braid in sight.

"Well, Relena, if you want to blame Duo for the noise, that's fine by me. He needs to take better care of this bike. It's a classic." Hilde's cornflower blue eyes danced with amusement as she tried to keep a straight face in light of Relena's stunned look. "Sorry, I'm late. The car wouldn't start this morning so I had to snag Duo's bike."

Relena watched as Hilde grabbed her duffel bag off of the back of the motorcycle. "So? Where exactly are we headed?"

"M-13, in the L3 sector, for a four day tour." Relena answered without missing a beat. "Umm, Hilde? Where's Wufei?"

Laughing, Hilde turned to Relena and motioned toward the stairs leading into the shuttle. "Well, there's been a *slight* change in plans."

As the climbed into the shuttle, Relena waited for Hilde to elaborate further, but her companion remained silent. Inside the shuttle, Preventer uniformed agents were securing things for departure. Relena moved her way through the throng of people and found her seat at the front of the shuttle. With an unlady-like grunt, she collapsed into the huge leather chair and kicked off her high heels. She sunk her toes into the pair of small slippers that she had pulled out of her bag. Closing her eyes, she leaned back into the chair, worn out from working so hard to prepare this trip and exhausted from her sleepless nights.

Since the night she told Heero to leave her alone, she hadn't seen him. Duo had taken over the main part of her shift. Neither of them mentioned why Duo had become her main guard, but they both knew that it all went back to same person. The lack of sleep, along with her melancholy attitude, had caused her to snap at the members of her staff numerous times within the past three days. Even Duo had felt the sting of her temper, and she was shocked when he snapped back. Apparently, everyone was suffering along with her.

Relena felt a shadow pass over her and then heard the chair next to her squeak under the weight of her friend. Keeping her eyes shut, she felt the shuttle being pushed toward the launching pad.

"Duo pushed Wufei too far with one of his pranks and Wufei finally caught him with his katana."

Relena's eyes sprung open and she turned her head and found Hilde starring out the small window. "WHAT! What did you just say?"

Hilde giggled, leaned the side of her head against the headrest and slowly rolled her head around toward Relena. Relena grimaced as she looked at the green color to Hilde's face. "Just making sure that I hadn't lost you to deep thought." Hilde sighed. "Actually, it was thought that it would be better if I accompany you this time around."

"Duo's worried about me, isn't he?"

"He isn't the only one, Relena." The corners of Hilde's lips curled upward, trying to smile. "I'd like to think of myself as one of your closest friends. You haven't been yourself lately and I have a basic idea of what's going on. I want to help you, Relena, but I'm not going to push you to confide in me."

A few tears burned at the back of her eyes as Relena stared into the pale face of her friend. She laid her hand on Hilde's and gently squeezed it. "I understand, Hilde. And thank you." Her brow wrinkled with worry. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Minister Darlian, we have been cleared for take off. Please make sure that your seatbelt is safely fastened." The clear voice came across the intercom.

Relena reached over and pushed the button next to her chair. "Thank you." Releasing the button, she turned back to her friend. She never could have imagined that an ex-MS pilot would have problems with flying on commercial flights. Duo had told her that Hilde's fear of flying was more driven by the fact that she had no control versus the idea of flying itself. For Hilde to volunteer to come with her showed how worried her friends were.

As the shuttle's engine roared completely to life, she heard Hilde swallow hard next to her. A second later, Hilde placed a shaky hand on her shoulder. "Relena, just in case, could you please pass me an air sickness bag?"

****************

Hilde knocked on the door to Relena's bedroom and upon hearing her voice, opened the door and slipped inside. Relena was sitting at the oak desk in the room, scribbling notes down on a yellow pad of paper.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Hilde asked as she flopped on the un-made bed.

"I had a cup of tea and some biscuits a few hours ago. I needed to have the paperwork finalized before we leave." Relena answered her as he slipped the last her work into the briefcase, latching the locks before seating it down on the floor. She spun around and looked at her friend sprawled across the bed.

"How's your head feeling?"

Hilde threw her arm over her eyes and sighed. "Well, I managed to keep some toast down. But would someone classify the model of the MS that ran me over?"

Relena couldn't help herself and a small giggle escaped from her lips, which warranted Hilde turning her head and glaring at her from under the shadow of her arm. "I'm not laughing at you, Hilde. I'm laughing with you."

"I don't remember laughing at all." Hilde countered.

Biting her lip, Relena tried to keep from smiling at her friend's misfortune. She drew an imaginary cross over her heart. "You have my promise that I won't tell Duo how you threw up on Preventer Tracey."

"You know, for someone with pacifist ideals, you sure do have a cruel streak." Pushing herself up, Hilde smoothed the wrinkles from her lavender sweater dress. "I had a chance to look over the itinerary this morning. I'm not sure about the security at the hospital construction site, so it will be necessary to have a few extra guards with us."

"You're beginning to sound like Duo and Hee..." Relena cut herself off.

Sighing, Hilde pushed herself off the bed and walked over to the desk. She laid a comforting hand on Relena's shoulder. "Just because you don't say his name or try forget doesn't make it go away." She tossed her head to the side. "Besides, it's my job to make sure you don't get into too much trouble on this trip."

Relena smiled. She still wasn't ready to talk about what had happened to with Heero. Hilde had remained true to her word and did not push her into discussing anything, but she was always there to offer some advice. Clearing her throat, she changed the subject. "I don't believe I've seen that dress before."

An evil glint appeared in Hilde's blue eyes. "And neither has Duo. He probably won't know about it until the credit card bill shows up. He wanted me to dress the part of your personal assistant on this trip." Hilde shook her head. "The poor guy doesn't know what he got himself into."

The phone rang, interrupting the peals of laughter that filled the room. Relena reached over and picked up the phone. "Hello?...Yes, we'll be right down, thank you."

"The car's waiting downstairs. Are you ready to start the day?" Relena asked as she got out of the leather chair and picked up her briefcase.

Hilde placed her hand on her purse. "Ready as I'll ever be."

****************

As the members of the delegation poured out of the various cars, they were greeted by the warm smile of the hospital director. Her strawberry blond hair had been pulled back into a small ponytail, which was nearly hidden under the white hard hat, placed on top of her head. She wore overalls, splattered with paint stains and a pair of steel-toed work boots. Relena found herself already liking the young woman.

Mr. Hanley stepped forward and began the introductions. "Minister Darlian, I would like you to meet Dr. Ariel Griffin."

Relena stepped forward and extended her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Dr. Griffin took one look at her hand and rubbed it up against her overalls before clasping hold of Relena's hand. "Pardon me, I'm a complete mess. We were finishing up the murals in the infant's wing when I remembered the time. And the pleasure is all mine, Minister Darlian."

"Please, call me Relena. I'd like to introduce my friend, Miss Hilde Schbeiker."

Taking hold of Dr. Griffin's hand, Hilde looked at the hospital in complete awe. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Griffin."

"You too, Hilde." Ariel turned and addressed the small group. "Shall we begin?" They followed her up to the main entrance of the hospital where she stopped them and motioned to the hat on her head. "All right, I know they may not be fashionable, but everyone has to wear them. So if you would kindly pick up a hard hat, we'll begin our tour."

Ariel passed out the yellow hard hats, making sure that they were safely secured before entering the building. Instead of the normal clean white walls of normal hospitals, the walls of St. Mary's were covered with the characters of nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Hilde and Relena pointed out the different stories they knew, and even some that they didn't; hoping other members of the group would know of them. Once they reached the main lobby, Ariel turned to face them.

"Welcome everyone to St. Mary's. The St. Mary's Children's Hospital will be completely state of the art. We have numerous specialists in the field of pediatrics already signed to the roster, and a few more that will be available if their skills are needed. We are taking a new approach to the care of children with the introduction of Child Life specialists.

"Child life specialists will be on hand to offer developmental play as a way for children to express fears or concerns and understand the hospital environment. They will also provide activities and entertainment as a diversion from hospital routines. The child life specialists may use play with dolls and medical equipment to help your child understand his or her medical experiences. Child life specialists may provide intervention at the bedside and may also organize group activities in each unit's activity room, enabling children to socialize with their peers.

"The hospital will have five separate wings, each named after influential people within the field of medicine. Four of the five wings will be set up for the care of separate age groups, from infants to teenagers. Most of the work has been completed on the four of the hospital wings." Pulling back the plastic cover, the director of the hospital ushered the group into the unfinished wing.

Only the super structure had been completed. Relena looked up and could see various construction workers overhead, welding the metal together with blowtorches and scurrying along the iron frame of the building. Turning her attention back to the young hospital director, she was thankful that she wore the yellow hard hat, no matter how bad her hair would look after it had been removed.

Dr. Griffin cleared her throat and continued the tour. "This last wing will be used mostly for research and development, though we are converting the top three floors into rooms that parents of terminally ill children will be able to use, helping to cut expenses while their child is with us." A slap smattering of applause filled the air.

Hilde leaned over closer to Relena. "It's a wonderful idea. There's no doubt why she got the job."

Before they could continue, a large beam outside the building broke loose from the crane and fell causing the surrounding ground to shake under their feet. The noise, along with the vibrations, caused everyone to cover their ears and scramble to regain their footing.

Admits all the chaos and confusion, a small black kitten scampered out from between a pile of sheet rock and right under Relena's feet. She desperately reached out to grab hold of something, but the only thing her fingers encountered was thin air. Her ankle twisted causing her to grimace in pain before she crumpled to the ground.

"Relena! Are you all right?" Hilde yelled over the shouts of the construction workers.

Cradling her ankle, Relena looked down at the bruise as it formed on the outside of her ankle, the joint already swelling under her hands. She blinked back the few tears that clung to her eyelashes, turned her face up to Hilde's and began laughing. "We're quite a pair, aren't we? Between your air sickness and my lack of gracefulness, we'd make for an interesting comedy routine." Relena clenched her teeth as she tried to straighten her ankle.

"It's unlucky for a black cat to cross your path, Relena." Hilde said as she knelt down next to her friend.

Relena giggled. "Well, he was tiny, so doesn't that mean that my bad luck won't be as bad?"

Ariel dropped down beside her and began removing Relena's shoe. She looked over the extent of the injury and gently touched the tender area of her ankle. "Well, you didn't break it, but it is sprained. Turns out the cat wasn't that unlucky. We'll get you back inside and have you fixed up in no time."

Mr. Hanley and Preventer Tracey moved over to where Relena sat on the ground and helped to pull her up. "Are you all right, Relena?"

"I'm fine, though I do feel slightly embarrassed." With her arms slung over their shoulders, Relena was able to hobble with them as Ariel led the way back through the construction site. Before they parted the plastic and continued back inside, Relena made them stop. "Hilde, is the kitten okay?"

Hilde looked around the site and saw no trace of the kitten. "I don't know."

"Could you go and find him? The poor thing must be scared out of his mind."

As everyone else made their way through the plastic divider, Hilde sighed and began her search for the black cat. After a few minutes, she spotted the shivering mass of black fur hiding under a wheelbarrow.

Hilde giggled. "I can see the headlines now. 'Rabid Cat Proves Foreign Minister Is Human. Well, at least she sprained it at the right place. " Scooping up the shaking kitten into her arms, Hilde followed the remainder of the group back into the hospital. She looked down into his huge green eyes and smiled. "I think we'll call you Chaos."

****************

Later that night, Relena and Hilde where holed up in Relena's suite making jokes and reliving the experience at the hospital over a couple of ice cream sundaes. Chaos, as he had been happily named, was shredding some blank paper from Relena's legal pad. The carpet was littered with hundreds of little pieces of paper, which joined the fragments of the newspaper that he had already torn apart.

"I can't believe you started laughing as you sat there on the ground. I couldn't tell if you were seriously hurt or not, between the tears in your eyes and the giggles erupting from your mouth." Hilde scooped up another spoon full of hot fudge and whipped cream.

"If you can't laugh at yourself, then you shouldn't be allowed to laugh at all." Picking off the cherry from the top of the pile of whipped cream, Relena popped into her mouth. Taking a deep breath, Relena turned to her friend.

"He doesn't love me, Hilde."

The statement caught Hilde completely off guard. She set her spoon of chocolate ice cream back down in the dish and turned to her friend. "What makes you say that?"

Relena sighed. "I asked him to tell him he loved me, just once. And all I got from him was silence." Turning her head, she drew her knees up against her chest. "To top it all off, we made love the night before. I was hoping that it was a declaration of love on his part, but sometimes actions don't speak louder than the words."

Regarding the lost expression on her face, Hilde moved closer to Relena. "I don't know him that well, Relena. But I do know that he does have strong feelings for you. Everyone can see that you mean more to him then he lets on. He's a complicated man and even the smart ones have problems when it comes to matters of the heart. Unfortunately, sometimes these things take time to sort out."

"That's not very encouraging." Relena replied with a dry laugh.

"I'm not telling you these things to make you feel worse. Love is a difficult emotion." She ran her hand through her short hair. "Take me and Duo for example. It took him nearly three years to realize that I wasn't going to disappear if he loved me. There were times I wanted to strangle him for having my heart in the palms of his hands and not doing a thing with it. In the end, I stopped trying and waited. When he finally came to terms with his heart, he was able to tell me that he loved me."
Relena turned her head to face Hilde and laid the side of her face against her knees. "The problem is, I'm tried of trying. I'm tried of waiting. I'm tried of dreaming, wishing, and hoping."

"A wise person once told me that love comes to those who are willing to wait."

"Yeah, well another person said that love is a battlefield."

The solider in Hilde reared her head. "If love is a battlefield, you've already showed the offensive by giving him the ultimatum. You've hit first, now it's time to sit back and go on the defensive and wait for him."

"But what if his silence was his final answer."

Hilde watched Relena put her forehead against her knees, her loose blond hair acting like a curtain, hiding her face from the world. For once, Hilde couldn't find any words to help her friend. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Relena's shaking body and held her while she cried.

[Primus2021]

OK great fic loved it, Personal note I think Preventer Tracey is Heero in disguise using contacts, Hair dey, & hair gel, ya know these things can do wonders to change your apperance. BTW Hurry up with parts 4 & 5 I'm deing to know what happens next.

Sincerly: Primus2021