Love Beyond All Fear 3/?
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2003 9:24 pm
Gundam Girl: Hey, I?m back! Didn?t take as long as I thought it would, thankfully. This story is a promising one, I can tell you, guys. This chapter?s a doozy. Thanks to everybody who?s reviewed this one, and I hope you enjoy three.
Disclaimer: Don?t own these guys. Except Heero (who may be a bit OOC in this chap, sorry! I tried!)
Wufei: Quit lying to yourself, woman.
*sigh* Oh, fine then. I don?t own Gundam Wing or its characters. They belong to them and theirs.
Wufei: Better.
*~Love Beyond All Fear~* Chapter Three
Howard checked at his fake Rolex impatiently. With twenty minutes left, the fashion show girls had better hurry. Whether they collected well for themselves or not wasn?t his problem. Whether the buyers came back downstairs to either buy another round of drinks or his call girls was.
He hoped Relena had a knack for persuasion. That sergeant didn?t look like the most promising of customers, and Relena was a beginner at the art of seduction. Hilde. . . Well, he didn?t need to worry about Hilde. Not with the way that braided American had been looking at her.
He poured a glass of cheap vodka he?d naturally overpriced for an already stark drunk local who was currently raving about Dorothy, whom he had paid for the night before last. The man could use at least five more rounds ? if the bar owner could get that many into the customer before he passed out.
Howard sighed, checked his watch again. Fifteen minutes.
***
Duo rolled off Hilde to lay on the bed next to her. ?You?re something else,? he muttered with closed eyes.
Hilde chuckled, and ran a nail across his sculpted, bare stomach. ?We?ve fifteen minutes more.?
?Eh. . .? Damn, but she was a hot one.
?Tired, Mr. Maxwell??
Duo passed a hand over his eyes. Blood still roaring, he tried to pull a Wufei for a moment and analyze the situation. There was a slim, willing, and, most importantly, naked brunette running over fingers over his skin. With certain male attributes begging for an encore of her previous performance, he sat up.
?Who are you?? he asked finally.
Hilde smiled slyly. ?A dream come true?? she suggested. ?That?s what I?m told.?
Duo?s braid swung as he shook his head. She didn?t know how close she?d been to hitting the dot. He turned back to see her stretch her long, tanned arms above her head as white moonlight filtered over her, giving her skin an ethereal glow. ?I?d like to tell you the same??
?You won?t?? she asked coyly. ?Shame.? Her eyes traveled the length of his body in appreciation as he stood and reached for his disposed trousers. ?Are all American men so closed, Mr. Maxwell??
Duo chuckled lightly, lowly. ?You?d be one of the first to call me a closed person, Hilde.?
Her grin came quick. ?From what I saw downstairs, I suppose that?s true. Who said so before me??
?A priest ? a religious minister for a group of people called Roman Catholics,? he explained when a shadow of confusion crossed her face. ?He raised me. I never said much to him, which might sound ridiculous.? If Wufei ever heard that bit of remembrance, he would insist that he be treated the same way.
Hilde drummed her fingers on the pillow where his head had lain as he tugged on his shirt. ?Mr. Maxwell, are you sure you don?t want to??
?Duo. And no, thanks. I?ve. . .? His eyes narrowed, and he was glad his back was to her. He?d had enough emotional confusion for one night. ?I?ve decided to turn in.?
?Too bad it?s against the rules for the men to stay the night,? Hilde murmured, unable to deny that sleeping against the warmth that his chest had provided would have been heavenly. She knew a good man when she saw one, and that American, well. . . He was a very good man.
Duo turned his head to shoot her a wide grin. ?It?d save me a walk, wouldn?t it??
Hilde tilted her head back. The action caused her eyes to be concealed by a shadow the moon had failed to destroy. ?It wouldn?t save you a buck.?
He laughed again, this time with humor. ?Probably better that way. I owe you fifty, don?t I??
?Discounted price,? she nodded. She slid off the bed and grabbed for a coarse robe that had been tossed into the room earlier. ?If it?s all the same to you, Mr. . . .Duo. . .I?ll just go with you.?
Duo?s eyes flew to hers. ?With me?? He truly was an idiot. Though logic sang in his brain that she was not referring to going away, the idea fiddled with his senses. Hilde, go with him? Out of Japan?
Hilde blinked. ?Yes, with you. Downstairs.?
?Ah ? oh.? Logic?s tune won the battle against wishful thinking. He closed his eyes as she headed to the door. Such a victory would be short-lived as long as his common sense had been killed in the scurry. ?Wait.?
Hilde turned, sharp blue eyes questioning. ?Did you change your mind??
?Yes. Er, no ? not about that.?
She folded her arms. ?Anything different would be another bill, Duo.?
And he had a feeling that Howard would not make it a cheap one. Yet. . .
?Do you really like living here?? he asked. ?Whoring yourself??
The use of the verb might have stung if she hadn?t been called that and worse for the last two years. ?Honestly??
?I?m Catholic, Hilde.?
Hilde studied him. His big violet eyes dug into her own, seemingly her very soul, and in that moment, a great mass of feeling lurched from her stomach. . .or did it come from her chest?
?I hate it here,? she affirmed. ?My parents came here from Germany when I was a child. They both got sick and died almost two years ago now, and since then, I?ve had to. . .? She unconsciously pulled the robe tighter to her unclothed body. ?No,? she restarted. ?No, I don?t like it here.?
Duo smiled then, and the ice that had slid down her spine melted as a warmth enveloped her in its place. The words he said next were very steady as he held out a hand to help her down the stairs:
?Will you leave with me then??
Hilde stared; not just from his eyes, but from his smile came an overwhelming feeling of welcome. Before fear could capture her, she lifted her own hand and slid it into his.
***
When Relena woke, she was staring at the wall. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, and the stained, white sheet covered her up to her shoulders. Faintly, she remembered doing what she had been hired to do, and collapsing into sleep almost immediately afterwards.
Her gaze shifted, and she saw Heero Yuy standing, dressed, with his hand on the doorknob.
A stiff sound came from her throat, and Heero looked back. The doorknob snapped back from its half-turned position.
?You?re awake,? he noted. Indeed, she was sitting up, her golden hair falling in loose ringlets around to her chest, kept covered by only that thin sheet.
Relena nodded, staring at him. His hair was messier than it had been, if that were possible, and her pulse leapt with the way he looked at her.
He wanted her again. It was clear and easy to figure out. Much of his feelings were a mystery still to himself, but lust was a very simple equation. As he stopped two and two from making four, he motioned to the small candle-bearing table beside the door and the yen he?d left there. ?That?s yours. All of it.? And the extra he had thrown in. He had decided as she?d slept that he wouldn?t make Duo pay for something that he?d freely enjoyed without even trying to. And he would gladly give her the money she wanted. . .in the moment she had offered him herself, he would have given her anything.
?Keep it,? she said softly, and up went his eyebrows.
?Why?? he inquired gruffly. Duo had said she?d want payment. But Relena?s arms closed around herself.
?I. . . I don?t want it,? she told him. Truthfully, she couldn?t figure out why she wanted him to keep his money any more than he could. Was it because she had seen people starve on the streets of Japan? Because she could perhaps save one person from that fate?
?What?s the matter with you? You have no money of your own. You need this.?
?Not any more or less than you do.?
That was a lie. The army was providing. . . But she wouldn?t know that. And he didn?t see the point in jeopardizing his incognito mission by telling her more than she needed to understand. And she needed to understand nothing.
?And. . .I don?t deserve it,? she said at length. Relena shook her hair back from her shoulders. ?Not that much, anyway. I didn?t do well. I haven?t ever. . .?
He hadn?t bought the lie from the beginning, and Heero wasn?t the person who?d buy it now. ?You don?t need to sham me. I don?t care about this money anyway.?
He was probably a rich landowner who had converted to using Western customs and hadn?t put up the largest fight against being dragged to a call house. Argument with the wife, perhaps. No doubt he had the prettiest Japanese maiden in the country. . .and the prettiest maids.
?I?m not trying to trick you. Onegai,? she began when he turned away again. ?Take it from me.?
Heero regarded her like a student would his teacher; trying to show he didn?t care what was said, like the other boys and girls, and secretly paying attention to every word. He hadn?t gone to school, but that was how Quatre had described it. ?Well, you can?t surely be a virgin. You were. . .? Too wonderful.
?But why would I lie??
?All women lie!? he accused, and she turned her head. ?They just want to get outta Japan before the real fighting starts. Before the government starts to track us.?
He realized his slip-up too late. Relena blinked at him, orbs of clear blue covered and uncovered. She watched him as though she was watching a picture, which was extremely rare for any woman, but especially rare for her.
?You?re an American soldier? But you?re Japanese.?
He shifted his weight to the other foot. ?Japanese people don?t give you blue eyes.?
Relena stood up and lifted a robe similar to Hilde?s, and slid it on, her back facing Heero. Though Yuy swallowed, her intent was not to seduce, but to hide her face from him for a moment. She hadn?t thought of it at first; she?d seen too many blue-eyed Japanese children in this depth of hell. There were Europeans of all kind here, herself included. Most of the women worked in brothels, and so Heero was right to think all of them liars. But Relena had given up that dream too long ago.
?Well, I?m not a liar,? she told him sharply, tying her robe with more force than what was necessary. ?I don?t deserve to be called one, Mr. Yuy.?
Heero?s shoulders sagged the tiniest bit as she turned back and scowled at him. As much as he wanted to believe she was just another deceiving broad trying to catch the first plane out of the country, her eyes shone with the same clarity that her heart, which he had felt the beat of, possessed. ?How do I know you?re not some good actress?? he asked nonetheless, trying his best to keep his voice as deadly as possible. He still hadn?t picked up the money.
Relena continued to look darkly at him. ?Do you need another story of a poor wench??
He shoved his hands into his pockets and tilted his head back. ?One more won?t hurt.?
She took a very deep breath, and the lines of her jaw were straight as a tree. ?I lived in the French countryside, Mr. Yuy, with my parents and my brother. We came here to sell valuables ? lamps and such. My father was a wealthy and successful man. But a stray bomb during one of Japan?s tests in the middle of last November landed on the land we owned. I was in the market, and when I ran through the fields, I found my parents and Milliardo. They were faceless corpses in my half-burnt house. I sold everything that wasn?t damaged. I wasn?t learning Father?s trade like Milliardo was, so I couldn?t continue the business. So I came to work here.? Eyes used to showing distrust softened a bit. ?I?m just trying to survive, Mr. Yuy. There are some things people don?t ever lie about.?
Heero?s brows were still lowered. He?d seen death numerous times and because of that, he?d seen a part of her die as she told him the story. ?Will you be here tonight?? he asked on impulse.
She blinked again, and all of her anger ebbed away. ?Yes. But I?ll be at the club.? Her eyes lowered to the rumpled bed. ?Selling??
?No, you won?t.? The first thing that came out of his mouth felt like the most natural thing in the world. His pulse hammered and thoughts raced through his head. He could get court-marshaled for this; he could get turned on by all of America and the people he dared to call friends. And somehow, it felt like it would be worth it.
Relena was still staring at him, a small smile on her face. And he wondered if anything, whether it be fake or real, would ever be as beautiful. ?Would you come with me??
Even when the smile fell, Heero had never known a clearer thought.
And he waited.
************************************************************
MWAHAHAHAHA! CLIFFHANGAR! Woot!
*FFN, GW_Heero_and_Relena, BI, and Love_Reflection stares in horror.*
I didn?t mean to cliffhang again, but I had to, again, cut down the chapter. I feel so mean. But please review! Reviews fuel me and I REALLY need some fuel! Thanks so much!
-GG
Disclaimer: Don?t own these guys. Except Heero (who may be a bit OOC in this chap, sorry! I tried!)
Wufei: Quit lying to yourself, woman.
*sigh* Oh, fine then. I don?t own Gundam Wing or its characters. They belong to them and theirs.
Wufei: Better.
*~Love Beyond All Fear~* Chapter Three
Howard checked at his fake Rolex impatiently. With twenty minutes left, the fashion show girls had better hurry. Whether they collected well for themselves or not wasn?t his problem. Whether the buyers came back downstairs to either buy another round of drinks or his call girls was.
He hoped Relena had a knack for persuasion. That sergeant didn?t look like the most promising of customers, and Relena was a beginner at the art of seduction. Hilde. . . Well, he didn?t need to worry about Hilde. Not with the way that braided American had been looking at her.
He poured a glass of cheap vodka he?d naturally overpriced for an already stark drunk local who was currently raving about Dorothy, whom he had paid for the night before last. The man could use at least five more rounds ? if the bar owner could get that many into the customer before he passed out.
Howard sighed, checked his watch again. Fifteen minutes.
***
Duo rolled off Hilde to lay on the bed next to her. ?You?re something else,? he muttered with closed eyes.
Hilde chuckled, and ran a nail across his sculpted, bare stomach. ?We?ve fifteen minutes more.?
?Eh. . .? Damn, but she was a hot one.
?Tired, Mr. Maxwell??
Duo passed a hand over his eyes. Blood still roaring, he tried to pull a Wufei for a moment and analyze the situation. There was a slim, willing, and, most importantly, naked brunette running over fingers over his skin. With certain male attributes begging for an encore of her previous performance, he sat up.
?Who are you?? he asked finally.
Hilde smiled slyly. ?A dream come true?? she suggested. ?That?s what I?m told.?
Duo?s braid swung as he shook his head. She didn?t know how close she?d been to hitting the dot. He turned back to see her stretch her long, tanned arms above her head as white moonlight filtered over her, giving her skin an ethereal glow. ?I?d like to tell you the same??
?You won?t?? she asked coyly. ?Shame.? Her eyes traveled the length of his body in appreciation as he stood and reached for his disposed trousers. ?Are all American men so closed, Mr. Maxwell??
Duo chuckled lightly, lowly. ?You?d be one of the first to call me a closed person, Hilde.?
Her grin came quick. ?From what I saw downstairs, I suppose that?s true. Who said so before me??
?A priest ? a religious minister for a group of people called Roman Catholics,? he explained when a shadow of confusion crossed her face. ?He raised me. I never said much to him, which might sound ridiculous.? If Wufei ever heard that bit of remembrance, he would insist that he be treated the same way.
Hilde drummed her fingers on the pillow where his head had lain as he tugged on his shirt. ?Mr. Maxwell, are you sure you don?t want to??
?Duo. And no, thanks. I?ve. . .? His eyes narrowed, and he was glad his back was to her. He?d had enough emotional confusion for one night. ?I?ve decided to turn in.?
?Too bad it?s against the rules for the men to stay the night,? Hilde murmured, unable to deny that sleeping against the warmth that his chest had provided would have been heavenly. She knew a good man when she saw one, and that American, well. . . He was a very good man.
Duo turned his head to shoot her a wide grin. ?It?d save me a walk, wouldn?t it??
Hilde tilted her head back. The action caused her eyes to be concealed by a shadow the moon had failed to destroy. ?It wouldn?t save you a buck.?
He laughed again, this time with humor. ?Probably better that way. I owe you fifty, don?t I??
?Discounted price,? she nodded. She slid off the bed and grabbed for a coarse robe that had been tossed into the room earlier. ?If it?s all the same to you, Mr. . . .Duo. . .I?ll just go with you.?
Duo?s eyes flew to hers. ?With me?? He truly was an idiot. Though logic sang in his brain that she was not referring to going away, the idea fiddled with his senses. Hilde, go with him? Out of Japan?
Hilde blinked. ?Yes, with you. Downstairs.?
?Ah ? oh.? Logic?s tune won the battle against wishful thinking. He closed his eyes as she headed to the door. Such a victory would be short-lived as long as his common sense had been killed in the scurry. ?Wait.?
Hilde turned, sharp blue eyes questioning. ?Did you change your mind??
?Yes. Er, no ? not about that.?
She folded her arms. ?Anything different would be another bill, Duo.?
And he had a feeling that Howard would not make it a cheap one. Yet. . .
?Do you really like living here?? he asked. ?Whoring yourself??
The use of the verb might have stung if she hadn?t been called that and worse for the last two years. ?Honestly??
?I?m Catholic, Hilde.?
Hilde studied him. His big violet eyes dug into her own, seemingly her very soul, and in that moment, a great mass of feeling lurched from her stomach. . .or did it come from her chest?
?I hate it here,? she affirmed. ?My parents came here from Germany when I was a child. They both got sick and died almost two years ago now, and since then, I?ve had to. . .? She unconsciously pulled the robe tighter to her unclothed body. ?No,? she restarted. ?No, I don?t like it here.?
Duo smiled then, and the ice that had slid down her spine melted as a warmth enveloped her in its place. The words he said next were very steady as he held out a hand to help her down the stairs:
?Will you leave with me then??
Hilde stared; not just from his eyes, but from his smile came an overwhelming feeling of welcome. Before fear could capture her, she lifted her own hand and slid it into his.
***
When Relena woke, she was staring at the wall. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, and the stained, white sheet covered her up to her shoulders. Faintly, she remembered doing what she had been hired to do, and collapsing into sleep almost immediately afterwards.
Her gaze shifted, and she saw Heero Yuy standing, dressed, with his hand on the doorknob.
A stiff sound came from her throat, and Heero looked back. The doorknob snapped back from its half-turned position.
?You?re awake,? he noted. Indeed, she was sitting up, her golden hair falling in loose ringlets around to her chest, kept covered by only that thin sheet.
Relena nodded, staring at him. His hair was messier than it had been, if that were possible, and her pulse leapt with the way he looked at her.
He wanted her again. It was clear and easy to figure out. Much of his feelings were a mystery still to himself, but lust was a very simple equation. As he stopped two and two from making four, he motioned to the small candle-bearing table beside the door and the yen he?d left there. ?That?s yours. All of it.? And the extra he had thrown in. He had decided as she?d slept that he wouldn?t make Duo pay for something that he?d freely enjoyed without even trying to. And he would gladly give her the money she wanted. . .in the moment she had offered him herself, he would have given her anything.
?Keep it,? she said softly, and up went his eyebrows.
?Why?? he inquired gruffly. Duo had said she?d want payment. But Relena?s arms closed around herself.
?I. . . I don?t want it,? she told him. Truthfully, she couldn?t figure out why she wanted him to keep his money any more than he could. Was it because she had seen people starve on the streets of Japan? Because she could perhaps save one person from that fate?
?What?s the matter with you? You have no money of your own. You need this.?
?Not any more or less than you do.?
That was a lie. The army was providing. . . But she wouldn?t know that. And he didn?t see the point in jeopardizing his incognito mission by telling her more than she needed to understand. And she needed to understand nothing.
?And. . .I don?t deserve it,? she said at length. Relena shook her hair back from her shoulders. ?Not that much, anyway. I didn?t do well. I haven?t ever. . .?
He hadn?t bought the lie from the beginning, and Heero wasn?t the person who?d buy it now. ?You don?t need to sham me. I don?t care about this money anyway.?
He was probably a rich landowner who had converted to using Western customs and hadn?t put up the largest fight against being dragged to a call house. Argument with the wife, perhaps. No doubt he had the prettiest Japanese maiden in the country. . .and the prettiest maids.
?I?m not trying to trick you. Onegai,? she began when he turned away again. ?Take it from me.?
Heero regarded her like a student would his teacher; trying to show he didn?t care what was said, like the other boys and girls, and secretly paying attention to every word. He hadn?t gone to school, but that was how Quatre had described it. ?Well, you can?t surely be a virgin. You were. . .? Too wonderful.
?But why would I lie??
?All women lie!? he accused, and she turned her head. ?They just want to get outta Japan before the real fighting starts. Before the government starts to track us.?
He realized his slip-up too late. Relena blinked at him, orbs of clear blue covered and uncovered. She watched him as though she was watching a picture, which was extremely rare for any woman, but especially rare for her.
?You?re an American soldier? But you?re Japanese.?
He shifted his weight to the other foot. ?Japanese people don?t give you blue eyes.?
Relena stood up and lifted a robe similar to Hilde?s, and slid it on, her back facing Heero. Though Yuy swallowed, her intent was not to seduce, but to hide her face from him for a moment. She hadn?t thought of it at first; she?d seen too many blue-eyed Japanese children in this depth of hell. There were Europeans of all kind here, herself included. Most of the women worked in brothels, and so Heero was right to think all of them liars. But Relena had given up that dream too long ago.
?Well, I?m not a liar,? she told him sharply, tying her robe with more force than what was necessary. ?I don?t deserve to be called one, Mr. Yuy.?
Heero?s shoulders sagged the tiniest bit as she turned back and scowled at him. As much as he wanted to believe she was just another deceiving broad trying to catch the first plane out of the country, her eyes shone with the same clarity that her heart, which he had felt the beat of, possessed. ?How do I know you?re not some good actress?? he asked nonetheless, trying his best to keep his voice as deadly as possible. He still hadn?t picked up the money.
Relena continued to look darkly at him. ?Do you need another story of a poor wench??
He shoved his hands into his pockets and tilted his head back. ?One more won?t hurt.?
She took a very deep breath, and the lines of her jaw were straight as a tree. ?I lived in the French countryside, Mr. Yuy, with my parents and my brother. We came here to sell valuables ? lamps and such. My father was a wealthy and successful man. But a stray bomb during one of Japan?s tests in the middle of last November landed on the land we owned. I was in the market, and when I ran through the fields, I found my parents and Milliardo. They were faceless corpses in my half-burnt house. I sold everything that wasn?t damaged. I wasn?t learning Father?s trade like Milliardo was, so I couldn?t continue the business. So I came to work here.? Eyes used to showing distrust softened a bit. ?I?m just trying to survive, Mr. Yuy. There are some things people don?t ever lie about.?
Heero?s brows were still lowered. He?d seen death numerous times and because of that, he?d seen a part of her die as she told him the story. ?Will you be here tonight?? he asked on impulse.
She blinked again, and all of her anger ebbed away. ?Yes. But I?ll be at the club.? Her eyes lowered to the rumpled bed. ?Selling??
?No, you won?t.? The first thing that came out of his mouth felt like the most natural thing in the world. His pulse hammered and thoughts raced through his head. He could get court-marshaled for this; he could get turned on by all of America and the people he dared to call friends. And somehow, it felt like it would be worth it.
Relena was still staring at him, a small smile on her face. And he wondered if anything, whether it be fake or real, would ever be as beautiful. ?Would you come with me??
Even when the smile fell, Heero had never known a clearer thought.
And he waited.
************************************************************
MWAHAHAHAHA! CLIFFHANGAR! Woot!
*FFN, GW_Heero_and_Relena, BI, and Love_Reflection stares in horror.*
I didn?t mean to cliffhang again, but I had to, again, cut down the chapter. I feel so mean. But please review! Reviews fuel me and I REALLY need some fuel! Thanks so much!
-GG