Ice Hot 3/?

[Gundam Girl]

Thanks for all the reviews I got from the crowd for round one. Here?s the installment for ?chapter 3.?

~ Ice Hot ~ Chapter Three

?Pointless Trade?

By Gundam Girl

In the year A.C. 226, L1 Colony 8794 was in shambles. The weather program on the Colony had been malfunctioning for over four years, and the temperature was always unpredictable no matter the season on Earth. Sometimes it went from a blazing heat wave to snowstorms in June. And for the last three weeks, the timer for the artificial sun had been off, making it light at midnight and pitch black at noon.

The citizens of 8794 and of other Colonies in similar conditions were fed up. Quatre Raberba Winner, now the Colonial Chief Representative, was fed up.

Heero Yuy was fed up. And when he finished writing his signature in black ink on the document on Quatre?s desk, his expression was grim.

?Listen,? Quatre said quickly to his old war comrade, ?are you positive? You don?t have to do this. There are others, Heero, who are willing and quite capable.?

Heero squared his shoulders. Time had done nothing but improved his image. His hair, still obnoxiously unruly, was thicker. He had an even better build, a better face, and, most importantly, a better attitude and outlook on life.

That is, on a day that wasn?t going as poorly as this one was.

?I want to do this, Quatre,? Heero answered finally, and didn?t respond when the politician sighed wearily. ?We both fought for the Colonies, and we both want to see them in good shape. You?re working hard, and so will I.?

?That?s devotion I wish there was more of,? Quatre replied, standing and taking the contract from him. ?I guess I should say thank you.?

?You should, but I must,? Heero corrected, extending his hand for Quatre?s. The blond man smiled; he?d have never made the first move for a handshake five years earlier. ?You?ve been doing more work the past eleven years then I?ll be doing as L1?s representative.?

?I wouldn?t say that.? Quatre shrugged. ?I?m not the one who blew Libra to pieces.? He looked up in time to see Heero?s small smirk. ?This is only temporary, you realize. I can?t make anything official without an election. L1 Representative Fogner was kind enough to withdraw for the next few months; he likes Gundam pilots. Says we saved the world, and all that.?

Heero shook his head. ?Thank him, too, for me.?

?Sure. Shall I send a cup of complimentary L4 coffee with you?? Winner joked.

01 lifted his hands and began to walk backwards out of Quatre?s high-class office at the top of an L4 skyscraper. L4 0001, of course, worked splendidly, as it was the Chief Representative?s home Colony. Heero knew, however, that some of the technicians here were older, and many of them still had a grudge against Quatre?s father; it explained why this particular Colony had such scorching summers.

?I?ll pass,? Heero told him with the hint of a smile. ?I have a shuttle booked to Earth.?

?Earth??

?The Sank Kingdom.? His smile fell, and Heero stuck his hands in his pockets. He suddenly looked decidedly uncomfortable. ?I have a meeting scheduled in New Port City.?

?I see,? Quatre said quietly. ?And you?re?okay with that? Heero??

Yuy halted with his hand on the doorknob. ?It?s a matter of whether I can deal with it or not.?

?And can you?? queried the blond man skeptically. ?Remember Heero, I?ve seen her. And you. There?s been changes. Six years does that to people.?

?Obviously,? Heero muttered irritably.

?I mean it. She stopped writing a month after? Well, a month after.? Quatre sighed again and ran his hand through his hair in a show of worry that was very unprofessional. He held the burden of being the only one both Heero and Relena had told about the last time they had been together, though they?d both been quite vague on the details. ?Hurry then. Let me know how things go.?

When the door shut behind the new representative, Quatre sank into his plush leather chair.

Allah help those who needed it; namely the two about to cross horns.

***

Jestina nearly tripped in her high-heels. For the second time that day, a thick stack of manila envelopes almost slipped from her grasp as she chased her boss around. ?Miss Relena! Miss Relena, could you please hold on a minute??

Relena paused in the doorway of her New Port City office and turned back to look at her secretary of half a year. A raised eyebrow demonstrated waning patience and an in-progress headache that had started during the meeting she?d just gotten out of.

?Your documents from the Nova Scotia territory, ma?am. They would like them hopefully signed and returned by the end of next week. Halifax is expecting them.? Jestina held her breath. President Relena Darlian had been irritated all morning.

?Put them on my desk, please,? Relena instructed her tightly. On the desk with all the rest of my work, she thought in annoyance. She was missing her lunch break as it was. ?Thank you, Jestina.?

?Ma?am,? Jestina murmured as she hurriedly left the President?s office. She never liked staying in there for more than a few moments; Relena?s seemingly never-ending foul mood radiated from it.

Relena pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. Another lunch break would be skipped today. She smirked a bit. And Zechs would be on the phone tonight, asking if her diet had improved. Noin would be hovering from somewhere behind him, worry all over her face.

She would just have to disappoint them with a hard ?no.? At least she was honest.

She reluctantly lowered herself into her desk chair. The chair was wood and high-backed. She?d started out with a comfortable leather one, but that had driven her from the correct work ethic, and she?d had it replaced with a stricter seat. It kept her from leaning back and relaxing.

It also formed a rather stubborn knot in her lower back.

Relena straightened her shoulders and ignored the pain. She could always take something for it later after she got done with the daily dose of at-times overwhelming paperwork. She shot a glance at her day planner, which was lying open on the edge of her desk. She blinked upon realizing that she was supposed to have been meeting with the representative of the L1 Colony sector five minutes ago.

Splendid. Representative Fogner, a man usually very concerned about his own punctuality, was running late. She frowned.

What a wonderful Tuesday.

?Madam President?? Jestina?s voice, still timid after half a year of service, came over the desk com. ?The representative for L1 is here.?

And only ten minutes behind schedule, she thought in displeasure. At least she could get this meeting through with.

?Send him in, Jestina.?

?Right away, Madam.?

Relena took the few moments she still had to herself to straighten the stack of paperwork and push it off to the side. She closed her planner and tucked it away in a drawer from which she pulled a few lined sheets of paper. She placed them in front of her beside a sharpened pencil.

She was prepared, she thought confidently. She could only hope that Fogner was as well.

The door opened, and Relena raised her chin, ready to face the tardy representative.

The representative, she realized, her whole body frozen with surprise in the regal position, was not Fogner. Fogner was a short, skinny, pale man with a smatter of thin reddish-gray hair and two failed marriages. This man was?

Well, to be blunt, he was Heero Yuy.

Relena gripped the pencil in her hand so hard that the wood cracked. If Heero noticed, he didn?t show it. His usual frown was in place, but he still seemed quite different. Relena wasn?t sure how. He wore no business suit, only a pair of black slacks and a forest green dress shirt. It was as though he was mocking his own war attire. She might have been a tad bit amused if she wasn?t busy involuntarily gawking at the better-developed muscles that were noticeable through the sleeves of his shirt.

Yuy, however, seemed to see her as a battle opponent. As she sized him up, he sized up her. Although Heero seemed a bit more outwardly impressed with her physical appearance. She wore a royal purple business jacket over a white blouse and a knee-length skirt that matched the jacket. A black belt was barely visible to his eyes. Her face was a bit pale, but he had somewhat expected the reaction. Her eyes with their hints of gold and violet, brought out by the suit, were still the color of the ocean at daybreak. She apparently hadn?t been fully developed at twenty, as her curves were more distinct and her chest was fuller. The lines of her face were sharper. And, Heero realized with the smallest frown, she?d lost weight. Quite the bit of it.

He shifted his posture and leaned against the door he had shut behind him, his brows knitted together. Uncomfortably, he was fairly certain he knew exactly why she had lost weight.

Relena?s voice suddenly unfroze from her throat, and political instinct engulfed her speech. ?What the hell are you doing here??

Heero?s brows arched now. He hadn?t expected a warm greeting, but the ice in her tone still came as a surprise. He pushed away from the door and took a step forward. ?Didn?t your advisors tell you to be courteous to those in your political chain??

Her face went a shade paler, and Heero felt concern swell in him. He?d gotten used to that particular emotion. The other one that came rushing was still new. Hurt. The way she looked at him as though he was some despicable?killer?hurt him more than he cared to admit to himself.

Relena?s breath puffed out in something akin to a scoff. ?Excuse me. Last time I was notified, the representative of L1 was Matthias Fogner. You are clearly not he.?

?Thankfully, I assure you,? he countered with a flash of challenge in his eyes. She returned the look. Neither of them was smiling. ?But I am here in his place.?

?With his consent, I would assume,? she hissed. A muscle twitched in her jaw when he pulled a contract copy from his pocket and showed it to her.

?His and Quatre?s.? Heero noted the elegant way her hair hung thickly and gorgeously around her shoulders. He tensed as he suddenly remembered the way it had felt between his fingers and beneath his lips. He pushed the thought away. ?And so I?m here to discuss the sector that is currently mine with you. Several of the Colonies, included in more sectors than L1, are in dire need of repair.?

She was glaring at him. No doubt she believed he was the least-qualified person for the task of representing a group of squirrels, let alone L1. But, Relena had to admit, he had been brought up on various L1 Colonies, if you could call training for mass murder an upbringing. Duo had told her once that all the Gundam pilots had been taught much about the Colonies? mechanics, and if that was true, then Heero had been taught twice as much. So to an extent, he had a bit of potential.

However, she would never give him any sort of satisfaction as her faith. She had once bestowed it upon him, and he?d torn it to shreds.

She suddenly had a flash of that night, when he had so unashamedly stripped in the moonlight.

?So I?ve heard,? she bit out, remaining as calm as possible. ?I know that Fogner filled several applications for the Council?s attention to be called to a matter concerning repairs, and I know for a fact that the weather programming of some of the older Colonies are being looked into.?

Heero scowled. Her voice was cool and crisper than an autumn day in American Kentucky. She was being deliberately professional. So would he. ?It goes beyond ?some? of the older Colonies, and it certainly goes beyond the weather programming. When was the last time you were in L5? The housing there is ungodly. You have a bunch of Asian families that were exiled a few hundred years ago, and over half of them are living on the streets. Wufei mentioned that he?s seen more children die of starvation in the past two years than he did when he was growing up.?

?I?ll say it again,? she said slowly, as though he were a child that didn?t understand her, ?it?s being looked into.?

Heero stood very straight, and Relena was very suddenly, very painfully reminded of how his body had felt pressed flush against hers. He stepped right up to her desk and returned her glare full force. His hands flexed as though he wanted to curl his fingers around her throat. He probably did. When he spoke, there was a deadliness ? and just the barest of threats ? to his tone.

?You don?t sit in that chair to look at things. You sit there to fix them and make them better. As far as I know, you?re doing absolutely nothing.? Temper, and a little bit of desire now that he was close enough to smell her perfume, heated his flesh. A light brush of red came to his face. He?d never claimed to be an exceptionally patient man.

Relena?s fist tightened around her pencil. ?You?ve absolutely no right to judge me, Yuy.?

He was taken aback for a moment that she would address him by his last name.

?What I?ve been doing for the last six years, is keeping civil wars from breaking out. You have skills for getting inside information, so I?m sure you?re aware of the various plans for uprisings; politicians threatened, rumors of weapon manufacturing?? She leaned back in her chair as best she could and folded her hands in her lap. ?That you dare to insinuate that I have done nothing proves your boldness, Mr. Yuy, and your stupidity.?

She was right of course, he thought with a bit of vehemence. She was always fucking right. Heero met her eyes with warning. ?I?m helping people, Madam President,? he told her snidely. ?I want to make sure that you intend to do the same.?

She stood up and met him face-to-face and glare for glare. She was startled to see his eyes glaze just a little as they scanned her entire form so quickly that she was almost driven to question if he had examined her figure or not.

The way he seemed to loom over her was becoming unnerving. ?To the best of my ability, Representative.?

He nodded once, a curt movement that left no room for her thinking he missed the venom in her voice. ?I suppose that?s all I can ask of you.? Or for thinking that he would be willing to lock that door behind him and drag her to the floor.

?It?s all I can offer at the moment,? she replied smoothly, her voice not unlike a downpour of hail.

He turned on his heel, and Relena lowered her gaze to the surface of the desk.

?Relena.?

Her head shot up, blood rising obnoxiously to her face. Damn it, why would it affect her so greatly that he might say her first name?

His expression was oddly?readable. He looked anxious, which threw her off-kilter. Since when did anxiety touch Heero Yuy? He also looked angry, probably at her rather cold way of dealing with the discussion of the Colonies, and just a little disappointed. Had he been having fairytale dreams, she wondered, of their reunion? A temperamental flame rose to her stomach. He deserved to be disappointed.

And, she realized with no little amount of chilling dread, he looked nearly wanton.

?How are you doing, anyway?? he asked lightly, a touch of genuine curiosity in his voice.

Relena swallowed. If he were attempting to start a conversation, she would toss him to the ground. She?d had a lot of practice with self-absorbed ladder-climbers groping for the highest rung. ?I fail to see how the topic of my well-being is in any way relevant to our business meeting.?

?I used to guard you,? he said with a casual shrug; or what would have been a casual shrug if Yuy had the ability to look casual. As it was, someone so?clench-able?would never look completely laid-back. ?And it?s been six years. I can?t help wondering what happened to you. You used to be so cheerful.?

She wouldn?t have been totally surprised if he?d gotten himself so drunk the day after she?d seen him last that he didn?t even remember the night they?d spent together. At the moment, his comment about her previous attitude evoked a rather harsh reply. ?I met with reality,? she told him sharply. ?And your time here is up. Leave.?

Heero didn?t have time to be surprised by her rudeness when her secretary, the woman named Jestina, poked her head into the office. ?Madam President,? she murmured in an almost mouse-like way, ?I?m taking my lunch break. Would you like me to bring you anything??

Relena ripped her gaze from Heero to look at Jestina. ?No, thank you,? she said without any honest gratitude at all. ?Be sure to turn on the answering machine while you?re out, and inform me when you return. Also, Jestina, please escort Representative Yuy,? she spat his name as though it was salt, ?out of the building.?

?Yes, ma?am.? Jestina nodded hurriedly and motioned to the dark-toned, handsome man by the door. ?This way, sir.?

?Thank you,? Heero said, much more sincerely than Relena. ?Good day, Madam President Darlian.?

?Good day, Mr. Yuy,? she ground out tersely. When the door had shut and both her secretary and the new representative were gone, she sighed deeply and practically fell back down in her chair. She realized in frustration that her knees were shaking and that her throat was suddenly dry.

She closed her eyes for a moment, but reopened them almost instantly. She had seen an image of them together in her bed six years ago.

Relena balled her fists and took a few long, barely-calming breaths. The pencil was still in her hand, and she snapped it in two pieces. She remembered just how much she had not wanted this job. She?d been nothing but miserable for the last six years, and now?

Heero Yuy and his newfound arrogance was the last thing she needed.

On the street right outside Relena?s center of offices, Heero stopped Jestina and pulled out his wallet. He handed her a twenty-dollar bill.

?Buy her a sandwich,? he ordered firmly. ?Keep the change, and make sure that she eats it all.?

When he walked abruptly away, he left Jestina with a twenty and a shocked expression on her face.

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

REVIEW PLEASE!

[HeerosChick1842]

Come On! I'm hanggin here!!! :-?

[Wingnut]

I think that you have made a serious error in exactly when this all takes place. By the accounts of the previous chapters and the time you placed in this one, that puts the cast in their 40's. I think you had better set this back by at least a decade if not two decades. Haveing this 3rd chapter occour in AC 206 instead of AC 226 makes much more sence.
Aside from the glareing time error it is shapeing up quite nicely.

[blackrose]

I'm sure it was just a typo on her part, but I'm sure she's glad you pointed it out.

[bookworm]

*smirk*

[bookworm]

Oh, and before ppl take that the wrong way, I was talking about the couple meeting. That was my reaction; my dry humor.

[Raspberry]

Cool! Where's next part??? Did I say "cool"?.. How could I :evil: ?! It's WONDERFUL! Really, really really great job! When next chapter would be??? It's so... In character. Can't wait to read next part! Congratulations, Gundam Girl!

[Jenn]

This is great! Next chapter please!

[Raspberry]

This is great! Next chapter please!

Yeah! Next chapter NOW! C'mon Gundam Girl! When next chapter would be???

[Gundam Girl]

AUGH! Thanka, Wingnut. Yeah that was a bad error. Damn typos. *kicks number line*

Rasberry, judging from your signiture, I could be dead soon... So I'll post the next part later today.