"Delicate--3"

[Daniele_Marx]

Delicate?3 (slightly revised)
By
DanieleMarx

Standard disclaimer applies.

This story is something to show A sensitive side to Heero. Hopefully it?ll have worked. Conversation between Heero and Milliardo will be taking place now.

The room was dim, both men at opposite sides of the rounded horizontal table; their stares were avoidant. There was much to be said for the two, one being the fact that their records were military issued, and the second being they preferred to keep to themselves when around one another. They didn?t like each other because neither felt they could win if they fought. Heero sat across from the unusually tense Count, his hand resting on the conference table next to him; their eyes never actually met. Perhaps they were afraid of the truth they would find about the situation. He sat leisurely though, or as leisurely as he deemed fit, in the room with the second most dangerous person in Relena?s life, her brother. Strangely enough, her trust was with both of them. Right now, Heero knew what the man across from him would say; he was just hoping he would not say it. The thing he didn?t want to hear was for him to stay away from Relena.

?However carefully you plan, you never know if some fool is going to change the future. So, you may as well do what your heart tells you. So you won?t regret it later. That?s the right path...for people who live life in the present.?

Heero?s thoughts were surrounded with his sense of duty. Perhaps he was not fit to be in Relena?s life, but even if he could get away, he wouldn?t be able to get her out of his mind. Odin Lowe had always been right. Some fool had changed the future. But the change was what brought them here. Heero, up until this point where the woman of his dreams had gotten hurt, found he didn?t want to run from her anymore. She made him want to live.

?Why don?t you just say what?s on your mind.? There, Heero thought. The ball?s in his court. Now all he needed was him to tell him what he didn?t want to hear.

?What I say and what I think are two different things altogether. Relena is still alive, and that?s the important part, so I can trust that what I think is pure concern that a brother should have. The fact is that I wasn?t fast enough to stop it.? Milliardo sent Heero a look of slight contempt as though a question had been milling over in his mind the entire time. ?The question I have for you is simple.

?Did you know ahead of time??

?Not of the attack. I did know there was a chance of something happening but didn?t want to interfere in case they discovered I was watching them.? Heero knew he made sense. Not that much of what he said didn?t, but logic reasoned well with Zechs. Never mind the fact that neither could reach Relena in time. Duo wanted to assign her a bodyguard right away, despite the fact that they were under strict surveillance orders, but Trowa and Heero ignored him, blamed his nerves for acting up. There was no way they could?ve guessed she would?ve been attacked as soon as they did. It was a mistake in judgment; it?s true if he had taken them with more open-mindedness they could?ve stopped it, but their cover would?ve then been blown. There was no time. Even so, if he had noticed the signs when they did, they would have made it to the scene the exact time as they had originally appeared, and Zechs would have been less than mindful of the decisions made.

?Then we?re at a standstill. What do you know, other than the obvious??

?They?re quick to act and judge. They make plans, and then follow through with them as soon as the signs are clear. It could?ve been a shotgun operation. They saw something to use to their advantage, and flew from the seat of their pants.?

?Such as??

?They only sent one associate. Relena was alone in an empty house. There weren?t any guards around, and she was focused on whatever she was doing at the time.?

?She was reading.? Hearing this caused Heero to think of her proposals, to see if something she was working on was less than agreeable with the enemy. They probably thought they could sway her opinion on something?

A book slid in front of him slowly, as though Zechs was trying to make a subtle point. It was thick, like a bible, and Heero looked at the title on the thick paperback book. His heart stopped for a moment as he allowed his mind to grasp the concept in front of him. He had been trying to hide the fact that he could?ve been, would?ve been, a father. The idea of sharing a future with this woman had become so clear that night in the hotel room, but he didn?t think it had a real future to determine. A sigh escaped him.

It was a baby name book. He recognized it as an old volume Relena had packed away when she had moved to her current residence. She had told him about it when he asked; her mother, Mrs. Darlian, let her have it before the inter-colony tension had gotten worse. He remembered the way her hand caressed the cover lovingly, how her eyes got soft and wistful. She had opened it and flipped through a few pages, thinking about names she would call her child should she ever become a mother, but after a moment, her eyes reddened and she paused. She shut the book rather roughly and packed it away with the rest of her stuff?the bottom of the pile as he recalled, probably for more emphasis on what she thought her fate was.

She had been reading it when the attacker came by. Regret made its way through his mind again; she had been hurt under the pretense that she was going to be a mother. That much he knew he could count on. Picking up the volume in a moment of weakness, he saw a makeshift bookmark near the middle of the pages. When he opened the book, there was a dried daisy near the binding.

It had been the first time he had seen such a sight. It was probably Mrs. Darlian?s flower, but he wouldn?t have been surprised if Relena had put it there. Underneath the flower was a folded piece of paper, and all thoughts were wiped from his mind, as well as on his face. As he reached for the piece of paper, he stopped his shaking hand; this was taking too long to accomplish, but he didn?t care. The paper reached his hand and he opened it easily with one hand:

Odette Kaori Yuy. Melodic. Strong. Only. His thoughts returned to interpret the information. He wiped his hand across his face to shake the disbelief, the realization, of the name. She had taken his name. A little girl. Had she gotten to naming a boy as well? He suddenly felt a surge of emotion from the paper; his eyes began to redden, but no tears clouded his vision. The name brought him joy. It made him sad and angry and horrified. Of his years of death and destruction, he found he had helped create something instead of destroy it. Since this had started, he had not once thought she would become pregnant, and now that last night had happened, he found he couldn?t live without the thought.

He imagined he looked damn amusing to Zechs, and found a focal point he could zone in on. The piece of paper was folded again and places within the confines of the book carefully. Shutting the volume, he placed it back onto the table and felt his anger begin to build. The terrorists had targeted Relena. They made her smile disappear, the one that radiated for weeks before the attack, the one that made his heart glow with love. He had concentrated his energy so many times to keep the feeling inside, and found an easy way to recall it whenever he wanted to: He needed her to stay in his life.

Right now, though, he needed to stay in control.

The desperation was taking a good hold of him, but not as fast as anger. It stormed up from behind his care and pushed it aside, charging ahead of the array of emotions. He could feel the urge to get revenge. At this time there was no urge to merely take the group out; he wanted to plant a bullet in between the eyes of the one who attacked her. Either that or one to the neck, where he would suffer before his miserable life ended.

?All right, I?m angry. Now what.? Zechs looked gratified by the flurry of emotions he had been displaying. Apparently he had been waiting for this reaction. Perhaps they could come to a mutual agreement on how to settle this. It seemed promising. The man looked equally angry, and he knew there were limitless possibilities which could take place. Heero let a realization dawn on him.

Zechs wanted him to be as angry as possible. Unfortunately, it was working. Whenever it came to Relena?s safety and wellbeing, he was willing to do anything to make sure the justice was done. It was a sane human response to protect those you love. This course needed to be taken.

?I won?t tell you to stay away from her. It wouldn?t keep you two from doing anything without my knowledge and it would make me less than noble in her eyes. I don?t want to see her unhappy; I?ve seen her that way before, and I didn?t like it. You can protect her, and seeing her with anyone else who wouldn?t be able to match her...personality...? He paused. ?No one else can really stand up to her ideals and if they can, they most likely can?t understand them.? Heero was taken aback by the speech Zechs was making. Why was he getting everything out in the open? Did he plan to make him angry before talking to him about Relena? What would he accomplish by this?

?She would be in good hands if something happened to me.? Heero almost looked at him in shock. That?s his point? Or was there something else? Was he expecting to die?

"I?m not planning on dying anytime soon...especially if they?re prone to shotgun ops. It?s sloppy work.? Okay, Heero thought. This was becoming a little more to the point. His tone, low and disgusted, was making wheels turn inside Heero?s head. He didn?t say anything more; he didn?t need to. They were lining up on the level between them, calling for a silent agreement to settle their differences right here, right now.

?What do you propose we do about it.?

?I was thinking along the lines of making some difficult career choices. Granted, we would probably be joined by many, but secrecy would be key.?

?Relena need not be involved, then.?

?Correct. No Preventers unless you know them personally.? That was the catch. The spin of information Heero needed to hear, yet didn?t. Zechs wanted to do just as much damage to this group as he did. He would need to either tell someone or tell no one. He wouldn?t, granted, unless he had no other alternative before he made the choice. If he told Duo, and Relena became suspicious, then she would know to go to Duo, because he was able to be manipulated. If he told Trowa, the pilot would go with it beautifully, perfectly, until all was done. He would take it to the grave, but his humanity and willingness for necessity would make him less prone to join. The others were out of the question. Therefore going it alone would be the best. With the knowledge between him and Zechs, the connections, the determination, they could literally conquer civilizations and move mountains. Not that they needed to, but the thought was somewhat comforting.

Not telling Relena, though, was a need. That meant things would have to go on as though nothing happened. Secrets she didn?t want to come across would need to be flawless; ones he swore never to cross her path with. He didn?t like lying to her, nobody did. If anything got too bad, they both would have their hands full of her politics. Don?t get caught. She hated lies. If she had any inkling of him and Zechs working together on even a toothpick log cabin, she would take it bad and put the pieces together. He had a feeling this would get messy if she were to find out anything.

Lying to Relena. Thoughts he guessed would never have entered his mind had graced him with their presence. ?Tell me how you feel about lying to her.? Why couldn?t he say her name?! Relena. Relena. He could say it quietly as a prayer, yell it when she was in peril, whisper while he made love to her in that hotel room...

Why couldn?t he say her name? Was it so impersonal? Was he trying to make it a secret to himself as well as to her? Was he so sure he still could lie to her?

?I don?t want to do it. I feel a brother?s instinct not to tell her. To take care of the problem before she suspects anything. Simple. It?s easy enough, and I?ve done it before.? So, Zechs was having as hard a time as he. His voice was quiet, strained. Heero had never heard him speak like this before, like a boy who told his friends not to tell about the toilet-papered tree in the neighbor?s yard.

Heero could relate. Keeping secrets from Relena wasn?t an instinct. It was duty not to tell her some things because of communication moles from the enemy. His decision was made. Would Relena find out? Would she forgive them? Both had possibilities of happening, but they were good at what they did. If they didn?t tell her ever and took it to their grave, she would know nothing more than it was taken care of. The rest of the details would need to be figured out as they went, if not before. ?Fine.

?I?m in.?

[Mellie]

wow. once again, an amazing chapter. I hope to see more soon. And there are a few grammatical errors, but nothing that deterred from the story. excellent job. i love the soft eloquence of your writing!

[lilac310]

Great job, once again!!!...I'm all beyond words right now...I guess it's due to the "back-to-school" thingy...I still can't get over summer...oh well, i'm babbling again...anyways, I like how this story is going.....just the right amount of drama, romance, and action all intermingled to create this wonderful fic!!!

[simmer]

This is wonderful! Excellently written, i can't wait for more! everyone's so IC, you are doing a great job of showing Heero's sensitive side because you keep him so well in character otherwise that it's believable. You're also very talented with adding details, they add onto the story over time and give it depth.
whoo, chill bumps. im excited. Heero and Zezhs must make a lethal team.
Like it needs to be said after all that, Great job!

[APerfectSoldier87]

Very nice, please continue

[Morrighan]

*makes sad noises* Awww.... I hate it when they have to resort to things like that! Down with the evil people!! :evil:

Can't wait to see more!

[Raspberry]

More more more!..

Wonderful wonderful wonderful!..

Great job job job!..

*I love the echo *