Summary: To buy time for the Preventers to organize a strike against a deranged terrorist, Relena must participate in a mission. For one week, in a house wired with cameras, Relena must pretend she is married... to Heero Yuy.
Recently: To keep up pretenses, Heero is ordered to sleep with Relena. He did. And then she found out he was ordered.
Final Mission Status
Chapter 7
By Mizaya and Zapenstap
Relena flew out of her office building with her things jammed chaotically inside her purse and her coat hanging off of one arm.
?Miss Relena, wait!?
Dorothy?s hail was a high-pitched buzz in the back of Relena?s head, but she had to stop on the curb long enough to wait for her driver to come pick her up. Dorothy ran down the steps after her, skirts lifted in two hands and three-inch heels clicking on concrete. That precarious sort of running didn?t seem to have any dissembling effect on her, though; she flowed into a graceful strut as soon as she hit level ground, striding up behind Relena with her skirts swishing an a smile on her face like that of a satisfied fox.
?Do nothing!? Relena said sharply without turning around.
She saw Dorothy?s smile widen into a grin out of the corner of her eye, but she wasn?t sure if it was sincere or not. Dorothy had been following two steps behind her since she broke the news that Heero?s lovemaking to her had been ordered. She was like a child watching to see if a well-played prank was having its desired effect, and had heeled Relena back to her office and now out to her car like a three-year old hoping for handouts of candy or coins. Trying not to pause long enough to think too hard, Relena filed away Dorothy?s jibes, pokes, innuendos and suggestions without letting the other woman see how madly she was processing.
She knew she had to be smart in this. Dorothy had offered to be her confidante and seemed to just be lusting after gossip, but there might be more to it. Relena didn?t know if the other woman had another objective in mind, but it would probably be better to keep her on a line than to send her off to do who knew what.
Turning, Relena looked Dorothy full in the face, but didn?t give her the satisfaction of letting her know how incensed she was over the intelligence Dorothy had brought her. Dorothy may only be after a good drama, but feeding it to her might start up an addiction that could only ripen with age; it wasn?t likely to get rid of her.
?I?m serious, Dorothy. Do nothing until you hear from me.?
Relena?s driver pulled up to the curb and Relena fell silent, though she did not break eye contact. Dorothy returned Relena?s level gaze with a slight incline of her head. The small smile on her face never altered and neither did the sharp look in her eye. As Relena?s driver came around the back of the car to let Relena in, she even dimpled a bit.
?Of course not, Miss Relena. I wouldn?t dream of doing anything to compromise your position.?
Nodding despite her uneasiness, Relena got into the car and let her chauffer close the door, effectively cutting off Dorothy?s view of her. Relena looked through the tinted glass until the driver put the car into gear and began to pull away. Dorothy stood contritely on the curb with her hands clasped demurely in front of her until the car turned the corner, her eyes glittering with any number of complicated calculations.
Relena sat back and tried to relax, attempting to systematically ease the tension from her shoulders by thinking of things that usually soothed her. She played with the diamond ring on her finger in silence, tilting it at different angles to appreciate the brilliance of the cut. It was a shame all of this was a sham. It was a beautiful ring, with a beautiful husband to go with it. Well, she thought grimly, for the time being, she was Heero Yuy?s wife.
It was time to start acting like it.
By the time Relena arrived at home, she had a small, secretive smile on her face and a plan to go with it. So the great Heero Yuy thought he could seduce her on an order in the name of the mission, did he? She would show him the consequences of that!
After tipping her driver, Relena entered her altered house with only one disdainful look at the new rug?she really did miss her rose one--and went into her study as usual, conscious as always of the cameras watching her every move. And the stuffed hawk. As she sorted her mail and updated her planner, she wondered just how many people witnessed her sexual escapades with the Great Yuy Machine last night. It hadn?t bothered her so much that a stranger had seen it?a stranger who would soon be brought to justice!?but if Dorothy knew, then it was plausible that many of her personal acquaintances did. They had probably all seen Heero deceive her, sleep with her, tell her he loved her, and everyone but her knew it was a show. And that, quite frankly, pissed her off.
And even if no one had seen, she had reason enough to be angry with Heero just for deceiving her, especially in front of other people, angry enough to make him pay.
Last night had complicated their relationship, but maybe he hadn?t considered what that would mean the rest of the week. If Heero?s love for her was a fabrication invented to make her react to him believably, how far would he take things to keep up the pretense of their marriage? Now that they were already intimate, would he give in to lust without needing the order? Did it make a difference if she seemingly wanted to repeat the events of the night before? Or would he hold off, either because he didn?t really care for her that way or in consideration of her feelings? Knowing Heero as well as she did, she assumed he would try to hold off whether he loved her or not, as long as it did not compromise the plausibility of the mission. Heero was ever-efficient after all, thorough at completing a task, but in some ways also a minimalist.
Well she was going to make holding off difficult!
Leaving her work things in the study, Relena went upstairs to the bedroom, making a big show of stretching her muscles and yawning as if extraordinarily tired after a difficult day. Stripping out of her clothes, she took a shower and then dried her hair before rooting through her drawers for a slinky, thigh-length nightgown she almost never wore except at the height of summer when the nights were sticky and even cotton was too hot. The silky thing was pink?it always had been her favorite color?and thin almost to sheerness. Almost. And yet it was quite innocent, lacking lace or eye-blinding shine or shimmer or anything that might make it look like lingerie. Actually, that was why she had bought it in the first place. And yet, when she put it on, it clung lightly to her figure, grabbing at her curves and then releasing as she moved, the thin material floating on air around her body like it was going to fly off at a breath.
So as not to look like she intended for the garment to be enticing in any way, she casually threw on a thick robe and put on her slippers, yawning again and shaking her head as if preparing for a relaxing evening. Sitting down in front of her vanity, Relena dried her hair and combed it, pleased at how soft and clean it felt right after a shower. She rubbed lotion into her skin and eye cream under her eyes and then clipped and buffered her nails for added measure. It was an evening for self-pampering.
When she was finished, she went downstairs and sat at the table with her paperwork, aiming to get a few things done before Heero came home?after all, she had the time and an increasingly topless mountain of things needed to be done whether she was on a mission or not! Relena worked steadily on reports for two hours (and as an after thought ordered dinner) but kept smothering smiles that had nothing to do with machinery production on MIII or the negotiations on new sanitary and nutritional standards for food production centers in space.
When she heard keys in the front door, she laid aside her work. It was time. Reveling in her plot, she glanced at herself in the decorative wall mirror to make sure her looks were decent and then got up from the table, plastering a smile on her face and bouncing to the front door.
Heero was surprised when she peeked at him coyly around the doorframe, grinning at him like an idiot before flinging the door back and throwing herself at him in a hug. He caught her just barely, arms wrapping around her waist as she buried her face in his shoulder and inhaled the lingering scent of his cologne. She pretended she was not enticed by the scent?or rather, she pretended she was while also telling herself she was not.
?I?ve missed you,? she mumbled into his shirt, fingering the buttons and kissing him here and there. It really wasn?t a lie, but it was strategic, and it felt good to have a handle on the game. ?I?m so glad you?re home.?
Not waiting for a reply, she lifted her head and grabbed Heero by the tie. Heero?s eyes widened slightly. Pulling him into the house, she shut the door behind him with a well-aimed kick. Her smile was predatory as she took his head in her hands and kissed him, drawing his head down to hers and claiming his lips as if she owned them. He didn?t react with as much surprise as she hoped, but there was a definite question in his expression when he pulled away from her and looked into her face. His eyes could have knocked her down flat just by looking.
?Did you get off work early?? he asked her, eyeing her robe and slippers.
?Yeah,? she said dismissively, not even to bother looking him in the eyes?they really were a bit intense?and immediately went for his tie, loosening the knot before working her way straight down to the buttons of his jacket, more of less undressing him in the doorway.
She stood close while she did it, her thighs brushing against him at every opportunity, running her hands over his chest and shoulders as she took off his coat, giving him suggestive looks through her eyelashes when she felt his muscles tense up and his hands twitch. Heat radiated from his body and she heard him swallow when she pulled his tie free and undid the first two buttons of his shirt.
?I ordered dinner,? she said, still deceptively casual. She knew Heero was over-analyzing every cue?he always did?and playing down some things would only heighten his perceptions of everything else. ?Chinese take-out. I hope you don?t mind??
Heero shook his head, face a careful blank mask that might have been covering anything. He looked calm, but underneath that, he must be wondering what she was up to and how he should respond. After all, this wasn?t in the script.
Smiling, she leaned in to kiss his neck.
?Relena?? Heero began, and she knew before he spoke that he was going to suggest something that would separate them physically.
She pounced first.
?It?s kind of cold,? she purred, dropping away from his neck and leaning up against his chest, staring up at him through her lashes. He looked down at her, hands around the small of her back, face expressionless. He seemed determined to imitate a stone. She tried to look helpless. ?Would you build a fire? They let me go early, but my morning meetings were brutal. Besides, I?ve been thinking a lot about, you know, about the decision I have to make. I want to do what is best for the world, but tonight, if you don?t mind, I?d like nothing more than to cuddle with you. Please? Heero??
?Sure,? he said, and she knew with a feeling of quiet victory that there wasn?t much else he could have said and still look like the adoring husband he was pretending to be. He moved stiffly when he stepped around her, perhaps?she fancied?because she had made it difficult for him to walk.
Relena watched from the doorway with smug satisfaction as Heero knelt on the floor in the living room and began wadding up leafs of old newspapers to arrange around some dry logs and thin kindling in her fireplace. Their fireplace, she corrected herself. Kneeling in slacks with the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up, stoking a fire to satisfy her whim, he was really quite adorable. She noted that he was careful not to get any ashes or chips of wood on her white carpet. He was surprisingly thoughtful sometimes.
As Relena watched Heero use a fire starter to set flame to the paper and kindling, the doorbell rang. Turning away from her ?husband? with a smile, Relena opened the door to receive the Chinese take-out she had ordered while reviewing her reports. She tipped the carrier generously?being in a devilishly good mood?and carried two steaming boxes of noodles and chicken with two pairs of chopsticks over to the coffee table in front of her couch. Rather than sitting on the couch, she knelt gracefully on the carpet just behind Heero?s back, within a few inches of touching him, and cooed with pleasure as the heat from the fire began to warm her skin.
Heero turned just his head to look at her with a blank expression when she made that sound. Then, without comment, he turned back to reposition a blackening log into the heart of the flame. Silence wrapped the walls of their home in cozy velvet. It was pleasant really, and perfect for what she had in mind.
?Are you hungry?? Relena murmured after watching Heero work for a minute, twisting just enough at the waist so that her arm brushed against his elbow. When he didn?t reply or seem to notice, Relena shifted her weight and gently looped her arms around his shoulders, hanging lightly off his back until her lips hovered just in front of his ear. She smiled and added in a low whisper, ?Heero??
He sat back on his heels, head turning to look at her, dark hair framing eyes that seemed to capture all the light in the room. Disengaging herself, Relena calmly reached for the Chinese food, handing Heero a set of chopsticks and a carton of noodles and chicken with a smile. His eyes set her heart aflutter, but it didn?t stop her from slithering across the carpet to snuggle up closely beside him.
Settled close to Heero with the second carton of Chinese food in her hand and her cheek on his shoulder, she was surprised when he turned to smile at her, almost disarmingly. She had thought her proximity would make him nervous, but he looked?relaxed. He had taken off his shoes and was sitting with both feet flat on the floor facing toward the fire. She was even more surprised when he put an arm around her and kissed her cheek.
Well, she thought wryly, she supposed she had set a scene.
They ate quietly and comfortably, leaning close together. As they ate, Relena cuddled closer, running her hands up and down Heero?s arm and rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. By the time she had practically wedged herself in all the inward curves of Heero?s body the look in his eyes had changed from relaxed to? charged, glowing with the light they had only captured before. As soon as Heero finished eating, he pulled away from her almost hastily, leaning back on his elbows and staring up at her from the floor in a manner that made her feel decidedly self-conscious. His expression wasn?t very readable, but he seemed to be? considering something.
?It?s getting warm,? she said, and setting her dinner aside, Relena took off her robe, throwing the thick cotton robe aside.
She watched with inner satisfaction as Heero?s eyes flickered from her robe to the wispy garment underneath with a startled expression. She rubbed her arms, pleased by the seductive light of the fire playing on her skin, and adjusted the spaghetti straps of the short, airy little chemise. Heero sat up slowly, as if drawn into a sitting position by a string, eyes glued to her in a way that could have meant he was thinking hard about what she was doing or simply enraptured by what he saw. She didn?t care which it was. It clearly had an effect on him. His eyes darted as if looking for a safe place to go and reason to get there. Just as he looked about to get up on some excuse or move away, she smiled almost pleadingly. ?Will you give me a backrub??
His mouth parted, eyes jumping to the bare skin of her shoulders and back to her face before turning his head away from her completely. She watched his throat where she knelt and saw him swallow. Then she touched his hand. He felt warm. It seemed she had got his blood moving.
?Please, Heero??
Of course, he had to. He moved to position himself behind her without speaking. Relena settled herself between his legs and mercilessly rubbed his knees with her hands, affectionately familiarizing and owning his body as if that was the way it had always been. She heard his breathing quicken as his hands landed on her shoulders. His fingers began to knead away at the roughest parts almost mechanically at first, as if performing while his mind was elsewhere. But gradually he seemed to concentrate more and more, settling into it with avid attention to detail.
She hadn?t realized how much she needed a backrub until he started. Heero had expert hands and the first moan to escape her lips was actually quite accidental. After that, because of the way his hands paused over her back as the sound escaped her lips, she decided it was good to continue and elicited a string of ?hmms? and ?that feels good? and ?ooh, right there? whenever appropriate. As she grew more relaxed she could feel Heero growing more tense and anticipatory behind her. He shifted now and then, sometimes closer to her and sometimes farther away as if he wasn?t sure which he really wanted, and she rolled her head back and down as if oblivious, mouth parted to encourage him. When the tension was at its highest and every muscle in her body was relaxed, she let out a purr of contentment.
?Thanks. That was wonderful.?
Heero hands leaped away from her as if she burned. He even sat back. Good. He was fighting harder than she was. She smiled to herself. Heero was a die-hard fighter. He would be tough to crack.
?I have a long day tomorrow,? she said abruptly. ?I think I?ll go to bed.?
Her legs felt shaky as she stood, but she just kept going until she reached the bottom of the stairs. Only then did she look back. There she paused to smile over her shoulder at Heero, who was still seated on the carpet, watching her with eyes that burned.
?Would you clean up from dinner?? she asked, and retreated up the stairs before seeing how he would respond.
In her bedroom, Relena shut the door and wiggled her bare toes on the carpet, taking a few centralizing breaths to calm herself. Flicking off the main light, she climbed into bed and turned on the little bed lamp on Heero?s side of the bed, a lamp that she adjusted to a soft, barely lit setting. Once settled, she buried her face into the mattress and smiled where the cameras couldn?t see.
The bedroom door opened even sooner than she expected it, and she wasn?t sure if that meant Heero had taken care of dinner or not. She looked up to see Heero standing in the doorway with a look on his face as if he were fighting the hardest battle of his life, like he was being assaulted from all sides and ripped in two directions at once. Relena?s mouth parted and for a moment she felt terrible. She almost got out of bed and went to him, her first instinct being the desire to hold him and make him happy, but remembering last night, she stubbornly stayed where she was.
Heero shed his clothes in front of her eyes, stripping out of his shirt before the mirror, removing his pants and hanging everything up in the closet without looking at her, maybe even trying to avoid her. Relena forced herself to breathe and settled into the mattress as he changed for bed, taking a deep breath as she turned on her side away from Heero.
She felt it when Heero slipped into bed, the mattress adjusting gently to his weight. At first they remained on their respective sides and the silence between them drew out expansively, widening the space. Then Relena felt Heero shift. His hand touched her shoulder, sweeping away her hair before his lips brushed against the back of her neck, kissing her softly, nibbling at the nape of her neck. She shivered and lay still, frozen as a stone. Perhaps taking her silence as consent, Heero?s arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her flush up against his body. His fingers kneaded her skin, crunching and smoothing the material of her chemise, his hand moving lower to caress her thighs as it inched the material up. It felt good. Too good.
?No.? The word dropped from Relena?s lower lip plaintively, and it came out an unintelligible whimper. Heero?s lips buried themselves in her hair, his other hand tracing a line up her spine. She shivered. Inching his body up over her torso, his lips found hers, kissing her tenderly, tasting her willingness with his tongue, hands smoothing her hair around her head. She made a sound of complaint in his mouth, more desperate than she intended, and he lifted his head. ?No,? she repeated more firmly and clearly, staring at him desperately as she swallowed and trembled. ?No, Heero, not tonight. I don?t want to.?
He stopped, his eyes glimmering in the darkness above her face, his arms trapping her on either side. His expression was a wonderful mix of contortions. She couldn?t tell if he was angry or confused or sorrowful. She knew he wasn?t going to speak. ?It was nice last night, but I don?t feel like it now,? she said in a detached kind of voice, almost cold and dismissive. She knew the words didn?t make sense. They sounded odd coming out of her, like lies. ?I have too much on my mind.?
He obeyed her wish, and as soon as Heero lifted himself off of her and removed to his side of the bed, she turned back over. Her head met her pillow softly as she lay staring at the wall, tracing the patterns high above her eyes as if she were trying to hypnotize herself.
She could feel something like longing permeating from Heero, and confusion, and a detachment he was struggling to maintain. It wouldn?t let her relax. She knew he was seething beside her in some kind of frustration, even if his face was expressionless, the wheels in his mind turning and grinding like clock gears. She could almost envision the angry knit of his eyebrows as his gaze punctured the darkness and bored holes in the wall on the far side of the room.
(Scene Two)
The fact that Trowa had been on surveillance duty when it happened didn?t stop Duo from telling him all about it. Trowa wasn?t exactly sure how Duo had found out about Heero and Relena?s odd behavior the night before, but he didn?t let his curiosity show as he listened to a rather dramatized account of the events over their morning coffee.
Duo sat in a chair with his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. ?Oh man, just think of the torture!? He squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain. ?Talk about blue balls! Did you see it? Tro??
?Yes, Duo,? Trowa replied patiently. ?I was on duty.?
Trowa didn?t think physical pain was what had been what most occupied Heero?s mind from the events of the previous night, but he didn?t say so.
Duo didn?t seem to care about his opinion anyway. He carried on with his description, forgetting, Trowa supposed, that Trowa had seen it already. ?She had him so worked up with that back rub and all that necking. And the way she smiled and talked? You would almost think she planned it! Even Heero can?t pretend he wasn?t expecting more. When they went upstairs?? He stopped abruptly, a slight pinkness stained his cheeks. ?Not that I was going to watch or anything!? he amended, and Trowa knew he was recalling the embarrassment of when they all watched the video feed a bit too long. ?It?s just,? Duo continued, ?I don?t know, a blow to the male species or something. Man!?
Trowa set his coffee down and kept his face perfectly straight. ?Hilde has never shut you down??
Duo?s eyes bulged. If he looked panicked before, now he looked positively wild, staring at Trowa as if he had never seen him before. ?No!? He said, almost too quickly, as if responding on autopilot, and then added after barely a breath, ?She doesn?t?.No. She would never. I mean?? When Trowa said nothing and made no response, he paused and hedged, his eyes darting around the room and his body shifting around in his seat like a fly pegged to a paper plate by one wing. ?Well? Geez! Not on camera anyway,? he amended in a whisper louder than his normal talking voice.
Ah-ha, Trowa thought, though he kept a blank expression. Apparently the real problem was that the feminine-devised blow to the male species was now public rather than private. Trowa sipped his coffee and tried not to look amused as Duo flushed and started yammering nonsense to qualify what he meant.
Trowa took the opportunity to pick up his newspaper and quickly find an article about some legislation on L1 to absorb him. He was dimly aware of Duo repeating the story of Heero?s ?shut down? experience, this time with even more embellishments, to a newly arrived Wufei. The conditions of gravity generators on L1 were fascinating.
?Are you even listening to me?? demanded a very irritated Wufei a few minutes later. Trowa blinked and looked up. His Chinese comrade was addressing him and he looked more hostile than usual.
?Hmm??
?Why are you letting this idiot watch the videos?? Wufei asked, ignoring Duo?s indignant sputtering at the out-and-out insult. Trowa didn?t bother explaining that he hadn?t given Duo the videos to watch. ?It?s bad enough doing this mission with that untrained diplomat in the first place without Heero losing his cool because of her misplaced feelings. But fueling office gossip? This is a serious breach of conduct! I thought we were professionals, not old women with nothing better to do!?
?So did I.?
None of them had heard the door open over Wufei?s anger, but they all cringed at the sound of that all-too familiar hollow, dark voice.
Heero stood in the doorway, his face calm but his eyes blazing fury fit to roast the lot of them like kabobs on a skewer. Normally Trowa wasn?t one to feel ashamed, but he found something else to look at faster than Duo, and probably felt twice as guilty. Wufei?s face was devoid of expression, blank as a slate, but his sudden loss of righteous anger was telling.
For a moment they sat there, all still except Duo, who gazed at floor like a scolded dog, brow knitted and teeth clamped shut. That or he was doing research for a dissertation on tile patterns.
Heero maneuvered around them silently to the coffee pot, and no wonder. He looked tired, worn out even, though he didn?t say anything. Trowa wondered how frayed his emotions must be to make him look that physically exhausted.
?Where?s Relena?? Duo asked.
Wufei kicked him under the table.
?At work,? Heero answered stoically. ?Since six.? Taking his coffee black in a travel mug (was he going somewhere?), he walked past them, not saying anything more until he reached the doorway. ?You can tell Une I expect tactical reports for mission profile on my desk by noon. I also want to know more about Cole, everything our intelligence has provided, or I will contact Dorothy Catalonia myself for the information. You can tell Une I said I need to check up on the rest of you to make sure you?re really doing your jobs, since you seem to let so many other distractions take up your time.? With that, he was gone.
Duo held in his wince until Heero was out of the room and then took it out on Wufei with a return kick. ?I?m just concerned,? he said stubbornly, though it didn?t make sense to justify it to them. ?It may not look like it, but I really care what happens with those two!?
Trowa didn?t say anything.
(Scene Three)
Relena didn?t know how long she stared at the wall. She had left the house without saying hardly anything this morning, had crept out of bed quietly and gone to work without making an attempt at conversation. Heero hadn?t gotten up at all, though he must have been awake.
It bothered her. The whole situation. She had gotten her revenge in a way, but she was not satisfied. She didn?t know any more now than she ever did. It?s all she had been able to think about while pretending to sleep last night. Maybe Heero wanted her, but that didn?t tell her about the way he really felt. Besides, she knew he was acting to keep up a pretense that they were newly married and wholly into one another. His falling for her seduction, even though it had been denied, might have been a decision he made to keep up the pretense?or even to spare her feelings. Perhaps she had transferred some of her irritation back to him, but it didn?t give her what she wanted, or tell her what she needed to know.
Her heart ached.
A knock came at her door and her secretary poked her head through. ?Miss Relena? Heero Yuy here to see you.?
Relena blinked. ?Send him in.?
He came in silently, shutting the door behind him, a travel mug of coffee in the hand that had a wedding ring on the fourth finger. He must have come here right from work.
?We need to talk,? he said.
Relena?s heart jumped. They were off camera.
Her mouth parted, and without thinking, the tangle knotted up insider her breast came out in a torrent. ?Heero, this is too hard. Do you have feelings for me? Do you love me? Please, tell me if you do or if you don?t. I love you. Can?t you just tell me how you feel??
He looked at her sadly, his face almost seeming to crumple under the weight of her questions. ?That?s not why I came here. I don?t think it?s a good idea to discuss??
?What am I supposed to do?? she asked. ?What happened between us was?? She bit her lip. She thought he might have flushed. ?Heero, I know you were ordered?I found out?and I can?t live like this, not even for a week.? The desperation that crept into her voice covered the tremor of tears she kept trying to choke back. ?I can?t do this! I need this to be real. I need to feel that it is going to last! I can?t play this role without knowing that you really love me!?
He was silent for a moment, and the silence stretched as they stared at each other. For a moment she thought she had dealt him some kind of blow. Then, to her surprise, he approached her. Eyes softening, he leaned across her desk and kissed her on the cheek, all of him seeming to soften as a little smile cracked the poker exterior of his face. She became like putty under that gaze, trembling as the object of his stare. ?I love you, Relena,? he whispered.
There were no cameras.
Elation rushed through her like a spring flood, all the icicles thawing into warm puddles.
But then, as soon as he said it, Heero turned away from her and left, closing the door behind him, and something?she realized slowly through a giddy haze?felt left undone.
It wasn?t until later that she realized with horror that she had compromised the truth..
In revealing to Heero that she couldn?t do the mission without an answer from him, she had told him what the answer had to be. She forced a particular answer from him. She compelled him into saying that he loved her in order for the mission to succeed, which?especially for Heero?it must, whether he truly loved her or not.
She let out a cry of frustration, banging her hand on the desk. Shoulders shaking, she hid her eyes behind her hand even though there was no one there to see, catching the tears before they fell.
She was no closer to knowing how he really felt now than she had ever been, with the only difference being that she could no longer rely on a simple question to Heero in privacy for an answer! He would NEVER tell her now, not until the mission was over for certain, and who knew if it even mattered then?
It wasn?t good enough! It wasn?t?
The phone rang.
Relena answered it mechanically, and realization dawned on her the moment she heard the cool, smooth tones of the speaker. Was it coincidence that Dorothy called now?
?Well, Miss Relena? Have you had any time to reconsider my proposal??
[To be continued]
Zapenstap: I?d like to apologize for the lateness of this update, but I can?t qualify it because I?ve been swamped with work in my grad school program and just don?t have the time I used to.
Mizaya: We grovel at your feet and beg your mercy!
Zapenstap: Of course, you needn?t worry. The fic will continue until the stunning, twisty, heart-stopping, tear-jerking, laughter-inducing, climactic ending!
Mizaya: *interested* The what?
Zapenstap: I think grandly.
Mizaya: Oh.
Zapenstap: ...and we won?t wait five months this time for the next update.
Mizaya: Seriously!
Zapenstap: Thank you to all our wonderful reviews!
Mizaya: You really make our days brighter!
I loved it so much, that after I read this chapter, I went back through the pages in search of the previous chapters to read it all. This fic is truly amazing! 
