.Italics are flashbacks. This is rated PG-13.
?What happens now??
Relena paused in the doorway and turned to look at Wufei. Sally lay unconscious in his arms as her arms fell limply towards the ground, but there were no obvious signs of anything being fatally wrong with her. Heero had led them to where he had been keeping her in a semi-conscious state, a small room that would have been impossible to find because it was not on the blueprints that Preventor?s had received from Dorothy earlier in the week. Relena wouldn?t have been surprised if Elliot didn?t even realize it was there.
Heero had not taken care to feed or hydrate Sally for the entire time she had been under his watch, and the combination of Heero slamming her head against a desk and then strangling her almost to death resulted in her present state. Wufei had obviously not taken kindly to Heero?s treatment, and was even angrier that Heero had taken him out so quickly. He glared ahead of her and she turned to watch Heero in front of her as he walked. He had no shirt or shoes on and his body was smudged with dirt and dust from the vent shafts, not to mention dried blood in streaks down his face and along his chest and calves from the attacks he had been receiving while waiting for them in the plant. He had to have been waiting, she reasoned. He knew they would come for Sally. If he had wanted to leave, he could have very easily done so.
Sensing her stare, he turned around to look at her. The entire time they had been trying to escape out of the facility without letting the guards know who had been there in the first place, Heero had stayed by her side. He was like a shell, moving quickly every time she encountered even a hint of danger to protect her. It did not make any sense to her or to any of the others, because Heero obviously did not remember who she or any of them were. In the back of her mind this had been bothering her for weeks, but she had tried to ignore it, hoping against hope that she could do something to help him remember who he was and what he meant to them.
Everything about him now was different. Heero had always been a very prepared person, trained to never let your guard down physically and to remain ready, but before he was able to pull it off with such ease. Now he walked with his arms held at his sides and his hands spread slightly open, as if he were ready to grab the nearest person and rip them apart with his bare hands. She did not miss the way he seemed to notice everything. Realizing she had completely stopped walking and was staring at Heero Yuy staring back at her for probably a full 30 seconds, she turned around to answer Wufei. He had already gone inside Preventor?s and was more than likely on his way to the medical division with Sally.
A call rang forth on Une?s phone and she quickly turned to the side, holding one finger to her ear and shutting the rest of them out. Duo was opposite her leaning his back against the wall, absentmindedly rubbing his hand against his neck. An angry purple and red bruise had already begun to form a ring around his neck, but he did not stand and glower at Heero as she thought he would. He looked down at the floor tiredly, his eyes drooping. He wanted to go home to Hilde.
?What do you mean she said she wouldn?t come home? Trowa, I swear, if you?? Une trailed off as she entered into her office. Duo noticed how quiet it had gotten after a few moments and looked up, smirking. Was he??
He pushed himself off the wall and walked down the hallway, leaving her alone. With Heero.
She turned to look at him and caught her breath as she met his face very, very close to hers. Somewhere along the way he had lost his ability to understand the boundaries of personal space and, as he breathed out warm air along her collarbone, she figured she didn?t mind it so much. His eyes studied hers only for a moment before he began to scrutinize her body, staring up at the edges of her hair and then traveling down, down, down?
She reached up to slap him but he caught her wrist and tilted his head to the side, leaving her speechless with the warning that flashed in his eyes, in the way he surrounded her against the wall, in his breath, in his being. For a moment she was afraid, but the feeling subsided as he turned his attention to her opened hand held between his fingers. She felt at once apologetic as she realized he was merely surveying her and not mentally undressing her, but all coherent thought left her mind as he spread her fingers apart and slid his up and down the length of hers lightly, sending shivers up her arm. She jerked in reaction, her back meeting the wall as something flashed across his eyes in recognition at her response. He looked confused for a moment as he continued to stare at where his hand had grazed up and down hers, and in that moment she boldly stepped forward to touch him, but he stepped back quickly and nodded towards the doorway. Not but a few seconds later, Une stomped back in and began ranting about ?how stupid Maxwell could really be, leaving the Vice Foreign Minister alone with the most dangerous man alive.? As Une called her name to get going and Heero began following one of the office personnel to the recovery room, Relena could only think one thing:
Heero Yuy remembered something.
---
?You act just like a child sometimes. Do you realize that??
Her bright blue eyes were burning as she leveled her attention towards him. Behind them, the gate to Relena?s house was closing automatically as they drove off in a Preventor?s jeep. He clicked open his laptop and began scanning through several documents.
?Relena is being delirious. You and I both know that Heero is more than likely dead, and if his body isn?t, his mind is. People don?t recover from that kind of trauma. Not even Heero.?
?Heero has had much more experience with controlling his mind than the typical man, Wufei. More than you or Zechs or any of the other pilots. He was the only one of us capable of mastering the Zero System. We?ve all always known he was different.?
He snorted and continued scanning his computer.
?You all give him far too much credit. Heero survived the way he did because he was lucky and decided to live by his emotions, not because he was strong. He was weak. We are all weak because we let our emotions get the best of us. We let them change us.? He typed something in to his laptop. ?I will not let them change me.?
Sally?s grip on the steering wheel tightened as she stared ahead at the stretch of road that would continue on for the next 30 minutes into nothing. He had expected her to sigh or come back with a smart remark, or ignore him completely.
?She loves him.?
He turned his head to her slightly and barely raised an eyebrow. ?Love is an emotion that one feels. What Relena feels for Heero should not determine the course of her life, and she definitely shouldn?t let it hinder her capability in handling our courses of action.?
?You are wrong, Wufei.?
?Don?t try and change my opinion, Sally. I?ve seen what love does to people. It makes you soft and it makes you weak. Feeling love is something to be desired, but only when there is time for it. Life as humanity knows it is in the middle of a potentially fatal crisis, and surviving is the only thing people can think of right now. There isn?t time for love.?
As if finalizing the conversation, he snapped shut his laptop and stared ahead at the road. He had to strain to hear her as she spoke softly next to him.
?Love isn?t a feeling. It?s a choice. And love is what life is about to begin with. What is the point in fighting to survive and live if we don?t have something to live for??
He stared down into Sally?s half-opened blue eyes once again, only in a different way now. Once she had been stabilized, put on a stretcher, and had an IV running fluid into her, she had come out of the semi-conscious state she had been drugged in to for the past two days. Heero had kept the drugs in her system on purpose so that she would not wake up and try to escape, more than likely knowing that whoever Sally was connected to would have some answers about his past and would come looking for her. In the process of hiding, he had dragged her body through the vent shafts and through who-knows-what else, and the scratches and bruises lining her body gave proof to it. Wufei grimaced, some feeling ebbing away at his stomach that he couldn?t recognize.
The feel of her fingertips grazing the hair along his arm brought him back to attention. She was still looking up at him tiredly, but with a smirk on her face. He couldn?t decide if she looked annoying or incredibly sexy with it on. Then, he wondered aloud about where in the world that came from. Giving him an odd look, she motioned for him to give her a pen and some paper. She hadn?t been able to speak since Heero had nearly crushed her esophagus and was obviously annoyed by it. She scribbled down ?What?? on the notepad, and Wufei shook his head.
?Nothing.?
She slit her eyes at him in a way that was meant to be dangerous, but he could only laugh. Then, when he continued to ignore her question, she started poking him in the hip with the straw left by her untouched apple juice sitting on the cart next to her bed. Giving in after a full 20 seconds of her doing it, he knelt next to her bed and laid his arms across the top of it, resting his chin on his hands and giving her a look he saved for her alone.
?You just look so cute when you make those fac?what is that??
He sat back and observed a bump underneath the sheets, which she immediately pulled away. He smiled at her and reached across her to pull back the sheets, but she lifted her knees and pushed him off.
?Let me see! What is it, a teddy bear or something??
The look in her eyes told him it was something she was concerned about, and he immediately grew worried. ?Sally, let me see it.?
When she shook her head ?no? one more time, he grabbed the lever next to her bed and pushed down on it, sending her flat on her back. Before she had time to react, Wufei had thrown back the sheets, revealing a cast around her arm and several bandages wrapped around her rib cage. Her fingers had some kind of metal splint on each one, stretching them out. They were red and gray, angry with bruises. Blood still smeared her hand.
Sally started to sit up, but Wufei was out the door before she had time to stop him.
---
?YUY!?
Wufei slammed the locker doors closed as he marched into the training room with a bat in tow. Several of the trainees stared at him and began backing away as he continued to call for Heero, and when he began to slam the bat against the metal lockers they jumped and scampered out of the large gymnasium. Wufei stopped and pulled up his sleeves as he glanced around the room. The personnel officer had said this was where he had left him for questioning, but he was nowhere in site.
?Get out here now, coward! Stop running and hiding and face me!?
Out of nowhere, Heero appeared from the shadows. His face was the same as it had been when they had first found him ? expressionless, unimpassioned, empty, detached. He glanced at Wufei as if he were merely a fly on the wall as he walked towards him. When he was close enough, Wufei suddenly lashed out and whipped the bat around at him. Heero bent over backwards slightly to dodge the attack, and before Wufei had time to take another swing, Heero grabbed the bat and snapped it in two across his thigh. Surprise littered across Wufei?s face before his anger overtook him and he began throwing punches.
?What did you do to her?!?
Wufei tried to drop-kick Heero, but he jumped and side-swiped Wufei in the mouth with his foot. Blood sprayed across the concrete floor as Wufei stumbled backwards, Heero glaring at him with his hands clenched at his sides.
?I dropped her.?
Glancing up from his position on the ground, murder erupted in his eyes as Wufei pushed himself off the ground. He once again began to combat Heero across the floor as several of the officers began to crowd around and watch the fight.
?You dropped her??
?Yes. We were in the vent shafts and were being followed. I did not have the time to carry her down to the floor, so I dropped her.?
?What is wrong with you?! Don?t you realize that she?s not like you? You could have killed her!?
Wufei sent his fist flying in straight towards Heero?s face. Heero grabbed his hand and began squeezing. Wufei immediately sank to his knees, a cry coming forth from his throat before he bit it back. Wufei glared up at him after a few moments of trying to accommodate himself to the pain.
?But that doesn?t matter to you anymore, does it? You promised Relena you would never kill again, and look what you?ve done. You?ve killed anyone who you were commanded to. You?ve become just like a machine.?
When he noticed her shadow, he looked up and saw her golden hair shining in the sun. The blue of her eyes was hypnotizing, captivating him where he sat.
?I thought I might find you here.?
?Relena??
He had not known her but for a little while then, but he had saved her many times over, even though it was his mission to kill her. Her slender legs looked tantalizing in the sun as he gazed over her for a moment, the book in his hands lying forgotten on the bench inside the park. They were inside the Sanc Kingdom, but he didn?t expect for her to come see him. Especially knowing what he was supposed to do. Did she have a death wish?
?Can I sit beside you??
The question was innocent enough, but she made him uncomfortable. The way she looked at him made him uncomfortable. The way her mouth moved when she talked made him uncomfortable?
?It?s your country. You can do what you want.?
?Guess so. Why were you kind enough to stay here in my country, Heero? In the past you would have just gone off to fight battles??
The sheer pink gloss on her lips was an annoying distraction. A sexy, teasing distraction?
?Hmm??
She looked oddly at him for a moment, tilting her head to the side that sent her golden hair swaying to the right side of her face, revealing the pale, beautiful skin of her neck?
?No matter how much I tried to stop you, you went back into outer space. But your homeland sure didn?t treat you very kindly at all. It must have been so hard. Yet, despite that, you continue to carry on fighting. You?ve got an intensity in your eyes that hasn?t changed since the first time we met??
Pain shot through his stomach as Wufei undercut him as hard as he could, sending him stumbling backwards and into the wall. Taking advantage of his distraction, Wufei grabbed the handle-end of what was left of the bat and tapped it against his hand as he walked towards Heero.
?People like you and I don?t deserve second chances, Yuy. And you can bet you never, ever deserved her. Even after all this time, she?s still waiting for you. What do you think she?ll think when you tell her the things you?ve done??
?What I?ve?done??
Wufei flipped the bat over with one hand and sent the handle smashing into Heero?s back, directly over his kidney. He arched his back in pain only for a moment before tackling Wufei to the ground, the brunt of his fist coming up and shoving upwards into Wufei?s nostrils. The sound of cartilage cracking met his ears as blood began making its way down his nose. Wufei rolled on his side and held his hands over his nose, squeezing his eyes shut.
?I will eradicate Zechs, then Treize. The war will end, and if you survive, peace will come. This is the single thing I can do for you.?
She looked sadly up at him through her helmet. There was no other moment in his life when he?d wanted to kiss a girl so badly. She was beautiful, but that was not the reason. It was because she saw him. Right into him.
?Heero??
?I promised to protect you...to protect you and the Earth Sphere. The only way I can do that is to fight.?
?No!?
He pounded his fist into the wall, leaving a crack with several fractures spreading around it. One of the female officers yelped, but he left Wufei lying on the ground holding his nose and stalked out of the room. He made his way through the hallways without needing any direction, and when he reached Relena?s office, he flew past the secretary. When he opened her door she was nowhere to be found. He ran back towards the secretary, who stared up at him, terrified.
?Where is she??
?T-the l-ladies showers, s-sir, b-but??
He ignored her and ran towards the other end of the building, punching in the button on the elevator. When he reached the bottom floor, he took off in a dead sprint. He reached a door and flung it open. Steam and the smell of cherry blossom, peach, and white jasmine assaulted his nostrils. Why he knew those exact smells he didn?t know, but he figured it had something to do with his training. Several of the girls ran screaming out of the room, but Relena was not among them. He walked between the showers towards the back of the room and found her there towel-drying her hair, clad in a pair of pink sweatpants and a standard Preventor?s t-shirt.
He stood transfixed by her for a moment, her long blonde hair running in rivulets down her back, the water still wet upon her skin. She paused for a moment and, sensing him, she turned her head slowly towards him.
?Why did you come for me??
Her eyes held that look that always took his breath away as she made her way over to him, tossing her gym bag over her shoulder. She ran her finger through her hair, attempting to comb out the knots. When she reached him, she sighed.
?Why do you think I came for you, Heero? Did you think I would just forget??
?It was dangerous. What if the side effects of the chemical weren?t gone? What if I hadn?t remembered them? What if I hadn?t remembered you, Relena? Do you realize what I could have done to you??
?It didn?t matter. You were worth it, Heero. Why can?t you understand that??
?You were so stupid, Relena! They?re just going to try and come for me again. One injection of that stuff, and I?ll forget everything. That?s the only way he could keep me from remembering before, and the only reason I started remembering was because they waited a little too late to give it to me, and then I saw you there??
?Look at me, Heero.? She grabbed him by the chin and forced him to look at her, the sincerity in her eyes tearing at his insides. He took a step back and sighed as he fell against the wall and sat down against it, bending his legs and hanging his head tiredly. She placed her hands on his knees and drew close to him, the tips of her hair leaving drops of water on his legs. ?We needed you to help us end this thing once and for all. Without you, we had nothing. Besides that, you are a very dear friend to all of us. Friends don?t let friends get kidnapped and experimented on by scientists.? She said, smiling up at him.
He looked away from her and closed himself off, the steel returning to his eyes.
?I still don?t remember everything.?
?It?s all right. We?ll figure it out.?
He looked helplessly up at the ceiling for a few moments, then pushed himself up off the floor. As he walked out of the room, she turned back around to grab the rest of her things.
?You don?t know the things I?ve done.? He whispered. She did not hear, and he walked away.
