Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Deceptions ❯ The Experiment ( Chapter 2 )

Deceptions Part 2: The Experiment

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. I will never *sob* own Gundam Wing.

Red and blue lights flashed. Police sirens cut through the night, and shouts filled the usually quiet urban area. People milled around a small apartment building, what had happened? Two stretchers were wheeled out of the building, the bodies covered with bloody sheets. A man with platinum blond hair stalked angrily through the crowd, rudely pushing people out of the way. She was gone!

Zechs Marquise muttered curses under his breath. He had always been afraid that this would happen. That the precautions that they had taken wouldn't be enough. That she would be taken away from him. He had always known that this might happen, but he hadn't expected that it would happen so soon. Who could've done this? Zechs growled at a passing police officer, causing the man to shrink back in fear. Who could have made it past the security system that was practically perfect?

He walked quickly up the flights of stairs to Relena's apartment, and opened the door, stepping over the bloodstains in the carpet. He walked quickly over to the window, and ran his hands over the wall. Where was it? His fingers ran over a small crack in the wall, and he smiled to himself. Found it. He pulled out a small knife and placed it in the crack, leaning on it slightly.

"Alright," Zechs said to himself as the door to a hidden alcove appeared. "Let's see what happened to you Relena." He reached inside the alcove, and reached around the hidden video camera that Relena had insisted be placed in her room, and pressed a button. A disk popped out of the camera, and Zechs palmed it. "Maybe this will answer my questions." He held the disk carefully in one hand as he closed the door, and smoothed the wallpaper over with the other, so that the crack almost became invisible.

He walked over to Relena's laptop, and turned it on. He tapped his fingers impatiently, as he waited for the laptop to load. "Finally," he muttered as the welcome screen appeared, and asked him for his password. He entered it quickly, and when his password was approved, he inserted the disk into the laptop, and began to skim through the video. There! Zechs slowed the tape to a normal speed, as Relena appeared on the screen. She walked past the camera and flopped down on a chair, turning on her TV. Zechs sped up the tape, and watched as she got up, and went into her bedroom.

She emerged a few moments later in casual wear, and sat down watching the TV again. Zechs watched patiently for a few minutes, but after awhile, he began to get frustrated. When was something going to happen? He saw a flash of black on the video, and he slowed it down. Relena was looking around the room, as if she was looking for someone. Her back was to the camera. Zechs saw a figure dressed in black coming up behind her, and saw her tense suddenly. Run Relena! He wanted to scream at her, his hands were clenched tightly into fists.

The figure whipped out a gun, and held it to Relena's head, his hand covering her mouth so she couldn't scream. He seemed to say something to her… Relena nodded slightly, and was released, and then shoved against the wall. She talked with her captor for few minutes before pointing behind him. Directly at the camera. Good girl Relena! Zechs thought, now we can see what this bastard looks like. The figure turned to face the camera, and Zechs cursed. He was wearing a mask! Zechs smirked as Relena ran for the door, nearly making it before she was yanked back into the room, and grimaced when the figure shot her two bodyguards.

Relena knelt beside them before turning back to face her captor. She screamed at him, and he punched her. Zechs fists clenched. The bastard dared to harm his little sister! He couldn't wait until the bastard was caught. Zechs watched as Relena fell, and saw her pull off her captor's mask. Relena faltered for a second, and then her captor grabbed her and pulled her towards the window, bringing him face to face with the camera.

"Yuy!" Zechs eyes bulged as he yelled at the screen. "You bastard!" Zechs grabbed the laptop, and stalked out of the room. As he walked down the stairs he pulled out a small vid-phone, and pushed a button. "Noin?" He said barely controlling his anger as her face appeared on the screen. "We have a problem, call the pilots."

* * * * *

Doctor J peered intently at the readings on the computer screen in front of him. He almost sighed with relief when he saw a change in subject's brainwaves. They had been working on their new experiment for almost a year now, and they had almost lost everything in the last five minutes. Damn that girl! He thought irritably. She ruins everything! He clacked the fingers of his mechanical arm together angrily. But there was no need to worry about her any more. The problem had been fixed. He heard footsteps behind him, and turned to face the intruder, finding himself, face to face with Professor G. "Subject 01 has become stable once more." Doctor J reported.

"Amazing," Professor G said briskly. "How did you do it?"

"I increased the frequency of the Zero system." Doctor J said with pride. "I forced the subject to see some of the false memories we made for him."

"He believes that the girl killed Duo, then?" Professor G smirked when Doctor J nodded. "Those memories must have seemed very real for him to believe that an advocate of Pacifism would kill one of her own friends."

"They were perfect," Doctor J affirmed. "And when the subject removes the girl from the picture. He will be the perfect soldier once more."

"A year's worth of experimenting, almost ruined by a mere girl," Professor G frowned. "You do realise, that after Heero regained his memories. That he would come after us." The doctor nodded. Of course Heero would, they all knew the risk of doing this. All the scientists had agreed that Heero would be the best subject for their experiments. He had the least obligations, and would be the last to be missed. But they had never realised how easy it would be to take him.

All they had done was mention that the Vice-Foreign Minister was in danger, and they had information about an attempt on her life. Heero had been suspicious, but had agreed to come, and had been knocked out by Master O the instant he stepped through the door. Then Heero had been kept drugged and unconscious until the operation had been finished, and it had been determined that the implant was working. From then on it had been simple. He followed their orders, and wasn't affected by anything. Except for her.

Doctor J had wanted a perfect soldier, and to get one he only had to do one thing. Remove all distractions. He smiled inwardly. After today, Relena Darlian would be out of their way forever, and they would finally have what they wanted. The perfect soldier, who didn't care about his life or the lives of others. Heero had come very far, Doctor J admitted. He had fulfilled his missions perfectly, had killed everyone without caring. But Heero still had a major flaw; all he had to do was see Relena, or hear her name, and he'd fall apart. He would not only show his emotions, he would be completely overrun by them. It had happened today. Heero would have broken free of their control completely if they hadn't increased the frequency of the Zero system. But that was in the past. Heero was without emotions once more, and once he completed his mission, once Relena was out of their way, they would have their perfect soldier.

* * * * *

To say Relena was confused would be an understatement. She would never understand Heero. First he comes in and is the cold, emotionless perfect soldier. He tells her that she has been sold, but then she thought that he might have pitied her for a moment. Then the change came. It was as if a dam had burst and all his emotions had come to the surface. He had been remorseful, and scared of what the future held. Relena closed her eyes, and allowed herself to drift back to what had happened in the cell.

* * * * *

The cell was silent for a moment as Relena processed what Heero had just said. He had apologised to her, but had also said that it wasn't his fault. That he had no control over his own actions. How gullible did he think she was?

"I think I'd know if it was you, Heero Yuy. I was there, remember?" Relena's eyes hardened. "It was you, and saying that you're sorry won't change what you did." Of all the nerve! Of course it was him!

"It wasn't me…" Heero persisted, reaching a hand to her, but Relena refused to take it. "All those things… the murders, your kidnapping. I never wanted to do them! Something's happening to me. I don't understand…" His hand dropped, and Relena felt his pain, she wanted to reach out, to ease his suffering, but controlled herself and held her hands stiffly at her sides. She refused to give in to his inane lies! She forced herself to listen to him again, but refused to look in his eyes, because she knew she would lose herself in them. "…brought you here, you didn't do anything."

She looked up at his words, surprised by his admission, and saw that he wasn't looking at her anymore, he was just staring into space. Relena snapped her fingers in front his eyes, but he didn't blink. He just nodded slightly, and he closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall of her cell. What was wrong with him?

"Can you hear me Heero?" Relena tentatively, and reached out to touch him on the arm. She shook him gently. "Heero?" He flinched at her touch, and his eyes went wide with shock. He screamed Duo's name suddenly, and Relena pulled back her hand. What was going on? "Duo's not here." She said gently.

"But it's an execution!" Heero yelled at her. "Duo's going to die!"

"What are you seeing?" Relena was confused. She brushed his bangs to the side of his face, and looked into his eyes. "Duo's not here, he's not going to die!" Heero ignored her for a moment, looking through her. Then his eyes widened, and he reached for her.

"Relena," he said desperately reaching for her. She took his hand, and gripped it tightly. What was he seeing? His eyes focused on hers, and his grip tightened. Relena gasped, and tried to pull her hand away. "You gotta help me stop them."

"Stop who?" Relena tried to pull her hand away from Heero's. Her face contorted in pain. "Let go of me Heero!" His grip tightened once more, and she cried out in pain. "Damn it Heero! Let go!" She clawed at his hands, but he didn't seem to notice. She screamed at him again, and dug her nails into the backs of his hands until she drew blood, but he still didn't register the pain. The blood flowed down his hands, and over hers. Desperately, she brought back her free arm, and hit him as hard as she could on the face. Anything to make him let go!

Heero let out a moan, and released Relena's hand. She rubbed it slowly, and flinched when he moved suddenly, and covered his ears with his bloodied hands. He closed his eyes, trembling slightly. He was hurting, and she wanted to do something, but was afraid to move closer to him. What if he grabbed her again?

"No! Why Relena?" Heero sank to his knees, and stared at something that no one else could see. The minutes passed, and every one seemed like an eternity to Relena. "Why?" He asked again, his eyes wide in horror and disgust. "DUO!" He yelled, and his expression became angry. He was silent for a moment, his head cocked to one side as if he was listening to someone, and then he nodded. "But not by being sold. I'll kill her, but I won't sell her." He was silent again as he listened. "What?"

"Go ahead," Relena said. "Kill me. I'd rather die than become a slave for some rich family. I want you to, so why won't you kill me?"

"I don't know," Heero said dully. "I don't want to punish her. I don't want to hurt her."

Her? Relena was confused for a moment, but came to her conclusions quickly. Heero didn't want to kill her, he didn't want to hurt her. But didn't he understand that she would be hurt more by living right now? She needed to know why he wouldn't kill her. She could draw her own conclusions as much as she wanted, but she still needed to hear it from him. "Why are you afraid to hurt me?" She asked in a quiet voice.

Heero looked into her eyes. "I love her."

Relena was shocked. Heero loved her? For years, she had loved him, but she had only dreamed that he loved her in return. "Heero…" She began gently. "You told me before that you would never love me. You told me that you didn't know how to love. That you were the Perfect Soldier…"

"I don't want to be!" Heero screamed at her. "I want the right to live like a human! I don't want to be the `Perfect Soldier' anymore!" He continued on in a quieter voice. "I went away… I followed my emotions, and I learned how to be a human. I learned how to feel. I don't want to be the Perfect Soldier…"

"Then why did you do all this?" Relena was so confused. "This is something that the Perfect Soldier would do! If you loved me, truly loved me, then you wouldn't have kidnapped me! You wouldn't have watched the guards beat me. You wouldn't - you wouldn't hurt me so much." A tear ran down her cheek. "I don't understand what-"

"Only one," Heero interrupted in a shocked voice. "Is that a promise?" What the hell? Relena thought as Heero closed his eyes. "Please Zero, guide me." He whispered, and Relena finally understood. He had been talking to Zero somehow… That's what he had meant when he had said that Zero had returned. But Wing Zero had been destroyed, and the Zero system along with it. It was impossible that it could come back.

She was so lost in thought, that she didn't realise that Heero had opened his eyes until his hands were wrapped around her neck. She panicked, and began to struggle. He was choking her! "What did you do?" All the emotion that had been in Heero's voice was gone, and when Relena didn't answer right away, he growled, tightening his grip on her throat. She looked into his eyes, and shuddered when she saw that his eyes had changed. Instead of their usual deep blue, they were red, and she struggled even harder to get out of his grasp.

"Why am I bleeding?" He growled, and pushed her against the wall, his grip tightened even more. Relena clawed at his already wounded hands, trying to escape. Black spots appeared in front of her eyes, and the cell seemed to spin. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and blackness threatened to claim her. She still struggled weakly, her eyes pleading with his. Asking him not to do this. Heero smirked at her, and released her, suddenly. "What's wrong Princess?" He mocked. "I thought you wanted to die."

Relena fell to the ground when he released her, gasping for breath. Why was he so cold? He was scaring her again. "I- I guess I lied," she rasped. "Why Heero?" He reached for her, and Relena panicked. What was he going to do now? He pulled her to her feet roughly, and pushed her against the wall again.

"You didn't answer my question," He stated calmly as he idly traced the bruises that were beginning to appear on her neck with one hand. "Are we going to have to do this again?" Relena wanted to scream. He had said that he loved her, only a few minutes ago. No. He had said that he loved `her', he hadn't mentioned anyone specifically. Relena mentally scolded herself for believing something so stupid. Of course he meant someone else. "No," Relena said softly.

"What was that?" Heero's eyes narrowed.

"You don't love me," she said, hoping with all her heart that he would prove her wrong. "You never did love me, not like I loved you."

Heero laughed at her. "Of course I didn't. Even if I did let my emotions control me, why would I ever love someone like you? Why would anyone ever love you?" He paused for a moment, as if he was waiting for a reply, but Relena remained silent. "You were an annoyance. Following me around like a stupid puppy, I could never get a moment to myself." Heero paused and thought about what Relena had done to Duo. "Why would I ever love someone like you?" He repeated quietly, and she noticed that his eyes were blue once more.

Tears welled up in Relena's eyes. "I was only an annoyance? But…but I thought…" She broke down, and closed her eyes and the tears ran down her cheeks. "But you protected me…" She managed to say. "You risked your life to save mine so many times… I thought that-"

"You thought what?" Heero sneered at her, wanting to hurt her like she had hurt him. "That I had feelings for you? That I wanted to be with you? You were a mission, nothing more." He nearly smiled at the hurt expression on her face. "And now the mission has changed." He put more pressure on her throat. "Now," he said in a conversational tone. "Why are my hands bleeding?"

"You grabbed my hand…you were hurting me. I tried to make you let go." Relena trembled slightly. He didn't care. He had never cared. She wanted to scream. He had never cared! Heero released her, and she leaned back against the wall. What was going on? Heero glanced at his bleeding hands, and grabbed Relena, dragging her out of the cell. "Where are we going?" Relena managed to ask.

"We are not going anywhere," Heero growled as he pulled her along. "You are going to Earth." They were practically running down the halls. Relena stopped, and Heero frowned, trying to pull her along.

"I can't run anymore," Relena gasped, and leaned against a wall. "You're an idiot Heero… Less than five minutes ago, you were choking the life out of me, and now you want me to run to the damn shuttle? I can't. I won't" She didn't flinch as Heero whipped out his gun, and held it against her head. "Careful Heero," She mocked. "If you kill me, you'll fail your mission."

"Move," Heero growled, his finger tightening on the trigger. But Relena shook her head. Grimacing slightly, Heero turned away from her, and knelt on the floor. Relena waited for him to do something, but he remained motionless.

"What are you doing?" She asked in an exasperated tone. She was being rude, and she knew it, but why should she mind her manners for someone who didn't care about her in the slightest? He motioned silently for her to get on his back. Relena shook her head, she was going to make this as difficult for him as possible. Heero got up, and faced her. "You're not making this easy," He glared at her.

"Did you expect me to?" She met his glare with one of her own. "You're selling me, remember? You can't honestly expect me to rush to this shuttle." Heero didn't answer instead he grabbed her arm, and picked her up. "Put me down!" She screeched as Heero set off at a run towards the hangar. He reached it within a few minutes, and ran over to the only shuttle in the hangar. He put her down roughly.

"Have a good flight Princess," he smirked as he shoved her into the arms of her cell guards, and then he was gone.

* * * * *

Tears ran down Relena's cheeks as she thought of what had happened. She wiped them away, not wanting to cry in front of her guards, but they still came. Why couldn't she let it go? It was over, any hope she had was gone. Heero wouldn't be there to protect her this time. He had always been like her knight in shining armour, a prince of the stars, who would protect her from harm. But not anymore. That image had been destroyed forever.

Why would I ever love someone like you? Relena buried her face in her hands, trying to block out his harsh words. It couldn't have been him. He can't have meant that. She told herself, but his words still echoed through her mind. You were a mission, nothing more.

Author's Note: Was it Good? Bad? A total waste of time and effort? Please tell me!