Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Perfect Assassin ❯ Mixed Emotions ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

PERFECT ASSASSIN

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters in any way.

CHAPTER SIX: MIXED EMOTIONS

When the former Gundam Pilots arrived on the scene, Relena Darlian was seen standing in front of her house motionless, lifeless, staring into the death of the night. On occasion, she would blink but aside from her body's natural reflexes, she was in a zombie state of mind.

Among the officials from Preventers, Alexander, Paegan, and Vincent stood by the house entrance, not sure how to handle Relena at the moment.

"Miss Relena, won't you please come inside? You'll catch a draft." Paegan pleaded, looking more concerned than ever.

"Yes, please Relena. We've been so worried about you." Vincent proclaimed, stepping closer to her. She simply did not acknowledge anyone around her. "Gentlemen, why don't we escort the Vice Foreign Minister to the hospital. There may be some internal injuries or psychological damage or..." Vincent continued but no one paid particular attention to him, especially Relena. As soon as she heard the word 'hospital' the barrier she intentionally locked herself in automatically broke free and she remembered what must be done.

"I don't need the hospital." She reported sounding normal.

Duo, Trowa, and Wufei were all at a loss of words and thought. They didn't know how to help her as they exchanged quick glances from each other.

"Relena? Just do as we tell you alright, hun? You know how we are. Our only concern is you right now." Duo coaxed, trying to ease the tension between them.

"I'm telling you Duo, that I am fine! I do not require any medical attention and if I did, I wouldn't need the likes of you telling me so." She barked impatiently. The tone of her voice changed drastically and she didn't sound like the Relena they have all come to appreciate and respect.

" 'The likes of us?' What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Wufei retorted.

Trowa glared at him and sent an inaudible message that instructed Wufei to stop immediately what he was doing. "Relena, why don't you go into the house and we'll discuss this calmly. There's no need to have everyone standing out in the middle of the night. What do you say?" Trowa asked like he was talking to a four year-old.

"Why not?" She spoke softly as she marched her way up the stairs to her home, not offering any signals to anyone.

Alexander sent everyone home, including Vincent since his assistance did not prove to be anymore helpful than his own. "Mr. McCallister, why don't you go on home and rest. I'm sure we'll be able to figure this all out before we see the crack of dawn. Good-night, sir." Alexander announced as he made his way into the house.

"Good-night, indeed." Vincent answered to Alexander's back.

~*~*~

"Lena, tell us what happened." Duo began as he sat on the couch across from her and Paegan. Wufei and Trowa remained standing on both ends of the furniture.

"Absolutely nothing. I... I needed some time away to think things through."

"What sort of things? Would they have anything to do with Heero?" Duo asked, realizing that he was stepping on dangerous territory by asking that question.

"None whatsoever." She replied defiantly. "I was concerned about some... political situations but I'm fine, really. Could you stop worrying and go home now? I'm fine!! If there were any problems that I couldn't handle, you know that I would come to you."

"Would you?" Wufei taunted.

"Yes, I would." She said, without losing eye contact with the Chinese pilot. "And I'm fine! Please, just go home."

"You do realize that you repeated 'I'm fine' three times now. For some reason, I don't think you are." Duo announced his observation.

"That's because I am." She lied skillfully. "I'm in perfect health both physically and mentally. I just need some sleep."

"Alright, I can see you're tired from our questioning but I hope you understand that we're only trying to protect you. We don't have extra copies of Relena Darlian on a floppy disk you know." Duo joked, trying to sneak a smile from Relena, but it proved to be unsuccessful.

"Sleep well." Trowa said as he made his way to the door. Wufei and Duo followed. Before leaving, Trowa turned around and left a final note, "Relena, remember you can tell us anything. We aren't the enemy." He patted her shoulder once and went to his car.

"Safe drive." Alexander said as he closed the door and ensured that it was locked tightly. He stood by the door for a few seconds longer. Reading his face, Relena understood that he was not pleased with her.

"Alexander, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble. I just needed to run away for a while but I'm back now." She attempted and then finally adding, "It won't happen again."

"Damn straight." Alexander muttered then turned to face her. "I can't get through the fact that it was my fault for your disappearance. Hell, I can't even keep an eye on a woman."

"I'm not just any woman." Relena contradicted, smiling. "Please don't blame yourself for my irresponsible behaviour or else I would be ridged with immense guilt every time I see you."

"Let's just pretend this whole mess didn't happen." He said curtly.

"Agreed." Relena answered. She really wished that the events within the last few days hadn't occurred. With the unofficial contract in place, she had nowhere and no one to turn to. Aside from the brutal death of her father years ago, she never felt so alone.

Slowly in pace, she sauntered to her bedroom and withdrew a cutting knife she retrieved from the kitchen. Relena wanted desperately to pierce the needle edge straight into her chest cavity and right through her heart, but that would resolve nothing. In the end, she placed the weapon under her pillow and wept. They knew everything about her, even down to the slightest detail of considering suicide. 'Damn them and damn that contract.' She thought. The tears now stained both sides of her pale cheeks. If she put enough effort into it, she knew she could get out of this without the loss of any life. The question was, how?

~*~*~

Heero approached Preventers' Headquarters the next morning, in search of answers but his expression demonstrated nothing but utter boredom. Just when he was about to climb the stairs to the offices on the higher floors, Duo saw him trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. He hurried to catch up to Heero, prepared to give him the mother of all lectures.

"Dammit Heero. Where were you?" Duo raised a finger and waved it accusingly. "I thought when you received my message last night, you would have at least had the decency to show that butt ugly face of yours."

Ignoring his comments completely, Heero asked, "What happened?"

"Ha, if you think I'm willing to leak out confidential information to a scum bag like you, think again buddy." Duo replied, walking away from Heero.

Without saying another word, Heero reached into his jacket and pulled out his gun. By the sheer sound of Heero cocking his gun, Duo turned around with his hands up in mock-surrender. "Alright, alright. Geez, you can't even take a joke. You wanna know what happened, Mr. I want to know it all? Nothing! She told us that she just needed some time to think and that was that." Duo spoke quickly and shrugged.

"Time to think?" Heero repeated.

"Yeah, that's what I said. She didn't sound like herself. Something's up but whatever it is, I can't smell it yet." He paused for effect and then continued, "Guess you were right after all Heero."

"Right about what?"

"She did run off, although we're still not sure about the details. Maybe she was with a lover after all." Duo smirked. "But of course, you wouldn't care..."

Heero's face remained emotionless as he walked on out of the building without another word.

TBC...