Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Somewhere in Between ❯ Pardon? ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Author's Note: I did upload this chapter earlier, but took it down for major editing… * Sorry *
Confusion: I you are confused as to the timeline of events in this fic, please look at the explanation/timeline attached (last chapter
Disclaimer: I own none of the Gundam Wing characters or any information from the show used in this fic. The ideas though are my own.
This is an HY/RP story.
Please review!
Enjoy!

Somewhere in Between
~Phoenixstar

Pardon?


~~~


The sky was dark and the clouds were heavy. Just like him, his thoughts and his heart.
"How could this happen?"
"I don't know."
"I heard the bomb wasn't meant for her."
"Really? I heard it was."
"No, I read it was purely accidental that the offices she was visiting were bombed. Apparently it was meant for a branch of government."
"Oh, that's what they put in the papers, you know to defer the public interest. Sympathy for a fallen pacifist. It's the stuff of great headlines you know." This was followed by a short chuckle and a playful smack on the arm. "Ouch, what was that for?"
"Well, first that was mean. You know she doesn't deserve that, and secondly someone might have heard you."
"What are they going to do, kill me too?"
"Shhh..."
"That bomb wasn't for that government branch, it was FROM the government branch."
"Why ever would you think that?"
"Just a suspicion from some sources."
"Rumours... Tsk tsk, I can't believe that you listen to those!"
"You know me..." They both laughed a little. "Did you watch the games yesterday? We lost so badly. Scored nothing. Can you believe it! Not one single score!" There was a half gasp.
"You don't say. Here I was thinking that there was a chance left for them..."
Heero turned away, disgusted and frustrated with the couple sitting at the bus stop with him. 'Better the rain then staying here.' Being late didn't seem so important any more.


~~~


"Heero, what's it like to feel pain?"
"Huh?"
"When you fought in the wars; when you got hurt, what did it feel like?"
"You don't want to know," he whispered under his breath. Not hearing him she continued,
"I can't imagine. Not at all. It must hurt so much."
"You get used to it with time."
"Oh, I suppose you must really. Everyone gets used to things after a while."
"Hn." He sat up and turned around to face her. "Not always. People always get bored with what the have. They always want more."
"I suppose so. Do you think the peace will last?"
"Everyone's peace is different Relena."
"I know. All the same do you think it will last? I hope it will," she fell back into the chair, lifting her feet onto the table, closing her eyes and smiling at some inner dream.
"Not if they forget the pain." 'I'll never forget what pain is like. I can never forget.'


~~~


'One day at a time. That's all, just take it one day at a time.'
Heero reached his office, slamming the door behind him. He could feel that today was not going to be a good day. Stepping over the shards of broken glass that sparkled trapped in the carpet he made his way to his desk, collapsing into his chair. He leaned onto his palms and massaged his temples. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't clear his mind, and every thought he had seemed to make his brain thump within his skull in pain.
'How could you let this happen Heero?'
He stretched his arms, and looked for work to do; anything to get his mind off 'this'.
'You shouldn't care so much. She wasn't your problem anymore…'
"Your problem…" He whispered under his breath, the words catching in his throat. He looked down at the desk, wet eyes blurring his view and saw a small piece of folded paper lying on it. It had Heero scrawled on it, and he picked it up immediately. He knew that handwriting anywhere. Reading it over, his eyes narrowed in anger and his fists clenched tightly, crumpling the paper into a tiny ball. This was going to be one long day!


~~~


When Heero arrived in the conference room everyone else already seemed to be there. Lady Une was sitting at the desk, shuffling through papers, glasses on the end of her nose, looking busy and important as always. She looked up when he entered, grunted and went back to her papers. Next to her sat Sally, with her chair turned round to face Wufei who was standing behind her. They seemed to be deep in conversation but they were talking with low, hushed voices so Heero couldn't hear what they were saying. Turning further he saw Quatre sitting with Duo. When Quatre saw him he nudged Duo in the ribs. When Duo turned, he paled slightly with the scowl he received.
The only other people in the room were Trowa and Noin who were huddled together across the room from him. Trowa was silent as usual, standing in the corner, leaning against the wall with arms folded across his chest. Noin was pacing uneasily around him, fists clenching and unclenching at her sides. She kept mumbling under her breath and looking to Trowa. When he remained expressionless she would return to her pacing. Sitting down next to Duo he watched her carefully. Of course she was expected to be upset after the loss of sister-in-law, but she didn't seem gloomy, in fact she seemed to be anxious; and the soldier in Heero told him that something was up, and he intended to find out what.
Lady Une broke his thoughts as she stood up and cleared her throat. "I asked you all to be here, well, because I know you were all the closest people to Miss Relena." At this point Trowa caught Heero's eyes and sent him a look so cold that could easily counter Heero's. "Yes, well the reason I asked all you here is so that…"
"Why did you leave the note?" He snarled under his breath at Duo.
"You can't be mad at a friend for caring can you?"
"You don't believe me do you? Thanks for trusting me."
"Look Heero you saw with your own eyes. Bad enough just knowing about it but you had to see, and you're still not happy?" Duo snarled.
"It wasn't…"
"Like Hell it wasn't Heero just give it up!"
"Ah-hem," their head snapped round. Duo looked surprised and then tried to cover it up with a smile, nodding to Lady Une to continue, while Heero just scowled.
"As I was saying,' she continued, "we need to discuss," she paused, searching for the right words, "the arrangements…" At this point Heero snapped and stood up. Storming from the room he slammed the heavy door behind him.
Lady Une glanced at the door once before starting to talk again. Quatre leaned towards Duo,
"He's taking it real hard huh?"
"No shit. I mean, I figured he'd be sad about her dying, you remember how close they were and how down he was when… When they broke up. I never expected this though. He flat out refuses to believe that she's gone."
"What do you think he's going to do?"
"I have no idea and that really scares me. I thought having to break the news to him was bad…"
"Yeah, how did that go…" Duo turned to face him, a look of pure sarcasm on his face.
"Brilliant… After throwing every glass or sharp object in his office at me, he had a wild mood swing, sat down and told me, point blank, that I was lying." He looked Quatre in the eyes, "I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie." Quatre nodded.
"Well, after that he promptly left and I've kept an eye out for him ever since."
"Well, I think we all should. It's not right the way he's dealing with this. It's just not right."
"Yeah…" They turned back and tried to listen to Lady Une, but her droning on left little to be very interested in. Leaning over towards Duo, Quatre whispered,
"What's up with Trowa and Noin?"
"Well, Trowa's always quiet like that, and well, Noin was her sister-in-law and all…"
"Yeah I know, but Noin looks like she's read to burst, and not with tears. And she's hanging around Trowa. I've never known them to spend much time around each other."
"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Duo watched Noin pace uneasily. "Wait a sec. Quatre, where's Zechs?"
"No idea!" Anxiously Duo waited for a pause in Lady Une's 'speech'.
"Where is Zechs?" He blurted out. Noin, at the mention of his name practically screamed and everyone watched in confusion as her fists tightened and her eyes narrowed. Following Heero's example she stormed out of the room, except this time no one claimed to understand the reasons.
"He's," Trowa began then paused. "He is with Relena right now." Everyone hung their heads.


After the 'talk' was over, Lady Une pulled Duo aside and motioned for him to stay in the room until everyone else had left.
"Look Duo. I know what happened when you told Heero. I'm sorry about that." Duo opened his mouth as if to protest. "No, I understand you're upset that I asked you to do it, but you are the best friend he has and, well, we figured it would be the easiest way to break the news to him." Reading her face he scowled,
"So what's it this time?"
"Keep an eye on Heero okay?"
"Sure, no problem…"
"Thank-you," and with that she left him alone in the room. He sighed and dropped his shoulders, running his fingers through his bangs. 'Great. Baby-sit Heero. No problem…' he shook his head… 'Who am I kidding… I am so dead already."


~~~


"Will you miss me while I'm gone?" She law down, sprawling herself across the bed.
"I don't see why I can't come with you?"
"Heero, you have your job and I have mine. As much as I wish you could come with me, I'd rather you not jeopardize your job and what we have here just to follow me around for 2 weeks. I'll be fine." She sighed rolling over onto her stomach. She propped her head up on her hands and watched as he checked the room and her bags for her.
"Give it a rest Heero, you've made sure I have everything 4 times already!" He looked up, and shrugged his shoulders.
"Never hurt any one to check!" he said defensively. She chuckled, sweet and slowly.
"No, you're right. It never hurt anyone to check once, maybe even twice, but fourtimes! Doesn't that seem a little much?" He smirked and then sat down beside her on the bed, slowly massaging her shoulders.
"Not for you." Trying not to give into the relaxation he was giving her, or perhaps because of it, she groaned.
"Heero, that may be sweet," she titled her head a little to the side and shot him a coy smile, "but it still seems a little obsessive to me."
"Well you know I wouldn't be feeling so bad about it if I was coming with you." She shrugged his hands from her neck and crawled off the bed, standing in front of him.
"I don't think counting how many shirts and pairs of underwear I am taking with me has anything to do with you not coming, and besides, I thought we've been through this already. Just admit you'll miss me and that you'll stay here," she stomped her foot and pointed at it to emphasise her point, "until I get back." He rolled his eyes at her, a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips.
"You know I'm just worried about you being safe and all. I'd just feel a whole lot better if you'd let me come and look after you!"
"I'm sure you would Heero, but you are staying here all the same."
"Please?" Her eyes opened wide with surprise.
"Is poor little Heero Yuy going to miss me so much that he can't handle 14 days by himself?" she said, feigning deep disbelief. He smirked and grabbed her wrists, drawing her towards him. When they were almost touching, feeling each other's breath hot on their faces, he whispered,
"Of course I'll miss you…" before capturing her lips in a deep kiss.


~~~


"Heero leaned against the wall of the corridor chest heaving. It was a miracle he lasted that long in that room, them all falling for it that easily. They gave up on her too quickly, and he would not be the one to lose faith in her. Not he.
Once he was sure that the tears that had threatened to spill when he left the conference room had passed he stood up tall, straightening his tie and brushing off his shirt and pants. Even if he were falling apart he wouldn't let on.
Walking back to his office he tried to think back to the Lady's meeting. He had not taken much notice of everyone when he had gone in, primarily because he was mad at Duo for trying to force him to believe that she was dead. Dead! Of all the sick perverse jokes Duo could pull, any of them could pull, this was by far the most insensitive of them all.
Now, in reflection he found it rather surprising that the 'whole gang' had been there. 'Does that mean they are all in on this?' he thought, his blood just short of boiling at the thought of being betrayed by the select few he had given his trust to. Duo, he had already known about. 'The nerve to just walk into my office and announce, 'surprise!' the love of your life just dropped dead!' And Wufei and Sally, didn't they have too much honour to try something as low as that? Quatre!? Sure he had, had his moments piloting wing zero when he went a little off-the-wall, but he had always had respect for the sweet, innocent one of the bunch. 'Well that's definitely going to change.' Noin, well he didn't know what to make of her. He had seen her storm down the hall not long after he had left and didn't know what to make of her behaviour; perhaps she was upset at them for doubting her as well?
The thing that startled him the most was the indifference shown by Trowa. Sure, he might not have spent that much time around Heero, but it must have been enough to know how important it was, and having worked for a brief spell with the preventors must have let him have the chance to know Relena. In fact, he was pretty sure that Relena and Trowa had known each other pretty well. Next to Duo he probably knew Trowa the best, since they had such similar temperaments. 'But why didn't he seem affected by the news? Surely he must miss her more than that?' He shook his head, looking downwards ashamed by the realisation that he had been thinking about Relena in the past tense.
Passing his secretary's desk he reached for the handle for his office door it dawned on him, "Zechs." 'Zechs wasn't there! How could I have been so blind! He of all people, not showing up to make the 'arrangements' for his own sister!'
Rushing to his laptop he now knew what he had to do.


~~~


"Never seen anything like it Hilde. Never," he said exasperated, throwing his hands in the air. She sat on the edge of the bed, watching cautiously as he paced around the room.
"I knew he'd take it bad. I mean, I cried for ages after I found out, and I don't know her half so well as he did."
"He was still in love with her you know."
"Yeah, I know. Anyone who's seen his eyes since she left knows, but Hilde, he didn't want to listen to me. I'm his best friend and he tells me I'm lying. Like I'd have the heart to make something like that up! I may like to have fun, but this isn't fun Hilde. It's sick that's what it is. Sick, perverse, and just plain malicious. We all loved her too much to do this to her memory." She watched him, the concern evident in eyes. Patting the space on the bed next to her she smiled warmly. He sat down next to her putting his elbows on his knees and resting his hands in his palms.
"I knew it would be bad. I expected the projectiles, I expected the screaming and I expected the anger, but I did not prepare for this. Once there wasn't a pen or picture frame near him he sat down, put on that bullshit perfect soldier mask of his and said flat out that I was lying. When I denied lying, real tears as proof, he stormed out, and you know me Hilde, he's the best friend I've got next to you and I worry about him, I really do. So I followed him out to the street and he turned around and demanded that I take him to the scene. Didn't flinch once during the whole scene. I'm glad you weren't there to see it; the death and destruction everywhere, it was terrible. But did he blink so much as to hold back a tear even once? No." Duo started shaking a bit. Realising he was on the verge of tears Hilde started rubbing slow lazy circles on his back.
"And then I swear he lost it. He asked, no he demanded to see her. He wanted to her body; after all it has been through, he still wanted to see it. You know him, once he's determined to do something you know he'll go right ahead and do it, but I wish he hadn't." One tear ran down his cheek and off his chin, splashing silently on his pants. Then another followed it. And another.
"He looked at her and it was the worst thing I've ever seen. 'I'll have nightmares for years of it. Her lying still and broken… Never thought I'd see the day. And after all we've been through who would have though she'd be the first to go? He looked at her, he looked at her long and hard studying ever feature; I couldn't look Hilde, it just wasn't right. Then he turned to me, expressionless and said, 'It's not her.' Of all the things he could have said! 'It's not her.' I may not have perfect eyesight but it was clear as day that it was her."
"I just don't know what to do anymore… I just don't know." At this point his body broke out into wild sobs. All Hilde could do was hold him close until he calmed down. What else could she do? She was on the verge of tears herself.


~~~


"Did you notice what I did?"
"Depends on what you noticed," she said sitting across from him, looking questioningly over at him.
"That was weird."
"Yes, it was rather. I know about Heero, but Noin? I don't know what is happening there."
"Yes, but that's not what I meant. Did you hear what Lady Une said?" he started fiddling with a pen on the table.
"It wasn't an accident," she stated. His head snapped up.
"So what are you trying to say?"
"That, well, it couldn't have been meant for us."
"Why not?" He watched as she looked into her bag producing some Polaroid's. Laying them out across the table she said,
"Look Wufei. Do you notice what I did?"
"Depends on what you noticed," he said using her words against her. She narrowed her eyes towards him and urged him to look at the pictures again. "If you mean the fact that the bomb was in the ventilation, then yes, I think we noticed the same thing."
"Exactly!" she exclaimed jumping to her feet. "That's it exactly."
"I don't see how that proves anything… Unless," he ran the thought through his head before saying quietly, "Let me see the picture again." He grabbed if off the table. "If it was in the ventilation then he obviously had the prints for the building, and," he thought it over, "if he had the plans for the building then he would have been able to tell this wasn't the headquarters. And if he knew this wasn't headquarters then it couldn't have been an accident."
Sally just nodded.
"So Relena may have been the target after all."
Sally nodded again.
"Listen Sally, you check the records, I'll check the scene. I may even decide to pay our little detonator happy friend a visit." A small smirk found its way to his face.
"Fine, but Wufei, just don't tell Heero."
"I value my life more than you give me credit"