AN: Okay let's just get straight to the point, here's the chapter I know you have waited for a long time…enjoy and always R & R!
Relena fluttered her eyes open. She was still in the infirmary, only this time she was hooked up to an IV, and her regular work apparel had been exchanged for a hospital gown. She looked around the room. She was alone, by herself. The window to the outside world showed that a heavy, drenching rain was still falling, but by now it was nightfall.
Slowly, ever so carefully, she sat up. Instinctively she put a hand to her stomach and a sudden, horrific thought filled her head. She jumped up out of bed, ignoring the sharp pain of her IV line pulling sharply on her hand. She threw back the bed covers and breathed a sigh of relief…there was no blood to be found on her sheets.
"Don't worry, Relena, the baby is safe," said a woman's voice.
Relena turned to look at Sally as the doctor stood in her doorway. Though the news brought her no immediate joy, she felt herself release a sigh of relief. "I…I don't really know what to say…."mumbled Relena quietly.
"You may not think you actually want this child but motherly instinct will tell you otherwise," said Sally as she motioned for Relena to crawl back into bed.
The young woman did so diligently, tired from her sudden movements. She felt a wave of nausea hit her. She gagged and Sally quickly grabbed her a container to vomit in. As se go sick, Sally gently rubbed her back.
Relena finished and nearly sobbed, "I am sorry, Sally. I did not mean to behave as I did earlier."
"You were upset, Relena. It was perfectly understandable."
"You and Commander Une have every right to be upset with me," Relena muttered.
Sally frowned at the comment, "I suppose so, but then again Relena, it is not our life. We fear for the good of the ESUN, but first and foremost we fear for your well being. We should have taken a different approach."
Relena smiled at Sally's apologetic words. She struggled to straighten herself up and looked at Sally with burning eyes, "Does Heero know?"
"Yes," Sally stated simply.
Relena grew worried, "And…"
"He disappeared, Relena, I cannot tell you."
Tears stung at her eyes and Relena sank down into her pillows. Sally gripped her hand and looked into the young woman's broken face. "It will be okay, Relena. Things will work out."
But Relena did not reply. She turned her face away from the doctor and let the tears fall.
Sally, not knowing what else to say, released her hand and walked to the door. She stared back at the form of the young Vice Foreign Minister lying in the bed and sadly her heart sank. The door closed and Relena was left alone in her world of despair.
-
Commander Une frowned at Dr. J.
"Are you being quite serious with me sir?" she asked quizzically.
"Quite madam," replied Dr. J simply.
Commander Une stood from her desk, placed her hands behind her back and nearly groaned out loud. Could this day be any better? She smiled sarcastically, reviewing the day's events in her mind. Nothing in her life would ever be clear cut and dry. Thus the task of leading the Preventers, it would never get an easier.
She looked over to Wufei Chang who stood directly behind Dr. J, who sat ever so calmly in his chair. The Chinese man sniffed the air. "Do you choose to believe this man, Commander? Or should I detain him immediately?"
"Do we have a choice?" Une sighed.
"Believe what you will Mr. Chang, but know this," said Dr. J, "if you choose not to listen to me, history will repeat itself."
"Well, it would make perfect sense," said Une. "How else are we to believe this mysterious man's sudden appearance to us several weeks ago? The reason he did not appear to exist is because he doesn't exist yet; at least not by our standards. That is why there is no known record of him anywhere."
"Yes," grunted Wufei, "but the very idea is absurd! Time travel? Are we to think such things are really possible?"
"You forget," piped in Dr. J, "that in the future, anything is possible. Besides I was prepared to handle your doubts. Here you go," said Dr. J as he slid a manila envelope across Une's desk.
"What is this?" asked Une as she picked up the envelope.
"The layout plans for the time machine. Look at it, build it if you like, but you will find that what I am saying is quite accurate. I only ask that you destroy them as soon as you no longer need them," sighed the scientist, "I am afraid they have caused much more harm than good. I use science as a portal to discover the unknown; others use it to their own advantage…"
"What more can you tell us about this boy? You said his name was Hayden?"
Dr. J sighed, "Yes, but I am afraid you can only know what I have already told you. The boy is a poor miserable soul. He was captured when he was just a young boy, and trained as an assassin. As to where he came from, I cannot tell you because I do not even know that myself and even if I did, I cannot reveal too much of the future to you; to do so would be catastrophic and could ultimately alter the course of history. I have said enough already; enough to cause much damage to the world that I came from."
"I see," sighed Commander Une. "I understand your concerns, but I can assure you that the information you have given us today will be used to do only good."
A knock came on the door. "Who is it?" asked Une.
"Sally."
"Enter."
The doctor walked in, looking solemn as ever. Wufei watched her carefully. He knew she was deeply stressed, even if she chose not to admit it. Besides, they had a situation on their hands concerning Relena's "condition".
"Well?" asked Une.
Sally looked cautiously over to Dr. J. Une looked at Wufei, nodded, and without a word, Wufei escorted Dr. J out of the office.
"How is she?" asked Une as soon as the door shut behind them.
"Not well," muttered Sally. "The child is safe, but as for Relena, she is in a state of shock."
"She is depressed, no doubt," replied Une gravely.
"Yes," agreed Sally. "I believe she will be fine after she has time to think about things, but for now I think the only way she will recover is if she were to see Heero Yuy."
"Where is he?"
"Duo coaxed him into returning to his hospital bed. I put them in the same room together. This way, Duo can keep an eye on him, even though he is a patient himself right now…"
"Place Preventer Fire in there with the two of them as well, I'll not have Preventer Zero doing anything stupid."
"Yes, Commander," replied Sally.
"And I agree," said Commander Une. "Relena will need to see Heero as soon as possible. If she does not, and you know Relena as well as I, I am afraid she will never fully recover. She will lose that baby with the amount of stress she is under, as if she didn't have enough on her mind already."
Sally nodded, saluted and left the room.
Une looked out the window of her office and sighed, it had been a long day, but it was going to be an even longer night.
-
"My head is killing me," moaned Duo Maxwell. "I swear if I ever get my hands on that guy, I'll make sure he doesn't forget me."
"Well obviously he hasn't," smirked Wufei. "Each time he has infiltrated he seems to always injure the braided baka."
"Shut up," muttered Duo. His head was throbbing with pain. He laid against the pillow and closed his eyes.
Wufei smirked. It was rare that he actually got to silence his talkative companion.
Heero, on the other hand, lie still, without saying a word. Though his back seared with pain at just the slightest amount of movement, he refused to take any medication that Sally had offered to him. His head was already cloudy enough; he did not need anything else to make his thoughts less clear.
Duo opened an eye and glanced at his roommate for the night. "How's it going over there for you, soldier boy?"
"Hn," was the only reply he received.
Wufei shot a glare at Duo, but the young man simply stuck out his tongue. He didn't care. He wasn't trying to pry, just trying to keep Heero's mind from wandering too far away. If they let him escape entirely into his thoughts they would never get him back. So, Duo decided to change the subject.
"Where's that mad scientist of yours?"
He saw Heero simply shrug his shoulders. Wufei rolled his eyes and answered instead.
"He has been taken into custody and will be kept for strict observation."
"Into custody?" Heero said warily.
Duo smirked. He knew this would get his attention.
"Don't worry," Wufei replied, "he is comfortable and well kept. I know that is how you would have wanted it, so I took the liberty upon myself to place him in one of the rooms that we usually reserve for visiting diplomats. There are several guards posted outside his door, but he is not going to be formally charged. There are actually several things we need to be thanking him for."
Heero nodded. He would see Dr. J later. In the meantime, he had something else he needed to attend to. Slowly he got up and swung his feet over the bed. He was not one for bed rest anyways.
"What are you doing?" asked Duo.
"To see Relena," he replied coldly as he walked out of the room.
Duo shot Wufei a careful glance, but the Chinese man did not move to stop Heero. This matter was not in Wufei's hands and he dared not stop him when it was the matter of the man's honor.
-
Heero crept quietly down the hall to Relena's room. He looked around. It was late, almost midnight, and the infirmary had finally quieted down after a very busy day. The Preventer who stood guard outside of Relena's room glanced at Heero once, nodded upon recognition and let her bodyguard in. Heero entered silently, closing the door gently behind him.
She was lying on her bed, fast asleep. Her body looked frail and tiny on the hospital bed, she did not move, but breathed quietly.
He walked up right next to the bed and peered closely into her face. Even in her slumber she seemed distressed and exhausted. The dry tears that stained her pale cheeks were evidence of her fragile condition that burdened both of their minds.
Carefully with his free arm, Heero pulled a chair up next to her bed. He sat down and stared at her while she slept. Hesitating, he reached out as if to touch her. Slowly, he grabbed her hand and could feel himself give way as he felt the touch of her skin to his. He could not do much considering the damage he had already done, but he had to try. He had to try for Relena's sake. Finally, Heero Yuy let his vulnerability take hold of him as he fell asleep.
-
Relena was running. She was running out of time, she was going to be too late. But she had to save them. They were going to kill each other if she did not stop them. She couldn't let it happen, she just couldn't.
She was in a dark alley now and she found herself looking for a door.
"Where is it?" she asked herself nearly panicking.
Then she was somewhere else. She had found the door, it opened and suddenly she was in a large room filled with boxes and crates.
She heard gunshots ahead of her, and Relena ran.
"Heero!" she screamed out loud.
Just then she clamped her stomach and doubled over in pain. She screamed and struggled to breath.
She could make out his dark figure just ahead of her. "Heero!" she called again, but he could not hear her.
Relena felt something trickle down her leg. Not wanting to look but forcing herself to face the truth she glanced down and saw the pool of blood coming out of her.
"No!" she screamed as another contraction shook her body. "Not my baby! Your going to kill my baby!" she sobbed hysterically.
She struggled to get to her feet. She crawled on the ground trying to reach him, when suddenly he was standing right before her.
"Heero, stop it please," she begged. "You're going to kill my baby…"
He looked at her and turned away with cold Prussian eyes. He lifted his gun and fired into the distance away from her.
At that shot Relena screamed and felt her body go into anguish…
-
"Relena wake up!"
She sat with a start, tears streaming down her face. She was screaming and she had no control over her voice. All she knew was that she was terrified.
"Relena!" cried the voice again.
She looked over and saw Heero calling her name trying to orient her to time and place. He was holding her hand and she jerked back away from him, remembering the cold glare he had given her only moments before. Startled, Heero moved away from her side.
"Stay away," cried Relena. She tried to move out of bed, but a pair of arms came down on her shoulders. It was Sally Po.
"Relena get a hold of your self," said the doctor calmly. "You were having a nightmare."
At those words, Relena threw back her sheets and looked. There was no blood. She clutched her abdomen protectively, and then slowly looked over to Heero, who was glaring at her with concerned eyes.
"It was a dream?" she said breathing heavily, "But it seemed so real…"
"It was a dream," said Sally. "It is morning; you slept soundly all through the night up till now. You started to become restless in your sleep and when Heero could not wake you himself, he sent for me."
Relena looked cautiously over to Heero, "You stayed all night?"
He simply nodded.
"I am so sorry," she sobbed, "It just seemed so real…I thought I was losing the baby."
"The baby is fine Relena, we can even do an ultrasound if you like," said Sally soothingly.
Relena nodded and sank her head back don into her pillows. Sally pulled the sheets back around her and tucked her in. "I'm going to send you a tray with some breakfast. You may not feel very hungry, but you're going to eat. After that we'll do an exam to may sure everything is okay."
Relena simply nodded and Sally left the room, glancing sharply at Heero.
Heero did not seem to notice though; he was focusing all his attention on Relena.
"Relena?"
She turned her head so that she was looking directly at him. Even though she had slept through the night, she still looked as tired as ever.
He struggled to find the right words, "How do you feel?"
Staring blankly at him, she meekly replied, "Exhausted." She examined him and noticed his arm in the sling. She had nearly forgotten about yesterday's events. Yesterday…it seemed like years ago.
"Heero, you're hurt…" she started.
He simply shook his head, "I'm fine. I'm more concerned about you."
She nodded accepting his statement. This was an awkward situation. They could both feel the tension in the air.
"Heero, I want you to now that I do not expect anything from you. I don't want you to feel pressured by my condition, and we are mature adults…"
"Relena," he interrupted. "I'm not going to leave you alone."
She grew quiet, staring at him. He continued, "It is my mission to stick by you, no matter what the costs."
"This isn't a mission, Heero," she said grimly.
"I know, that's not what I mean," he fumbled. "What I mean is that I shall accept the consequences of our actions just as you have. I have thought long and hard about this. Relena, for years I never thought I was capable of feeling, of doing anything human, but you showed me differently."
She nodded in understanding. He went on, "I want to try…I at least want to try, I have just been so preoccupied by my other engagements I failed to acknowledge the one person who has meant anything to me at all. I won't leave you, Relena, I can promise you that much."
Tears silently fell down her cheeks and he gently wiped them away with his fingers. He gently bent over and kissed her on the forehead.
"Thank you, Heero," was all she could manage to whisper.
AN: Stay tuned I have another chapter in the works as we speak. Sorry this one took so long to get up. Email: