Greetings all,

Alright, I'm not dead. I know that after going MIA for like 8 months in some states or could be declared legally dead . . . or at least get the paperwork started to make it so. I cannot apologize enough for just leaving everyone hanging like that at the end of Chapter 20. The good news is that now I am finished with graduate school, (yay!) and so I should have more time to write. I sat down and mapped out the rest of the story and by my best guesses, we're looking at about five or six more chapters of Occam's Razor – I'll keep everyone updated on that, but yes, the end is in sight and I swear that I am going to finish this story.

Because it has been so long since I last updated, I've filled my profile page with information about the story. There are some character profiles and a rehashing of the previous events of the story – it's long, but probably worth a skim. Also, for some reason the lines that I put in to separate the sections of dialogue do not appear to be showing up in my profile, so I apologize if it is hard to follow. One final thing, then I swear that I'll shut up – When I post Chapter 22, (hopefully in a few weeks), I'll be taking down the "Previously on Occam's Razor" section in my profile and replacing it with a very detailed time line of the story.

Thank you once again to everyone who has stuck with me for so long through this story and my prolonged absence. Thank you so much for all of the reviews and the support. I hope that this story will continue to interest, entertain, and surprise. Thank you again.

Occam's Razor

Chapter 21 - Scars

Tynan

- - - - -

He pushed hard against the heavy door and it scrapped across the floor in protest. Finally widening it enough, he squeezed himself through the opening and entered the dimly lit room, Ling following close behind him. The room was sparsely furnished; a handful of chairs were clustered around a scrubbed wooden table that sat on a dirt floor. The windows were boarded shut with planks of wood that had obviously been installed mere hours before he arrived and the only other door was bolted shut with several shiny, heavy looking locks.

Wufei blinked and let his eyes adjust to the room's darkness. Behind him, he could hear Ling struggling to close the door they had just come through. He waited for her to finish, knowing any help he might offer would be harshly refused. Finally he heard a metal latch slip into place and turned to face his guide.

"Well?" Wufei tried to keep the annoyance he was feeling out of his voice, but was probably not all that successful. His itinerary had been completely altered by Ling at the last moment without any explanation. It wasn't that he didn't trust the young woman, but he had important business with Kimi of Shitou and before his trip was over he wanted to check on Relena and see how she was doing in her new role as Kimi's Political Advisor.

He shook his head at that thought – no, it was not a new role; Relena had been Kimi's Political Advisor for a year now, ever since David Trotsky had disappeared. Despite this, he couldn't help his protective feelings toward Relena. It had been his idea to send her to Keiji and so her safety was his responsibility . . . and serving as one of Kimi's Suki was definitely not safe. However, it was her choice to make and he was certainly in no position to tell her to do otherwise . . . not that she would listen to him regardless.

But getting back to the issue at hand, Ling had changed their route about a third of the way through the journey and would not say why. Instead of going to Shitou, they had veered off course by what Wufei's best guess was at least a thousand miles and ended up somewhere along the India-China border. They had hiked to the top of a mountain only to come to what to an outsider would have looked like a long abandoned monastery. Inside however, the building looking more like a small fortress than a peaceful spiritual retreat.

Ling set her backpack on the floor and turned toward him. "Well what? I told you –"

"No, you didn't tell me anything." There was no stopping the sudden anger he was feeling from creeping into his voice now. He let his backpack fall off of his shoulders and spun around to face Ling, "I'm not an idiot, Ling. Something is going on, now are you going to tell me what it is and why you brought me all the way out here or are you going to make me guess?"

To his surprise, Ling's lips quirked into smirk, "Please, by all means, take a guess." Her smirk widened and she leaned in closer to him, when she spoke her voice was dangerous, "Because believe me, you will never see this one coming."

Wufei recoiled from her suddenly disturbing expression, but before he could ask what she meant by all of this, the door they had entered though was thrown open. Neither of them even had to look up to know who was coming through first; only Liam Blair was capable of tossing aside the nearly hundred pound door as if it were a toothpick. Said door slammed into the stone wall behind it with a deafening bang that sent a shutter through the rest of the room causing decades worth of dust to fall from the rafters.

The massive man smiled sheepishly, but before he could even open his mouth to apologize –

"Liam!" Erin Shannon materialized from behind him and promptly smacked the back of his head, "This buildin' is almost 900 years old! You're goin' to brin' the whole place down around our 'eads!"

Beside him Ling laughed before stepping forward to welcome Erin and Liam. Wufei however, stood rooted to the floor, "I really hope that you have something more important to show me than just Liam and Erin, Ling."

"Hey!" Erin and Liam responded in unison, the former however crossed the room to leer at him from closer, "An' 'ere I was happy to see you."

"Actually," a curt voice with a vague Japanese accent came from the door and Wufei spun around to meet it without even thinking, "Ling has something very important to share with you, Chang-san." Motoko Ishii walked gracefully into the room, her jet black hair swaying around her chin as she settled into one of the chairs. To Wufei's great surprise, she smiled gently at him, "You may want to have a seat."

His suspicion was immediately peaked and he ran through the list of nightmare scenarios that might have happened. "What's going on?"

"You really should sit down Wufei," his head shot toward the door yet again, immediately recognizing the voice. Relena entered flanked by three other men; two he recognized, one he did not. Cathal McGowan hadn't changed since Wufei had first met him over two years ago – his blonde hair still hung in a mess of curls around his pale face which bore his usual expression of mild interest balanced with being lost in his own thoughts. Beside him stood Ryo Aramaki, who Wufei had met only once before in Guilin where he served as Okisho's Political Advisor. He had aged somewhat in those three years, but he still bore a dignified appearance. The third man was clearly Asian, in his late teens, early twenties with boyish, but handsome features. He looked around the room in an uncertain way, as if he wasn't sure that he was supposed to be here.

But Wufei's attention quickly turned back to the young woman standing between them. Relena smiled at him and stepped forward to give him a short hug. "It's good to see you, Wufei." She smiled again and took a seat, indicating that he should sit too. Not knowing what else to do, he did, all the while taking mental inventory of the situation. Of Kimi's seven Suki members, four of them, Relena, Motoko, Cathal, and Liam, were all here. Ryo and Erin were high standing members in Keiji as well . . . something significant had clearly taken place.

"Wufei," Relena began after a moment, "Wufei, Jiang died."

He felt his breath catch in his chest and without thinking whipped his head back toward Ling, immediately wishing that he hadn't. The young woman's face betrayed no emotion, but her eyes were beginning to turn red and water. He wrenched his gaze back toward Relena, leaving the Keiji guide to silently mourn her father. "H-how . . ."

"It was a stroke," Relena answered softly. Her own eyes were also beginning to tear now, but she maintained her composure. "He went peacefully a few days after," she bowed her head and the rest of the people in the room followed suit.

Wufei shook his head, still reeling from the information. Kimi, THE KIMI, of Shitou had died . . . of a stroke. "So . . . so who . . .?"

An arm suddenly draped itself around his should, and Erin's hand twisted his head to face Relena, "You're looking at her."

The bottom dropped out of his stomach. A thousand thoughts suddenly flooded his brain while his heart fluttered into a near panic. This couldn't be right, they had to be lying or pulling some kind of a sick joke. Jiang had known who Relena was, he had promised to keep her safe, why in God's name would he make her Kimi and essentially put a target between her eyes? He closed his eyes and tried to clear his head but could not. In a final, last desperate attempt to dispel the utter nonsense Erin had just relayed to him, he opened his eyes again and found Relena's.

Their gazes locked for a moment when, after a moment she closed her eyes and nodded, confirming the new role she was to play in the war . . .

- - - - -

Wufei reacted without thinking. He threw himself on top of Heero, the deafening explosion roaring over him even as he landed. He felt a wave of heat roll across his back and his teeth rattled in his skull. The shockwave hit them not a second later, tossing he and Heero backward a few feet; Wufei locked an arm around Heero's shoulders and shielded him as best he could as they were pushed from the bridge.

Finally, they stopped after what seemed like far longer than fraction of the second they had been in motion. Wufei had barely come to a rest before leaping to his feet. Dust clouded the air around him forcing him to pause and gain his bearings. He looked down; Heero was completely unconsciousness, dust was caked on top of the blood that clung to his clothing.

Over the ringing in his ears, Wufei barely heard a noise to his left, and spun his head in its direction. The sound was suddenly drown out by another, louder one, which was joined by several other, similar noises. Around him the dust slowly began to settle and he could barely make out the scene before him. There was a horrible smell in the air, one he unfortunately recognized as chemicals and burned flesh. The noises grew louder, desperate, and more painful sounding. He closed his eyes, shook his head, and tried to refocus his vision as it suddenly occurred to him that he must have hit his head on the ground diving for cover.

When he opened them again, the air had cleared enough for him to survey the area around him. All that was left of the bridge extended about 5 feet out in front of him; the rest had been completely blown away by the explosion. On the other side, a large chunk of the cliff was missing, and all around the gap a dozen or so Oprichniki soldiers lay dead or dying, their limbs and entrails strewn around them. Those still alive groaned in a lifeless sort of way, apparently too close to death to scream.

Wufei tore his gaze from them and looked back to where the bridge had been seconds before. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders back before extending one leg onto the remains of the bridge. It held and he edged out further, finally coming to the end of it. Wufei craned his neck over the end of the bridge and looked down. The mist from the waterfall obscured his vision, the only indication that there was a river at the bottom of the ravine came from the sound of it churning through the rocks below.

There was no sign of her. There were with no sounds coming from the river, no indication that she had survived the fall. Wufei found himself suddenly overwhelmed. Could Relena possibly have survived? Should he look for her? No, he had to take Heero to the monastery, he was bleeding to death on the floor behind him. Wufei spared him a glance – Heero looked as though he might not make it. What if he died here? What if he died at the monastery? What if Relena was still alive and needed help? What if she died while he was bringing Heero to the monastery? Relena might be the only member of the Shitou branch of Keiji still alive – didn't have to do everything to ensure that Kimi of Shitou survived? Could he sacrifice Heero on the chance that Relena might be alive? Isn't that what Heero would want him to do?

No. No, he couldn't do this, he couldn't panic. Wufei jumped from the bridge back on to the cliff. Heero was here, he was alive, he had to get him medical attention as quickly as possible. Relena had sacrificed herself so that they could escape, he was honor-bound to do everything in his power to see her wishes carried out. He stole one more glance over the edge of the destroyed bridge and tried to reassure himself. Relena had been on the bridge, the explosion had taken place well behind her, and she had been shielded by at least ten men. If she had survived the fall, there was a good chance that she was still alive . . .

He told himself this as he swung Heero's limp body over his shoulder. Heero groaned and Wufei felt him try to lift his head.

"Relena . . ."

Wufei felt his throat close shut. He couldn't answer, what was there to say? But before he could even try and respond, Heero slumped against his back with a soft moan.

- - - - -

Large, brightly colored lanterns were strung across the massive ceiling between the glittering chandeliers, below them tuxedo and gown clad men and women talked, drank, and danced to the serene notes of one of New Delhi's traditional music groups. The night sky was easily visible from the rooms many floor to ceiling windows. He watched her among them, smiling, laughing, charming her way into the heart of anyone who crossed her path. As she was led to the dance floor by one of the older dignitaries she caught his eye casting him a genuine smile.

The lights flickered and everything went black, there was screaming, and then a noise like thunder and he was nearly knocked over. A sinister red glow and a thick cloud of black smoke filled the room. He felt his heart begin to race, as he began to look around the dark room but could see nothing; in the back of his head he could hear gun shots and renewed screams, but none of that mattered, he was only listening for one thing.

"Heero!"

He sprinted forward, searching for any sign of her. All around him people were screaming and bleeding, gun fire barely audible over the chaos. He scanned the sea of people frantically, finally spotting her and moving faster than even he realized he could, pushed his way through the panicked crowd.

She turned just in time to catch his eye and tried to move toward him . . . not seeing the masked men advancing upon her from behind. He drew his gun and took aim, but the crowd was pushing from every direction and the risk of hitting her was too great.

He continued forward, he was almost there, her arm stretched out to meet his . . .

A single gunshot shattered the air, blood splattered his vision and slowly she slipped from his eyes . . .

"Heero!"

Amidst the chaos around him, the world narrowed to only his range of senses. Footsteps rushed over to him and he opened his eyes to find Relena standing over him, her expression panicked.

"Heero, oh God!" Her voice was panicked. She dropped to her knees, pulled her shawl from her shoulders, and pressed it against the right side of his chest sending a sharp pain through his whole body. He looked down, shocked to find Relena ripping off his black jacket and his shirt soaked with blood. There was a renewed throb of pain and he jerked in response.

"Heero, can you stand?" She put her hand under the crook of his shoulder, "We have to go."

Her voice pulled him out of his daze and instantly back to their surroundings. Without a moment's hesitation he was on his feet and had seized Relena by the wrist. He ignored the sudden lightheadedness that swept over him and scanned the room. It was chaos – the gunmen were shooting, mostly over the heads of the crowd, but bodies still littered the floor. The gunmen weren't aiming to kill, they were pushing everyone toward the middle of the ball room, blocking off the exits . . . they were taking hostages.

He couldn't see a way out; there was too much panic, too much risk of something happening to Relena. The gunmen were everywhere now, closing in on all sides. He glanced down at Relena, the worry in her face was evident. He pushed her behind him, "No matter what happens, stay next to me."

She nodded into his shoulder. A moment later a particularly loud blast of gunfire quieted the mass of people. The man holding the gun, a large automatic rifle, stepped into middle of the room and pulled off the black mask he was wearing revealing a man of around thirty years old with olive skin and dark hair.

"Thank you," he let the rifle fall to his side, "now that I have everyone's attention, let's get down to business."

"Keep head down, Relena, don't let them see your face," Heero's head whipped to his left where Sally appeared from the crowd. "If they're taking hostages, you'd be the perfect one."

Heero gritted his teeth, Sally was right, these men would come straight for Relena if they found her. He looked around, there were easily two hundred people in the cluster they were standing in. Another four clusters dotted the ball room, each of comparable size. The gunmen were making their way through them, sorting the people they encountered into two groups; it took Heero only a moment to realize that the ESUN members were being separated from everyone else.

Five of the men approached their group and immediately began pushing their way through the throngs of terrified people. The most of the Preventers within the crowd were in uniform, but some, like he, Sally, and Wufei were in tuxedoes and ball gowns, security meant to blend in with the representatives and dignitaries. But none the less, these men knew exactly who the ESUN members were and separated them from the rest of the guests.

They were getting closer to them now; the crowd in front of them thinned until Heero could look straight at two of the men. Heero locked eyes with one of the men for just a moment, but in that moment, the gunmen had made him for a Preventer. He reached straight for his wounded shoulder and prepared to shove him out of the way; Heero winced in pain but countered the man, wrenching his wrist back until their was a snapping sound and the man yelped in pain. Relena gasped behind him, but Sally held her in place.

In seconds, the other gunman was there in an instant, pointing a gun at him and looking at his comrade on the floor. "Shit Jack, one guy who's been shot is too much for you?"

Jack leapt to his feet, still cradling his broken wrist and shoved his pistol against Heero's forehead, "You son of bitch, you want to play the hero? You know what happens to heroes?" He clicked back the hammer but before he could pull the trigger –

"Heero!" Relena wrenched herself away from Sally and stepped in front of him. Jack jerked in surprise and the bullet whizzed past Heero's temple. Sally's arm shot out to pull Relena back, but it was already too late.

"Well, well," Jack's partner advanced on them, ignoring Heero this time and going straight for Relena, "if it isn't the former Queen of the World."

"Don't touch her!" but Heero's command was drowned out by another burst of gunfire. All heads turned back to the man in the middle of the room; in front of him were ten people lined up with their hands tied behind their back and forced into a kneeling position. It took only one glance for Heero to realize all of them were ESUN officials, one of them was Joshua Bartlett . . . the Foreign Minister.

The man with the rifle, clearly the leader of this group, used it to signal to his men, and ten of them instantly came to the middle of the dance floor and stood behind one of the hostages. Their leader turned back to face the mass of his prisoners.

"We are the Alliance of Revolutionary Forces," he slowly spun himself around as he spoke so that he could address all gathered, "we reject the authority of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation and deem all those who work to propagate this unjust system to be enemies of the people they claim to represent. We demand the immediate dissolution of ESUN and all of its subsidiary organizations."

He waved his hand and the ten gunman drew pistols and pressed them against the back of the ESUN member's heads. "Until our demands are met, we will kill ten members of this oppressive regime every hour, on the hour. Starting right now."

With those words the gunmen pulled their triggers and the ten ESUN members fell to the floor in mess of blood and brain matter. Screams erupted from the crowds; behind him Relena choked back a gasp and put a hand on Sally's shoulder to steady herself, "Joshua . . ."

The gunman standing next to them sneered, "Looks like you just got promoted."

He reached for Relena again but more gunfire interrupted him and their leader began barking more orders, "No one is to try any grand escape plans or misguided attempts at heroics. We have take precautions against such actions," he waved around the room to the various doors that dotted the perimeter of the ballroom, "my men have set each of these doors with explosives, any attempt to open them will detonate the bombs and –"

A noise came from the far corner of the ballroom and the leader of the Alliance of Revolutionary Forces stopped mid-sentence to look toward the scuffle. Heero craned his head around the two gunmen in front of him, but could not see what was going on. There was shouting, the sounds of a struggle, and suddenly a woman broke away from the group and dashed toward the doors. Hostages and terrorists alike yelled for her to stop, but she more than likely could not even hear them over her own screams. Heero's eyes widened as she reached the doors and yanked them open.

All hell broke loose.

Heero pulled Relena to the ground rolling them so that they were against a wall; Sally came down on top of them as the bomb on the door exploded, sending glass and debris through the air like shrapnel. Renewed screams and gunfire made it impossible for him to hear anything. When he lifted his head he found chaos. The gunmen had begun shooting indiscriminately, their victims littered the floor.

Heero scanned the area around them; it was now or never. He sat himself up as quickly as he could so that his back was against the wall; the blood rushed from his head and he quickly realized that his injuries were far worse than he had initially assumed. But that did matter now. He hauled Relena to her feet, her face was streaked with tears and stricken with worry. Heero drew his gun and turned to Sally, "Take her, I'll cover you."

Sally nodded and seized Relena's wrist, she pointed to one of the ballroom's marble pillars, about twenty feet away, "We're going there, then we'll figure out our next mo –"

"Go now!" Heero shouted over her, suddenly gripped by desperation. Jack had spotted them and ignoring the battle taking place around him, he was coming straight for them.

Relena started to protest, but Sally pulled her away before Heero could hear any of the words. Jack drew his weapon and began shooting giving Heero barely enough time to dive behind one of the overturned tables. There were too many people here, he couldn't risk hitting one of the civilians, he had to wait for Jack to get closer –

The wood above his head exploded. Heero took a breath to steady himself and stood, immediately finding Jack and squeezing the trigger. Jack threw himself behind a chair but not before one of Heero's bullets lodged itself in his thigh. He heard the man yell in pain, giving Heero a better idea of where he was. He couldn't wait for Jack to make a move again, he had to act.

He covered the ground between them faster than he even realized was possible and seconds later found himself standing over Jack. The man reacted faster than Heero thought he would with a broke wrist. He raised his gun and pulled the trigger at the exact moment Heero kicked it out of his hand. There was sharp pain and the familiar feeling of blood on his skin. Heero lost his balance and Jack was on top of him. He fist connected with Heero's head, disorienting for a moment, but just enough time for Jack to lift his hand and slam it into the floor. Heero lost his grip on the gun and it skidded across the floor, leaving both of them without a weapon.

Heero brought his uninjured leg up and forced Jack off of him. The other man fell backwards and when he stood he was brandishing what looked like a chair leg. Heero barely dodged his first swing and connected hard with the floor. He lifted his head and spotted his gun, just out of reach. He heard Jack approaching behind him, his head was swimming from blood loss and his vision was getting blurry. He lunged for the gun and felt his finger tips wrap around it.

Heero rolled to his feet, gun stretched in front of him . . . but Jack was no where to be seen. There was a noise behind him but as soon as he heard it, he knew it was already too late. Pain radiated from the side of his head and light flashed before his eyes. Heero stumbled, but could not right himself fast enough to stop Jack from hitting him another time.

With the second blow, his mind went blank and he felt himself fall to his knees. He fought to stay conscious, barely aware of the fact that someone had taken his gun from his hand. Moments later he heard it being cocked back. His legs would not move, his arms would not react, his eyes refused to stay open. This was it . . .

'But Relena is safe . . .' he thought to himself.

The gunshot rang out over the noise of the chaos and a hot, sticky liquid splattered his face . . . but there was no pain, there was just a whimper. He opened his eyes and something fell against him. Heero tried to focus his vision and looked down. His breath left his chest and he nearly choked.

Relena's unconscious body was slumped against his chest. She her face was white, she was bleeding, there was so much blood. A clicking noise from in front of him caused him to lift his head; Jack was reloading the gun, now he was leveling it at them. Heero screamed at his body to work, to do something, anything, but as he tried to stand he only fell, taking Relena with him.

The world began to grow dark; Jack sneered and followed him with the gun. Another shot broke the air and the side of Jack's head exploded and he fell to the floor. Someone was rolling him on to his back, Relena's weight left his lap. He forced his head to look in her direction. Sally was bent over her, her hands pressed against the wound in Relena's chest . . . there was so much blood.

Everything turned black as Sally desperately screamed for medical team.

- - - - -

Wufei took a deep breath and started up the last set of stairs. They were almost there, at the top of these stairs the monks would help them. Wufei glanced down to Heero, he couldn't even tell if he was breathing anymore, but he didn't have time to check . . . they were almost there.

With a final heave, Wufei burst through the bamboo that grew over the path and into the clearing before the monastery's massive stone gate. He lost his footing on the last step fell forward, Heero's body toppled over him and came to a sprawling stop. With a gasp, Heero's head lolled to one side; his eyes were open and his gaze found Wufei's.

"Heero . . ." Wufei leapt to his feet and bolted for the stone gate, seizing rope attached to the bell and yanking it with all his might. He pulled it again and again until finally the great door swung open and several bald men in orange and yellow robes emerged, but they stopped dead in their tracks as they came upon the sight before them.

"Please . . ." Wufei gasped, trying to catch his breath, "we're with Keiji, my friend . . ."

But the men were already bent over Heero, pulling off his jacket and shirt and lifting him off the ground. Wufei followed them into the monastery's courtyard, where several of the monks were yelling to the others, who disappeared into the buildings. At the same time an older man, his chin covered in a long, white beard emerged; he scanned the growing crowd, finally stopping as his eyes came to rest on Wufei, who recognized as the monastery's head abbot, Kavi. He started toward him, a look of concern upon his old face.

"What is it? What happened to the village?" He reached out and took one of Wufei's hands with both of his own, "We saw the smoke nearly two weeks ago, men in blue uniforms have been searching the mountains and we were forced to hide ourselves here, in the monastery."

"The Oprichniki," Wufei took a deep breath and tried to steal a glance toward Heero, who was obscured by the monks bent over him, "they found the village. We'd only just come back with Kimi today and –"

The old man's eyes widened for a moment, "Kimi? Kimi was with you?" He reached out and put a hand on Wufei's shoulder, panic in his eyes, "Where is she? What happened to Kimi?"

Wufei shook his head, "She . . ."

"Where is she?" A voice he barely recognized as Heero's croaked from the ground behind them. Wufei and Kavi spun around to face Heero, his face pulled tout with desperation, "What happened to her?"

"She . . ." Wufei took a breath and knelt down on the ground, "Relena fell, Heero . . . into the river."

Heero's eyes widened and Wufei rushed to speak before he could, "I'm going to look for her, the monks will take care of you."

Before Heero could protest, Wufei stood and turned back to Kavi, "Do you have some supplies here?"

"Of course, of course," Kavi nodded and gestured for Wufei to follow him.

Heero watched both of them go until a group of monks blocked his view. One of them was tapping on the top of his hand, there was a pinch of pain and moment later a warm sensation was spreading up his arm and into his chest, pulling him into sleep.

- - - - -

There was a dull pain in the right side of his chest that quickly turned into stabbing pain but the sensation was not enough to fight through the grogginess that was still enveloping. Heero suddenly became aware of the fact that he was moving and despite all the physical reasons not to do so, he wrenched his eyes open. A yellowish light practically blinded him, dulled, then reappeared again and continued in this pattern; after a moment his eyes came back into focus and he realized he was lying flat on his back, being wheeled down a hallway lined with bland overhead lighting.

"Doctor Filiberti, he's waking up!" a man's voice was barely audible over sudden roar sound that filled air as he continued to gain consciousness.

"Damn it, give him another 10 cc's of morphine!" a woman yelled back from the other side of him.

"His blood pressure's too low, Doctor," another female voice, this one far more panicked, yelled back. Whatever he was on was pushed through two doors and came to an abrupt stop in this new room.

The first woman swore under her breath again and yelled back, "Get the transfusion started with O-neg; he's a Preventer, he should have an emergency card with his blood type on him somewhere so get type-specific as quickly as possible."

An instant later, a face appeared over his still blurry eyes. She shown a flashlight in his eyes for a moment, pulling back each of the lids, "Agent Yuy, I'm Doctor Filiberti, you're in Mohandas Gandhi Memorial Hospital," she paused to look at a clipboard one of the nurses had just shoved under her nose. "Yes that's fine, tell Dr. Inducci, the patient is critical and to have the OR prepped immediately." She turned back to Heero, "Agent Yuy, in a moment we're taking you upstairs, you need emergency surgery to stop the bleeding in your chest and leg. You also have a concussion –"

She stopped mid-sentence and leveled her eyes at his, "Heero, can you understand me?"

He tried to speak, but suddenly realized that his brain was not cooperating with his mouth. In that moment, Dr. Filiberti had seized the side of his face with one of her hands, while the other waved a single finger in front of his eyes, "Heero can you follow my finger? Do you know what day it is?"

"Day . . .?" He was taken aback by the weakness of his own voice, but Dr. Filiberti was not listening to him.

"George, call up to Radiology, tell them I'm bringing up a patient for an emergency CT before he goes to the OR."

"Blood pressure's coming up with the transfusion, Doctor."

"Good, give him the morphine now."

Heero felt a rush to his head and the world blurred before his eyes, and shouting erupted around him again.

"He's bleeding out, the bullet must have nicked the subclavian artery."

"Hang another unit."

"I've got the type-specific!"

"Put pressure on it, get me an S-clamp, then call up to the OR, tell Dr. Inducci we're coming up now!"

"The OR's slammed, they're saying they can't take us –"

"We're coming up now!"

The table started moving again, back out into the glaring light. They took a turn particularly fast and his head lolled to the side, giving him a full view of his surrounding for the first time since he'd woken up.

It was chaos. Men and women in colored scrubs and white lab coats dashed through the hallway, carrying IV and blood bags, pushing carts, equipment, and tables with people on them. The floor was covered in streaks of blood and people sat along the walls, all of them injured and waiting for medical attention.

The table he was on came to sudden stop and above him there was renewed yelling, but not from the people who were with him.

"Her heart stopped again!"

"Start CPR, charge the paddles to 50!"

"Clear!" There was a jolting noise.

Heero shifted his eyes to the direction of the commotion, but could not see around the crowd of medical personnel.

"Nothing, charging to 60. Clear!"

Another jolting noise followed by a burst of frenzy.

"We've got a pulse!"

"Call up to the OR, tell them we're bring her up right now. Pressure's 90 over 60, pulse is weak at –"

The crowd around her parted and the world came to a stop. It was Relena, she was the one lying on that table. The nurses and doctors bustled around her for a moment and then she disappeared around a corner.

Heero looked at the floor through ever darkening eyes. It was speckled with droplets of red liquid, glistening like small gems in the light. Blood . . . Relena's blood . . . she . . . that's right, she had been shot . . .

- - - - -

The entire riverbank looked the same, pebbly shores that ran up to rocky cliffs. Wufei lifted his head to look further down the river. He had found no trace of Relena. It had been over fours hours since she had fallen into the river. He followed the broken parts of the bridge and Oprichniki soldiers he could find, but both had grown thin as he continued down the river.

He'd been walking for almost three hours now; it was slow going, pausing every few hundred feet to investigate every crack and cave he came upon and hiding every time he heard something that might have been the Oprichniki. He shook his head, they might have already found Relena –

His thoughts were brought to an abrupt stop by something that connected with the back of his head and then clattered to the floor by his feet. Wufei lifted his head and tried to follow the trajectory of the object; it had come from behind him. He walked back cautiously, looking carefully over the cavern walls.

Something whizzed past him again but this time he was able to follow its path this time and after a moment of looking, found a small fissure in the rock, just wide enough for someone to fit through. He fumbled for his flashlight for a moment before shining it into the dark fissure. After a minute of searching, the light came to rest on a figure, sitting with its back up against the rock wall, one leg propped up by another rock.

"Can you put that down please?" Relena lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the light.

A wave of relief rushed over Wufei. He stepped into the crevasse and knelt in front of Relena, "I never would have found you in here."

She flinched when he touched her leg, "Heero? Where is he?"

"The monks are taking care of him."

Relena breathed a sigh, "He's all right then?"

He wasn't sure what to say, 'He was when I left' didn't seem as though it would be all that comforting. Wufei looked at her leg, which he now saw was wrapped with what looked like pieces of her jacket. "How did you . . .?"

"The man that was holding me," Relena's voice was suddenly strained, "I think he took most of the blast, but something got lodged in the back of my leg." She rolled onto her side to display a sharp fragment of wood protruding from her calf. "My back isn't in the best of shape either," Relena smiled sheepishly at him. "I hit the water pretty hard, but managed to swim to shore."

Wufei stood, reached for Relena's arm and pulled her to her feet. He gently put an arm around her waist and they started back out toward the river bed.

- - - - -

Light fell on his eyes, stirring him from his sleep. Heero fought the groggy feeling that threatened to pull him back into unconsciousness and opened his eyes. The light that woke him assaulted his senses, causing him to squint into the brightness. A shadow stepped into the light allowing him to reorient himself.

"Good, you're awake."

Zechs. Everything suddenly came rushing back to him and he lurched forward in the hospital bed. "Relena?! Where is she?!"

There was a scrapping noise as Zechs pulled a chair up next to his bed and sat down, giving Heero his first clear view of the man. He looked haggard to say the least. Dark circles lined his puffy eyes, his hair was pulled back into a frayed ponytail, and at least a day's worth of stubble covered his face.

Heero felt his stomach pitch at his former rival's appearance; he looked like hell. Time seemed to slow, he watched Zechs' lips begin to form words, dreading what news they might bring.

"Relena survived surgery." Zechs sat back in the chair, "She was on the operating table for over ten hours. Her heart stopped beating twice and they had to take extreme measures to resuscitate her."

Heero listened in stunned silence as the Lightning Count's voice faulted and for a fraction of a second his face betrayed the emotions he was feeling. But Zechs composed himself almost instantly, "She's in critical but stable condition right now."

Relief swept over Heero like nothing he had ever felt before, but even so he found himself afraid to ask the question he wanted to, "She'll . . . she'll be alright then?"

Zechs lifted his head to meet Heero's eyes and nodded, "Her doctors tell me that she should recover."

Heero let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. His heart was still pounding in his chest and he did his best to calm it. Relena was alive, she was going to be fine. Despite his failure to keep her safe, she was going to be fine.

He let himself fall back against the bed and instantly regretted it. A sharp pain shot through his chest and down into his arm and for the first time since he had woken up, Heero remembered that he had been injured as well. He looked down to find he had been left bare-chested, but most of the right side of his chest was covered in gauze, bandages, and medical tape; the other half was dotted with white electrodes. There was an IV in his left hand supplying him with saline and blood. A blanket was drawn up around his waist but he could tell that his left leg was set in a cast that went up to his mid-thigh. His head and indeed his entire body ached and he was sure that well over half of it was covered in bruises.

"Try not to move around to much," Zechs' voice was surprisingly assertive. "You had to have surgery to repair some of the damage in your chest and leg. Your doctor said that you almost died from blood loss."

Heero only nodded in response. "As soon as they release me, I'll inform Une of my resignation."

To his surprise, Zechs' head shot up, an incredulous expression on his face. "You plan to resign as Relena's Head of Security?"

He was taken aback by the fact that Zechs sounded almost angry. Even more taken aback that the older man had not come into his room screaming for his head in the first place. "I didn't do my job properly and Relena almost died –"

"And because you feel guilty about that you're going to risk my sister's life further?" Zechs' eyes were set hard as stone but his voice was surprisingly calm.

All Heero could do was gape at him, but to both his relief and dread, Zechs did not allow the silence to persist for long. "Do you or do you not want Relena to live to the age of nineteen?"

"Of course, I -"

"Then you'll stay on as her Head of Security," Zechs cut him off sharply. The older man then sighed and raked a hand through his hair, "I don't blame you for what happened to Relena."

Zechs stood from his chair and walked toward the window, leaving Heero with the impression that he suddenly did not want to look at him while he spoke. "I've read the preliminary reports and Chang and Po briefed me on the events they witnessed. You did your job . . . Relena was the one who didn't do what she was supposed to."

Heero shook his head, "I should of –"

"Should have what?" Zechs turned back to face him, "You planned to die to ensure that Relena would escape." He looked back to the window, "Not even I could have asked more of you than that."

Heero closed his eyes and took in what Zechs had just said. Relena had refused to leave because of him . . .

"She's very heavily sedated right now." Zechs suddenly stepped back from the window and picked up his coat from the chair, "You can see her when she's awake."

A thought struck Heero, "How long have I been asleep?"

"A little over a day." Zechs paused at the door, "You're doctor is probably waiting outside. I'll send her in."

Zech opened the door and sure enough, he was quickly elbowed out of the way by a frenzied looking woman who mumbled a few choice words for Zechs before bustling over to Heero's bed and checking the various machines that were attached to him. Heero ignored the doctor and waited for her to finish and leave him to his thoughts.

Relena had almost died. She was lying in a hospital bed in this building somewhere attached to God-knows what kind of machines that were keeping her alive. He couldn't get the image of her out of his mind. The sound of the gunshot, the smell of the powder residue, the feeling of her slumped against his chest, her blood soaking through his shirt, and eyes . . . her eyes widened from the shock of the bullet that ripped through her chest, but clouded over with dull, lifeless appearance. The glimpse he had caught of her as they wheeled her into the operating room; her skin ashen and speckled with blood.

He did this to her . . .

- - - - -

Heero's eyes jolted open and his body jerked forward followed by an intense wave of pain that rushed through his abdomen and into his chest.

"Careful!" He spun in the direction of the voice. Wufei was over him almost immediately, forcing his shoulders back onto the futon mat. "You'll rip your stitches and bleed out again."

The room was dark, the rounded ceiling above them looked like rock covered in a thin layer of plaster. There were a dozen or so large candles on a table behind Wufei . . . they seemed to be underground.

"We're in one of the hidden caverns in the monastery; the monks put us here to hide us from the Oprichniki."

Heero's mind sorted through this information; the monastery, the Oprichniki . . . it him. "What happened to Relena? Where is she?!"

He must have lurched forward again because Wufei's hands were instantly on his shoulders, pushing his down once again, "She's right next to you."

He turned his head faster than he would have thought possible to the ground opposite he and Wufei. Relena's blonde hair was fanned out above her head. She was lying face down another mat next to his own; a blanket was drawn up only to her waist while her entire torso was wrapped tightly with gauze and bandages. Her face was a little paler than it should have been but other than that he couldn't see any outward signs of injury.

"The monks say that she'll be fine. Her back was badly burned in the explosion, but it should heal on its own." Wufei stood and walked to the table where the candles were and picked up a small bottle of what sounded like it contained pills. He shook a few out and in his and held them out to Heero. "You two are on the same anti-biotics regiment for at least another ten days," he handed Heero the pills. "So we won't be going anywhere for a while."

Wufei set the bottle down, "You've been asleep for almost two days. The monks had to perform surgery on you. They said that you suffered amazingly damage to your internal organs and they were able to repair most of it." He turned in the direction of what Heero assumed was the door, "I'm going to get someone to come look at you." Wufei turned around to give Heero a threatening glare, "Do not try to get up."

Heero watched him leave before reaching for one of Relena's hands closing his eyes. Sleep enveloped him with unexpected strength.

- - - - -

The wheels seemed to be crunching something as they crossed the tiled hospital floor, but for the life of him, Heero couldn't even begin to guess what it was. It was a stupid, insignificant thing to be considering at a time like this, but trying to figure out what his wheelchair was grinding into the ground under it was the only thing keeping him from losing his mind as what had to be the slowest nurse in history pushed he and his IV stand to Relena's room in the secure ward.

It had been about twelve hours since Zechs had come to see him. A nurse, the nurse that was pushing his wheelchair, came into his room and told him that Relena was awake and asking for him. In his frenzy to get out of his bed and to Relena as quickly as possible, he had not had the time to consider what he would find there . . . now that was all he had to think about.

It was strange, but now that he thought about, he'd never really had to visit someone in the hospital, not someone who was actually sick or injured anyway . . . He wasn't sure what to expect except a reprisal of the horrible images replaying in his mind of the last time he saw her . . .

They approached a set of double doors, with two Preventers officers standing in front of them; they stood aside and allowed them to pass without even a question. This wing was completely deserted, no doubt intentionally so both for security reasons and to allow the high profile ESUN members being treated here to recover in safety and peace. Zechs had told him that as the Vice-Foreign Minister, Relena was – Heero stopped – no, Relena was now the Foreign Minister . . .

"Agent Yuy, did you hear me?"

Heero's head shot up at the nurse's voice. His impulse was to simply grunt at her, but it was probably best that he stay on this woman's good side. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

The nurse sighed, but did not seem frustrated, "I said that we're here." Sure enough they had stopped in front of a door with another two Preventers officers flanking either side of it. "I also said that Miss Peacecraft is conscious, but she is still very weak. She'll probably fall asleep again while you are with her." The nurse gave him a stern glare, "Don't try to stop her."

Heero only nodded in response, one of the two officers opened the door, and the nurse wheeled him in.

The room was caked with that awful hospital smell, he could almost see it hanging in the air; the odd mixture of disinfectants, cleaning solutions, and a flowery smell they used in a vain effort to try to cover up the other two. The blinds were drawn to keep out the evening sun. The only light in the room came from a small lamp perched on the table next to the bed the sole occupant of the room was laying in.

The nurse moved even more slowly now, apparently concerned that Relena had fallen asleep again already and did not want to disturb her. He however, could tell that she was awake and simply waiting for the nurse to leave them. The older woman wheeled him to the far side of her bed, so that his back was to the windows. With another whispered warning, she spun on her heels and left.

No sooner had the door closed than Relena slowly opened her eyes and gently turned her head to face him, a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips. She looked worse than he ever could have prepared himself for. She was laid out flat on her back giving her already sickly appearance the suggestion of death. Her skin was white like he had never seen before; it looked like thin paper stretched over a skeleton and glistened with a fine layer of sweat. Needles stuck out of her arm while more were no doubt attached to the ends of the tubes that to her body under the blanket that covered her. Another tube was taped to her face, disappearing into her nostrils. The sockets of her eyes were dark purple but miraculously the irises they held sparkled their usual blue.

Relena's smile widened as much as her weak muscles would allow and she lifted a thin, frail looking hand to him . . . and against everything that his mind was telling him, he took it.

She tilted her head to better meet his eyes, "You . . . you're all right . . ." Her voice was barely more than a strained whisper.

He was startled by the absence of her usually strong, yet gentle voice, but composed himself before she could see his reaction. "I'm fine . . ." despite his efforts, his voice faltered. "You . . . Relena, you almost died . . ."

She closed her eyes, "I . . . I'm sorry for going against procedure . . . an–and putting you in more danger." She paused, suddenly looking as though she were going to start coughing; panic seized him and he reached for her shoulder. But Relena just drew a long, shallow breath, steadying herself before she moved her hand to cover his own and lifted her head to meet his eyes. "But I am not sorry for what I did . . ." liquid filled her eyes, threatening to spill onto her cheeks, "I will not apologize . . . for saving my best friend's life . . ."

The breath left his chest. Relena gazed back at him, eyes fierce but clearly fading. He was torn between wanting to hold her and wanting to strangle her. Instead, he took her hand once more and tried to steady his voice. "Promise me, that you will never do anything like that again . . ." He let his head fall to his chest, suddenly unable to meet her eyes, "Promise that you won't ever put my well-being before your own ever again."

"No."

By the time he had lifted his head again her eyes were already closed and her weak grasp loosened around his fingers. Relena's breathing evened into a slow and shallow rhythm, but he did no let go of her hand. Seeing her like this had been horrible . . . but the thought of having to leave her now . . .

She looked like little more than a corpse and indeed that was almost what she had become. Without warning his mind began reliving the events of two days ago, but this time he was not consumed by what he saw, but rather by what he felt.

Panic. Fear and terror like he had never experienced. Relena was dying in his lap and he was powerless to do anything to save her . . . the person in his life that he cared for most . . .

There was a knock at the door and next he knew he was being wheeled out of Relena's room and back to his own by the same, agonizingly slow nurse. 'The person in his life that he cared for most' . . . Had Relena always been that to him? The thought seemed completely foreign but somehow normal, as if it were a confirmation of something he'd always known. He always knew that he would give his life for Relena . . . but if she were to give hers for him . . .

"Heero!"

The woman's voice was followed by footsteps closing in on him at a rapid pace. The nurse had stopped; they both turned their heads to find the source of the sound.

Hilde rounded the corner they had just passed, panicked and out of breath. She stopped before them a look of relief washing across her face, then turned back to the direction she had just come from, "Duo! Duo, he's over here!"

There was a muffled yell in the distance, but Hilde ignored it and closed the distance that remained between them. There were tears in her eyes as she knelt down and closed both of her hands around the one of his that did not have the IV in it. "Relena?" she barely managed to croak out the words.

"I just saw her," Hilde let out a shuddered breath and her head fell to her chest. "She's asleep now."

"But she's going to be okay?" there was evident desperation in Hilde's voice.

Heero didn't get the chance to answer. Duo flung himself around the corner at that moment, coming to a dead stop upon witnessing the sight before him. Heero paused to consider that he hadn't seen his own reflection since arriving to the hospital . . . and considering the reactions he was getting, he must have looked like hell.

"Heero . . ." Duo's voice trailed off as he approached. "Man, it . . ." For the time Heero could ever remember, Duo seemed to be without words, instead opting to gently clasp a hand around his shoulder.

Hilde had started crying in earnest and Duo put his free arm around her shoulders, "We tried to get a shuttle here was soon as we heard . . . but with everything that happened, it took almost a day and a half before we could get on a flight that was going Earth."

Heero nodded, "Relena will be happy to see you."

At the mention of her name Hilde let out a strangled sob and Duo released his shoulder to embrace his girlfriend. "We couldn't find out anything from just the news." Duo turned himself so he could look at Heero while still holding Hilde, "So many ESUN members were killed or wounded that they haven't been giving a lot of specific information on each on . . . I tried to call Preventers but no one there would tell me anything and I couldn't get Wufei or Sally –"

"They've been at the crime scene site since it was secured." Heero was slightly surprised by how dead his own voice sounded, "All able-bodied Preventers in this district are pulling 16 hour shifts . . . digging out the destroyed parts of the building and identifying the bodies . . ."

Hilde drew a breath and stepped back from Duo, "Relena, can I see her?"

"Miss Peacecraft is resting." The nurse who Heero had almost forgotten was there answered in a stern but soft voice.

"She would want to see Ms. Schbeiker," Heero turned to face her, "This woman isn't a security threat in any way. Tell the officers stationed in the closed ward that they should check for her on the Vice –" Heero paused to correct himself, "The Foreign Minister's clearance sheet and they'll find her name."

The nurse looked as though she were about to object, but only asked, "Can I trust that your friend will return you safely to your room then, Agent Yuy?"

Heero nodded curtly and the nurse took Hilde gently by the arm and led her back in the direction of Relena's room. As soon as they were out of sight, Duo spoke, "So Foreign Minister Bartlett is really dead?"

"He was one of the hostages they shot to prove they were serious."

Duo stepped to the back of the wheelchair and began pushing Heero down the hallway, "And Relena's the Foreign Minister now."

"They haven't been able to swear her in yet, but yes, she will as soon as she's able." Heero took a deep breath; there was another reason he had sent Hilde to see Relena. She was going to be the Foreign Minister now, in more danger than ever before and there was something he and Duo needed to discuss in regards to Relena.

"Duo, I have a favor to ask of you."

- - - - -

Someone was touching his face. He opened his eyes slowly and turned his head toward the source of the sensation. Relena's clear blue eyes stared back at him in the dim candle light; she smiled and let her hand slip from his face down to his neck, "You were having a bad dream."

Before he could say anything in reply, Relena slowly lifted the top half of her body up and shifted from her futon on to his. He moved over a bit to accommodate her; she settled herself back down on her stomach and gently rested her head on his shoulder, wincing a little as she did. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, but did not want to risk hurting her and was forced to content himself with taking one of her hands.

"I'm not hurting you, am I?" her voice was laced with concern.

Heero made a sound that was somewhere between a sort and a dry laugh, "To be honest, even if you were, I can't feel a thing with the painkillers the monks must be giving me."

Relena laughed, "We're quite a pair here, huh?"

He nodded, but worry quickly overtook the somewhat jovial mood, "Does your back hurt?"

He felt her shake his head into his shoulder, "The burns, really aren't that bad, but Kavi said that I should try to stay off my feet for at least a few days and let it heal as much as possible. It's my leg that's really been –"

"What happened to your leg?" His voice came out more forcefully than he had intended it to and he could practically feel Relena's face make that expression she always did when she was trying to keep something from him.

"N-nothing serious," she laughed a little in an effort to brush off the situation, "just a few stitches."

Heero closed his eyes and sighed, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the emotions that were bombarding him from ever part of his brain. She had almost died, again, once more selflessly putting her own life on the line in order to save his. This wasn't how things were supposed to be.

Relena must have noticed something because she shifted against his side and squeezed his hand. "Heero? Is something wrong?"

"Wufei told me what you did, Relena." He turned to lock eyes with her, "You could have died."

"But I didn't." Her voice was suddenly set in hard resolve.

"Just by luck!" Desperation won out against all of the other thousands of emotions fighting for dominance within him at that moment, "You couldn't have known that you would survive blowing up the bridge you were standing on and falling into the river."

"I didn't know –"

"Were you planning to die?" The question echoed off the stone walls and hung in the air.

Relena's eyes widened for barely a moment before instantly narrowing again, "I was planning to save you and Wufei."

Heero felt his throat close and after a moment Relena continued, but her voice was far less certain now than it was just seconds before, "Heero . . . I . . ." she let out a breath to compose herself, "When Sean shot you, for just an instant, I thought that you had died . . . and I have never been scared before in my life."

She lifted her head to meet his eyes and Heero was shocked to find hers glistening with tears, "I'm so sorry, Heero."

He shook his head, suddenly flustered by her apparent distress, "Sorry for wha –"

"For everything," she answered in a whisper. "For leaving you, for not coming back, for letting you think something horrible had happened to me, for making you come find me, and then for not telling you everything when I was given the chance to."

Everything? Heero felt a wave of dread wash over him, what else could she possibly have been keeping from –

"I love you, Heero." The tears had stopped but she still looked so sad . . . "I've probably loved you since I was fifteen years old. You're best friend and for so long you were the only constant in my life that I could completely rely on." Tears started to run down her cheeks again, "I know that it is no excuse for everything that I've done and there are so many reasons behind my actions . . . but despite everything I told myself and every other legitimate, real reason for what I did . . . at the end of all of it . . . I did it because I love you . . . and because I wanted you to be safe . . ."

His face must not have been conveying what he was feeling because Relena's expression suddenly crumbled from remorsefulness to one of disgrace and shame. With a strangled sob, she pulled away from him; but that movement was enough to bring him out of his stupor and ignoring the ache that rose in his abdomen, he sat up and reached for her shoulder, pulling her back so that they sat facing each other for a moment before he pulled her into a gentle kiss.

They separated and Heero quickly drew Relena against him. "When you first disappeared, there were so many things that I promised myself I would tell you if I was just given the chance . . ." Heero closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the pillow, "And then, here it was . . . and I didn't."

"I didn't give you the chance to, Heero," Relena's voice was barely above a whisper, "I was afraid to open up too much to you. You've been trying to get closer to me and I've been keeping you at arms length." Relena choked back another small sob, "Even after everything I put you through when I left, I still couldn't, wouldn't . . ."

He clutched her tighter against him, "I never gave you a reason to think you could tell me these things, Relena." He tangled his hand in her hair, "I never told you how important you were to me. I never told you how much I cared about you . . . and because of that, I think I never allowed myself to realize that I love you."

Heero reached down to cup Relena's face and tilt it up so that were facing each other again, "I love you and I don't want everything that has happened to us to get in the way of that anymore."

Her eyes filled with water again but this time she was smiling, "I love you too, Heero. I don't want our lives to be a continuation of what they were." Relena lifted her head to press her lips against his then settled back down on the futon next to him.

Heero looked down at her; peaking out above the bandages that covered her chest was the same long pink scar that had marred her pristine skin for five years now. Before he knew what he was doing, his fingers were tracing the mark that for so long had only been a reminder of how he had almost lost her. Now however he finally understood it to be something more.

Every time Relena looked in the mirror, this scar reminded her of what she was willing to sacrifice for the man that she loved . . . and now it would always do the same for him.

- - - - -

Trowa's head snapped up. He turned to his left where Ickes wore a similar expression of shock. Across the table from him, two of their newly acquired "comrades" laughed, oblivious to the identities of the four men they were eating with in the temporary mess hall. He, Ickes, York, and Lancaster had been traveling with this Leon's Army detachment for nearly a month. It was slow going, they were moving an entire legion across a continent. On top of this were the continuous stops and distractions. The commanding officers were constantly delaying the army's progress south by insisting that they stop in every major city within one hundred miles of their route.

Their slow pace was maddening; even the Leon's Army soldiers who weren't rushing to infiltrate the enemy capital in near futile hope of rescuing the woman he loved were being driven crazy by their lack of speed. But that wasn't what he should be thinking about now. Trowa looked from Ickes to the two men eating across the table from them. He tried to make his voice as casual as possible all the while convincing themselves that he and Ickes must have misheard them.

"Hey, what did you guys just say?"

Both stopped their conversation and looked to him, "What? You didn't hear?" the one on his left appeared stunned.

"Why don't you enlighten us?" Ickes quipped beside him and Trowa made a mental note to discuss masking his tone of voice later.

"The Supreme Commander," Trowa did everything in his power not to scoff at the absurd title Josef had given himself, "his elite little Oprichniki pretty boys, kidnapped the Preventer's Commander's daughter."

- - - - -

Une let out a shuddered breath and set down the glass of water she was holding. She shook her head in disgust with herself – It was nearly one o'clock in the morning, her daughter had been kidnapped, and she couldn't even pull herself together enough to leave her office. After Noin had called to tell her that Mari had disappeared, her friend's next call was Duo Maxwell.

Duo . . . Une shook her head. The man had caused her more trouble than his entire department put together, but he always came through for her. Duo had left for the Sanq Kingdom and immediately taken control of the investigation from Lucrezia. The news wasn't good. These people were smart, they had taken the GSP locator out of Mari's car and attached it to another vehicle setting Preventers back significantly in their search. They had no leads. The last time Mari had been seen, she was leaving the Sanq Kingdom Palace in her car. The camera's watched them leave the gate and then nothing. Their only clue was a man on an antique motorcycle that abruptly left the Palace's check point line.

This man had been the focus of their investigation . . . until Anthony Gord turned up missing as well. No one had seen or heard from him in over 24 hours, the night before Mari was kidnapped when he called in to Palace. As best Duo and his team could tell, Anthony realized what was happening and pursued Mari's kidnappers; but from there, both trails went cold.

Une closed her eyes as another wave of tears threatened to overwhelm her. Mari, her daughter, her only family had been taken by to who knows what God-forsaken part of the globe by people that wanted to hurt her. She had sent Mari to the Sanq Kingdom so that she would be safe, not so this could happen. She had failed her as her guardian . . . as her mother . . .

Even now, she was still in Brussels. Maybe she should have gone to the Sanq Kingdom, maybe she should leave now – No. Une steadied herself; no, she couldn't leave now. There was little doubt in her or Duo's mind that Mari had been taken out of the country. Duo was in the Sanq Kingdom to oversee the investigation of the kidnapping – she was in Brussels to oversee the search. Half of the Preventers in the Europe were looking for Mari, while an entire division of L-10 troops were setting up check points at every major border. They would find something, they had to find something . . .

A soft knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts and before she could tell whoever it was to go away, Edward Cordell slowly pushed it open and entered. "Commander?"

Une immediately straightened in her seat and shoved the small pile of tissues that littered her desk into the waste paper bin. Judging from the expression on Edward's face however, her efforts were in vain. "What is it, Dr. Cordell?"

Edward just stared at her for a moment before apparently coming to himself and stepping toward her desk, "Oh yes. Yes, I'm very sorry to disturb you Commander."

He approached her desk, but instead of sitting in one of the chairs in front of it like he usually did, he crossed around to the other side until he was standing in front of her. She couldn't look at his face, she couldn't meet the expression she knew would be there. It was not pity, no Edward knew better than to ever pity her . . . it was the understanding that she didn't want to see.

"Anne?" She reflexively lifted her head at her name. Cordell knelt in front of her chair, and put a hand over hers, "Anne, they'll find Mari."

Une raised her eyes to meet Cordell's and in that instant something broke; she felt her face crumble and tears begin to sting her eyes, "What if they don't?" she shook her head, "She's my little girl Edward. How could I let something like this happen to her?"

"You didn't let anything happen to her," Cordell stood and reached into the pocket of his blazer and produced a cell phone and held it out to her, "Agent Maxwell is on the phone asking for you, he says he has some information."

He barely finished the sentence before Une leaped out of her chair and seized the phone from him. She flipped it open and held it to her ear, "Maxwell, what is it?"

There was a roar of sound from the other side and she could barely make out Duo's voice, "Commander? Commander, can you hear me?"

"Where are you, Duo?" her stomach dropped, he sounded like he was standing in the middle of a tornado, what could such an environment have to do with Mari?

"I can hardly hear you," Une pursed her lips, apparently he couldn't hear her at all, "it's storming out here like you wouldn't believe."

She was growing impatient now, "What did you find Agent Maxwell?!"

"It's Mari's car, Commander," Une's hear skipped a beat, "we found it about fifteen miles from the palace off of a side road."

"And?" She was ready to jump out of her skin.

"Anthony," Duo's voice was drowned out by a rush of wind.

"What did you say?"

Duo must have been screaming at the top of his lungs, "I said that they shot him in the head and he's in really bad shape, but he's still alive."