Chapter 5

Heero looks at the time on the computer. "It's nearly seven all ready. Doesn't seem like four hours had passed." He gets up and stretches his legs, getting used to being on them again. He leaves the room and heads upstairs, going to Relena's room.

Silently, he opens her door and looks within. The lights are off and the bed is empty. He enters and looks towards the bathroom, not seeing a light there. He walks to the bed and sees that the cover was hastily thrown back into place. On the other side, Relena's house slippers were still there.

Old instincts kick in and Heero quickly comes to the conclusion she had been kidnapped. He searches the room for anything that might show him who did this. "Nothing, this person's good." He quickly enters all of the other rooms, searching them for possible clues. "This doesn't make sense. It's as if she disappeared into thin air." Heero reenters the room he was looking up information in and finds something flashing on the screen. He activates it, seeing a message written out to him.

Heero,

If you want to see Relena again, you'll have to do as I say. Go to where you ripped her letter by ten o'clock or you'll never see her again. Come alone and unarmed.

Heero growls and angrily closes the window. He had three hours to get to the Saint Gabriel Institute. " 'Come alone and unarmed.' Mission accepted." He shuts down the computer, ejects his disk, and rushes out of the house, taking Relena's pink limo. The limo rushes recklessly away from Brussels to where the Institute was at. The trip takes two hours and eight minutes.

Heero looks at the school, seeing that the place was fixed since it was attacked by OZ. Not worrying about sightseeing, he hurries to get to the second story of the building. Once outside again, he turns the corner and finds a single person there, dressed in a Preventer uniform. "Wu Fei?" The chinese man looks at him. "Good, you showed up." Wu Fei starts walking towards Heero. "Did you take her?" Heero balls his fists and glares at the other. "Of course not. Miss Noin found the message and reported it to Preventer HQ. Sally and I were close by, so she continued with the mission while I went here."

Heero growls. "I'm supposed to be alone, that means not having you here." Wu Fei shrugs and rests on the side of the building. "It's still quite a while before ten. Besides, did you actually come unarmed?" Heero nods. "I swore never to kill again. I'm not going to break it." Wu Fei looks at him before turning his attention away. "Good for you."

"Will you just leave all ready?" "Are you really that worried about that woman?" Heero's blue eyes shimmer in anger. "It's my responsibility to ensure her safety." "Your responsibility? Who gave it to you?" "I did. I swore to protect her no matter what." Wu Fei just stares at him. "Is there a reason for you to continue to protect her? She's not the world leader anymore, nor is she in a great deal of politics. A trained monkey like Duo could do her job."

Heero growls. "Wu Fei, just leave so I can save her." Wu Fei smirks, his head turned back and to the side. "You're a fool. You continue along thinking you're protecting her because she's always in danger and needs a bodyguard. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you're looking after her because you love her?"

Heero stares at Wu Fei, the anger having left his eyes. "What?" Wu Fei turns his body towards the other. "Admit it. You only look over her because you don't want anything to happen to her because you're in love with her." Heero blinks and looks away at the ground below. I… I can't be. I've always protected her because of what she is to the future… haven't I?

Wu Fei smiles softly. "I see you're finally realizing the truth." He turns around and starts walking away. "Wu Fei?" The Preventer continues walking. "My job is done. If you really want to see Relena, you should know who she's with now." Wu Fei turns the corner and disappears from Heero's sight. "I should know… Vincent." Heero turns and goes back down the stairs, hurrying down it to Relena's pink limo. Starting the vehicle, he rushes away from the Institute towards the Semist mansion.

Relena looks at Miss Noin, who does her best to ignore her. "Miss Noin, won't you tell me what is going on?" The two sit in a parlor, waiting to be seen by someone. "We've been here for nearly an hour and you still haven't said why we're here in the first place." Noin sighs and looks over at the former princess. "Miss Relena, we're here because your brother said we needed to see someone. I told you this earlier this morning before we left the house."

Relena sighs and gets up, going to the window and looking out at the countryside that was once the nation of France. The door to the hallway opens up and a butler enters the room. "I'm terribly sorry for the wait, but Mr. Semist will see you now." Relena looks at Noin. "Semist?" Noin gets up from the chair and waves towards the open door. "Shall we?" Relena nods curtly and the two women are lead by the butler to a library. "He is inside." He bows and opens the door for them. The two ladies enter and the door closes behind them.

Vincent smiles. "It's good to see you again so soon Relena." Relena furrows her brow lightly. "May I ask as to why I've been brought here?" Vincent gets up and walks towards her. "You may. The reason is, I want to help you with your plan to terra form Mars." Relena blinks her eyes in surprise. "Help me? How?" Vincent smiles easily.

"As I'm sure you remember, there are quite a number of people against the project. I've found out quite a number of things about them that would be an embarrassment if, say, it was put on the front page of every major newspaper across the Earth Sphere Unified Nation." Relena's eyes widen. "That's blackmail!" Vincent smiles easily. "Call it what you will, but that is how things can get done."

Relena looks at him coolly. "And why would you help me?" Vincent walks closer to her, standing an arms length away. "It would make you happy, and I want you to be happy." He smiles and takes a step closer. Relena takes a step back, keeping the distance between them. Vincent frowns and takes another step closer, his hand reaching over to grab Relena's shoulder. "Why try to run away? I'm just trying to make you happy."

Noin steps towards the two and removes Vincent's hand from Relena's shoulder. "Miss Relena is capable of doing so on her own." Relena steps back to stand beside Noin. Vincent glares at Noin before looking at Relena. "By the same token, I know information that would be an embarrassment to those that support the plan. If you won't cooperate with me, you'll find that your plan to terra form Mars will never occur." Relena tightens her jaw and stares at him. "What would you have me do?" Noin blinks and turns to look at the younger girl. "Miss Relena?" Relena ignores her, having kept her focus on Vincent.

Vincent smiles. "I will have you escort me on a short vacation where you'll realize that I'm twice the man Heero is. Then you'll know that I'm the one you should marry." "Marry?" Relena takes a step back and stares at him in confusion. "That's right. For me to have and hold forever and ever." Relena blinks and looks at Noin, who looks just as surprised. Vincent steps forward and extends his hand to Relena. "Do we have an agreement?"

"I can't agree to it. I have as much right to chose who I'll marry as the man I marry." Vincent's eyes turn cold but he keeps his hand extended. "Take my hand." Relena looks at his hand. "Take it. You belong to me, and no one else. Through me will you find happiness." Relena looks up at his eyes, wondering just how many screws were loose in his head. Vincent growls. "I won't repeat myself. Come now or you will find a huge lack of political support."

Relena sighs and steps forward. "Very well then." She places her hand in his. "Miss Relena…" Relena looks back at Noin and shakes her head. "I must do what I can to further my ideas. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Vincent smiles, his eyes having gained warmth after its former icy gaze. "She's right, she'll be in good hands." He squeezes Relena's hand none too gently and pulls her towards him. Relena forces a smile onto her face in spite of the pain. "Tell everyone I'll be away for a while for me, please."

Noin nods, her uncertainty evident in her eyes. "Take care of yourself Relena." The blonde nods. Vincent leads Relena out of the library and calls over his shoulder to Noin. "You can leave now. Your job is done." The pair leave the room and Noin grits her teeth and balls her fist. "Zechs, if this is your plan, I'm going to make you pay. You're going to get Miss Relena hurt or worse leaving her with him." She shakes her head and leaves the library, going to the front door where the motorcycle and side pod she brought Relena in was waiting.

A black limo drives past her and Noin tries to look through the tinted windows, but couldn't see anything. The limo leaves the mansion and heads towards Paris. Noin glares lightly and puts on her helmet and goggles. She straddles the bike and starts it up. "Heero. It'll probably be quite some time before he comes here after finding out the meeting was a fake. I guess I'll wait for him." She turns the motorcycle off and moves to lean against the bike, her arms crossed and head bowed.