In their shared bed, Sally and Wufei were staring nervously at the ceiling. Sally played with her hair while Wufei experimented with the laser sight on his gun. Neither one of them was having an easy time getting to sleep.
“Wufei, if you don’t stop playing with that laser, I’m going to shove that gun where the sun doesn’t shine.”
“An idle threat, woman. We both know you would never do such a thing.”
“OK, fine. But still, stop playing with that gun. You’re making me nervous.”
“Very well.”
Wufei grudgingly set the gun down on the dresser next to the bed and clasped his hands behind his head as he lay back down. Then he thought of something and looked around the room.
“Is there an alarm clock anywhere? We should set it so that we do not miss the switch time.”
“No, but I set the alarm on my watch. It should be loud enough to wake us up, if we ever get to sleep.”
“It will have to do then.”
Wufei closed his eyes and tried to relax. A few moments later, there was a knock at the door. He sprang from the bed, grabbing the gun and pointing it in the general direction of the door.
“Who’s there?”
“It’s me.”
Wufei relaxed and lowered the gun. He opened the door, letting Heero in. Sally sat up in bed.
“What’s up, Heero?”
“Just wanted to check on you guys and tell you what’s going on. I just talked with Trowa and Catherine. They’re gonna take over for Quatre and Dorothy in a couple hours. They’ll stick to the second floor. Duo and Hilde have the first floor covered for now. You guys will take over for them. Zechs and Noin are walking around on both floors. You’ll probably come across them at some point. From there, you guys are on your own as far as how you switch.”
“Alright. Sally and I will be ready in two hours.”
Heero looked at Wufei and nodded.
“Good. If you guys some across anything get on the radio and let the rest of us know. I told the others as well so if anything happens we’ll all know about it.”
He turned to leave, but was stopped by Sally’s voice.
“How’s Relena? Is she doing alright?”
He looked back over his shoulder at Sally, who was now standing next to Wufei.
“She seems alright for the moment. I’m not sure how long she’ll stay that way though. I think the tension is getting to her.”
He left and started back toward Relena’s room. He remained alert, though he was lost in thought.
*This whole mess is going to turn Relena into a basket case. She’s been holding back all her emotions. Something inside her is gonna snap.*
He put his hand on her door, but stopped before opening it. To save himself any further embarrassment, he decided to knock first.
“Relena?”
“It’s alright, Heero. You can come in.”
To his surprise, Relena was already in bed with the covers pulled up tightly around her. Heero closed the door, making sure to lock it, and knelt next to the bed. He brushed at a stray hair that had fallen across her face.
“You alright?”
“Yes. I’ll be fine. Just a little cold and tired.”
Outside it had started raining. A loud thunderclap startled the pair; Relena cowered further into the covers while Heero’s head snapped toward the window. When the two realized what the noise was they began to laugh nervously. Heero’s gaze drifted back to Relena. He smiled softly and kissed her forehead before standing up.
“Just get some sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning.”
She gave him a weak smile as he took his place in the chair in the corner of the room. He crossed his legs, folded his arms over his chest, and stared out the window through the translucent curtains. After a few minutes he heard her voice again.
“Heero?”
“Hmmm?”
“Shouldn’t you be getting some rest as well? How long have you been awake? Sixty, seventy hours now? Aren’t you tired at all?”
“I’ll be fine. You just worry about you.”
Suddenly, he saw a shadow flash past the curtains. Heero sprang from the chair and leapt toward the bed. He covered Relena’s body with his own as he deftly reached for his gun and pointed it at the window. A small, red dot was illuminated on the curtain, but there was nothing there. No shadow, no movement, no sound, nothing. Just the rain.
Heero watched with unblinking eyes until he was satisfied nothing was there. He let out a sigh of relief as he lowered the gun and rolled off of Relena. She was peering out from underneath the covers she had thrown over her head when he’d jumped at her. The sight made him laugh. Seeing his laughing, Relena decided it was safe to come out.
“What was it?”
The smile disappeared from Heero’s face as he became serious again.
“Don’t know. Apparently nothing.”
Relena sighed in relief as Heero lay back on the bed to let his heartbeat return to normal. About a minute later he heard Relena sobbing next to him.
*Bingo. That did it.*
He looked over at her, tears streaming from her closed eyes down her face and soaking into her pillow.
*Maybe a glass of water will help calm her nerves.*
He started to get up, but Relena pulled him back down.
“Stay. Please, just stay close to me.”
Heero nodded; he could hardly say no. He set the gun and the radio on the dresser, kicked off his shoes, and slid under the covers. She was shivering, either from cold or fear; he couldn’t tell which but it was probably some combination of the two. He put an arm around her and pulled her closer, tucking her head against his shoulder.
“Mmmmm…Heero.”
“It’s OK, Relena. You’re safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
He stroked her hair and gently rubbed her back. Soon she was asleep; smiling, he noted happily. Then an idea came to him. He carefully reached over to the dresser for the radio. He spoke softly so that he would not wake Relena.
“Duo?”
The radio crackled slightly. He winced at the sound, but Relena remained asleep.
“Yeah? What’s up, Heero?”
“I need you to do something for me. Go look around out back. I thought I saw something move past the window. I think now it was probably an animal, but I want to be sure.”
“Sure thing, buddy boy!”
“Heero?”
It was Zechs.
“Yeah?”
“How is she?”
Heero looked down at Relena sleeping in his arms with a contented look on her face.
“She’s fine. A little shaken up, but she’s sleeping now.”
There was a brief pause before Zechs spoke.
“Thank you, Heero.”
Heero put the radio back on the dresser and settled his head on the pillow, forcing his eyes to stay open. His gaze moved down to Relena. He watched her while she slept. Her breaths were deep and calm and she was still smiling. He wiped away the last traces of her tears as his eyes began to close. Despite his best efforts, Heero eventually succumbed to his exhaustion.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing or Perfect Dark (it came in earlier...don't worry about it now). They are copyrighted by people who have a lot more money than I do. This was written for fun and for the fans of the series. All ideas concerning the storyline are mine.
NOTES: Awwww! How cute was that?! Who knew Heero could be so sweet? Kind of interesting though that Heero would be talking about holding back emotions. Oh well.
Comments and criticisms are welcome. Please send them to [email protected] and be sure to include your name so I can get back to you. Thanks for reading!