Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Catch Me ❯ Chapter 1

Catch Me by gethmane8

Chapter 1

"It's beautiful here. I may never leave." Relena said in awe of her surroundings. Their shuttle had finally landed and after the usual mess at baggage claim, they were on their way to Chris' summer home or villa to be precise. Relena watched from the car window at the beautiful scenery. It was the middle of summer and the area was lush with greenery. She saw people strolling about in casual clothes or bathing suits, not a business suit for miles.

"That's what everyone says when they come here. Believe me, a summer spent here is better than a lifetime anywhere else." Chris said, very pleased she liked his hometown.

He'd meet her over a year ago and instantly been smitten with her honesty and sweet personality. If only for one problem, she'd be the perfect mate for him. After dating for a short while, they'd ended the relationship as close friends. And found they enjoyed themselves even more without the stress of romantic complications.

"Here we are, my home." Chris said, pointing to a huge palace like estate coming into view as their taxi pulled into a gated driveway. Chris punched in a code at the gate and it opened to let them in.

Relena gawked in surprise. Chris Welles was the only son of a senator and came from a wealthy, political family. Even still, this was opulent even for her.

"Wow. I'm more than impressed Chris. I knew you came from old money, but even the Sanq kingdom looks like a dinky little county compared to this." Relena said as the car pulled to a stop in the drive way.

"Heh, my folks like to act big and show off their money. Sometimes I wonder if my dad sold his soul to the devil or something to be able to live this kind of lifestyle." Chris said, opening the door and lending his arm to help her out. The taxi driver silently collected their bags.

"Luckily they're on holiday for the fiftieth time this year, so the place is all ours. So feel free to run around naked if you like. In fact I prefer it." He winked as he paid the driver and picked up their bags.

"Oh stop!" Relena laughed. They got along so well they could tell each other anything. Like her, Chris' family were all politics and had pretty much let him be raised by servants and anyone who was around. She'd seen more of Pagan growing up, her beloved butler, than she had of her father. Another thing in a long list of things common.

"How about a tour of the place and then we'll get situated. Then we're hitting the beach! I hope you brought a bathing suit?" Chris said,unlocking the door and leading her inside the house.

"Oh! I didn't." Relena said.

"We have a nude beach, you know. So you don't have to worry about one" he snickered.

"Pull the other one." Relena smiled

*******************

"I'll kill him and lock her up until she's thirty!" Milliardo screamed to his wife. They were at Relena's manor, stationed in her living room.

Pagan had found a letter on Relena's night stand when he'd gone to wake her for the day. Reading the letter quickly and finding most of clothes missing along with a suitcase, Pagan had immediately notified her brother.

Noin had tried valiantly to calm her husband down. Unlike her mate, she wasn't angry, though she was worried Relena was being taken good care of. She trusted Chris with her sister-in-law, having gotten to know the charming young man. What worried her was outside forces that continued to bedevil the Vice Foreign Minister. Kidnappings, assassination attempts...hell, no wonder she took off. *I don't blame her, poor thing.*

"I want Une contacted now. She'll be able to find this Chris character. And the security team is fired! What kind of security doesn't even know she's gone until it's too late?" snapped Milliardo, pacing back and forth.

"Honey, she wasn't kidnapped, she's just taken a break. Did you even read her letter? She's mentally exhausted. Give her a break." Noin stated

"A break? She's got responsi-"

"No! She's only got one responsibility and it's to herself. She's nineteen years old. Unless you want to be visiting at a mental institution when she finally cracks, I suggest you back off now!" Noin ordered.

Milliardo gaped in open mouthed shock. Noin almost never lost her temper, so when she did, he listened.

Seeing her husbands weary expression, calmed Noin now. She went and placed her arms around his waist. "Chris will watch over her and I can guarantee he'd never take advantage of her. They're friends. And you know she's not over Heero. This getaway will be a needed vacation, that's all."

Milliardo sighed at her logic. As much as he hated to back off, Relena's mental and physical well being were important. "Okay, I'll cool it, but what about protection? She's not exactly a normal girl. There are very dangerous people out there."

"How about this? You contact Une and let her know the details. They'll track her down and just follow around at a safe distance. She's none the wiser and she's allowed to enjoy her time away in peace." Noin suggested.

Milliardo readily agreed to her plan.

"Oh, and make sure to inform the others of the situation." Noin said. "Especially Duo."

"Why Du-? Oh, no you don't! You just want to get him involved!" Milliardo said.

"I don't know what you're implying? Better go make those calls, hon." she said smirking, gesturing to the vid-phone at the table.

"I'm going to regret this." Milliardo sighed, head bent down.

**********************

"Hey, Hil. I just got off with Milliardo. Seems Relena's run off with that Chris guy she was dating. Can you believe that?" Duo said, shocked.

Hilde refused to meet his eyes and continued to drink her soda as she watched television.

Duo watched her carefully trying to get any reaction from her. You think she'd be a little more upset her friend had-

"Oh, my God! Hilde you knew about this? Don't try to deny it. I can see guilt all over your face." Duo exclaimed.

"Okay, I knew. She'd told me about it before she took off." Hilde said, putting her drink down.

"How could you encourage this? She's run off when some playboy. What about Heero?" Duo yelled angrily.

"What about him? I don't see him knocking down her door, do you? Hell, he barely stays around long enough to say hi. Is she supposed to wait for him like a faithful dog? Is that it?!" Hilde
growled.

"What? No! But he loves her and-" Duo began.

"He's never told her that once and you know it. She's tired of waiting and I'm tired of seeing him hurt her. She needed to get away and find herself and I say it was a wonderful idea."

"How wonderful will it be if some kidnapper gets his hands on her. I'm calling Heero. He'll straighten this all out and that Chris guy will be hitting the skids." Duo said, heading back to the phone.

"You mean you've been in contact with him?! And he can never be bothered to contact Relena? He doesn't deserve her, the jerk! And so are you!" Hilde yelled, throwing a couch cushion at Duo's head before storming out of the room.

Duo loudly cursed as he smoothed his hair. Hilde pissed off at him was not going to be a pleasant experience. She could hold a grudge like nobody's business when she wanted to.

"Heero, you ass! You better fix your love life or I'll strangle you myself!" Duo griped to himself, dialing the number Heero had given him for emergencies only.

It only too a few minutes before the connection went through. After explaining the situation to a stone faced Heero, Duo waited for any reaction. Nothing, he said nothing.

"You don't care at all? Not one bit that some guy could be romancing her this minute. Kissing on her, taking off-"

CLICK!

Duo blinked for a minute before grinning goofily. That was definitely a reaction.

****************

Heero leaned back in his chair, clenching his fist in anger before calming himself down. Going to his lap top, he brought up all the information he'd gotten before on Chris Wellas. The minute he'd started dating Relena, he'd collected all the personal info he could find. But the relationship had ending quickly, so Heero hadn't worried too much about him. The resulting friendship afterward had raised his radar, but it had looked like Relena was over the romance. Now he wondered. The guy was squeaky clean on file, but he knew everyone had skeletons. And he'd find them all.

*****************

Relena and Chris walked around the boardwalk, stopping from time to time, entering shops or grabbing snacks to eat. After talking herself into buying a daring dark blue bikini, Relena felt her confidence level rise. Of course, the lustful looks guys sent her way, helped too.

"Hey, miss. Two for one at the tattoo parlor." A skinny teen yelled to her, handing her a flyer in front of a body piercing/tattoo shop.

"Tattoo?" Relena said, reading the flyers advertisement.

"Hmm. Piercing Paradise? I don't think so. The little lady is...where do you think you're going?!" Chris asked as Relena headed for the parlor.

"I've never seen a piercing done before. I want to check it out." Relena called over her shoulder.

Chris hurried after her as she went inside. Relena was looking at the wall of tattoo designs and pictures of past customers.

"I've always sort of wanted my belly button pierced." She whispered to Chris. "And that rose tattoo is kind of pretty."

"Well, we're in the right place for it. Go for it. Just don't get a tattoo." Chris answered back, checking out a crazy design being drawn on a customers back.

"Why not?" she asked.

"When you're old and wrinkled, that rose will look more like shriveled old crab grass. Oomph!" Chris said, before she elbowed him in the stomach.

"Piercing it is." Relena laughed.

Chris agreed to get one himself, so they were taken to different rooms to get the procedure done. It wasn't as horribly painful as she'd expected. Looking down at her newly pierced navel, she grinned. She'd chosen a silver hoop and she loved it.

"Ah, that belly ring looks hot, Lena." Chris said, coming back into the front room.

"Oh, let's see yours." Relena asked, lifting up Chris' short sleeved green shirt.

"Um, I didn't exactly get a belly piercing. Mine's lower." he smirked.

"Then were-Ew!" she gawked openly.

He put his arm around her waist and ushered them out. "Wanna see?" he asked, laughing at her as she vigorously shook her head no.

*******************

At Quatre's mansion, Dorothy and Quatre were having lunch together and talking about the recent phone call.

"Relena's run off with another man. Poor Heero. He's going to be devastated." Quatre said, picking up his cup of mint tea.

"Poor Heero, nothing. What do you expect? Do you expect us women waiting around forever for idiot males to decide you want relationships. Good for Relena." Dorothy stated, sipping her soup.

They had been quietly living together for a year without anyone's knowledge. Dorothy was allergic to marriage she claimed, and even though he'd repeatedly asked her, she always refused. Living in sin, she said was much more entertaining.

"Well, if I know Heero, he won't take this lightly." Quatre said, staring at her intently.

Dorothy was the most complex and complicated woman he'd ever met. With such a rocky start, their relationship should have been doomed from the start, but had oddly flourished. Seeing the difficulties his friends had with romance, he was ready to settle down. Now if he could convince her of it.

******************

"It's not funny Mr. Barton. This is serious. I usually stay out of others private affairs, but Relena is without her usual protection. Anything can happen." snapped Une, exasperated at the laughing boy.

That instantly sobered him up. Relena was a friend and her health and security were important. Still it was funny she was finally giving back a little of what Heero has done to her. Another man, huh? That would be a sure way to attract a certain stubborn ex-pilots attention.

"You're right. Tell Heero not to go all half cocked and wait for me at the shuttle. I'll be there in half an hour." Trowa nodded. "Hey Lady, do you really think she's over him?"

"It would serve him right if she was. Out." Une said, disconnecting the line.

"Yup. It would. But for Heero's sanity, I hope not." Trowa said.

That's chapter one and I'm having a ball writing this. I have much planned for the wilder, freer Relena Darlain. Check out the next chapter and hit me up with some reviews. ^_^