Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Executive Orders ❯ Charm ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter Summary: In which there are discussions in a hospital and another, more successful, press conference.

Executive Orders
~An Out of Control Sequel~

by
Smarty Cat
smartycat9383@yahoo.com

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Part 10 -- Charm
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"Yes, she is awake, and no, you can't see her." Sally folded her arms across her chest and stood firmly in Heero's path, blocking his way to the closed off ward that housed Relena. "Visitor access is extremely limited at this time due to her weak condition, and quite frankly I don't think she's up to seeing you at the moment. She doesn't need the emotional turmoil that you two tend to inspire in one another."

His fists clenched at his side. "You are going to let me in there."

"No, I am not," she snapped back, and the row of guards behind her obligingly drew their guns and trained them on Heero. "I am sorry, I really am, but if you do not desist at once, Preventer Phoenix, I will have you court-martialed!"

The pair stood toe to toe and nose to nose, Heero silent but humming with unreleased violence and Sally quivering with the effort not to flinch away from the threat he presented. Fortunately, their battle of wills was interrupted by the Chinese man bursting out of the elevator doors.

"Sally! I got here as soon as I could. How is she?" Wufei called as he jogged down the hallway, his appearance disheveled and harried.

Sally slipped around Heero to meet her husband and tugged on his arm. "She's been asking for you. Go right on down that hall. Hers is the only room with a patient. You can't miss it." She bit her lip as she watched him depart before the soft sound of shoes sliding across linoleum followed by the sharp inhalation of one of the guards drew her attention. She whirled and pointed her finger at Heero, who froze mid- step. "You can leave or you can stay out here. Those are your only options, Yugen. Don't make it necessary for me to file a compliant against you." She turned on her heel and strode down the hallway after Wufei's retreating form.

Heero snarled with barely restrained fury and turned to leave. Though he could easily remove the row of armed obstacles blocking the ward it would cause unnecessary unpleasantness, possibly including his dismissal from the Preventers. There were other ways to get in after all.

Une met him as he stalked out the electronic doors of the entrance, and he stopped and snapped into a salute with automatic precision and swiftness.

"Yugen, I'm going to need a full report from you detailing your reasons for being unable to prevent this event from occurring. On my desk in two hours," she added grimly, breezing past him.

Heero's fist smashed into the side of the building, and he slumped against the brick wall. "Damn it."

***

Relena opened her eyes and turned her head as Sally opened the door to her room. A brilliant smile lit her face when she saw Wufei trail in behind his wife.

"You came. I'm so glad you're here," she whispered, beckoning him to her bedside. "Come talk to me and make everything okay again."

Wufei's expression softened almost helplessly, and puzzled concern flickered in his eyes as he approached. His gaze moved to the hospital gown covering her chest, staring piercingly as though he could see straight through the cloth to the wound below.

"Closer. I can't talk very loud."

He sat down in the chair by the bed and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the mattress. Relena shifted to face him, and her hands shot up to wrap around his throat. She squeezed and dragged his gasping face down to hers.

"You bastard," she snarled in his face before her voice rose to a harsh, accusing bellow. "You shot me!"

"Excuse me, Miss Relena, but I'd appreciate it if you would unhand my subordinate." Steel lurked beneath the surface of Une's dry amusement.

Relena and Wufei slowly turned their heads to the side. The Preventer commander leaned nonchalantly against the doorframe.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Miss Une. Wufei has yet to explain to me why he felt the need to shoot me," Relena answered politely, her grip around Wufei's neck tightening.

"Maybe you should let go of him first," Sally suggested absently while scribbling notes on Relena's chart. She sounded remarkably unconcerned about her husband's welfare. "It's rather hard to talk when you can't breath."

"Oh, he's fine," Relena assured her.

"I know, but it's the principle of the thing," Sally replied as she walked over to the bed. Relena watched in dismay as the medic inserted a hypodermic needle into her arm. "It's just a very mild sedative," Sally said with a comforting pat. "You won't even go to sleep, but you've had a very stressful day and you need to relax."

She gently removed Relena's hands from her husband's windpipe and unceremoniously shoved Wufei back into his chair. Sally loomed over her husband, her eyes menace filled blue slits and her hands on her hips. "You have some explaining to do, mister," she hissed. "Start talking."

Une shut the door quietly behind her and came to stand beside Sally. Wufei held up admirably under their combined glare, raising his chin defiantly. "I was simply following orders. Yours," he stated, directing his sharp stare to Une.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You instructed me to fix the problem between Yuy and Relena."

"Killing the Vice Foreign Minister wasn't exactly the solution I had in mind."

"You knew," Relena's low voice interrupted them, and they turned. She stared almost blankly at Wufei, her eyes hazy from the sedative. " You knew I was wearing the vest. That's why you were so nice to me--so you could check for it . . ." He flinched at the hurt in her tone. "And that's why you told me that as long as I wore it I'd be fine. But . . . why?"

"Why did I shoot you? To force Yuy to face his fears, his emotions regarding you. To force him to choose between what he knows to be true and what the public thinks is true."

"And what is true?"

"That you are hopelessly, ridiculously in love with him. And that although he would hate to admit it he loves you too."

"Don't you think your method was a little excessive?" Sally sighed, fiddling with one braid in obvious agitation.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," he intoned.

"I'm not that desperate," Relena remarked petulantly from her prone position. "He wasn't really crying, you know," she stated dreamily to the air. "But . . . I do think it scared him. Badly. His face . . . Wufei, I didn't want it to be like this!"

"Of course you didn't," he snapped, folding his arms across his chest. "I know that. If everything had worked out the way you wanted it to he'd be chained to your bed right now."

Sally hit him on Relena's behalf. "Be nice, Wufei."

Une looked at the three of them and massaged her temples. "There will be an investigation. Heero should be filing a report of his version of events right now. So what are we to say regarding this incident? The truth is obviously out of the question."

"Not really. Someone dissatisfied with the public perception of me decided to put me out of my misery," Relena mumbled, struggling to raise her arm to her chest. "Sally, what did you do to me? And why do I still hurt if I was wearing the vest when I was shot?"

"Hurting is better than dead," Sally answered mildly. "There's still an impact where the bullet hits you, even with the vest. You've got quite a large bruise on your chest and all the air knocked out of you. Then when you fell you hit your head. That's why you're still so achy and muddled."

"Thank you so much, Wufei." Sarcasm dripped from Relena's voice. " I'm sure Heero wants a battered addlebrained woman."

The Chinese man stood up and walked to her bedside. "If he doesn't then he's more of an idiot than I've ever believed." His fingers touched her cheek gently before sliding up to soothe the purplish swelling on her temple. "You are a strong, beautiful, intelligent woman. Any man would be honored to be loved by you."

"Ahem, Wufei, marriage," Sally coughed.

"Woman, I am trying to have a moment!" he mock growled. "And weren't you the one who suggested the threesome?"

"Oh, you know I didn't mean that!"

"Really?"

"I thought you meant it," Relena added.

"Well, if you ever snag Heero we can pair off in lots of different ways then."

"I didn't say I agreed to it."

"Oh, it makes you uncomfortable?"

"Wufei watching me on closed circuit television is bad enough."

"Oh, yes, he showed me that one."

"He WHAT?!"

"Would you like another sedative?"

"These people do not work for me," Une muttered, opening the door. "My officers are not sex-crazed."

"Oh, that reminds me," Sally exclaimed with exaggerated innocence. "Trowa called. He says he's found some, but he's not sure what size or speed setting. I didn't know what he was talking about, and he wouldn't tell me. He wants you to call him back."

"Thank you. And have a press release ready for the evening news." Une's voice was brittle, and two spots of red burned high on her cheeks. She slammed the door behind her as she stalked out, every line of her body radiating offended dignity.

Relena and Wufei stared wide-eyed at the still vibrating door then simultaneously turned startled curious eyes to an innocently smiling Sally.

"What was that about? Are they--?"

"I DON'T want to know."

Sally laughed. "I couldn't say anyway. One of them is an ex-military dominatrix who had a split personality. The other is an acrobat and former mercenary. They can probably come up with things to do in the bedroom that I couldn't even begin to imagine." She beckoned to Wufei and patted Relena's foot companionably. "You rest and try to relax. We'll be right outside the door if you need us . . . trying to flesh out the details to give the press." She winked suddenly. "And I was just kidding about the threesome. There are some things I refuse to share. Wufei's one of them."

***

Relena shifted restlessly on the stiff hospital mattress. Sally had kept her sedated for so long that she was finding true sleep to be elusive. It hardly helped that she kept envisioning that moment on the podium when she first saw the gunman, when she suddenly knew without any evidence that it was Wufei, that Wufei had set out to deliberately hurt her. And then Heero's face . . . his face would haunt her for a time to come. His eyes, oh God, his eyes . . .

At the soft click of the door handle turning, she stiffened like a guilty child caught doing something forbidden. She immediately slumped and narrowed her eyes into thin slits, pretending to be asleep for the nurses so she would not be a burden to them and they would not feel obligated to keep her company. However, the black figure that slipped in against the light of the hallway was most certainly not a nurse. Relena's pulse quickened, and she held her breath, one hand inching unobtrusively beneath the bedcovers for the panic button.

And then the figure stepped into the brighter gloom filtering through the window, and the shadowed light flowed familiarly over hard cheekbones and unruly hair.

"Heero?"

Her voice froze him in place for the slightest second, and then he came to her bedside in one swift smooth movement, too measured and graceful for a lunge but too quickly to be anything else.

He crouched at her side, his eyes staring into her own from only inches away with an expression she could not read. And then, abruptly and wordlessly, he closed the space between them, sealing his lips to hers as one of his hands tangled in the hair at the back of her head and dragged her closer. Relena froze, startled and slightly unsettled by this new and unexpected development, by the sudden rush of warmth and sensation, her mind so muddled by the combination of drugs and surprise that she did not have time to respond before he pulled away.

Heero stared at her silently for a long moment, still clutching her hair. She wet her lips nervously.

"Hee--"

"If you ever pull away from me like that again I will shoot you myself."

Her lips parted in the faintest of wry smiles. It would probably be a good idea to keep the identity of the gunman a secret from Heero. It would certainly be beneficial to Wufei's continued good health if nothing else.

"I'm sor--"

"Damn it, Relena, stop apologizing to me!"

She flinched away from his sudden vehemence and searched the shadows of his eyes, a puzzled crease breaking the smooth line of her brow. " What?"

"Do you know how many times you've said that in the last month? Stop. I don't deserve it."

She felt her temper flare even through the calming haze of the drugs. "Yes, you do!"

"No, I don't."

"I've treated you horribly."

"I treated you worse."

"No, you didn't!"

"Yes, I did!" He raked his hands through his hair and stood up. "I'm not arguing with you about this. Move."

"What?"

"Move over."

Relena snarled under her breath and turned her head away. He could be so infuriating--deliberately debasing himself before her and then ordering her around. "Surely you could be gentler with a wounded woman," she sniffed archly.

Her annoyance turned to wonder as his laughter rang softly in her ears. "I've read your chart, Relena." His hand slipped from her hair in a sliding caress along her cheek. "You may be sore, but you're not wounded. If you hadn't been wearing that vest . . ." His eyes lit with renewed intensity. "Damn it, Relena, move over."

She shifted slowly to one side of the bed, feeling the safety rails press against her back as he climbed in beside her. They lay on their sides, facing each other and carefully keeping the few inches of available mattress between them.

Relena swallowed nervously. "Now what?"

"Don't you want to talk?" he questioned with maddening composure, looking completely comfortable at being crammed into a hospital bed with her. "You usually want to talk. You enjoy it."

"Now?"

"Is there something else you'd rather do?" Unexpected humor laced his tone. "Your physical condition won't allow you to do much else, will it?"

She did not respond, and she did not have to. The blood rapidly pooling in her cheeks made speech unnecessary. He was deliberately flustering her! If there was one thing she had least expected during this clandestine encounter it was that.

Heero propped himself up on his arms and stared down at her, the corners of his eyes crinkled with interest. "Will you answer a question for me?"

"I . . . don't know how logical my answer might be."

"An illogical explanation is better than an unanswered question." < /P>

"Then ask," she murmured, her heart racing.

"You don't touch me. You make a conscious effort not to touch me. Why?"

Her breath hitched, and she lurched back against the bed rails, automatically increasing the distance between them. "I don't deserve to. I don't have the right," she rasped, panic touching her eyes.

He stared at her for a long moment, then closed his eyes and sighed. "We already went through this, Relena."

"I still don't," she gritted stubbornly, folding her arms across her chest in an unconscious illustration of her point. "And I'm not going to unless I know that you really want me to."

"And how will you know?"

"I just will."

"Under Preventer guidelines casual touching between coworkers is perfectly accept--"

"We've never touched each other casually, Heero. Never. This is hardly the time to start," she interrupted him with a coldness that was uncharacteristic.

"Will there ever be a correct time?"

"I don't know."

"Then it's up to me to make the first move?"

"I guess that is what I'm saying, yes, Heero."

"I'll keep that in mind."

He sat up and swung his legs off the side of the bed. Relena watched him silently. This was it? He was leaving? Just like that? Heero turned back and gazed at her without speaking for a moment. His hand rose and hovered over her cheek in a phantom caress, and she closed her eyes to keep from moving into his touch. When she opened them he was gone.

***

"Obsession with the Vice Foreign Minister's love life has gone too far," Relena read aloud, balancing a half eaten bagel in her free hand. "It is unreasonable to expect such an attractive young woman to remain single forever, and it is unconscionable to allow attacks on her person to occur simply because she indulges in the same romantic actions as the rest of the populace. It's time to take her off the pedestal and bring her down to the rest of us where she has always wished to be." < /P>

"Who cares if Relena is having sex with escort boys?" Wufei read back to her, laughter choking his voice. "At least she's getting some. It's a dark day for humanity when having a dead ambassador is considered better than having one who is no longer a virgin."

"They're years too late for that anyway," Relena commented absently, nibbling at her bagel as she stretched her free hand towards the stack of unread newspapers and magazines in the center of the table.

Wufei's eyebrows rose curiously but Sally's entrance with his beloved coffee drew his attention away from Relena.

"The public opinion polls are showing a complete turnaround," Sally remarked as she poured cups for her two companions before settling down at the breakfast table with them. "You terrified them, Wufei. Now they're desperately afraid of losing her and praying that she won't resign because of the way they've treated her."

"I can't believe they're so fickle," Relena sighed, picking up another paper with a picture of Heero cradling her head as she sprawled on the speaking platform emblazoning the front page. She stared at his bereft expression sadly. "No, I can believe it. I just don't want to."

"Have you heard from Heero yet?" Sally questioned as she batted her husband away from her breakfast.

"Of course. He sneaked into my room in the middle of the night. And nothing happened," she added emphatically, shooting a killing glare at Wufei who obediently reconsidered the comment he was about to make and shut his mouth though his eyebrows remained raised. "You knew those guards weren't going to deter him for very long. If he really wanted to see me no force on earth could have stopped him."

"But you needed your rest. And he did have his official duty to report to Une. You are going to take him back, aren't you?" Sally prodded.

"Yeah." Relena smiled sadly. "I've been thinking a lot lately . . . not that there was much else to do with the way you kept drugging me. He told me to think about it, you know. So I have. Somewhere along the way and among all the death threats and espionage and war, I fell in love with him. And I understand why he reacted the way he did to me. He's never been able to trust anyone because everyone that he's ever known has used him. I wasn't really any different in his eyes. He thought I used him as a sex toy, one of many actually, and it hurt him to think that I considered him a just a tool like everyone else had."

"You're being awfully forgiving," Wufei observed. "He hurt you too."

"You're being awfully vindictive, Wufei," she mimicked. "It's all the more reason to end the cycle. Heero and I have discussed it already anyway." She stood up, gracefully smoothing out her skirt and jacket, and extended her hands to Wufei and Sally. "Come, dearest friends. We have a press conference to attend. Incidentally, you did a wonderful job with the press. Would you consider handling my PR permanently?" </ P>

***

Relena eyed the crowd awaiting her with far less trepidation than she had had for weeks. The turnout was phenomenal. People had come to ensure for themselves that she was indeed alive and well and planning to keep her position. Several other prominent delegates had even offered apologies for their lack of support regarding her previous treatment. She felt alive, truly, fully alive, and in her element. The crowd would be hers, one member of it in particular. She was offering herself up on a silver platter for their love, their ridicule, whatever they would choose to give her. But he was the only one that really mattered.

"Thank you all for coming here today. While our relationship these past few weeks has been strained, to put it mildly, I hope we can resolve our differences and turn to more important matters. A great deal has been said recently regarding my personal life, much of it extremely hurtful. And while I had always hoped that as long as what I did in my private life had no direct bearing on my office or my performance of my duties that my privacy would be respected, I see now that my hopes were naive. It saddens me, yes, but I understand your concern that the exploits you believe me to participate in, such as those spread in such graphic detail by the tabloids, show me as unfit to be your representative. Therefore, I called the conference today to honestly answer any questions you may have. After today there will be no reason to believe the rumors because you will know the truth."

A stunned hush fell on the crowd of onlookers for a few brief moments before the press surged forward eagerly, waving their microphones and barraging her with questions.

"One at a time please," Relena called out laughingly over the din.

"Nightclub photo: real or fabricated?"

"Real actually. It was taken during the bachelorette party of a dear friend of mine."

"Why'd you do it?"

"Because she wanted me to, and it was her special night. People do odd things to make their friends happy."

"Did you sleep with him?"

"The man in the picture? No, of course not."

"Have you ever used an escort service?"

She smiled cheekily. "Beyond the Preventer guards who are assigned to escort me to events . . . no. Surely you don't think it would be that difficult for me to find a date!"

A roar of embarrassed laughter filled the open air.

"Are you in a relationship with someone now?"

Relena sobered, biting her lip. "I was, I want to be again, but the accusations and the strain of living under them made maintaining it nearly impossible."

The crowd shifted guiltily, looking away from her and refusing to meet one another's eyes.

"I have always been monogamous," Relena continued a little unsteadily. "There has only been one man in my life that I've ever wanted. And I just want him to know that. That there was never anyone else. But his lack of faith in me hurt far more than anything you," here she gestured at the press, "have ever done or said about me. And no relationship can last without trust. I am very much in love. I wish he was in love with me." She turned away. "No more questions, please."

***

"I think that that was one of your more brilliant diplomatic moves," Wufei muttered to her as they ducked into the car.

Relena sighed and burrowed into the upholstery. "I just hope it's effective. I don't think I can do it again."

"Did you see him?" Sally asked, locking the door firmly behind her as she slid in. "His face . . . I don't have the words to describe it. It was that amazing and intense. Can someone simultaneously be elated and devastated?"

"He'd never be elated. His face couldn't manage the amount of smiling that would require."

"Wufei, shut up!"

"So do you think it worked? Do you think he got the message?" Relena pleaded, leaning forward eagerly.

"Short of bashing his head open and tattooing it directly onto his brain I don't think you could make it any clearer." Sally flipped her braids over her shoulders and sighed. "It's what he decides to do with the information that really matters."

***

"It seems he's decided to do absolutely nothing with it," Relena growled as she plopped into her office chair.

Wufei shot her a disgruntled glare over the top of his morning coffee. "Get over it, Darlian."

"How can you be so callous?"

"Quite simple really. I've had a great deal of practice and have gotten very good at it. And you need to be a little callous too since you have an appointment with him this afternoon."

"WHAT?!"

"Worm, come inform the Minister of today's appointments!" Wufei bellowed in the general direction of the outer office.

Her personal assistant shuffled in warily, keeping as much distance as possible between himself and the Preventer agent. He looked decidedly skittish as he read from his scheduling book. "Cabinet meeting at nine that is expected to last until eleven, afterwards an appointment with a designer Montaigne to discuss theme for the upcoming gala--not to exceed one hour, lunch with Lady Felton, meeting with Dr. Brookheimer of Brookheimer Industries at two, at four meeting with Preventer Agent Hiroshi Yugen to discuss changing of the guard--"

"What 'changing of the guard'?" Relena whirled on Wufei. "I might have been born royalty, but I am not a monarch! What changing of the guard?!"

He contrived to look put-upon and offended. "Sally and I would like to have a honeymoon. You and Une both approved time off for it, remember? Une appointed Yuy--Yugen excuse me, all those Japanese names sound the same--as head of the Vice Foreign Minister's security staff in my absence."

"Yes," Ben piped in, "you're to meet with him today to discuss implanting some new security measures."

"Oh, really? Lovely," she moaned weakly, burying her head in her hands.

"You, out," Wufei ordered Ben, who immediately fled with a yelp. He crossed to Relena, crouching in front of her chair and pulling her hands away from her face. "This is what you wanted, remember?"

"No, it isn't! Not this! Not a business meeting!" she spat the words as though they were distasteful.

"Well, it's what you have. Work with it."

"This is a conspiracy."

"Everything is. Look, you started the game with Yuy, and it's gone on long enough. Someone has to end it. Une is just making sure all the players are in their appropriate positions."

"You'd better be referring to chess," she muttered, twisting out of his grip. "And where will you be, Wufei? Sitting at a monitor somewhere watching again?"

"Someone has to do it."

"You sick, deranged, perverted voyeuristic pig."

"You should have considered that before you began demanding favors." He smirked. "And I'm not any more horrible than you are, 'Queen Relena .'"

"I can't believe I'm almost friends with you."

"Best friend," he corrected her mildly. "And I can't believe it either. And, if it makes you feel any better, I've turned all my cameras off. Yuy will have to turn them on again if he wants them. I won't be needing them since I'll be all alone in Hawaii with Sally. Now come on. Time to get going. I have a plane to catch."

***

Relena knocked on Heero's door and waited patiently, but no answer seemed forthcoming.

"I knew he didn't really want to see me or he would have contacted me personally," she reflected in a broken whisper. Her shoulders squared determinedly. "Too bad for him though because this is still business."

She turned the knob, feeling vaguely shocked that it opened so easily, and wondered if he had forgotten to lock it. Relena walked inside, feeling her shoes sink into the plush carpet where they had made love. Nostalgia and tears pricked sharply at her eyes. The room was just as spartan as she remembered it being, so very empty and impersonal. Extremely empty, in fact. Heero was nowhere to be found. She peered around as though expecting him to suddenly materialize in a corner and noticed another door that she had missed during the . . . excitement . . . of her previous visit to his office.

"Heero?" she called hesitantly.

"Just a minute," he answered, his voice muffled and disembodied. </ P>

Relena's heart give a jerk of mingled relief and disappointment, and she lifted her bag to her front so she could dig in it for a pen and writing pad. He was here. Business as usual. The other door opened while she was still occupied in the depths of her purse, and Relena glanced up sideways through her hair.

Makeup and various documents spilled from her bag as it hit the floor.

"Oh my god . . ."