Conflict of Interest

by picimadar

Summary:

Even after all the rest of his struggles, letting go of Relena was the hardest thing Heero had ever needed to do. When their paths cross again, the second hardest thing starts - keeping his hands off her long enough to not cause an international incident.

Relena never stopped loving Heero, never stopped losing sleep over him, never stopped hoping he would find his way in life. What if the way he found is back into her life?

Chapter 1

There wasn’t much commotion when her car pulled up to her hotel, waiting for the Foreign Minister to climb in, her armed guard holding the door before shutting her inside. Some colonies were a change of pace that way, a little less overwhelming than the constant crowds that she still needed a group of trained staff to manage for her every time she left her home on Earth.

This colony wasn’t complete, not yet - still in its infancy, the first new one finished since X-18999. Relena watched out the window as they drove from the hotel she was staying at to the municipal complex she would be working from for most of her trip. The streets were lined with middling and tall buildings, built for density in this segment of the colony, but the lack of people on the ground betrayed how low the population of the colony still was. Limited to those assisting with the required work of building the colony and their families, once it was safe, there were only a few people walking down the street, and almost no other vehicles out.

Relena smiled, leaning back and letting herself rest in her seat. She would meet the Representative that had been assigned here today, finally, and the team he had put together to help manage the process of mass immigrating citizens to their new home. It had been just over a decade since the war, and the population was growing once again, looking for stable, safe places to live their lives in peace.

This place was full of possibilities, so full it made Relena’s mind churn with optimistic hopes.

She sighed as the car pulled to a stop, straightening her slim cream-coloured skirt and making sure the short-sleeved, cornflower-blue blouse she’d chosen was tucked in just so, which it was. Relena ran a hand over part of her hair, pulled back into a sleek, low ponytail at the nape of her neck. This was her opportunity to make a good first impression, to put a good foot forward.

Incorporating the existing colonies into the ESUN had presented plenty of challenges and kept her wildly busy over the last 12 years. Her eventual election and appointment to Foreign Minister was meant to come with some relief - a department to do her bidding, to handle the travel and the busy work - but it had limitations.

When Representatives would demand to meet with her and only her, or when her Ministerial peers insisted on her presence in meetings and committees, her team would shrug. “No one can replace you,” they would say by way of apology, filling her calendar to the brim.

Her car door opened and Relena smiled at the young man who stood outside, waiting for her to step out. Murmuring a quick thank you, she pulled on a cream coloured jacket to match her skirt and pulled her purse straps over her shoulder. Running a hand under her ponytail to free it from the collar, she stepped out onto the pavement and into the light. There was a short courtyard at the front of this colony’s current municipal complex, punctuated by a series of raised garden beds, well-groomed and waiting to grow into their space with time.

Her chest swelled with the anticipation of challenge and success. Establishing the governance of a new colony was an opportunity Relena hadn’t thought she’d see in her career, the war so devastating in its ability to crush progress as much as it crushed public trust in a central government. She had pushed through hatred, grief and fear in colony after colony, on Earth, on Mars. She had learned the things to say, the ways to inspire and aid, to reassure and fulfill her promises. Relena looked forward to doing it again.

Her guard stepped through the main door of the complex with her, glancing around through the large space. Vaulted ceilings opened to mostly glass, the artificial sunlight pouring in from above.

“Good morning, Minister Darlian!” a familiar face greeted her - Camden Rose, one of the senior engineers overseeing the construction of the population and life support functions of the colony. At his sides were a few other people whose faces she recognized from their government employee profiles.

“Good morning to you, Mr. Rose,” she greeted warmly, extending a perfectly manicured hand to gently clasp his and shake it. They made their pleasant, short introductions before agreeing to head up the elevator and toward the meeting spaces that had been booked for the day. Relena expected to spend at least a month on the colony, mostly camped out in this building, and she turned her head as she looked over each shoulder, taking in the bright, clean spaces - light paint and tasteful art on the walls, and many floor-to-ceiling windows. With no rain and few insects, it was a popular building style in newer colonies, allowing the light into the public space, reducing the need for indoor lighting and additional power use.

Even the elevator was backed with glass, a fact Relena could tell her guard wasn’t happy about, but she was. She watched the street seem to grow smaller as they were lifted into the air, mulling butterflies in her stomach over how the day may go. A little too late, Relena realized the elevator was quiet, and she could have put a little effort into small-talk with her peers, but there would be plenty of time for that.

Relena smiled at the woman next to her before they stepped out at their destination floor, and she smiled back broadly enough it shifted her glasses on her nose. “Exciting, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

They all file off the elevator, Relena’s guard stepping out first, surveying the floor and then falling back to follow them. Despite the group being half populated with billionaire investors, none of them had guards, and Relena fought down her self-consciousness. Coming with a limited retinue had been the least her security team had deemed acceptable, and while there hadn’t been any concerted attempts on her life in a little while, threats still emerged.

A tiny bit of self doubt wedged its way into her psyche, the way a sliver found its way into skin. This was a brand new colony, one that would need careful consideration to its early population, to its laws and expectations, to its governance. New populations were at high risk for dissatisfaction, for low quality of life as the colony established equilibrium for its inhabitants. All of those factors coalesced into the perfect opportunity for bad actors to seize authority, to create the culture of their own design.

Relena shivered, pulling on the cuff of her jacket to try and cover up the reflex as she considered Dekim Barton once again, for the hundredth time. No one seemed to notice as they were ushered down a hall and up to the doors of a large conference room.

Dozens of people were already inside it, filling the grand space with the sound of mulling and idle chatter as they awaited the day to begin. Their entrance into the space drew little attention at first, but once the first few people lay eyes on her, a predictable cascade begins. Slowly but surely, Relena heard her name said in the hushed, annoyingly reverent way people did these days, their faces turning toward her, taking her in.

Relena jumped a little when she felt a touch on her elbow. “Pardon me, Minister,” Camden said amiably, directing her attention as he held out a hand toward the middle of the room. “I took the liberty of making some arrangements so you’d be seated with us.”

“That’s wonderful.” She did appreciate it - while she was distantly aware of most of the gathered professionals in the room, there were few that Relena knew well. She shifted the strap of her bag on her shoulder before Camden roused the rest of their group to follow him to their table. They fell into stride; the room was large enough it takes a moment of stepping through it to get where they aim to be. Relena stuck on her best neutral smile, working not to stare back at the others in the room who had managed a range of professionally peering at her over the rims of their coffee cups or from side angles to openly gawking and fawning as she passed.

“Attention, everyone,” a voice spoke from the front of the room, where a small stage has been erected along with screens to ease their viewing. “We’ll be getting started in just a few minutes, if everyone can find their places and be seated.”

The crowd moved again, finding new purpose beyond moving just out of each other’s way so they could catch her in their line-of-sight as they made their way to their tables.

“We’re so glad you were able to join us early, Minister,” one young man said to her, extending his hand. “I’m Maxime Foucault, with Winner Enterprises.”

“Of course, Maxime, I remember you from the last project - decommissioning M03. It’s wonderful to see you again. I was thinking that you’d be rostered for this, even if it is a step in the opposite direction of last time.” Max practically glowed, his blush was so immediate and effusive.

“Well, Minister-”

“Relena is more than fine,” Relena reassured. There was a light shuffle behind her, someone touching her back as they slid past between her and another patron, and that touch made her pause. When had she become so startled to be touched? Moreover, when had anyone been so comfortable to lay a hand on her so casually?

“Well, Relena,” Max said, testing her name out carefully, “I’m happy to give you the opportunity to meet some of the consultants you’ll be working with most closely during your time here.” He gestured to the table of politely smiling, smartly dressed professionals, some waving pleasantly as one of the conference staff moved between them, pouring coffee and water.

“You’ve met a fair number of us already, although there may be a couple that are new to you… let’s see. Oh, there’s Grace Champion,” Max said, his curly brown hair bouncing as he turns to gesture to one of the women at the table, “and that is Remy Price, also from Winner.” He turned back toward Relena, his freckled and sweet expression growing surprised.

Relena heard his happy “Oh, that’s right!” just as she turned to see who it was, standing just outside the corner of her vision. Her heart dropped into her stomach, or maybe it was lodged in her throat - it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be there, in her chest, safe.

“Relena, I’d like to introduce you to Heero Yuy - he’s the independent stability consultant that’s assigned to the project. He’ll more-or-less be your shadow for the next couple of weeks!”

She had been staring just too long - she knew it - but Relena was trapped, feeling out-of-body as she watched Heero hold his hand out to her, thumb raised, waiting. Automatically, she slid her hand into his, watching his fingers close over hers. It was perfect - they fit together perfectly.

“We’ve met before, actually.” Heero’s voice was quiet and warm, terrifying in its familiarity. Relena’s heart was still lost, beating frantically but feeling like it was getting no blood to anywhere it was required - like her brain, to form a coherent thought.

He couldn’t possibly tell them - not after all that she’d done to keep his peace. Heero released her hand, and she could think again. Her mind made up for lost time, barreling out at what felt like a thousand miles an hour to come up with some reason they would know each other that wasn’t-

“Oh?” Max said, looking at her, then back to Heero. The taller of the two - even taller now than he had been the last Relena saw him, somehow - Heero kept his unerring gaze fixed on her. It was an unapologetic stare, one that trailed down to the tips of her fingers before making its way back to her face, totally unlike the side-eyed glances and embarrassed realizations of the fawning onlookers around them.

“We went to high school together,” he elaborated, the corner of his mouth turning up just slightly. The tiny shift in expression was enough to make Relena’s stomach flip, and she felt her inner professional racing to take control of the wheel again. “Briefly,” he added, watching her just a second longer before turning to take his seat.

He unbuttoned the jacket on his navy blazer as he sat down, matched perfectly to a pair of slacks that fit such a way Relena had to force herself to stop looking. While she didn’t go so far as to shake her head, internally she finished out what felt like a long scream before smiling at Max as he pulled out her chair for her, thanking him and sitting down. She put her bag on the floor between herself and Heero, determined not to look at him.

Still, she could see him out of the corner of her eye as he glanced around the table, making a tiny nod to a peer across from them before he leaned back.

“Coffee, sir?” one of the young waitstaff asked, holding a tureen before her in her white blouse and black slacks.

“Please,” Heero said, moving his cup and saucer closer to the edge of the table for her.

The room was hot, Relena decided, unseasonably so despite there being no seasons on a colony such as this. Unbuttoning her own jacket and half standing to take it off before folding it into her lap, she focused on trying to catch her breath and whether or not sweat was actually starting to bead on her forehead.

“Relena?” Max asked, forcing her back to reality, just as she realized the waitress had surely asked her how she took her coffee.

“Cream and sugar,” Heero answered for her. Relena had wanted to utterly throttle him before she turned her head so slightly to give him a pointed look. The glance backfired terribly, their eyes meeting as he lifted his cup to his lips and took a long, appreciative sip of black coffee. His long lashes settled against his cheeks as he closed his eyes, savoring it, before returning it to the table, putting it down with barely a sound.

She didn’t want to throttle him after all - Relena wanted her hands on him. She swallowed, leaning down toward her bag to pull out her small laptop and get it started, thankful for something else she could focus on.

His hair was a bit brushed back, just the smallest bit of manageability coerced into it - just like all the rest of him, Relena knew. It had only been two years since they had last seen each other, but whenever she thought about it, it felt like forever. Then, suddenly, he was here, and it felt like it was only yesterday they had parted ways after all.

The waitress smiled, pouring coffee into the cup in front of Relena, placing two tiny creamers and a packet of sugar on to the saucer with it, just as Heero had asked.

This was going to be the longest month of her life.

Chapter 2

“Never thought I'd see another one first start turning, let alone ready to be lived in.”

Heero looked to his left, putting eyes on the first person who’d broken the silence - a senior engineer he’d worked with once or twice before. He’d been taking in the view from atop the colony’s civic centre, a tall structure that allowed an unbroken sightline across swathes of what would one day be a densely populated city centre, home to at least a few million new inhabitants.

A handful of their peers watched in a quiet, hopeful silence - what a revelation it had been to Heero, that even a silence could be hopeful - before one of them cleared their throat.

“We should head in,” the older man said, clearing his throat a second time. Heero averted his eyes - he could feel the same emotions rising in his own chest, staring out at the work of thousands of people pouring millions of hours into a new triumph of human will. There had been no new colonies launched in over a decade. Something important had been made, here. Humanity was moving forward.

“Oh, there’s delegations arriving,” one of the group said, a young woman who leaned over the railing at the edge of the building to stare down below.

The older engineer near Heero scoffed quietly. “Ah, what would it be without the Earthling cronies coming in to babysit?” A few of the group nodded sagely as they turned to walk back to the roof access, heading into the facility proper.

Heero looked back out over the edge for another moment before following. Glancing up above them at the artificial sky as he walked, he let a small smile tug at his lips. It was as blue as any colony sky, though this one had shifted once per day over the week Heero had already spent there, each day previewing a different version of available brightness, warmth or coolness, different sunrises and sunsets.

It was aquamarine that day, he saw - the colour of ocean water, the colour of eyes that would look back up into his with all the love in the world, once. Heero sighed and started walking, stopping himself from thinking of exactly how many days it had been since he’d seen those eyes, or the ocean.

“You okay, Heero?” Grace held back from the group, letting them fill the available elevator while the two of them waited behind.

“Yeah,” he replied, taking his phone out of his pocket to check it.

“If you say so.” Grace was a willowy woman, and in heels she stood eye to eye with him, making it easy to lean in and nudge him with her shoulder. “It’s a lot of pressure, I know. Do you know who you’re going to be liaising with yet?”

“No,” Heero said, having been scrolling his new emails to see just that. “Nothing yet.”

The elevator arrived and they stepped inside, pressing the button for a few floors lower. The conference rooms at the civic centre were reserved to hold the group of scientists, engineers, specialists, representatives, and, finally, auditors like Heero and Grace, while they deliberated about the date to officially open the colony to population distribution. It was a complex, multi-faceted process, one that typically took a few months to be settled at best.

Grace sighed, and Heero shifted a little on his feet as he continued looking out the glass back of the elevator, realizing he’d made no effort to fill the silence.

“Whoever it is, I hope they like the quiet type,” she joked. Heero saw her reflection slightly ghosted in the glass, the bright red of her lipstick making her grin obvious. She turned back toward the doors, flipping her curly, copper hair over her shoulder. “Then again, you really do get a hard-on for data. I’m sure they can get you talking once they get into the numbers.”

Heero breathed out his nose as the elevator chimed quietly and the doors opened, unveiling the cacophony of activity in the conference centre. People milled in the hallway, chattering in small groups, walking to and from the main entrance doors to the larger room, exchanging warm greetings. While operating colonies was nothing new, initiating them was a rarer process, and the experts involved in the process would often cross paths.

“Ah, Yuy!” A young man approached them, smiling while Grace almost bounced on her toes. “And Champion! What are you two doing here? Did X-18999 finally decide they were sick of you?”

Grace barked a short laugh, shaking his hand before Heero did the same. “And what, Remy - you’re here to make a new record in how much you can delay an opening date?”

Remy’s cheeks flushed under his deep skintone.

“Don’t listen to her,” Heero interjected, looking out past Grace, ignoring her indignant pout. “If it’s not ready, lying about that won’t make it any safer.”

“Exactly.” Remy turned a little, pushing his hands into the pocket of his slacks. “Should we head in? I think it’s assigned seating, so we’ll meet the rest of our team?”

Heero nodded, casting one last glance over the atrium before following Remy and Grace. He knew the number of people milling the lobby, his mind constantly working in the background even to that day, counting, categorizing. He recognized a number of them, delegates and consultants that he’d met when he’d been an observer to many meetings like this.

Now, he was an attendee - a participant all his own. He politely thanked the panel at the door that checked his I.D., giving him his nametag and telling him where to sit. Grace and Remy waited for him just inside the doors.

The noise in the conference room proper was more chaotic than in the atrium, and Heero glanced around the room again, checking the entrances and exits. There’s staff and guards posted at almost all of them. “That’s our table,” Grace said from his side, and he followed her pointing hand toward the centre of the room.

“Heero Yuy,” another voice called for him, and Heero glanced toward the direction it came from, back past his shoulder, before turning back to Grace.

“We’ll flag you down,” Grace said, waving Heero off as she and Remy stepped away into the conference room. The entire space has high ceilings, walls painted an inoffensive beige, the ceiling the same glass-forward design as the other spaces, letting in the ‘natural’ light.

The owner of the voice stepped into view - an aerospace engineer Heero had worked with on one other occasion. He reintroduced himself, thankfully, because Heero hadn’t managed to hang on to the details, although the engineer remembered him.

“Your work with the maintenance project on that old colony in L2 was really something,” the man says to him, reaching out to clap an appreciative pat onto Heero’s arm. Heero tensed, glad his suit jacket may hide some of it, and the man didn’t seem to notice. “You should be proud of yourself, kid. You’ve got real talent for the details. I can’t believe Winner hasn’t scooped you up - don’t you go working for the government, now.” The man leaned in conspiratorily, holding a hand up to his mouth as though covering a secret. “They’ll never pay what we’re worth, you know. You gotta keep out of that public sector, alright? No matter how cushy it looks!”

Heero was listening, but he also noticed heads turning toward the other entryway, a cascade of murmurs following. Whoever they were watching, nobody was being particularly subtle about it.

“Sure,” he said, nodding to the engineer who seemed satisfied with the response, saying a quick ‘atta boy’ and patting Heero’s arm again just as the emcees requested everyone move back to their tables. He spotted Grace quickly, her red hair a rarity even in her home colony, and realized as he made his way between the other tables that he was following the track of whoever this person of interest is that is distracting everyone.

Of course she’s distracting them, Heero understood as he saw her. Relena paused just beside the table Heero was advancing on, chatting amiably with Maxime Foucault, another consultant Heero had met a few times before.

She looked incredible, Heero decided. As though she could feel the weight of his eyes and his thoughts on her, Relena turned her head to glance over her shoulder. Her eyes were so blue, exactly like the sky outside, exactly like he remembered.

Heero realized he had been stopped dead in his tracks when Grace waved to him, giving him a look, and it made him lurch back into motion. It only took a few steps to close the distance between him and the Foreign Minister, and he had to hold his breath not to think of how easy it would be to take her in his arms, feel the warmth of her against his chest, to breathe in the smell of her hair.

He settled for a hand that just ghosted over the middle of her back - a sterile, calming gesture he must have done hundreds of times before in his work - feeling her tense the same way he had at the touch of a stranger.

The thought went straight to his heart, clamping over his chest like a vice. A stranger. It was viscerally revolting to consider, and thankfully everyone else at the table is distracted from the glare Heero knew must be on his face.

“There’s Grace Champion,” Maxime said to Relena, standing just too close to her, beaming at her as she looked across the others at the table. “And that is Remy Price, also from Winner.”

She smiled at them warmly, lifting a hand in a polite wave, the table a little too large to reach and shake their hands. Heero could not stop staring at her. Her hair had grown, slicked back into a ponytail that was curled, tumbling down her back over her jacket. Max caught Heero’s glance, and Heero nodded to him.

“Oh, that’s right!”

Relena turned toward him, and for only a moment, it was only the two of them.

She was the only one who had this power, he had long realized, to stop time. The noise fell away, the idle chatter insignificant when considering what was in front of him. Her bangs were a little longer now, framing her face, and her usual light makeup brightened her eyes but couldn’t hide the way the colour drained out of her face when she realized it was him.

“Relena, I’d like to introduce you to Heero Yuy,” Max continued on warmly, shaking Heero’s hand quickly. “He’s the independent stability consultant that’s assigned to this project.” Relena’s eyes widened, flickering to his nametag before going right back to his face, holding his gaze. “He’ll more or less be your shadow the next couple of weeks!”

Heero’s mind managed to catch up to the situation first - a relative rarity, when Relena was the born-and-bred social climber - and he held out his hand to her. Clear blue eyes tracked down before she reached out, sliding her right hand into his. Her palm was just slightly clammy, but it didn’t matter at all. She was touching him. He closed his fingers over hers. “We’ve met before, actually.”

“Oh?”

It was impulsive, the admission, but Heero couldn’t help the way ‘stranger’ kept beating its way around his chest as he watched Relena. He had known - knew - her. The rare times he lost his resolve, that he felt lost, he would let his mind drift, remembering exactly how it had felt to wake up next to her, the feeling of her head nestled against his chest, the warm rhythm of her breath against his skin. He knew her.

Which was how he then knew that she was adrift - he had taken this step without her knowing what dance they were starting. Relena was well trained for this, her poise keeping its position, but Heero could see the tiny shift in her expression, the fear realigning her posture just so slightly. He saw it right down to the way her fingers clenched just a little around the edge of his palm where Heero still held her hand. It took a feat to make her nervous. She had never been nervous of him, before.

“We went to high school together,” he elaborated quickly. He saw Grace and Remy both cock their brows, glancing at each other and shrugging. “Briefly.” It wasn’t a lie, but something difficult to verify, too. The table was occupied by young professionals, or older, wealthy experts, neither of whom would have more than a polite disinterest in something as casual as past classmates crossing paths.

Heero made himself let go of her hand just as she did, trying to minimize his wince as she quickly moved to grasp the strap of her bag, clenching it in her hand. It only took a moment for her to get a little footing, and she took the bag down, smiling at Max as he helped pull her chair out so she could sit at the round table.

“Coffee?” a waiter asked Heero, and he thanked the young woman, nudging the cup and saucer in front of his place at the table toward her. “Black is fine.”

Relena put her bag on the floor between them, fussing in it for a moment before she sat up straighter and then stood, unbuttoning her cream coloured jacket and sliding it off her shoulders. Heero noted the rest of the table staring at her much the same way he was, covering up his rapt interest, though he knew how much the constant attention drained Relena.

“I’ll pour you one as well, miss,” the waiter said, “if you could tell me how you prefer it?” Relena folded her jacket, lifting a hand to her breastbone, moving her fingers over her shirt. Worrying at her pendant, Heero realized. It was a small thing, a tiny, self-soothing gesture, but it brought the vicelike pain back to his chest in an instant.

“Relena?” Max asked, and Relena suddenly snapped back to reality, glancing at Max before looking abashedly at the waiter.

“Cream and sugar.” The words were out of Heero’s mouth before he could think twice about them. He had probably ordered her coffee a few hundred times - again, he stopped himself from considering exactly how many times. Relena glanced at him then, their eyes meeting, and while he can see the bit of flush in her cheeks, her customary light glare is back in her expression.

He understood why, breaking her stare even if he didn’t want to, turning his attention to his coffee cup to take a sip of it. Relena said a quiet ‘thank you’ before digging back into her bag, producing a small laptop computer. The waitress poured her coffee, leaving the creamers and sugar on the saucer, while the rest of the table continued to stare at them.

A polite disinterest may have been managed over a couple of high-school acquaintances. What they were being watched with now was a professional level of interest over why, exactly, Heero would still know how Relena Darlian took her coffee now, at twenty-seven years old.

He took another drink of his cup. It would take a few months to open this colony. He had a new mission, and a timeline.

He had a few months to fix this.

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed! Heero seems to have the upper hand, for now...

Chapter 3

The initial presentations were extremely informative, and Relena tried her damndest to keep up with notes. Heero watched as her fingers typed deftly along the keyboard as she watched their main speakers review the colony construction process, the progress, and habitability timelines. His vision was still sharper than most people, and he could see the notes she was making.

So many questions about the lifestyles of the people who would eventually come to call this place home. Seeing through the technological marvels the engineers had brought together, the cost saving and profit maximizing technicalities the developers had managed - Heero brought his coffee mug to his lips to hide the minute smile starting at the corner of his lips.

She saw through to the heart of everything. She hadn’t changed at all.

Heero looked down into his empty cup as the last speaker finished up.

“Thank you so much everyone, and we welcome any and all questions from our groups as we continue through the presentations and tours.” The man on stage gestured over to a woman who crossed the stage to take over the podium.

“The senior team members at each of your tables should be acquainting you over the course of the day,” the woman - one of the lead quality engineers - said, smiling out at them, “and we look forward to starting first thing tomorrow. As we said in the beginning, everyone’s items have been taken to the homes you’ll be testing out for the rest of your stay. Please settle in and rest off some of the shuttle fatigue before we get into the real work tomorrow!”.

Heero took in the table, the group smiling as they watched Relena pack up her laptop.

“Wonderful presentations,” Max said finally, stretching a little before turning his full attention back to Relena.

Heero understood. Sometimes looking directly at her was like looking at the sun. The way Max looked at her was with an expression Heero had probably worn thousands of times before, and it made him want to lurch across the table and drag Max down to the floor.

“It’s wonderful we all get to work with you,” Grace finally said, “Minister Darlian.”

“Oh, please,” Relena said, smiling at Grace and avoiding looking at Heero altogether. “‘Relena’ is perfectly acceptable.” She glanced around the table, spreading that bit of warmth to each of them. “It’s my honour, really, to work with each of you. You’re such experts in your fields. I will have a lot to learn, and I’m afraid I’ll be depending very much on your patience.”

“We’ve got plenty of time,” Heero said, and finally, finally she looked at him again. The flinch was so small, so instantaneous that he knew nobody else had probably even registered it, but he did. “You won’t be the only one with questions.”

“That’s right,” Grace said, glancing between them before settling back on addressing Relena. “You’re in the perfect group, because we’re all going to be able to answer and direct your questions. We’ve all got outside eyes on this project, but you’re in good hands with Max here,” she added. Max beamed again.

“Oh, it’s been a long project but I’m just glad it’s finally come together,” he said, “and brought us all here together!” He let his smile linger in Relena’s direction again, and she gave him a smile back - a real one, a beautiful one, one that reached her eyes.

“Thank you,” she said, standing and reaching for her jacket. Heero almost reached for it, remembering holding them out so she could slide the sleeves on easily so many times. Without any difficulty, he remembered taking them off - remembered leaning in and kissing the bared skin of her neck, and the way she would open up for him, ready to release the stress of the day.

“It sounds like we’ll meet again tomorrow, then,” Relena said, pulling her ponytail from her collar. “I look forward to working with each of you.” She glanced at Heero as she parted, her expression one of wariness, of consideration.

He didn’t like it.

Heero hated it, in fact, and hated it the entire way out to the light rail cars that were waiting not only to show off the transit of the colony, but to take all the waiting participants to their lodgings. His friends chattered amongst themselves as they sat and rode, Heero finding a seat by a window where he could watch the colony outside, and keep hating that look.

“Is Heero alright?” Heero heard at one point as Max tried to quietly probe Grace from a seat just down the aisle.

“He’ll be fine,” she said with a smile on her voice. “He likes to think a lot.”

Max must have been satisfied with that, and after a beat the pair began talking about Relena instead.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with her a few times,” Max said. “She won’t go easy on any of us, but she isn’t unfair, either.”

Heero turned enough to see Grace from the corner of his eye. She was pursing her lips, like she was considering something. “But is she any fun?”

“Fun?” Max asked, just as Remy parroted Grace from his seat behind her.

“How can she be,” he said. “She looks so uptight. Did you see her taking notes?”

“Doing her job?” Grace asked just as Heero thought it. “How very dare she.”

Remy sucked his teeth. “Maybe you’re right,” he finally said conspiratorially, leaning closer to Grace and Max. “I hear the terrestrials know how to party. Maybe she really lets loose. If anyone managed to bring any of the good stuff up here, it would be her.”

It was Grace’s turn to scoff, but Max rescued the conversation by murmuring “she does really enjoy champagne from time to time,” much to the others’ amusement.

Heero gritted his teeth.

“We’re going to have time to figure her out,” Grace said, “and I like a challenge. This colony is going to be the best one yet, by far. Darlian’s been in the workings of every colony in every cluster. She knows more than she’ll let on.”

Her comments were meant to inspire, but Heero watched their peers, each of them expressing a different degree of anxiety over the prospect. Relena was not the only delegate from the government there, but she was the most prestigious. Her opinions mattered, and could carry or kill different parts of the project.

Luckily for them, Heero considered, Relena also knew that. While she often didn’t understand why she had power, or the confidence she inspired, she never denied it existed. It was her responsibility to wield it, she would say, because people entrusted her with it.

The light rail car slowed to a stop, pinging as the overhead announced that they could depart. On the raised waiting area, a dozen volunteers with hi-vis vests on flagged the groups together and led them down the side streets.

They were in the residential corridor now, further around the ring from the central government buildings. On both sides of the rail, curated neighborhoods were outstretched - the most accessible all appeared occupied while the streets stretched out, looking quieter and quieter. Some had construction in progress. Row houses, low rises, high rises - mixed occupancy, the guide explained to them, were all available in walkable centres that allowed for maximal comfort and choice.

They were lead to a low rise that stood just inside a row of attached houses. “This will be for Champion, Lewis, and Silvert,” the guide read off a tablet. “Next unit down is for Foucault, Price and Yuy.”

“Ah, very nice,” Max said, smiling, "although it’s been some time since I’ve had roommates.”

Remy laughed and walked up to the house. “Heero is about as good a roommate as you can ask for,” he said. "Which is good, because he'll make up for my antics." Max gave Heero a glance and a kind smile, one that seemed genuine before he followed Remy to the door. Heero tucked his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t clench his fists, nodding his head in acknowledgement before looking down the street.

It was idyllic, the neighborhood. Heero had seen some like it on Earth - vibrant spaces teeming with people and families, ground floors functioning as businesses while the upper floors were alight with life. While much of the spaces around them were still empty, there were signs of life all around. Flowers planted in a window box of the house across from them. A few people walked along the adjoining streets, returning from their work preparing the colony for more inhabitants.

There was so much potential. Things to be improved, which was part of Heero’s job, and something he’d found he not only excelled in, but found satisfaction in. Still, there were things to be improved in his own life, too. Things that were missing. Things that could be made better.

Grace caught his glance and stepped over to him. “Guess we’re neighbors now,” she said. She turned and looked behind her just as a black, unmarked car pulled up to another one of the houses just down the street. It was a freestanding unit on the interior of the set of homes, all of them semi-circle and backing into the same small greenspace.

Relena’s guard stepped out of the car, conferring with another who stepped out of the front door of the house before motioning for her to follow.

“Sloppy,” Heero muttered, and Grace turned to him, making a questioning sound.

“Nothing,” he recanted. She was used to this, and while she gave him a look, cocking her brow, she turned back to spectate their new teammate. Relena looked around the street a little, taking it all in before turning and walking up to the front door, disappearing inside. Her guards remained outside on the porch a while longer before one remained there, the other disappearing back into the car and driving away.

“She’s alone,” Grace noticed. Heero wasn’t surprised - like him, it was her job to notice things. It was an exceptional skill she had. It also wasn’t any surprise when she took a moment to look around and make sure no one was close enough to hear before murmuring “So. She is ‘Christmas’, isn’t she?”

For something to make him wince, it had some significance, and he winced again now as he did every time Grace had brought it up. Christmas was never an easy time for him - for any of them - but they had been steadily harder since he and Relena had parted ways.

“Damn,” Grace said, looking past him to the front door of Relena’s temporary home.

"Yeah,” Heero said, shaking his head. “‘Damn’ is right.”

Chapter 4: "Christmas"

Notes:

We're going to start earning the E rating here friends.

Two years ago

She’s so malleable in his arms. She fits in them so perfectly. He lifts her into his hands, swallowing her surprised sound as he kisses her. Half carrying her through the door, he nudges it closed with a hand, fumbling with the lock as he pushes her back against it. Trapped, she wraps her arms around his neck and shoulders, arching her back to push her body against his.

There’s not much between them - he’s long discarded his suit jacket, sticking with the dark blue dress-shirt and black slacks he’d worn to their formal dinner. Relena is stunning - always, but especially tonight - her body wrapped in a deep red cocktail dress. It’s a shimmering, satin fabric with long sleeves, but the skirt ends just above her knee. The cut of the dress is perfect, showing off every curve that he’s missed for the last year. Her hair is loose, falling over her shoulders in perfect waves, and her makeup makes her eyes seem even bluer. He hasn't been able to stop staring at her.

He can’t get close enough to her. There’s nothing he can do to be close enough. He breaks the kiss, taking her chin in his hand so he can turn her head, pressing kisses to her neck, sucking a kiss into her skin.

“Heero, don’t,” she admonishes, panting as she weaves her fingers into his hair. He settles for licking and lightly biting the skin of her throat, feeling her tremble as he does.

It’s so easy, like this, to know what she wants from him, what she’ll take from him and give to him. He pushes a knee between hers, and she opens for him easily, her skirt starting to bunch up her thighs.

She captures his lips in another kiss, their tongues brushing over each other as he helps push her skirt up farther, his hand finding its way to cup her sex, brushing his fingers over her already damp underwear. A slow slide of his fingertips along the slicked fabric makes her gasp against his mouth.

“Heero,” she half moans, half whispers.

“I’ve got you,” he says, murmuring it against her temple before kissing it. It already tastes of the lightest sheen of sweat, and it makes him groan. He wants to taste all of her. He kneels, pulling her panties down as he looks up at her. She stares down at him, letting her hand fall to his shoulder. She opens for him still more, letting him lift her leg to prop it over his shoulder, cradling her thigh in his broad hand.

She whispers his name again before letting a hand fall to his shoulder. It’s all the permission he needs; Heero leans in, pressing his lips to her slicked skin, pressing the flat of his tongue to it and tasting her. He doesn’t bother holding back the groan that builds in his chest at the sensation, and he feels the tremor it causes run through her. Her hand clenches the fabric of his shirt, already holding on for purchase as he traces the tip of his tongue along her folds, worshipping her clit with lips and tongue.

He smiles against her as she swears quietly, her second hand returning to his hair, pulling lightly. The bit of friction only makes him more eager, and he continues sucking and licking her most sensitive spots before tracing a finger along her opening.

She gasps his name, pulling his hair, but he doesn’t relent. A second finger helps hold her open, and he presses the edge of his tongue inside her before withdrawing. He wants to see her, and he keeps running his fingers up to her clit, circling it before sliding back down, tracing the edges of her opening.

Relena lets her head fall back against the door - quietly, at least. “Please,” she says, and Heero feels his cock ache at the sound of it. He doesn’t answer, instead leaning back in to suck her clit before gently capturing it between his teeth.

“Heero,” she groans, gasping, clenching her thighs. “Please.”

It’s so easy for her to undo him, he has long realized. He stands, letting her leg fall back to the floor before he reaches for his belt. He has stood up to prolonged interrogation, techniques that he had watched used on men that would make them beg to be freed, and not said a word.

Two tiny, pleading words from Relena, and he’s insensible.

It shakes him, for just a moment. They shouldn’t do this. She’d pushed him away for a reason - had released him out into the wild after his successful rehabilitation.

She reaches, her fingers tangling in his at his groin, palming over his evident, aching erection, and it drives the thoughts of stopping out of his head. Heero works faster, freeing himself, his cock springing from his open slacks. This is hardly the first time they’ve been so desperate for each other, but something about it still feels surreal - Relena standing there, lips swollen from kisses, hands smoothing their way over his chest, their friends waiting for them a few rooms away.

They both know they’re not getting away with anything. Heero only wants to get away with as much of her as she’ll still let him have.

He lifts her up, letting her wrap her legs around him before he turns them, pressing her against the closest wall. She cooes his name into his neck before she runs her warm tongue over the shell of his ear. “Take me, Heero,” she whispers, and his ability to withstand his needs is snapped in two.

He aligns the head of his cock with her entrance with ease before driving himself halfway inside her. She gasps, the edge of her cry tinged with surprise as he eases back. Her body knows his, and he knows hers, but it’s been a year. He eases back in more gently, holding her body still as he moves against her. In the back of his mind, some dark, demanding piece of him gloats over what it means - that she needs the time to adjust to him, to open to someone again. He pushes back the thought, nuzzling against her cheek. 

“Sorry,” he says, and he means it, but she’s already smiling again. 

“It’s okay,” she murmurs back. The edges of her heels drag along his back and over his ass as she wraps herself around him again, pulling him in tightly, and he lets himself push inside her. She sighs when he’s fully seated, letting her forehead rest against his cheekbone, and he takes the moment in. She wants this. She needs him, still. He can give her what she’ll take from him.

Heero pulls back before thrusting back inside her again, watching closely as she moans, her head falling against the wall again while he pulls back. Pushing and pulling inside her, he doesn’t waste time. There were plenty of occasions where they spent hours on each other, lying with each other, savoring every bit of skin. This was what they had time for today.

The slick, heated feeling of plunging inside of Relena’s waiting body is perfection. The way she cries out when he lifts her so he can pull her back down onto him, driving even deeper inside her is completely pristine. There’s nothing to improve, nothing to fix.

Her fingers drag along his back as she straightens so she can pull him into a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss. They’re both gasping for breath until Heero’s pace becomes too relentless, pinning her against the wall, her legs spread wide by his vicelike grip on her thighs. Relena’s breaths are ragged, and she tries in vain to hold back her cries as she clings to him.

He says her name and as soon as their eyes meet, she comes. He feels her body clench around his cock, her head falling back as release rolls through her. Her nails dig into his arms as she says his name, says it over and over. It’s all too much, and it’s all perfect, and it drives him over the edge. He spills inside her, leaning in to kiss her anywhere his mouth can reach, groaning her name against the skin of her neck.

There’ll be time for reality to rush in, to sweep their feet out from under them and douse them in the frigid materiality of their actions. For now, Heero just holds her, shifting his grip and his stance so she rests against his thighs, boneless as she comes down from her climax, seeking out his lips with hers again.

It’s Christmas, and there’s other gifts to be exchanged, but they’ve gotten what they needed from each other.

 

Notes:

two chapters because I was a little behind schedule posting. I'm hosting Omegundam, an omegaverse fan creation for GW writers and fan artists, that runs throughout September! I've been busy writing some contributions for the event - for more info on it and a link to our Gundam Wing Events server, click here 😊. We're hosting a number of different creative events throughout the year, and welcome cheerleaders and brainstorming helpers too!

I hope you all enjoy! Thank you again to all who have taken the time to comment 💛

Chapter 5

Relena was already captivated with the house. One of many on the brand new street, it was completely idyllic, almost surreal. Faux hardwood floorboards glistened, the walls mostly painted a very inoffensive cream color. Her heels had echoed as she’d walked through, touring with Maxime. He’d been as charming as always, and very gleeful to point out the features of the home and how a family would soon spend their days in it, one of many making a life on the new colony.

He’d beamed as he pulled back the curtains on one of the large bay windows, confused by the light glare her bodyguard had given him. Protocols were protocols, and she kept her distance from the window all the same.

She’d been left to her own devices after that, Max bidding her a warm farewell until the next day, when they would begin reviewing the process of the audit. While she would have liked to have a walk and look at the neighborhoods, or socialize a little, she was exhausted. The time difference alone was a reckoning, but traveling between Earth and Space took a toll, too. She needed time to recuperate before getting into the real work.

Relena found herself lying awake in bed for a while after she’d had a quick shower and changed into pyjamas had brought along - sensible ones, silken pants and a matching t-shirt. Her thoughts would not be beaten back no matter how she tried to manage them.

Heero was there. Of all places, of course he would be there, on the same restricted-access colony. She groaned, pulling the second pillow off the bed and pressing it over her face so she could half yell, half scream into it. He looked completely delicious in that suit, and she couldn’t get it out of her mind. It had been a full two years since she had last seen him. Her stomach turned as she thought about how long two years really was.

She lurched up out of bed, throwing off the covers. Thinking about that last time was off-limits - as was Heero, a private auditor, her peer. Grabbing a hair tie from the bedside table as she left the room, trying to pull her hair into a ponytail as she walked.

Tiny lights came on along the edges of the baseboards, casting a warm glow close to the floor and down along the stairs as she made her way to the kitchen. The house was staged well, but it was still eerie, a little too perfect, a little too quiet. Populated colonies had a background din that wasn’t too unlike those of the cities on Earth. This one, so much in its infancy, bordered on near silence in the night.

She knew Preventer had, of course, assigned security to her for the entire trip. Somewhere outside, there was likely at least two of them making rounds and monitoring. The traffic in and out of the colony was highly controlled, and in the years since the war, Relena had slowly put her foot down. She spent all her days with people, surrounded by all angles of humanity. In her homes, her suites, her shuttles, she required some solitude, free of observation, even by her guards.

Stepping into the kitchen, she turned on one light and took a glass out of the cupboard. She stood at the sink for a moment, filling the glass with water from the tap.

Even after years, and trying so, so hard to turn it off, she felt it. A twinge - like having a sudden remembrance of something important right as one fell asleep. It had been two years since she’d felt it in earnest. When she’d arrived at the conference rooms, she’d mistaken it for the optimism and eagerness she felt pouring off the crowd of gathered experts, the adrenaline of meeting new people, and putting her best foot forward.

There was no mistaking it, now.

“Hello, Heero,” Relena said quietly, and he appeared. Stepping just into the light cast from the kitchen light over the sink, he leaned against the island, looking at her. Relena took a breath, trying to steel herself before she turned to fully face him.

“Hello,” he said back quietly. He was wearing a dark grey t-shirt and black athletic shorts - not as tight as what he’d once favored, but easily showing off the defined muscles of his thighs - and running shoes.

“What are you doing here?” The question was pointed, but her heart was racing, adrenaline coursing. He was here, right there in front of her. Her heart squeezed as she took him in. He looked so good.

“I work here,” he answered. Relena watched his hands glide over the synthesized stone of the island and she swallowed. His eyes followed his fingers, brows knitting together just slightly as he appraised it. He must have realized that she was waiting on something else. “I took a contract to audit the sustainability report for this project.”

She had so many questions, but Relena practically bit her tongue to keep from asking them. She wasn’t entitled to the answers, anymore.

“In this house,” she said, her tone still demanding. “You can’t be here, Heero.”

“Nobody knows I’m here.”

He was confident, of course, as he would be. All these protocols Preventer still followed were ones he had helped develop himself. They were flawless, he insisted, when he executed them. He would find any flaws instantly, when mistakes were made. “They should know I’m here,” he added. Relena sighed, expecting the lecture. Heero crossed his arms, looking cross. He glanced out the kitchen window and took a step to his right - he knew exactly the line of sight her agents would have.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” Relena said. She leaned back on the counter for support. Her lips were still dry but she didn’t dare lick them, nor pick up the water glass, knowing her hands would shake. Heero shrugged. “It’s not your responsibility anymore.”

His nonchalance dissipated as he flinched, looking away through the rest of the kitchen. “It’s my choice, though, if I want it.”

Relena sighed and picked up her water after all. This was an argument they had already had dozens of times. There was no point digging up the remains of it. “You’re an auditor.”

Heero nodded, looking back to her as though he was relieved she changed the subject. He probably was, she realized. Relena had been in politics for just over a decade. Anyone knew what it was like to argue with her, including Relena herself. She’d had a million arguments in her own mind over this very man.

“What do we do, then?” she asked, stepping up and putting her glass down on the island.

“What do you mean?” Heero seemed genuinely confused, uncrossing his arms and putting his hands down on the island. “We do the audit.”

Her lips flattened to a line, her standard glare in full effect. “We can’t possibly.”

“Why not?” Heero shrugged again. Something about the gesture made Relena’s stomach sink, and her internal argument roared back to life in full force. How stupid of her, to think that he was as affected by her as she was by just the sight of him. How foolish of that part of her, for being wounded that he isn’t.

She swallowed again; she’d been staring at his hands as he moved to recross his arms, accentuating his sculpted chest. Relena could feel her face starting to flush and it made her a bit furious, but his voice interrupted her thoughts.

“I’ll leave,” Heero said. Relena sucked in a breath but managed to stop herself from reaching for him, from saying no, even as her chest constricted so tight it felt deadly. It was only worse when he looked at her. His expression was serious, one he had given often, but it had come and gone in waves, a little softer every year they’d grown distanced from war. “Your work here is important. My contract can be reassigned.”

The bindings of sadness around her chest loosened, but only enough to let her feel the pain of everything else again. She was interfering in his life, the life she had pushed him to go and find. A life without her. She shook her head, trying to collect herself.

“Don’t say that,” she murmured. “There’s no need.” Relena sighed, pressing her fingertips to her forehead. “It’s just a shock to see you. I wasn’t expecting it.”

“Would you have come?” Heero asked. “If you knew I was here?”

The question was like a dagger held to her throat. She didn’t know the right answer, so she did what any politician would - she pivoted. “Would you?”

“Yes.” The word alone made that hidden, wounded part of herself wince. Of course he would have come - this was a job, and she’s just another person. Then, the rest of her caught up, hearing the way he breathed the word, seeing the way he was looking at her as he said it. Something in his expression reminded her too much of the day he left.

“The team has to be able to complete the entire audit without any conflicts,” she said, desperately trying to steer out of the emotional black hole she could feel pulling her in. Heero knew as much as she did that they hadn't spent more than two hours in the same space without colliding, desperate for each other. Their gravity always pulled them together. “If we can’t do that-”

“We can,” Heero insisted. “That’s why I’m here.” He stepped around to the end of the island, edging closer to her. “I will leave if you want me to, but I-” he paused, brow wrinkling with consternation. “You should stay. You need to stay.” He thought another moment before he settled on saying, “People are grateful you’re involved. It could jeopardize the timeline of the project if you withdraw.”

It was so him to care about the practicalities, the reality, the impact of all of Relena Peacecraft and her decisions. This was bigger than them. It was certainly far bigger than this monster of tension that kept clawing its way from Relena’s gut into her heart when she thought of him. The lives of millions of people were in the balance.

“There’s no need for you to leave,” she said again, with more conviction. She felt the irony of it, insisting that he stay, when she had been neatly avoiding him for so long, when she was the one who sent him away.

“Then I’ll stay.” Heero stepped even closer, until he was just on the edge of her personal space.

“People will question it,” Relena said, trying to think clearly. “How we know each other.”

“I already told ‘em.” Heero spoke quietly.

“High school?” The incredulity in her voice echoes in the quiet kitchen.

He smiled, one of his small, careful smiles, and Relena stopped herself from outright gasping at it. “It’s the truth,” he said, and when she cocked her brow he added “close enough. Your PR team will handle the rest of it, if anything comes up. As far as any of the teams are concerned, I’m just another number-cruncher.”

Something about it, the normalcy of it, the way he says it without prejudice, made her smile. A number-cruncher, an auditor. A normal job, for a man with a normal life. Relena made the mistake of looking at his face, smiling at him, and he smiled back. It made her heart leap into her throat. He was beautiful as he’d always been.

His eyes raked over her in a way a number-crunching auditor had no business doing. She turned away a little, trying to hide the blush that surged up into her cheeks - half arousal from Heero’s attention, half embarrassment at how easily he earned that response. “Get some rest,” he murmured, and he stepped away, quickly reaching the darkness of the dining room. She heard his steps through the empty space, and then silence.

Relena groaned, a long, pent up, frustrated sound escaping her, and she covered her burning face with her hands. “God. What am I going to do?”

“Go to bed,” Heero’s voice called out from the far end of the house. Relena’s blush reached what had to be cherry-red heights as she held back something between a laugh and a sob. Turning and viciously slapping the switch to the kitchen light, she all but ran back upstairs. Stopping at the bedside table, she fished out her sleep aids, threw two of them into her mouth, swallowed them dry, and fell into bed.

Weeks, she thought to herself as she pulled the covers over her body. Weeks of him, where she’d had none of him in years. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes and she wiped them away with angry frustration. She thought of the millions of people waiting to start new, better lives on this colony. She thought of one man, who carried himself with confidence, who was respected enough to earn this exclusive contract, who looked healthy, and well, and good. Some things were much more important than the ache that seemed to extend straight into her soul as she lay alone in the dark.

Notes:

as always, thank you for reading!

Notes:

I hope that you enjoyed! Leave me a comment if you can!