Disclaimers: Not mine. I wish they were, but sadly, they belong to someone else with a lot more money than I.
Pairings: 3x2, 5+S, 1+4, brief mention of 6+N
Warnings: There be men in them there hills, doing things they shouldn’t be. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. There is lemon in here, and a lot of it, so don’t be shocked when you see it. Relena’s an evil bitch in here and Hilde is none too smart. You’ve been warned. Explicit lemon in later parts
AN: This hasn’t been beta’d yet, so please be kind. When it does get edited, as I’m sure it will, I’ll post the revised version and replace this one. Hope everyone enjoys this, drop me a line and let me know what you think! Reviews and comments are always appreciated!!
X-13
Fingers steepled under her chin, Relena gave the woman sitting across from her a look of sympathy while her insides leapt with revulsion. Keeping her true feelings off her face was easy with years of politics behind her and her tone was soft as she placed one hand on the table, stretching the other across the table in a show of support, palm up. “Don’t you see this has to be done? This is the only way to make sure he stays by your side, where he should be. Isn’t that what you want, Hilde?”
The black-haired woman nodded slowly, dried tears staining her pale face. “It’s what I want, but this seems so…cruel, Ms. Dorlian.”
“Call me Relena, please. We are friends, aren’t we?”
“I guess so,” Hilde chewed on a fingernail that was already gnawed down to the quick. “Are you sure there isn’t another way?”
It was an effort to keep the smile from wavering as Hilde spoke. Relena wondered how the simpering idiot believed she could hold onto someone as strong as a former Gundam pilot. Although she hated Duo Maxwell with a passion, Relena understood a woman as weak-willed as Hilde would never be able to provide enough of a challenge to keep the long-haired man interested, “Aren’t you tired of him leaving you every few weeks to come here?”
Wiping her nose with a tissue that had already been used until it was ready to disintegrate, Hilde sniffled pathetically, “Well, yes, but he has to come…for work. He has to keep headquarters informed about what’s happening on L2.”
“He has to make a trip to do that? It could be done with an email or a phone call. He doesn’t really have to come all the way here, does he? That sounds incredibly inefficient, not to mention expensive for the Preventers.” Playing on the other woman’s insecurities, Relena added, “Why would he need to stay for days at a time? Even if he has to deliver the update in person, it shouldn’t take three or four days, should it?”
Wringing the tissue in her hands, Hilde shrugged as pieces of the soft paper drifted to the surface of the table, “I’ve asked Duo about it before. He said sometimes it takes days to make sure the main office has all the details correct. If one thing is wrong it could screw up an entire investigation.” She gave Relena a pleading look, “He says he spends his free time catching up with the others, hanging out and talking.”
“You honestly believe he spends his spare time talking?” Relena shook her head slowly, allowing her doubt to show. After biting her lip a moment, seemingly debating whether she should share what she knew, she winced, “You know Duo and Heero were…close…during the war?”
“They’re still good friends,” Hilde smiled wistfully.
Wondering how stupid one woman could be, Relena leaned forward, crossing her arms on the surface of the table. “Hilde, they were much closer than just friend; I thought you knew. I assumed Duo would tell you that kind of thing before the two of you became involved.”
Hilde flushed, staring down at her hands in embarrassment. “Relena, we aren’t really involved… like that. I thought it was because he wasn’t ready to be in a serious relationship. If he and Heero were…” she trailed off, obviously unable to speak the words. “Maybe there’s no reason for me to be here at all. If he can’t have feelings for me because of that…”
“It’s only because he continues to see Heero on a regular basis,” Relena corrected her firmly. “Heero told me once the only reason they became so close was due to the stress during the war. Heero wanted to end things completely some time ago, but didn’t know how,” she lied outright. Heero had never said such a thing, or if he actually had, he wouldn’t have said it to her…a problem she laid directly at Duo’s feet. “He was worried Duo wouldn’t take things very well because there was no one for him to turn to. When I talked to him the last time he said Duo would be fine with you taking care of him. Duo knows how you feel about him, Hilde.” This part was true, but the next thing to come out of her mouth was a total fabrication, like most of what she had said thus far. “I overheard Duo talking to Wufei a few weeks ago. He said he would be happier with you but didn’t know how to break things off with Heero. The only way that can happen is if they don’t have to see each other every time Duo has to come for one of these supposed update meetings.”
Hope shined in Hilde’s eyes for a moment, helped along by the overwhelming obsession Relena had every intention of fueling, only to fade into worry. “If we do this, Duo will be so embarrassed and ashamed. He’ll lose all the friends he has here.”
This was part of what Relena wanted in order to achieve her ultimate goal. She wanted the former Deathscythe pilot as far away from Heero as possible. It was the only way she could see to get Duo out of her way and leave the way to the man she wanted clear. “It’s what best for Duo. Seeing the others would only make him think of Heero and that would make him sad. You want to make him happy, don’t you? He’ll be happy with you and you’ll get to spend more time with Duo if he doesn’t have to come to Earth. In time he’ll forget anything ever happened. It’s a win-win situation Duo will thank you for.” There was little chance of that, but Relena saw her last comment helped Hilde as the woman lifted her head with a small smile.
Knowing when to be quiet, Relena gave Hilde a few minutes to make her decision, already aware it would be what she wanted. When the other woman began to dig in her purse, Relena hid the self-satisfied smirk that wanted to form on her lips. That wouldn’t help her cause any. Once the vial was placed on the table she lifted her eyes doubtfully to the other woman. “Are you sure it’s enough? It seems awfully small,” she asked, knowing it would be plenty.
Biting her nails, Hilde nodded. “The guy I got it from said it was enough for three people and to make sure to only use one dose. He made sure to emphasize if one person takes more it could hurt them.” Frowning deeply, the black-haired woman stared at Relena, “You’ve never told me what this does, not really. It won’t hurt Duo, will it?”
“I swear it won’t. He’ll just act funny and say odd things to the people around him,” Relena assured, knowing full well that would only be a small part of the symptoms Duo would experience. “Why don’t you go to the room I’ve had prepared for you? You look exhausted.” What Hilde really looked like was a pathetically desperate woman that coveted a man she would never have.
“I think I will, thank you. Will you let me know what happens? My shuttle leaves at eleven tomorrow morning, so you’ll have to call me.”
It was a call Relena had no intention of making. If anything was traced back to anyone, it would be Hilde, who had jumped on a shuttle and flown to Earth right after Duo had left L2. Hilde had been the one to scour the dark underworld of the L2 colony to find the contents of the vial, a drug Relena had instructed her to find, and she would be the one to leave soon after the drug was administered.
Standing, she led Hilde to the door, opening it and gesturing to the servant in the hallway. “You know I’ll do whatever I can to help you. You get some rest and we’ll talk more later.”
“As long as you’re sure everything will be all right,” Hilde hesitated then gave Relena a small smile that revealed her uncertainty and doubt before walking down the long hallway with the servant by her side.
Waiting until the two were out of sight, Relena closed the door and went to her desk, taking the phone she had bought off a random teenager from the drawer, ensuring none of the calls could be traced back to her. Dialing a number from memory, she tapped her fingers on the wood surface, smiling as she reflected on her plan.
Months of spying, eavesdropping and scheming were finally going to pay off. The meticulous care she had taken to have her name kept out of the plans was going smoothly. Now there was only one final thing for her to do and Duo Maxwell would be removed from her life, and Heero’s, forever.
When the phone was answered, she kept her voice low, smiling as she eyed the vial still sitting on the table, untouched by her hand. “I have something I need you to pick up. You remember what you’re supposed to do?”
“Make sure he takes it. Simple enough. Do you have a specific time you want it done?”
Recalling Hilde’s departure time, Relena calculated the time it would take to reach the shuttle port from the Preventers building. “No later than ten-thirty tomorrow morning and earlier if you can manage it.” It would be perfect, as she would be in a committee meeting all morning, fighting for funding for a group of underprivileged children.
“You’re paying me enough to get it done when you want. The briefings take a break at nine. I work for the woman that serves refreshments. It’ll be easy to get the job done.”
“Excellent. After you pick this up, there will be no more contact with me, do you understand? It’s the best way for us to protect ourselves,” she pointed out reasonably, not caring one bit if the man was caught or not as long as he did his job.
“I understand. I promise I won’t fail. After this, I plan to take a long vacation with the money you’ve paid me.”
Hanging up the phone, Relena smiled. Finally, finally, she would have the one thing in the world she had always wanted and had never been able to claim as her own. “It won’t be long now, Heero. We’ll finally be together.”
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