"This Wasn't in the Job Description"

by: the archduke

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, nor am I making any profit from this fic.

Chapter 3: The Trap is Set, But Who's the Prey?

After Relena assured herself that both her and her office were presentable, she left to go to her meeting with Lady Une. As she rode the elevator up the three floors, she thought about the encounter that she had just had with Heero.

"One minute we're aruguing about my safety and the next we're sprawled out on my desk, ready to rip each other's clothes off. Not that I didn't like it," she thought with a small smile, "but it was totally out of character for the both of us." Her thoughts were interupted by a 'ding', signifying that she was now at her destination. She exited the elevator and made her way towards Lady Une's office.

Before she made it to the suite of offices that housed the upper level Preventers, she stopped, making it seem as if she were getting a drink at the water cooler. But in reality, she was reaching an important decision.

"Whatever happened between myself and Heero, it cannot happen again. I will just tell him, that with the press hounding me, it is too dangerous for us to be engaging in illicit activities." As she was about to enter Lady Une's office she got an even better idea of how to deal with Heero. "Or I can just avoid him for the rest of my life. That sounds good too."

Relena sat on the couch, a feeling of disbelief emanating from her. When she had entered Lady Une's office she had been surprised to not only see Heero there, but also Zechs, Noin, and Wufei, all seeming to be waiting for her. She nodded her acknowledgements to all, hesistating a bit at Heero, then spoke to Lady Une.

"Good day, Lady Une. I understand that you required my presence immediately. I hope there is nothing wrong." All she needed was an emergency to complete the last couple of days that she had been having.

Lady Une smiled, an indication that whatever it was, it was nothing too serious. "No, no, Miss Relena, all is fine. Actually, we have some good news for you." Lady Une then let her gaze travel to Noin, indicating that she should take over.

"Yes Relena, for once it is good news. You have been given an award."

This was good news. Relena smiled, quickly going over in her mind all the possible honors she could have won. It was too early for the Peace Awards, anyway she had been awarded that last year. It could be the Presidential Medal, or maybe the Universal Unity Award, or even the-

"Don't get too happy yet. You haven't heard what you've won." Wufei brought her back to reality.

At the smug tone of his voice, she began feeling that she was missing something.

She directed her attention towards her brother, who had been standing quietly against the wall, looking as if he were trying to blend in with the wallpaper.

"Which award have I won Milliardo?" Again with the real name, that made twice in one day. He sighed.

"Well, you know that receiving an award for anything is an honor. The recongnition by others of your accomplishments should make you feel proud of all that you have contributed to society."

At his statements she heard Wufei chuckle softly, which raised her suspicions even more.

"What is it Milliardo?" There was an edge in her voice that told him to stop his procrastinating. Why did she always have to pick on him for? He supposed she was still upset at him for leaving her on Earth all by herself while he stayed in space. Twice.

"Woman of the Year." He whispered it, but Relena still heard him.

"Did you say 'Woman of the Year'? Who gives out that award?" It didn't sound too bad, even she had to admit she was an exceptional woman.

"The UPA." At her blank look Zechs continued reluctantly. "The United Press Association. It's the first year the award is being presented."

That's how Relena ended up on the couch, thinking about just how brazen the press was becoming. They're giving her an award, actually they invented an award, just to get her to come to some ceremony and take her picture. She sat there for a few more minutes, before she suddenly broke out in a grin.

"I'm guessing the Preventors are involved in this because if I choose to go to the awards ceremony there will be a need to set up security?"

Lady Une had a confused look on her face as she replied. "Yes." She hesitated, then continued. "Relena, you aren't actually thinking of going to this ceremony, are you? You must know this is a set up. You'll be bombarded by the entire press corps all at once." She hadn't known Relena to walk into a trap unless there was no other choice, and in this situation she did have a choice.

"That's what I'm counting on. Start coordinating with the event's organizers for the security. This is one award that I will be picking up in person." Relena then got up and left, leaving four confused people in her wake.

As Relena was going over her plans for the 'big night', which she had learned from her secretary would take place in three weeks, she heard a knock on the door and was pleased when Noin walked in alone.

"Relena, are you sure you know what you're doing? I'm surprised they even had the nerve to do something like this." Relena could hear the anger in Noin's voice. Her sister-in-law had protected her since she was fifteen, and she assumed some habits were hard to break.

She just smiled and said, "Don't worry Noin, I've got everything under control. I think the press has underestimated me, just as the Romefeller Foundation had. We both know how that ended."

Noin gave her a skeptical look, but decided against pressing any further and changed the subject.

"How did Heero take the news about his temporary reassignment? I heard he came in here all in a huff, giving poor Marie a scare."

At Relena's slight blush, Noin knew she had hit paydirt. She settled down on the couch, waiting for Relena to answer. At Relena's continued silence Noin smiled.

"How long has this been going on?"

Relena finally found her voice. "Nothing's going on Noin. There was a brief moment of, uh, weakness, but nothing more than that. It certainly won't happen again."

Relena's thoughts strayed to right before Heero had left her office after their 'meeting'. He had said that they'd finish what they had started later. She pushed the thought out of her mind, prefering not to think about that until she was in the privacy of her own room.

Noin's only response was, "Just as people underestimate you Relena, don't you underestimate Heero Yuy. He's not the type of man who would leave anything unfinished."

This was it. Heero had been detained all day by the idiots who were running that awards ceremony that Relena had agreed to attend. They wanted absurd concessions, such as no restraining line between Relena and the public when she made her entrance, which left her an open target for any potential assasins. These people thought that Relena was just another celebrity whose picture helped sell newspapers, not one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, person in the universe. It took the threat of canceling the appearance to finally get all the security measures that he wanted.

That was why Heero was walking to Relena's office at nine o'clock at night, a time when practically everyone else in the building had left for the day. He knew that Relena was still there, he had asked the two Preventers assigned to her for that day to notify him as soon as she left, and he had received no such message. As he neared the office he was glad her secretary had also left, the woman annoyed him to no end.

When he passed the secretary's desk he left the path that led to Relena's office and instead went to the right, where he knew her guards were positioned. The two men straightened as one of their commanding officers addressed them.

"You two are dismissed for the night. I will personally escort the Vice-Foreign Minister home tonight."

The men saluted and nodded, not daring to argue with their superior. They had heard stories about the young man, and they weren't in any hurry to find out if they were true.

After Heero felt sure that the guards had left and that there was no one else on the floor he made his way to Relena's office, not even bothering to knock.

Relena was gathering up her belongings, hurrying to get home before anything else happened that day, when her door opened.

Her back was facing the door, and she silently chanted in her mind, "Please don't be Heero, please don't be Heero." As she turned around she let a "Damn" escape from under her breath.

"Excuse me?" Heero had by now made his way over to her desk.

"Nothing Heero." Relena quickly made her way over to the small reading table that was by the fireplace, wanting to put as much distance between herself and Heero as possible.

Heero followed her, and sat himself on the sofa that was next to the small table. He made a motion for her to sit, but she stayed standing.

Relena could have kicked herself. "Why in the hell did I move towards the couch?"

"Sit Relena." When Heero saw that she made no move to comply with his request he added, "I have some things to talk to you about regarding that award you won."

"Well, it's getting late Heero, and I really should be getting home. Why don't you make an appointment with my secretary, I could probably speak with you sometime tomorrow morning." Relena made a move towards the door and added, "Anyway, my guards must be wondering what's taking me so long. Wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

"I sent them home. We're the only two people on the floor." A chill ran down her spine as he said this. All alone, in her office, with no disruptions. Her plan to stay away from him for the rest of her life wasn't working at all.

"Oh." Relena looked around the office, contemplating whether or not she could survive the six story fall out the window and came up with the conclusion that most likely she would not. Knowing that he would catch up with her in a second if she made a run for the door, she picked the only option that didn't involve her death or humiliation: she sat on the couch, as far away from him as possible.

During her entire deliberation, Heero just sat there, admiring the way she looked in her suit. His mind drifted back to earlier in the day, when he had almost taken that suit off her, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat anxious about the current situation. He had not come to her office to seduce her, but now that was exactly what he wanted to do. His attention once again focused on the present as he noticed she was no longer standing near the door, but was seated on the far side of the couch.

They both just sat there, avoiding looking at each other, Relena wondering what Heero was doing in her office, Heero wondering what he was doing in her office. If anyone happened to see the two they would have sworn that they were a pair of nervous high school students on a date, not two of the most important people in the world. Relena couldn't take the silence any longer and blurted out, "We shouldn't be doing this Heero. With the press, and our positions, and my brother, this is not a good idea."

Heero looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. "We're just sitting here Relena. What's wrong with that?" Relena mentally slapped herself for losing her cool, so she didn't realize that Heero had moved his position on the couch so he was now sitting much closer to her.

Heero snaked his hand around Relena's shoulders, trying to remember anything he could from those horrible teen movies that Duo enjoyed so much. He had not had much practice in making a move on a girl before.

As Relena felt Heero's arm around her shoulder she forgot all about avoiding him and did just the opposite, sitting closer to him. They both moved their heads towards the other, anticipating the kiss, when Relena's phone rang.

Heero turned his head to look at the offending object but Relena gently pulled him back, whispering, "Let the machine get it."

Heero nodded and resumed his prior activity, when they heard the person who was calling leave a message. "Hey Relena, this is Oscar. Just responding to the message you left me earlier today, regarding that ceremony, and you can count me in. Just give me a call tomorrow so we can finalize the details. Bye," and with that he hung up.

Now Heero isn't a jealous person by nature, but it was safe to say that he was more than a little curious about who this caller was. He looked at Relena and asked, "Who was that?"

"Nobody, now where were we." Relena was in the mood for love, not talk. She had already done enough of that today.

"That wasn't nobody, that was a man. A man who was inquiring about your business, so that makes me interested in his business." Heero wasn't about to let some guy get close to Relena before he completed a thorough background check on them. Actually, he wasn't about to let any guy get close to Relena, period.

This statement triggered something in Relena and she moved away from Heero's embrace. "Listen Heero, I don't have to explain anything to you. Your job is to make sure nobody tries to kill me, not who I may or may not associate myself with." Oops, that didn't come out as she intended.

Heero immediately got up off the couch and his face looked as if it were made of marble. "I understand, Miss Vice-Foreign Minister. Forgive me for prying into your personal life. Allow me to escort you home." He moved his hand to allow Relena to leave ahead of him and she did, too proud to try to soothe his obviously hurt feelings.

They rode to her home in silence, Relena wondering how the mood had been broken so quickly, Heero planning ways to track down this Oscar person and finding out just how he's connected to Relena.