Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. I am sadly not making any profits from this.
Author's Note: Well this takes place after Last Year's Crime.
ThisYear's Crime
by Polka Dot
Chapter 1: A Love Lost
"You didn't like the speech Heero?"
"You lied."
Relena frowned but nodded slightly. "It's not something I like to do, but well I am a politician, after all."
"Is that an excuse?"
"No Heero. Sometimes lies are necessary, to prevent further harm." Relena looked at his stoney face. "You don't agree."
"I can understand you wanting to protect them Relena, but you should let people make up their own minds."
She shook her head. "I don't see any reason to hurt them further. The truth is of no benefit here and a lie is the only kindness I can give."
Heero was unconvinced. "You shouldn't lie Relena. It will come back to haunt you in the end."
Heero loaded the camera. He was wrong, it didn't come back to haunt her. Nothing did, not now. He sucked in a deep breath wondering why her death was still so painful. It was years ago and he was still living that horrible moment over again. Life moved on. He should too.
Dorothy strolled out of the bathroom in a tantalizing black leather outfit, that just barely covered her front end, and left her butt hanging out of the back. She climbed onto the bed and threw her head back laughing huskily. Heero snapped a picture. Ivory white teeth latched onto the zipper between her breast and pulled the metal tab down until her breast burst out of the leather trap. Heero snapped another picture. He didn't wait for the big finale, it was obvious where this session was heading. He grabbed his bag and slid down the ventilation shaft emerging at the other end of the hall. He proceeded to his own room in a nearby hotel and began to process the photos.
Duo Maxwell received an unexpected and unwanted email two days later. "You don't really expect me to give this to Quatre do you?"
"He has a right to know."
"Yeah maybe, but this is going to crush him. I'd rather not do that to the poor guy."
"She's making a fool of him Duo. It's worse than these photos indicate. Talk to Wufei. You'll understand soon enough." Heero terminated the connection. He knew Duo couldn't stand by and let Quatre be played for a fool.
He was right. Duo talked to Wufei the next day.
Chapter 2: A Kind-hearted Fool
She had betrayed him. The papers could've been falsified, but Wufei wouldn't do that. She had betrayed him, stolen his money and used it to fund terrorist activities. Winner money supporting terrorists. It was a horrible scandal, one that would ruin his career and his reputation if the press ever found out.
For a second he was glad. Just for one second he was glad that Heero had taken care of Rashid and the other Maguanacs. He could never face them now. They had been right all along. He was a terrible heir to the Winner name.
He ripped the papers to shreds and then caught sight of himself in the mirror. His eyes looked so angry. He never thought he would see himself like this. He looked like a madman. There was no trace of the gentle kind-hearted pacifist that he had been just a few years ago.
No, he had weathered too many storms. It got to him finally. How could it not? How could he continue to remain innocent after all he'd seen, all that he had been put through? A war that broke his heart. A system that nearly destroyed his mind. Friends lost. His father murdered before his eyes. Heero turned to madness. His family and the Maguanacs having betrayed him. He survived it all without losing too much of his soul. But this...this was too much.
When everyone else warned him away from her, he stood by her side. When the murmurings started about her alleged affairs, he dismissed them as rumors. When she made fun of his beliefs, when she told Katrina that he wasn't her father, when she dismissed house staff without his permission, he still held out hope. He wouldn't believe that she was really trying to hurt him on purpose. It took photos from Duo of her in another man's arms before he would even suspect her. Even then he had the photos checked for authenticity. It turned out that they were doctored and he had severed ties with his closest friend after that.
But then Wufei brought those papers; the documents that the Preventers had collected against her. They showed the illegal transactions between their joint account and some account in Stockholm that was eventually traced to the 'Freedom for all Colonies' movement. A terrorist organization that got its message out by bombing hospitals and schoolyards. He was sickened. He was horrified. He was humiliated. He was enraged.
He wanted her dead. He wanted her to suffer. Then he found out that she was dead. It was on one of her 'business trips' when the police called. They found her body in a dirty hotel room. They sent him pictures, horrible pictures. When he saw them he felt sick; he felt angry; he felt...relief.
He was a fool to think that Dorothy Catalonia had changed. He placed his hand over the left side of his chest and traced the scar that was hidden under his shirt. She was dead now, but her legacy lived on.
Chapter 3: Friends 'til the Bitter End
Heero cupped his bloody chin and shot Duo a glare that would make most men run for their lives. Instead Duo just flipped his braid over his shoulder and glared back.
"You fuckin' asshole I should kill you!" He shook his fist at Heero, as if to make good on his threat. "Quatre won't even speak to me now. How could you do that to me? You knew he'd check the photos. It would've been stupid of him not to."
"I'm sorry."
"You're sorry!? You're some friend you know that! I totally trusted you. Why would you do that? Why would you do that to me? To him!"
"Dorothy was stealing his money and using it to fund terrorists activities. I thought the photos would make him suspicious long enough to figure out what was going on and get him away from her before the press got wind of anything. I was trying to help."
That explanation did little to calm Duo down. "Oh I see so you get me to pass on doctored photos of his wife and some guy fucking each other in a cheap motel room, making me look like a total asshole. You couldn't think of some other way of warning him?"
"The photos were doctored but not in the way you think."
"Oh yeah? What's that supposed to mean, huh?"
"It wasn't Dorothy whose image was faked."
"Oh like that helps. Last time I checked fucking yourself wasn't a crime."
"I didn't superimpose someone who wasn't there."
Duo thought about this for a moment and then looked at Heero closely. "So you didn't want Quatre to know who she was really cheating on him with?" A slight nod affirmed his query. "Why not? Who was it?"
"I can't tell you."
Now Duo was curious and a curious Duo was worse than a pissed Duo. He wasn't about to let Heero get away with any secrets. "You have to tell me. I won't tell anyone. I mean c'mon Heero, it's me you best bud, Duo."
"I'm sorry Duo I really can't, but I'll talk to Quatre. I'll make him understand."
"No way. You owe me."
Heero didn't respond to that. He just walked away.
Chapter 4: Reunion of Lost Souls
Heero looked at his old friend. He hadn't seen Quatre in years. Since the accusations against Sheena were confirmed, then dismissed. He had told Quatre that he didn't hold a grudge, that he understood and forgave him. He thought that he meant it, but looking back he realized that it wasn't true. In his heart he was angry that Quatre chose to forgive her, chose to ignore her part in Relena's murder, chose to keep her in the family and under his protection. Heero had sworn not to go against Quatre's wishes and harm her in any way. It bothered him. It bothered him to no end and as he looked at his old friend he felt bitter.
"How have you been Heero?"
"Fine. I'm sorry about Dorothy, Quatre."
"Are you? I know that you didn't approve of my decision to take her back and remarry her when she became pregnant."
"You did what you thought was best."
"But I was wrong, wasn't I? And you warned me. You did, Wufei did, even Duo said that getting back with the ex was rarely a good idea. But I didn't listen. I didn't listen to any of you."
"It's okay Quatre we all make mistakes."
Quatre grimaced. "That's an odd thing to say. Have you ever made a mistake Heero?"
"You know I have."
Quatre frowned, he didn't want to talk about Relena. That would bring up bad feelings and he didn't want to go there. He didn't want to take Heero back there, but he had to. He had to know. "Did you kill Dorothy, Heero?"
"No, but I can see why you think that. You know about the others?" Quatre nodded. "I never found any reason to believe that Dorothy was involved."
"But you gave Duo those doctored photos."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I knew what the Preventers were going to find. I didn't want you to have to find out the truth. If you were already separated from her then..."
Anger flared through Quatre. "I could've lost Katrina that way. Did you ever think of that?"
"Honestly? No, the thought never crossed my mind."
"You know there's a chance she's Trowa's daughter."
"Is that why you care so much about her Quatre?"
"No of course not! But Dorothy did suggest..."
"Dorothy suggested...? Quatre all she ever did was lie to you, how can you believe anything she said? I'm sorry I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but after all she's done how can you believe that Trowa is really Katrina's father? i mean this is Trowa we're talking about, he would never have done something like that with Dorothy."
"No of course not. I'm the only one foolish enough to ever fall for her lies."
"That's not what I meant."
"But it's the truth isn't it? You never believed her. No one ever believed in her and if I wasn't such a fool then the Maguanacs wouldn't have betrayed me and Trowa..., Trowa and Relena, they wouldn't have had to suffer like that." Quatre broke down. He didn't want to. Inside he was raging at himself for breaking down in front of Heero. "I'm sorry."
"Quatre." The heir hung his head lower. "Quatre." Wearily he picked his head up. "There's no need for that. There's no point in rehashing the past. Believe me, I know. I came to help Quatre."
"Help?"
"We need to get those transaction records to disappear."
"Heero?"
"I want access to your personal files."
Quatre nodded. "Thank you Heero."
Heero nodded and got up, but before leaving the room he turned around. "Quatre one other thing..."
"Yes Heero?"
"Call Duo."
Chapter 5: A Motherless Child
MarieMaia was not pleased. No, that was an understatement, she was furious. Dorothy Catalonia was dead, which was long past due in her opinion, so her foster mother's name was supposedly safe once more. It turned out that that wasn't the case at all. Despite all the efforts by her and Lady Une, they had yet to find the original documents that linked her to Dorlain's assasination. Of course she loved Lady Une, but she couldn't help feeling that the woman was careless in this matter. The OZ soliders who were with her when she threw the bombed compact through the window, should have been eliminated long ago.
Relena Dorlain was untouchable, or so they thought, until the Maguanacs took her out. Therefore the threat of standing trial for war crimes should have been put to the grave along with Relena, but that wasn't the case.
You can get by with a lot of things in war, but OZ wasn't at war with the earth or the Colonies at the time of the assasination. Furthermore as Vice Foreign Minister, Dorlain wasn't associated with any country and therefore was never a legitimate target.
If the soliders' signed confessions ever reached the right people, Lady Une would spend the rest of her life in jail. MarieMaia kicked the wooden chair she had been sitting in and sent it flying across the room. Having relieved her stress, she quickly hung her head and picked the chair back up, ready for an interruption. She was lucky, there was none. The other Preventers must be too busy with their own problems to bug her right now. That was a relief. She was of shunned by most of her co-workers because they all figured the she got her job thanks to her foster mother, which she did. Even Wufei avoided her, embarrassed by their past connection. Of course Wufei was fairly high up now and so she didn't have much occassion to see him anyway. That was good, he always gave her the creeps.
He was investigating Dorothy's murder. That wasn't good. He was very thorough, but Une trusted him. She said that even if Wufei found the signed confessions, she wasn't worried. Likely he was already aware of the assasination and respected Relena's decision not to persue any crinimal charges against Une. Still she was worried. She had been reviewing the case as much as her clearance would allow and things just didn't add up.
First of all, Dorothy was cheating on her husband Quatre Raberba Winner. Everyone seemed to know that, but Winner wasn't a suspect and no one knew who she was cheating with. There were interviews with hotel desk clerks, verifying that Dorothy would oftentimes enter with a male companion. No two deskclerks had given a similar description of the man, but all agreed that it wasn't Quatre Winner.
Quatre had the resources necessary to have his wife taken out, furthermore he was a former gundam pilot, he could've done the job himself. This as plausible because if they divorced he would lose custody over their daughter Katrina. Quatre wouldn't want that. He actually handed over control of Winner Enterprises to his sister Polka in order to spend more time with his daughter and nephew. However he didn't fit the profile of the killer. The forensics report showed the the murder was well-thought out and very methodical. Although the murder looked gruesome, it was likely that Dorothy was pumped for information prior to her death and the murder itself was not carried out in a jealous rage, as originally reported.
If the man Dorothy was having an affair with could be discovered, then he would definitely become the prime suspect. This didn't make much sense either. Dorothy was funding terrorists. She made some dangerous allies and powerful enemies that way. She manipulated people and dismissed members of the Winner household on virtual whims. The woman was cruel and the motives surrounding her death ranged from disgruntled ex-employee to government conspiracies aimed at dismantling terrorism.
Dorothy liked to manipulate and control people. She had tried holding the signed confessions of those exOZ soliders over Une's head. She didn't want money or even information, she just enjoyed watching Une fret for a few days. In the end Une said that she would face the consequences of her actions and Dorothy told her that she wouldn't turn over the confessions, yet. She felt that Une and herself were kindred spirits who needed to stick together. The memory of it made Mariemaia want to punch in her computer screen.
It was ironic. The world looked at Dorothy Catalonia, beloved wife of Quatre Winner, loving mother of Katerina and they couldn't understand who would commit such a terrible crime. Mariemaia looked at Dorothy Catalonia and she couldn't understand how the woman had survived for so damn long.
Chapter 6: Pride and Humility
Wufei sucked in a breath and collected the disk from his computer. He wasn't expecting this, nor was he convinced that he was doing to right thing, but it really wasn't his place to judge. He would simply take the information he had found to Lady Une. What she chose to do with it wasn't his concern.
He hesitated for a moment more. Maybe he should call Heero first. After his conversation with Duo, he began to examine the photos of Dorothy that Duo had given to Quatre. Duo told him that Heero had passed them on to Quatre through him. He knew the photos were doctored and he knew that Heero wouldn't have wasted his time in doctoring them if he didn't have a good reason. He never expected this.
Sally would be pissed that's for sure. Noin was her best friend. It didn't really matter, they didn't work together that often anymore, but there would be reprecussions. He wasn't concerned for himself, but he couldn't help feeling that this was wrong. Maybe Une wouldn't tell Noin. Maybe she would talk to Zechs discretely. There might be a reason why he was in that hotel room doing what he was doing with Dorothy. But even if there was, in the end would it really matter?
Zechs had betrayed Noin and Quatre by his affair with Dorothy. There was nothing good that could come from that. Wufei stood up and headed to Une's office. It didn't matter. He had a job to do, let Zechs deal with the consequences of his actions.
Chapter 7: Justice Cuts Both Ways
There was no doubt in her mind. Wufei had brought the last peice of the puzzle to her just moments ago. He didn't know it, but he wasn't the only investigator on this case. She had Sally working on a different angle and the information that the female Preventor had brought her early this morning had chilled her to the bone.
The autospy of Dorothy's body ended up being useless. The pictures taken at the crime scene and an initial observation clearly showed that she was shot at close range in the temple. Cause of death: gunshot wound. Dorothy had been with somebody, a man just an hour early. Although she had taken a shower afterwards making DNA identification impossible, the parahenelia around her room, specifically a half empty box of condoms and a pair of handcuffs still cuffed to the bedpost with dents in the wood, seemed to indicate recent activity.
The desk clerk identified a man with short black hair and a mustache, but he had the right build for Zechs and an audit of the airline records for that area on that day placed him in the general vicinity. Everyone knew that Zechs and Noin were growing apart, although oddly they seemed to be getting along much better in the past few weeks.
Then Sally had brought her evidence that Dorothy was in contact with Farshid Al-Jacobi as well as some of the other Maguanacs implicated in Relena's murder years ago. It made perfect sense. If Zechs found out and being a Preventer with access to the Preventers' database, he could easily have done so, then he must've been furious. Relena was his only family and when she died it hit him very hard. He tried to protect her through the Eve Wars by sending Noin to watch after her. It must've killed him to realize that his mistress was one of his sister's murderers.
There were only two problems. First, all the evidence was circumstantial. It wasn't enough to arrest him on. She doubted she could even get a warrant to search his house. Secondly he didn't fit the profile. The murder wasn't done in a fit of rage. He must've found out about Dorothy's involvement and then planned her execution. That didn't really fit Zechs, but the man did have a bit of a split personality.
Une rubbed her temples. She knew one of the real reasons that she didn't want to act on this was because of her close friendship to Noin. This would kill her. Furthermore Zechs was Treize's childhood friend. She felt like she was betraying her lover's memory by accusing his best friend. She had to get at the truth though. Even if Dorothy Catalonia was an evil bitch, she was still a murder victum and someone had to be brought to justice. Even if it was one of the few people in this world that she still respected.
Chapter 8: A Passion for Blood
It was so easy to forget. Yes, it was easy to think of it all as happening to somebody else. It was so long ago and everybody changed so much, especially him. It was like watching a movie where all the actors had familar faces. Zechs rewound the tape and watched the scenes replay. Treize riding on his white speckled pony in the horse show . Dorothy in that white lacy dress that made her look like a doll taken off the shelf. He was a prince but he never felt comfortable in their world.
Treize humored him, but Dorothy, she goaded him. Even when she was a child she seemed to know all the right buttons to push, and now...now she was dead. He was finally free of her, wasn't he?
Une wanted to speak with him. Although she didn't say why, he knew. He knew that his precautions weren't enough to keep the Preventers from discovering his identity. If Heero had found out about his affair with Dorothy then Chang would as well.
Now he'd probably end up losing his wife. Noin had stood by him through some very bad times in the past, but how could he expect her to understand this? He didn't even understand it. When he thought about the events that drew him into this affair with Dorothy, he still had a hard time believing how he had fallen into her trap. Once he made the mistake of sleeping with her, he couldn't go back. If he failed to meet her, she would call Noin. He knew it wasn't an empty threat.
He rewound the tape again. Dorothy at her first fencing competition. Five years old and she was ruthless even then. When she first came to the Cinq Kingdom he had actually ordered Noin to kill her. He never asked Noin to do anything like that before. It was the only order of his she ever disobeyed. Perhaps sleeping with Dorothy was a sort of revenge on her for that. He knew it was an unreasonable request, but then again he also knew evil when he saw it.
When she came to him on Libra it seemed wisest to just keep an eye on her, but of course Relena showed up and refused to leave. In his heart he always knew that she was somehow responsible for Relena's death. After his sister's death, when all was said and done, Dorothy ended up quite well off. She was reunited with Quatre giving her a wealthy and powerful father for her illegitamate child. Furthermore she managed to get rid of Quatre's overprotective entourage and overbearing family. Something she was never able to accomplish when she was married to him.
He was positive that she was responsible in some way for Relena's death. She approached him just a couple months after he started his own personal investigation on her. She showed him signed confessions from ex-OZ soliders accusing Une of Mr. Dorlain's murder. She explained that Lady Une had far more to gain from Relena's death than she did. She explained how Treize ordered the execution and somewhere in their talk about Treize and his lost sister and the 'excitement' and desperation of the Eve Wars, Dorothy seduced him. She rekindled that spark within him that longed for destruction and power and primal competition.
He never thought he could feel so ashamed, but then she came back wanting more and more and more, until he found himself nothing but another one of her toys: helpless and furious and completely under her control.Once during one of their meetings she had brought up his sister. She talked about the tape and tried to paint a picture of Relena as some kind of wanton whore. He had nearly killed her then, and of course it only excited her more. Every time after that he thought about killing her. He thought about twisting her neck as she slept quietly beside him. He thought about wrapping his hands around her throat and squeezing slowly. He imagined her eyes filled with horror and suffering. He pictured her white-blonde hair streaked with blood.
It was at those times that he could really love her. He could summon a sort of sick passion for her. He could see himself as evil and their union as a sort of demonic dance. He wanted to lose his soul, so his conscience could complete the image in his mind. But in the end he was always too weak. He would see her in that white lace dress and forget. Always he would forget who his enemy was, until it was too late. He couldn't kill in cold blood. At least not until he found out about the payments she had made to Farshid Al-Jacobi, about the amenitites that she managed to sneak into his jail cell. When he found out about that, then cold-blooded murder didn't seem so impossible after all.
Chapter 9: Balming Lies
"It's not my place to tell her."
"Thank you." Zechs let out a big sigh of relief.
"I honestly don't know what to say Zechs. I really didn't expect for you confess or anything. I'm not sure what I was hoping to get out of this, but you must realize that dispite my personal feelings for Dorothy, I must see this investigation to its end. You are hereby ordered not to leave the city. You may wish to contact a lawyer, although at this time I am not charging you with anything."
"I understand. You've got to do your job. If it makes you feel any better Une, I won't breath a word about those signed confessions to anyone. I really wish I knew what Dorothy did with them."
"It's okay Zechs, but aren't you angry. I caused Relena so much misery."
"Well I certainly wish it could've been avoided, but you were following Treize's orders and I never did tell him about Relena."
"That's very kind of you." Une leaned back into her big chair and placed her hands into her lap.
"You want me to reassure you don't you? You want me to tell you that I didn't kill Dorothy."
"That would be nice."
"Well I would, but I don't think that you'd believe it."
"Given the circumstances, you're right. However if you could give me another lead to follow..."
"I'm sorry I can't do that."
Une looked at Zechs hard. This whole conversation was quite pleasant given the circumstances. She had just accused him of killing Dorothy. He didn't seem surprised, but then again, he knew she didn't have enough evidence to charge him. He knew this without her telling him, which she found incredibly interesting. Then she revealed Dorothy's connection to Farshid Al-Jacobi. This didn't surprise him either, furthermore he didn't seem altogether upset with the news, which meant he knew already and that maybe he had done something about it. Then he mentioned the signed confessions and she thought that maybe he was going to try to cut a deal with her, but that wasn't the case.His only real concern was for Noin.
She didn't flat out ask him if he killed Dorothy. She didn't want him to have to lie to her and that's what would happen, right? She wasn't so sure. In his eyes, just now when she asked about another lead, she saw something. Could it be that she was wrong and that Zechs wasn't the killer? But if he wasn't and he knew who was, wouldn't he tell her?
Une smiled, there were very few people whom Zechs would cover for. Noin was obviously one and she was also not a possiblity. She was another, her and Zechs still held a bond from their connection through Treize. Relena was gone, but when you thought of Relena, you thought of Heero. She hadn't heard from him in years. She knew he had hunted down and killed the rest of the Maguanacs. She had tried to sent a task force to stop him, that had been a huge failure. If Heero found out about Dorothy's payoff to Farshid, then Heero would definitely target her.
But then again, Zechs would never cover for Heero. He blamed Heero for Relena's death. Before then she died, she used to joke that she could make peace between the Colonies and the Earth, but between her brother and lover, she couldn't even negotiate a cease fire. They both loved Relena so much, how could Zechs end up in Dorothy's bed?
"Did you love her?"
"Dorothy?! No, of course not."
"Then why?"
"She got me reminscing about the war and managed to push all the right buttons. It was purely lust."
"But you stayed with her."
"She threatened to tell Noin."
"Noin would forgive you for a single indiscretion."
Zechs closed his eyes for a minutes and seemed to think on this, as though the idea never occurred to him before. "Hmm you're probably right."
"Then why?"
"Well you know what they say about keeping your friends close and your enemies even closer."
Une nodded. That wasn't the reason and they both knew it. She wasn't going to get what she wanted out of him, but in the end she did manage to come away with some small measure of relief.
Chapter 10: Getting Away with Murder
"Une can't charge Zechs with anything. She has nothing but circumstantial evidence."
"But she thinks that he did it."
"That's the impression I got."
"What are you going to do about it?"
"Me? I'm afraid I've already finished my part of the investigation."
"And Sally?"
"Well I can't say what she's up to, but I don't think there's anything left to investigate. If there was evidence to be found then we would've found it by now. I'm sorry Quatre."
"It's okay Wufei. I know you did your best. I hope that you didn't violate any privacy rules, telling me this."
"Don't concern yourself about it. You should be kept informed. You're not planning on pursuing the matter yourself are you?"
"You mean going after Zechs?" Quatre shook his head. "No, I would have preferred to see Dorothy face justice in a court of law, but to be honest her death was more convenient for me. It still hurts, some part of me still loves her, even if the woman I loved was only a carefully crafted mask, I can't just turn off my emotions. Still she funded those terrorists and possibly Relena's assasination. She might've even played a part in Trowa's murder."
Wufei nodded. "It does seem likely that that's the case."
Quatre sighed. "It's better to just let this all fall away and start over again."
"So you're going to be okay?" Quatre nodded. "Good I'll call you again if anything comes up, but I think it's over. I don't think Une wants to pursue this anymore."
"Alright. Thanks again Wufei. I appreciate you're calling."
Wufei nodded and severed the connection.
Heero turned off his laptop. "Quatre doesn't seem too upset. I'm sure he'll call you soon."
"Well I sure as hell hope so. I mean I've left at least a dozen apologies on his machine."
"Yeah sorry about that."
"Whatever, I can't believe that Zechs killed her. I mean I guess it makes sense but man, it's a real shocker."
Heero closed his laptop and began to pack it away. "Zechs isn't the one who pulled the trigger."
"What? But how would you...?"
"I did."
"Heero, why?"
"You know why."
"Yeah I guess so, but geez man, how could you?"
Heero levelled Duo with a disbelieving look. "You do know about Rashid and the others?"
Duo frowned, he knew. He had just been trying not to think about it for the last few years. "Yeah, but this was Quatre's wife."
"It doesn't matter. She ordered Relena's death. Besides she would have destroyed Quatre if he stayed with her any longer."
"So Zechs didn't have a thing to do with it. Geez why did you have to tell me this? Now I won't be able to look Quatre in the eye if he ever does call me."
"He won't ask, so don't worry about it."
"Yeah but you flat out lied to the guy."
"In this case a lie was kinder than the truth."
"That doesn't sound like you."
"Maybe I've changed."
Duo looked Heero over from head to toe. "Nah, of all of us, you haven't changed at all. So Heero why did you tell me? I mean if you hadn't no one would've ever known."
"Zechs knew."
"Huh, he did? How'd...?"
"He was there." Seeing the confused look on Duo's face, he continued. "He was the one who tortured her. I just pulled the trigger."
"You two did it together?"
Heero shook his head. "Zechs was trying to find out where Dorothy hid some papers. I burst in on them and killed her. I had to do it. Zechs would've been caught if I didn't clean up the crime scene."
"Oh I see. So is this it then Heero? Is it all over?"
"What do you mean?" Heero motioned for Duo to move out of his way.
"I mean this crusade you're on. Dorothy was the last one right? You can finally put Relena's death to rest and move on with your life."
"It's not a crusade. I just want Relena's soul to be at peace."
Duo began to roll his eyes, but stopped at the serious look on his friend's face. "Okay so is her soul finally at peace?"
Heero looked beyond Duo, searching for something distant and intangible. He shook his head and left.