What-if fic, warping the end of episode six.

She sat still, her hair whipped around her face, arms clutching her head and her eyes squeezed shut. She waited for the crushing force of the building that threatened to collapse around her, but it didn't come. Tentatively, she opened her eyes and moved her hands away from her head. She sat still, safe in the shadow of a Gundanium shield, protected from the life threatening mass of brick.

"Heero?" she questioned softly, looking with awe and fear at the gigantic mobile suit. The shield moved, pieces of the former wall falling around her. She was able to stand now, and did so, taking in the sites and sounds around her.

The Gundam turned swiftly, taking out a beam saber and making quick work of the pilot's enemy. From the distance, she could hear other students, calling her, relieved that she was all right. Despite their pleas, though, she did not follow them to safety, but remained where she stood, mouth slightly ajar watching the battle.

When the enemy had been defeated and destroyed, the Gundam turned again to face her, the great shield moving again, as a threat this time, instead of a savior. It moved, guided by the teenage pilot on a course of death, yet she remained still. Again, students called out for her, and again she stayed. The shield continued towards her, until unexpectedly, it veered to her side and embedded itself in the earth.

The hatch to the cockpit opened, the young pilot breathing heavy, his eyes darting to the sides sporadically. He spoke, softly, she could not hear him, but from the short distance between them, she could read his lips. She knew what he asked.

"Why?"

After a short internal debate, she climbed on to the shield, still resting in the ground. Half walking, half crawling, she inched her way up the shield, to the mobile suit's arm, and from there, she jumped on to the horizontal hatch of the cockpit, standing face to face with the pilot.

"What's wrong with me?" the pilot questioned. "You should die," he told her, simple and straightforward. "DIE, DAMMIT!" he screeched and pulled a gun out from behind himself, pushing it directly against her forehead. He clicked the safety off, but made no move to pull the trigger.

The gun dropped from his hand, clattered on the platform where they stood, slid to the edge, and fell, going off when it hit the ground underneath them.

She winced at the sound, and the pilot looked at her with curiosity burning in his eyes. She seemed unafraid of the gun, yet was disturbing by the sound of it firing.

"Shit," he muttered, seeing his weapon in the dirt.

"Heero?" she questioned, concerned. He was still breathing rapidly, his eyes still widened rather than his normal narrow stare, and he appeared to be in a cold sweat. "Are you all right?" she continued.

"Fine," he muttered in a low angry tone that told her not to question him further.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked, ignoring the underlying warning.

"About what? Destroying you?"

"No," she said shaking her head, "your missions. Is the one here over? You revealed yourself as a Gundam pilot."

"It was necessary," he told her, his tone flat.

"Thank you for saving the school. I don't think any of the students were killed, thanks to you."

"I did it to defeat my enemy. The people of Earth have no value to me, my loyalty lies with the colonies. Don't thank me, Relena."

"Thank you for saving me."

He snorted. "Your own stupidity is what almost got you killed."

"I thought you wanted me dead."

"I do."

"Then why did you save me? I'm a citizen of Earth, I have no worth to you."

He didn't respond, but rather walked about the platform, circling her, causing her to move until she found herself blocked into the cockpit by the pilot. He took a step forward, she, a step back. He continued, as did she until she ran out of room and stumbled backwards, landing in the chair, looking up at him.

He reached over one of three consoles around her and pushed a sequence of keys, causing the hatch to shut behind them, effectively locking them both in the cramped quarters.

"Heero, what are you doing? What's going on?"

He reached out towards her and took hold of her chin with the tips of his fingers, a light, loose touch. He moved her head, examining her, his new opponent, trying to discover what about her made her triumph over him so completely. She represented a weakness of some sort, that he knew for sure.

He didn't learn anything new; she had brownish-blond hair, green-blue eyes, oddly shaped ears, a normal nose, the overall shape of her face was some what square-ish. But there was nothing in her face that told him what he wished to know.

Why did she not fear him? Why was she concerned about him? Why did she want to know where he was going and what he would do when he got there? Why did she face his weapons without blinking, yet was... afraid. Why did she make him think there was something wrong with him, that his training was not complete?

His left hand moved to her right wrist, holding her arm down. His right hand moved to her left wrist, pinning that arm down as well. He knelt on the chair, one knee on the edge, the other in the middle, between her legs. Hunched over, he stared at her until...

His lips found hers. His kisses were harsh, he pushed hard against her mouth and he forced his tongue into her mouth, exploring hers. He drug his tongue along her teeth, touched her own tongue, licked the sides of her cheeks. Reluctantly, he pulled away when it became apparent to him that she needed to breathe.

"Heero?" she gasped, "wha-?" He kissed her again, setting one of her arms free, his hand moved towards the maroon jacket of her school uniform, pushing it away from the buttons of her blouse. She began to protest in earnest, thrashing about as best she could as he began to unbutton her shirt. "Heero, no!" she cried once she had disengaged herself, tears coming to her eyes.

He backed away once he realized what he was doing. With her arms free, the former captive fastened the buttons on her shirt.

"Let me out," she pleaded. She stood and tried to move away from the console that he had used when he shut the hatch. The path to his chair unblocked, he moved to sit. Swiftly, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her on to his lap.

"What's wrong with me?" he echoed.

"Let me go," she whimpered.

His arms unwound from around her, and he tapped out the sequence that opened the hatch. She stepped out to the platform, and peered over the edge, glad that the mobile suit was in a lunge position. She jumped off the platform, falling nearly three meters. She landed on her feet, but lost her balance and wound up sitting on the ground among the wreckage of the last battle.

"Heero!" she called up to him. She was answered by seeing his face come into her view. "Are you going to off to fight again?"

"I told you, my loyalties lie with the colonies. If I need to fight for them, I will!" His face disappeared and soon the hatch closed. The mighty mobile suit stood, transformed into bird-mode and flew away.

She stood where she had before. Again, she could hear the shouts of other students. After retrieving the pilot's forgotten gun, she ran to greet them.