I do own Robin Faire.

Chapter 5: The Night

Terry Spindown sat hunched over his computer, gazing at the files of his master plan. He rolled his shoulders back and yawned, looking out of his office window, now filled with the blackness of night mixed with a sprinkling of stars. His current business project being quite illegal, he often stayed in his office late into the night to go over his affairs, making sure everything was in order for the covert Project Lavender.

Rubbing his eyes from hours of viewing the computer screen, Terry was about to take a little rest when a message alert beeped from his desktop.

"At this time of night? What in the…?" Terry began, as the sender had obviously cracked through SpinTech's systems, one of the most prized targets for computer hackers, it was such an impossible feat.

By this time, Spindown had grown quite angry. Who had the nerve to hack into his system? Who could have known about his accounts?

"Shit," Terry breathed. How could his foolproof plan have leaked out into the open?

"Interesting," Terry said to himself. Well, this certainly was a surprising development.

And with that, the screen clicked off, leaving Terry to glare daggers at the empty monitor before him.

"Damnit!" he yelled as he pounded his desk with his fist. After releasing all of his tension, Terry Spindown took a moment to think back on what had just happened. He realized that he was now one of the few people to come in contact with the mysterious and powerful Robin Faire, big time businessman and owner of Metamatrix, a small computer company that grew into one of the biggest technological giants of the time. Terry should actually be thanking his lucky stars he had escaped the encounter with so little damage. But something was up, and Spindown was determined not to let this new enigmatic addition take over the project he had worked so hard on for so long.

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Relena awoke to the sound of furious typing. Groaning, she felt the back of her head and faintly remembered she had been hit from behind. She sat up on the hard bed she was lying on and looked around. Dave was next to her, but he appeared to be unconscious. She then directed her gaze towards the sound of the swift tapping of computer keys and froze at the sight before her.

It was him.

She knew that head of untamed brown hair, those well-cut shoulders, that muscular build. Through the doorway, she could see the back of a familiar pilot sitting in front of his laptop in the next room, too preoccupied to notice she had awaken.

Lady Une's frowning face appeared on the screen to Heero's laptop. He inwardly shuddered at the site.

"Mr. Yuy, I would appreciate a warning the next time you are going to take charge of a mission without informing me first."

"I felt the situation required immediate assistance," Heero mumbled.

"Look, I don’t want to argue with you right now. It's two in the morning and I want some answers. Agents Chang and Winner have already filled me in on the details of the new colony case. Did you identify the suspect and confirm his involvement in the deal?"

"Yes, I have him right here, actually," Heero stated.

"What!?! Who?"

"David Bowman. Apparently he's pretty popular. I just saved him and his girlfriend from two attackers, but not before the thugs could burn down the house and destroy all the evidence."

"You're slipping, Yuy," Une said with a sigh. But knowing whom the girlfriend was that Heero was referring to, the head of the Preventers only thought, 'Relena was the only one who could ever distract him from a mission.'

"We'll deal with this at a more reasonable hour," Une said, rubbing her temples. "Oh, and find out how Trowa is fairing at SpinTech." She didn't even want to get into how pissed she was at him for giving orders behind her back.

"Acknowledged," Heero replied before closing the laptop shut.

"Please," a voice called quietly from the other room. "Could you tell me how much trouble Dave is in? I know something is wrong."

So she was awake. So she had heard. Heero tensed slightly at Relena's voice, but then slowly got up from the table and turned to face her. He could see her slender form curled on top of the bed, her head cocked slightly to the side, eyes questioning him.

"Why don't you ask Dave himself?" he said to her coldly. He hadn't meant for his voice to sound so harsh, so wounded.

Relena simply looked at the man lying next to her on the bed, knocked out cold. He didn't look like he was going to be talking anytime soon.

Heero proceeded to the bathroom and emerged with a cup of cold water. Before Relena even realized what he was doing, Heero had thrown the water straight into the face of the unconscious David Bowman, and looked like he rather enjoyed it. Relena yelped as some of the cold droplets sprayed upon her, but decided against complaining when she encountered a chilly glare from the emotionless man before her.

After patting Dave's face a few times, the businessman finally awoke to the kind and concerned eyes of his girlfriend and the frightening, frigid stare of a man he had never seen before.

"Dave," Relena cooed, drawing his attention away from the intimidating glare of Heero Yuy. "This man saved our lives. Are you okay?"

"Fine," Dave mumbled. The only thing that really hurt was his pride.

"Well, you're not going to be fine after I'm finished with you," Relena said changing her tone to a serious one, and failing miserably when trying to look threatening.

"You better tell me what's going on, Dave, I know you're in hot water with the Preventers," she said, glancing at Heero.

"I wish they were my only problem," Dave admitted. "I didn't want you to get involved Relena. I never meant for anything like this to happen."

"Well, I'm involved now, and it's happened, so would you mind telling me exactly what is going on?"

Dave just looked down.

"Mr. Bowman has been secretly working for Terry Spindown of SpinTech Incorporated. He covers up their illegal activities having to do with the New Colony Project," Heero explained mechanically.

Relena's eyes grew wide, but only for a moment. She quickly recovered and bade Heero to continue, while Dave just scowled.

"What is so special about that project?" Relena questioned.

"SpinTech is putting materials towards building a satellite, materials that they claim to be going towards the New Colony Project," Dave interjected solemnly.

"Project Lavender," Relena stated coldly.

Dave was shocked. "But, how…how did you know?" he whispered.

The surprise on Heero Yuy's face was evident as well. "Does Relena somehow know about the scheme ? Is she involved?" he wondered.

"I stumbled across a file today, actually." She glared at him. "Please continue answering Mr. Yuy's inquires."

Heero smirked a bit and gave Dave his own death glare. The man slowly began explaining his situation again.

"I change government account numbers so it looks like everything adds up. At least I used to. I'm done working for them now," Dave told them.

"You quit, then? So that's why you've made them so angry. Mr. Spindown is not the best choice of enemy, Mr. Bowman, as you saw tonight," Heero observed.

Dave only nodded sadly.

Heero had by now perked up at David's confession, but he still needed more information and continued questioning the solemn man. "Is the satellite going to be of hostile use?"

"I really don't know," Dave answered truthfully.

"How did you get access to the accounts?" Heero asked.

"What?" Dave eyes suddenly grew wide.

"How were you able to change the accounts?" Heero repeated slowly. "The building of the new colony is a government project contracted out to SpinTech. Project files are very well kept and highly protected by both the government and SpinTech Inc. You'd need a government access code to change the files kept by the Earthsphere United Nation. How were you able to get one?"

"Is this an interrogation?" Dave asked angrily. Heero noted the sudden change of the man's countenance and was determined to dig deeper into the matter.

"It is if I say so. Preventer's Special Forces Agent Heero Yuy, it's a pleasure," Heero smirked with satisfaction after his introduction and even whipped out his gun for the occasion, mindlessly using it to rub his temple. He did not like Dave, and any other person other than himself knew the obvious reason why.

"Ok, ok," Dave surrendered with irritation. "I was able to obtain entrance into the accounts…" he paused, then looked guiltily at Relena, "…by stealing her access codes."

Relena's eyes narrowed and her jaw tightened. She let out a huff and moved as far away from Dave as possible. Trying to gain her composure, she spat, "So that's all I'm good for, huh? Access Codes!?!?! Let me tell you this now, because I will never, ever speak another word to you again: I don't think this relationship is working, Dave, and I think it would be best if we went our own separate ways!" She promptly sat up and moved to flee from the room.

"Wait, Relena, please, wait! Just listen to me," Dave called. She would have gotten away, except for a strong hand on her arm, holding her back. Heero had nonchalantly gripped a hold of her. He didn't need an angry, vulnerable Vice Foreign Minister running off into the night, and besides, he wanted to hear the sorry excuse that Dave had begun blubbering.

"Spindown used me, Relena. When I was just a teenager, I was nothing. I lived on the streets and was looking for work. Terry took pity on me and brought me into his company. I had good ideas and a sharp mind, but I didn't have the money to start my own business, so I started doing extra jobs for Terry. I never really understood what I had gotten into, but he paid me well, and before I knew it, I was able to start my own business with his guidance and support. But Spindown always reminded me that I owed him something. He thought he created me, the businessman who everyone now knows and loves. Feeling trapped, I kept doing secret work for Terry and continued to get paid.

"When Terry was able to get the New Colony Project deal, he finally let me in on part of his plan. The deal proved a perfect opportunity to begin a project he had been planning for some time: Project Lavender. Apparently, Terry wanted to build a satellite using the Colony Project as a cover to gather materials and gain funds. He never told me what the satellite was going to be used for. All I know is that it was then his jobs for me became more difficult. We needed someone with access to government records and files, so that their accounts of the New Colony Project could be tampered with. I'm sorry, Relena, but you were the one Terry told me to get close to so that I could steal the codes." David looked at her with soulful eyes. "I never thought I would fall in love with you," he added softly.

The girl who had been fighting Heero's grip to no avail throughout Dave's entire speech had now grown limp at the businessman's final words. She was no longer angry with him, just disappointed and sad. Heero was concerned with her sudden stillness and submission. Her face looked tired and defeated. Relena just shook her head. As her bottom lip started to quiver, she quickly bit it. She would not cry in front of them.

Heero admired the girl's strength throughout the whole ordeal, and pitied the poor fool who had hurt her.

"I'd like to be alone now," Relena whispered to Heero. He gently released her hand and led to her another room.

"I'm sorry," he said at the doorway.

"That's ok. I know you enjoyed it," she said bitterly before shutting the door.

Heero growled and returned to question Dave, but upon returning to the bedroom, the businessman was gone.

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AN: Whew! Now that Dave's out of the way, we can get into some serious H x R action! Yay! Sorry it's taking a long time for their romance to develop, but rest assured, it will come. Have I confused the heck out of anyone yet with the rather intricate plot line, which, alas, is going to get even more complicated? If so, please feel free to e-mail me so that I may explain it to you or so that I can better address any questions in future chapters. Thank you!