Chapter ~2~



Duo whistled a song to himself as he walked out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. As he stepped in front of the mirror, he wrung as much water as he could out of his long brown hair before drying it with a towel.

As he picked up his toothbrush and began squeezing toothpaste on it, the phone in his bedroom rang. "I wonder who that could be..." Duo wondered out loud, setting the toothbrush down on the edge of the sink.

Duo walked into the other room and picked up the phone, holding up his towel with the other hand. "This is Duo, how may I help you?"

"Duo, thank goodness I’ve found your number," Relena said.

"Woah, I don’t even get a hello?" Duo asked in protest.

"There’s no time for that, Heero’s been kidnapped... or worse!"

Duo almost dropped the phone. Heero? Gone? His mind just couldn’t register that. Duo sat down on the edge of his bed. A bit shakily, Duo replied. "What happened?"

~~*~~

It was 4 days since Heero disappeared. The Preventers were doing all they could, but other than the evidence at the place Heero was kidnapped, they couldn’t find any trace of the missing Zero pilot. The blood on the ground didn’t match Heero’s, but it didn’t match anybody else they could find either.

Relena bit her lip with worry as she looked through reports, hoping to see something overlooked before.

"Miss Relena... you need to eat something," Quatre said, offering her a cup of soup he just warmed up.

Quatre had visited Relena frequently after the kidnapping, knowing that she’d need someone to talk to, or simply to keep an eye on her. And she was so worried about Heero, that she hadn’t been eating or sleeping much.

Relena resisted the urge to yawn as she grudgingly accepted the cup, taking a small sip of it before setting it down and going back to work.

Quatre sighed, knowing she’d forget about the soup and let it go cold. He picked up the cup and placed it in her hands, then took the papers. "I’ll take over for now, you eat your soup and get some rest."

Relena sighed. "Ok..." she said, taking the cup and walking off.

Quatre shook his head as he slowly flipped through the pages. But then, the phone rang.

Quatre put the papers down and reached over to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Quatre!" Duo’s voice greeted.

"Hi Duo," Quatre said with a small smile. "Is everything well?"

"Sure sure, never better..." Duo replied. "Have you found out anything about Heero yet?"

Quatre sighed. "Sorry... no."

"Oh..." Duo said in disappointment. An uncomfortable silence passed. "Well, I wish you luck, Quatre."

"We’re doing everything we can, please keep in touch."

"I will."

"Bye..."

Quatre frowned as he hung up the phone, worried about Duo. He could tell that the cheerfulness he displayed at the beginning of the conversation was forced, and that it just dropped at the end.

Everyone seemed to be falling apart lately, except maybe Trowa. Thinking of Trowa, Quatre realized that he hadn’t even spoken to Trowa in a long time. Quatre picked up the phone again and dialed his number.

~~*~~

Two days after calling Quatre, Duo was walking out of the grocery store with 2 bags of groceries, one in each arm. As he turned around a corner, a familiar purple-haired girl ran to him. "Hey Duo! How’s it going?"

Duo grinned. "Hi Hilde! I’m doing fine."

"That’s good to hear. I’ll walk you home, let me help you with those," she said, taking one of his bags and matching his stride.

On the way to Duo’s house was an ally. As they walked through the puddles and past the garbage bins, Duo suddenly stopped.

Hilde also stopped, and turned to face him. "Something wrong, Duo?"

Duo frowned and started walking again. "I just thought I heard something, never mind."

Quite suddenly, a loud boom echoed through the ally as a garbage bin was knocked over, spilling its rancid contents onto the ground. Startled, Duo jumped back from it, dropping his groceries.

"What the- ACK!" Duo yelled as something slammed into him from behind. A man had snuck up on him when the garbage bin was tipped, and he was quick to pin Duo against the wall.

Hilde screamed in surprise. But then, she dropped her bag and ran forward, punching the man in the jaw. "You let go of him right NOW!"

The man was surprised by Hilde’s attack, and he stumbled a bit, just enough for Duo to free himself. Duo kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Another person came out of hiding, wrapped his arm around Duo’s neck from behind, and dragged him back.

"Hilde, RUN! Get help!" Duo choked, kicking his attacker in the shins and elbowing him in the stomach. But then someone advanced towards Hilde with a gun, a woman with short blonde hair. "Hilde, GET OUT OF HERE!"

Hilde hesitated, not wanting to leave Duo. But she had no choice, she turned and fled.

A gunshot rang through the air, and a burning pain hit her shoulder. She gasped and staggered, barely avoiding another bullet. She kept on running until she was out of the ally, and her attacker stopped pursuing her.

Hilde stopped the first person she saw. "Help! Duo’s being attacked! Call the police!"

"Your shoulder... let me get you to the hospital, ma’am!" Someone behind her said.

"There’s no time, you’ve got to help Duo!" Hilde said, running back into the ally.

But when she got there, Duo and his attackers were nowhere to be seen. Hilde clenched her teeth and hit her fist against the wall in anger, then slumped against it. She was too late, now Duo was gone, just like Heero.

~~*~~

Quatre and Trowa were sitting in the garden near Quatre’s current residence. He was staying with one of his sisters so he could be with Relena for the time being.

Quatre leaned on Trowa’s shoulder, while Trowa’s arm held him close. The blonde leaned his head back and peered up at the inky earth sky. "The moon is beautiful tonight..." he said with a sigh.

Trowa also looked up at the moon. It was almost full, with small wisps of gray clouds ghosting over the surface. The white light was cold and sweet, with a faint aurora. "You’re right," Trowa remarked, looking down at Quatre. "But it’s not nearly as beautiful as you."

Quatre blushed, and snuggled closer. But suddenly, a familiar tune of beeping made him snap his eyes open. Quatre frowned as he dug his hand in his pocket for his cell phone, the pulled it out while muttering something inaudible.

Quatre and Trowa looked at each other for a long moment, before Quatre turned the cell phone off and dropped it at his side. "There will be no interruptions tonight," He said, giving Trowa a soft kiss on the cheek.

"I wouldn’t be so sure about that..." said a low voice behind them. Trowa and Quatre turned around, just as a net fell on them.

~~*~~

Relena slammed the phone down in frustration, wondering why Quatre didn’t answer. She was at the hospital with Hilde, and Hilde told her everything. Relena paced in the room, before sitting in the chair by the bed.

"Don’t worry, you can try again in an hour," Hilde said.

Relena nodded and tried to relax, but she was too tense. "I’m just worried about the others, what if they’re after all the pilots, and not just Heero and Duo?"

"I doubt it, now stop worrying and watch some TV," Hilde said, trying to sound cheerful. But in truth, she was just as concerned as Relena.

To be continued...

Chapter 3