Disclaimer: We own the gundam pilots, along with our pet Chimaeras.  Haha.  I even thought up Heero on my own!  All right, no, we don't.  But I plan to not eat or sleep until I do!  *Windrage collapses from lack of food* Alright, maybe not…

Author's note:  This was based on a roleplay that Tiger and I did.  I just wrote it up.  Give her credit too!

Lost and Found

Chapter one: Grave news

With a creak, the door to Duo's room opened.  Heero walked in, his hair even more tousled than usual.  Staring at the boy who lay on the bed in front of him, he gave a grunt to show Duo that he was there.  After a short pause, he spoke.

            "I'm sorry about Hilde."

            "So am I," Duo replied to his friend, "So am I."

            Heero grunted again and shook his head.  Hilde had been on a mission for Preventers when the base had lost contact with her ship.  The tracking signal that was required on all Preventers ships had somehow been disabled.  And that meant that her plane had either crashed and she was too hurt to call for help, or she had been taken captive by some enemy organization that had disabled the device on purpose.  Neither was very appealing to think about.

            "Any news yet?" he asked quietly.

            "None whatsoever."

            Duo looked up, his face melancholy, a great difference from his usual perky attitude.

            "If only we still had our gundams," Duo said, "then we wouldn't be so badly off."

            Heero grunted in agreement.

            "Where was she last heard from?"

            "Somewhere above the Amazon Rainforest."

            "Are there search parties out?"

            "Yes, Une has them patrolling the area."

            Heero paused and thought.

            "Why aren't you with them?"

            Duo shifted uncomfortably in the bed, something clanging under the sheets.

            "Well…  Une wouldn't let me.  She says I'm needed to protect the Vice Foreign Minister."

            Heero shook his head, his previously messy hair falling into some kind of order.

            "She was an adequate Preventer.  They don't need to lose her.  She should be top priority."
            Duo buried his face in his pillow again.  Eventually, he spoke, pillow muffling his words almost to a whisper.

            "It's not her place at Preventer's I'm worried about."

            A pause.

            "But if nothing else, they should be worried about it."

            Duo nodded his head in agreement with this last statement though his face was still hindered by the pillow.  His braid lay tangled beside him, as if he hadn't bothered to re-braid it in days.  Voice weary with sorrow, he spoke.

            "I'm not really in the mood to talk about Hilde right now.  She isn't exactly my favorite subject at this point in time."      

            The room fell silent for a few moments.

            "You loved her."  It wasn't a question.  Indeed, far from it.

            "It's not your business."

            "Well, you're the one who bugged me about Relena."

            "I DON'T want to talk about HILDE right now, alright?" he yelled.

            Heero was silent for a while, then sat down on a nearby chair, one knee up next to his face.

            "We will find her."

            "I hope so…"

            Duo stopped in mid-sentence, then sat up on his bed.

            "…but I can't stand the idea that she could be fighting for her life out there and I am sitting here, doing nothing."

            Heero nodded.

            "I understand.  What I can't understand is why Une won't let you go.  There are other Preventers to protect the Vice Foreign Minister."

            Duo smiled, albeit a small and weak one.

            "That's probably the most words I've ever heard you say at once in all the time I've known you."

            Heero sighed.  He wasn't going to enjoy what he had to do next.

            "Duo…  This isn't the best of times, but… My cat killed your dog."

            "WHAT?!  Tiger killed Solo?"

            "I believe that's what I said."

            Minutes passed before Duo replied.  When he did, his voice was thick and his shoulders shook from repressed sobs.

            "This has NOT been a good day."

            "Good.  You've spoken.  I was starting to worry that you had passed you from shock."

            Duo stared at Heero with disbelief.

            "Hilde's lost somewhere in South America and your beloved Tiger just killed my dog, why wouldn't I?"

            Heero didn't reply.

            "I apologize.  It wasn't Tiger's fault.  He chased Solo onto a cliff, where the rock broke and he fell."

            Heero had been there during the incident.  He had attempted to save the dog, considering that Duo loved Solo so much, but all that had gained him was a deep cut on the arm.  As soon as he had come in the house to tell Duo that his dog had died, he had gotten a call from Noin saying that Hilde was missing.  He hadn't known Hilde that well, but he knew that Duo would be upset.  So, he waited until he knew that Duo had the news of Hilde's disappearance to tell him about Solo, so that he would already be braced against bad news and it wouldn't hit him as such a shock.

            "Well, I forgive you, and him, so that's done.  You can go now."

            "That's not all.  You're too upset.  It isn't right."

            Duo stared at Heero.

            "You actually care?" he said to the pilot sitting in front of him.

            Heero said nothing, merely grunted and turned his head.

            "I really don't want to talk right now, so could you please leave?"

            Heero waited a moment before replying.

            "There was something else I wanted to tell you."

            "Go on."

            Heero waited until Duo had finished talking to continue.

            "I'm going to look for Hilde, with or without the Preventers' approval.  Are you going to come or stay?"

            Duo looked blank for a moment, then his eyes lit up.

            "Are you kidding?  Let's move!"