a/n. I feel like it should be illegal to leave you all with a cliffhanger for four whole years. I'm going to try and get this piece done, for Relena's sake. Thanks to everyone who has been leaving me encouraging words and reviews along the way. It's helped me more than you know. Special shoutout to M., thank you for cheering me on!

Previously in MOUNTEBANK

I logged in and pulled up my inbox.

I had a hundred unread messages, all sent from my own address, just like the e-mails I had received about Relena.

"Where do we start?" I felt myself say, but I barely remember forming the words on my own.

Chapter 11, part one

After a dozen or so emails, and another plate of eggs and bacon, I was starting to feel more like myself.

Duo had given me a legal pad to scribble notes on, and I had quickly written out what I had committed to memory while I was incarcerated.

Hello Alpha. It seems we both have been inside her. The first line read. An interpretation of the last message I had received from who I had assumed was Relena's kidnapper. The person I had started to call Norse God.

You all, give to me Zero, I want it, mine of Alpha.

After reading over the phrases a few more times, I had jotted down the original message Duo had slipped me while he was disguised as a prison guard: Noventa. Newport. Norse God.

"That was the first message we intercepted through your emails." Duo had explained earlier. "We couldn't exactly figure it out..."

"But we knew there had to be something you could recognize in there. I knew you'd perk up at Noventa if you saw that." Trowa mused as he handed me a generous breakfast plate.

I mulled over the Noventa name once more. I hadn't seen a member of the Noventa family since I had given Sylvia the opportunity to avenger her grandfather's death. Newport was obviously Newport City, former capital of the Sanc Kingdom.

What was Norse God trying to tell me? Why would they involve the Noventas?

I turned my attention back to my inbox, with a mouth full of crispy bacon.

"Do you think they know that you destroyed your mobile suit?" Duo asked while pouring a few mugs of fresh-brewed coffee.

"I think the world knows that our Gundams were destroyed. Especially if Norse God is a Preventer mole. They'd know that and some." Trowa said as he handed me my blessed mug. The aroma of the black liquid was truly heavenly. I brought the cup to my lips to savor a slow drag of the stuff. Every sip brought me back to life.

"My Gundam wasn't technically Zero. It was 01." I said nonchalantly. And then, the realization hit me, hard.

"He's not looking for 01." I said as I placed my mug onto the coffee table in front of me. "He wants the Zero system."

My tablet then pinged to life. It wasn't another email, no... this was a video call. I began to sweat.

"Answer it Heero!" Duo choked out. I slid my finger across the screen and opened the call. I saw nothing but darkness. The person on the other end didn't enable their camera. I left mine on, I wanted them to see me.

"Who is this?" I growled with more strength than my weakened body should have had. All I heard on the other end was labored breathing, and a bit of shuffling.

"H-hello?" The trembling voice rang in my ears. It felt like a splash of cold water, a warm embrace, and a gunshot all at once. I would recognize that voice in any state. That voice that had brought me back to life more than once.

"R-Relena?!" I yelled, pulse quickening. I looked over to Duo, who was already trying to isolate the phone call on whatever program he was running on his laptop. "Are you OK? Are you safe?"

"Heero!" She whispered through gritted teeth and a choked sob. It was her. She was alive. How was she still alive? Would that change, now?

I heard the sound of fingers snapping. Duo caught my attention, throwing me a thumbs up, he had the location of the call.

Duo mouthed the words: Brussels.

"Relena, please do what you need to do to stay alive, you hear me?" I whispered. I knew someone had to be listening on the other end. They were surely watching the video call along with her.

And then I heard it. A peel of female laughter. And with it, the lights in the room came on.

She was calling from a sterile, white room. No windows, no doors in sight. She wore her honey-blonde hair loose, but kept a black military cap low over her brow, obscuring her eyes. I caught a glimpse of her neck, and it felt... wrong. Her skin was so pale. Was this Relena? My Relena?

The rest of her body was shrouded in a black, double-breasted military coat. Her slender hands hidden behind a pair of black leather gloves.

"Re-Relena?" I whispered. A wave of confusion washed over me. I looked over to Trowa and Duo, who couldn't see what I was seeing from the other side of the room. Trowa flourished his hands. "Keep her talking" he mouthed.

"Paging... Doctor Lowe." She said as she lifted her head to look at me.

a/n: Don't worry! I'm not that evil! It just seemed like a fun place to take a break :) Please read on for part 2 of ch. 11. Thank you for sticking with me all these years!