Disclaimer: I make no claims of ownership.
****
A Thing More Precious
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
"What did you say to her?"
"Nothing."
Duo stared unbelievingly at his oldest friend. "Please tell me you're just experimenting with the thing we call joking." One look from Heero answered that question. "You know...sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that you really do love her. Your actions don't always speak it, buddy."
Heero folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the sofa in Duo's living room. "These are the only actions I know. If you have a problem with all of this, you don't have to help."
"No." The braided man shook his head. "My kids were in that house, too. My son screamed in his sleep before you got here, begging me not to let the bad men take him away like they did Ame." Duo balled up his fist. "I'm with you, Heero. I just wish there were another way."
An image of Relena waking up alone flashed through Heero's mind. Blinking back a sudden wave of emotion, he cleared his throat. "Have you told Hilde?"
Duo nodded. "She tried to talk me out of it, of course."
"But I'm still with you." Hilde entered the living room in her nightgown and robe, holding a sleeping Greta. Her eyes were clouded with tears. "I can't seem to put her down. I'm afraid she won't be there when I reach for her again...."
Her husband gently took the little girl. "Heero's going to fill you in on everything, babe." He kissed her forehead. "I'll put her back to bed."
Heero watched Duo disappear around the corner with his daughter. He looked back at Hilde. "You're on board?"
Hilde turned a cool gaze onto him. "I won't lie to her, Heero. If she asks me if you're with Duo, searching for the children, I won't say no." She sniffed. "But I won't offer up the information either. If you really believe this is the only way...."
"It is. I'm a liability to Relena right now. I won't burden her with my protection on top of everything else."
"So..." Hilde smiled sadly. "...you'd rather leave her entirely on her own?"
Heero blinked as though he had not considered his plan in that light. "Relena is strong."
"You count on her strength a lot, don't you?"
"I trust it, yes."
Hilde delicately rubbed her temple. "I hope you're not misguided. I can't speak for Relena, but it would take a stronger woman than me to forgive you for what you're about to do."
A twinge of guilt pulled at Heero's conscience. "Duo and I will find my children and bring them home to her." He raised his shoulders. "She won't be alone. I've seen to that."
Duo's wife gave him a doubtful look, but held her tongue further. It was just as well that she did; at that moment, there was a light knock on the door. Hilde went to answer it. "Hey", she greeted the three men. "Come on in...the party's just getting started."
Quatre gave her a sympathetic smile. "Have they left yet?"
"No. Not yet." She gestured for them to come in. Once they were, she shut the front door. "Can I get anyone anything? Coffee? Tea? Double whiskey on the rocks?"
"Skip the rocks", Trowa deadpanned.
Quatre shook his blond locks. "Thank you, Hilde. But we're fine."
Duo walked back into the living room, his manner abnormally subdued. "Good. Everyone's here." He looked at Heero. "Well? This is your operation, buddy."
Heero nodded and looked at Wufei. "What do we know?"
"That we didn't know three hours ago?" Wufei shrugged. "Not much. There were no fingerprints on the scene...at least not any from anyone who shouldn't have been there." He took a breath. "The guard was killed with a .22 slug...a shade on the old fashioned side. It entered the base of his skull execution style and he probably died instantly. But...here's the interesting part." He paused. "The bullet was made of gundanium."
"Gundanium?", Duo repeated.
"Did I stutter?" Wufei continued. "Gundanium. Not an alloy...real Gundanium. There are only a few known suppliers of gundanium in the entire universe and the Preventers have them all under tight control. They're not making bullets."
"So, someone must have bought the gundanium and then fashioned it into bullets", Quatre concluded.
"There'll be records of the sale." Trowa looked at Heero. "Tracking down the customer will be time consuming. What did Relena say when you told her everything?"
Heero looked uncomfortable, but ignored his friend. "Wufei, get us a list of every one of those suppliers."
"You did tell her...didn't you, Heero?" Quatre's blue-green eyes emenated concern.
"See if you can get us some sort of cover. We'll need complete access to each supplier's financial records. I'd like to keep this from becoming a covert operation, but if necessary, Duo and I will also need blueprints and layouts of each facility, as well as a breakdown of their security systems."
"He didn't tell her", Trowa stated, flatly. Hilde bit her lip and shook her head.
"Oh Heero..." Quatre lowered his head. "How could you not tell her?"
"How would you have told her?", Duo said, quietly standing up for his best friend.
The blond man slowly shook his head. "I would have found a way." He glanced at Heero, his eyes pleading. "Call her, Heero. Go back and leave her a note. Go back and *tell* her. But don't make her wake up to an empty house. Don't do that to her. She's been through so much tonight that..."
"No", Heero said. "I can't tell her."
Quatre pressed on. "So...she loses her children and her husband all in the same night? Are you trying to test her breaking point, Heero? Because she does have one. And if you do this, you might push her over her edge and..."
"I have my reasons."
"Oh...you have your reasons..." Quatre's voice was growing louder by the second. Trowa put a hand on his shoulder, but he ignored his lover. "That's not good enough, Heero. I watched you nine years ago when you promised to stand by her side in good times and in bad. Well, this *is* the bad times. And what do you do? You leave her all by herself in the middle of the night. So whatever your reasons are, they..."
Heero jumped to his feet and used his extra inches of height to look down at his Arabian friend. "I said I had my reasons. Leave it at that."
Quatre blinked. "Fine", he whispered. "That's just...fine."
The tension in the room was thick. Finally, Heero tore his stare away from Quatre and looked at Wufei. "Duo and I are setting out before dawn. We'll need that list immediately." Wufei nodded.
Duo turned to his wife. "Babe..."
She rolled her eyes. "I'll make you some sandwiches.....you bottomless pit." Winking at her husband, Hilde headed for the kitchen.
"We'll make up some excuse for Lady Une." A hint of repressed mischief flickered in Trowa's green eyes. "We'll tell her you two ran off together."
"I would *pay* to see her reaction to that one", Duo replied.
"She'd never believe it", Quatre said quietly. He seemed to be recovering. "Duo is the one who lobbied the hardest for a uni-sex bathroom at Headquarters."
"And logged in 254 man-hours on that sting operation at the Shangri Ooh-la-la Gentleman's Club last year", Trowa added.
"Not to mention his well-known opposition to the mandatory brassiere clause for all female interns at Preventer-sanctioned functions." Wufei shook his head. "You're a sick man, Maxwell. We'll tell Une that you both took personal leave."
"Oh yeah...*that* won't rouse her suspicions." Duo scowled. "Might as well tell her we're rolling in baby oil, arguing over who gets to be..."
Heero cleared his throat loudly. "Do you mind? Tell Une whatever will keep her off our asses....not a fucking comment on that one, Barton. I really don't give a damn what she assumes or doesn't assume as long as she leaves us alone to find my girls. Getting the Preventers involved will only get Ame and Sara..." His voice faltered. "...hurt. Or worse."
Quatre spoke up softly, but firmly. "What do we tell Relena?"
"Tell her..." Heero's jaw tightened. "It's better this way."
****
Relena woke the morning after her children's abduction with a groggy headache that she attributed to the previous evening's tragedy. She lay in bed for a long minute, trying to collect herself. Heero was not in bed with her; she had known that from the second she began to surface from her dreams. His side of the bed was unmussed as though he hadn't slept at all. Which, knowing Heero, was probably true.
It took every ounce of her willpower to get out of bed and even more to get showered. She walked into her closet, searching for an outfit. In truth, she didn't give a damn what she wore for the day. But if the news of the kidnapping had leaked to the public, there would be reporters surrounding the house. Her publicist would commit suicide if Relena were photographed in an old sweatshirt and jeans.
She chose khaki pants and a light blue, long sleeved cotton shirt. Comfortable, respectable...the first things she saw in her closet. When she was dressed, she brushed her hair and with a shaking hand, applied a light coat of lipstick. After giving her appearance a final glance in the mirror, she left the bedroom in search of her husband.
"Heero?" The house echoed her words as she started down the grand staircase. "Heero...where are you?"
There was no reply. Puzzled, Relena walked to the kitchen, only to find it empty as well. Her stomach growled, calling for her attention. She opened a cabinet, reaching for a box of granola. It was hidden behind Ame's cereal boxes. Marshmallow bits sprinkled with a few bits of fiber. Relena touched one brightly colored box reverently before pushing it aside and extracting the granola.
Before she could fix herself breakfast, a cold thread of worry shot up her spine. The granola was abandoned. "Heero!", she called out again. "Where are you??"
When she still didn't recieve a reply, her heart began to pound faster. Something was very, very wrong. Relena ran for the front door. Two Preventers stood on her front stoop, guarding their post. The young men jumped to attention at seeing the Foriegn Minister. "Ma'am!", they saluted.
Relena struggled for breath. "Have you seen Commander Yuy?"
The younger Preventer squirmed. "Commander Yuy? Um...no ma'am. No, we..um...haven't."
"He hasn't stepped out for anything? Gone to Headquarters?", Relena pressed.
"Uh...well..."
The second, older Preventer sighed. "Ma'am...we're not supposed to say anything to you. But Commander Yuy left early this morning."
Relena felt as though the air had been sucked out of her lungs. "Did he...say where he was going?", she managed to ask.
"No ma'am. But..."
"But what?"
The man hesitated. "He had a travel bag with him."
Several long seconds passed as Relena processed the information. "Thank you", she whispered. Slowly, she backed up into the house, closing the door behind her. She stood with her back pressed up agains the door for a long time. A lone tear slipped down her cheek.
"Heero..."
Relena moved forward, but she was not aware of telling her legs to walk. They acted entirely on their own, carrying her into the parlor of her ancestral home. The home she had shared with Heero for nine years. The home they had started a family in. The home he had carried her into on the night of their wedding. She walked to the windows and stopped.
Time passed, but she had no idea how long she stood at the window. Her eyes saw nothing as she stared out the glass. The only thing that brought her out of her reverie was the sound of voices raised in argument in the foyer.
"...going inside whether you like it or not. I have more right to be in this house than you do, boy."
"Sir....I have my orders..."
"And I have someone in there who needs me. You have five seconds to move aside and let me by before things are going to become unpleasant."
"Millardo?"
Millardo Peacecraft peered into the parlor. Standing all alone in front of the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the ocean was the former Queen of the World...the Foriegn Minister, pale and far more fragile than usual. A lump stuck in his throat. Without any prompting, he pushed past the guard, crossed the distance between them and gathered his little sister into a strong embrace.
Relena began to cry the minute his arms encircled her. Heero's arms made her feel loved, beautiful and safe. But Millardo's arms allowed her, just for a moment, to be a child again and to feel the sort of protection that one can only get from an older brother. Her nose squashed against his shirt as she sobbed.
His wife, Lucrezia Peacecraft slipped quietly into the room. Her eyes watered upon seeing her sister in law, the young woman she had grown to love like a biological sister, in so much pain. Millardo held her tight, letting her vent all her sorrow into his chest.
Relena began to speak before all her tears were shed. "How did...you know...to come here? It's not..." She stifled a choked sob. "...in the news yet...is it?"
Millardo gently stroked his little sister's hair. "Heero called us. We got here as soon as we could."
"Heero?" Her head tilted up; hope welled to the surface of her flooded blue eyes. "You talked to him? Did he say where he was going...when he would be back?"
Her brother looked confused. "He's not here?"
"No..." Relena's shoulders slumped under the weight of fresh sobs. "He's gone..."
Noin exchanged a frantic look with her husband. "Relena..." She touched her sister in law's arm gently. "Maybe he just went down to Headquarters. Or Duo's house...have you tried calling Duo's house?"
Relena shook her head against Millardo's chest. "He's gone." She pressed a hand to her own chest. "I feel it...here. They're all gone..."
"Heero wouldn't do that, Relena." Noin looked at the man she loved for affirmation. "Right?" Millardo raised an eyebrow and said nothing.
The Foriegn Minister lifted her head from her brother's shoulder. "When did you...talk to him?", she asked.
"Early this morning", Millardo replied. "He told us about the girls and asked us to come as soon as possible. He said that you needed us." Unconciously, Millardo's fist tightened. He refused to let his anger at his brother in law come to the surface. The last thing Relena needed right then was to hear all the horrible thoughts about her husband that were permeating his mind.
"Where could he be?", Relena whispered. But what she was really asking was, 'why isn't he here?' To that, her brother had no answer.
****
Ame Yuy was known to her first grade teachers as 'the great negotiator'. At six years old, she could talk even the third graders into helping her with her subtraction and the cafeteria ladies into giving her an extra cookie at lunch. She was a bright, talkative and happy child.
Not such was the Ame Yuy balled tightly into the corner of the big, ugly white van that had been driving endlessly for hours. The van's windows were painted, so she could not even see out of them. Everytime the van hit a pothole in the road, her head jolted against the metal siding. She wanted to cry, but she was too scared and too tired.
Her sister did not appear to have the same problem. Ever since the big men in black ski masks had yanked the baby out of Nancy's arms, she had been crying at the top of her little lungs. Ame was happy to hear the sound. It meant that Sara was all right. Scared and hungry just like she was, but well enough to cry. And to keep crying.
The big man awkwardly holding Sara sighed for the hundreth time since his partner had pushed the baby into his arms to take over the wheel. "Don't we have anything to shut the kid up?", he asked.
His partner hunched over the wheel. "I told that moron he should have let us hire a woman. But no...he had to keep the job small. And now we're stuck with this little...." He said a word that Ame had never even heard Mr. Duo say.
Huge tears welled up in her eyes. The van hit a pothole and her head banged against the wall. She could not hold back her little cry of pain. The man holding Sara craned his neck to see her. "Shut up, kid! We've got enough of it with your sister."
Ame bit her lip. Now that she had the man's attention, should she ask him? Would it make him even more mad? Maybe mad enough to hurt her or, worse, Sara? But...she couldn't hold it in anymore. "I have to go to the bathroom", she informed her kidnapper.
The man repeated the bad word. "Did you hear that, Mike? The kid's gotta pee."
"So?", came the reply from the driver's seat.
"So...pull over and let her go."
"Are you out of your mind? Yeah...I'll just let the kid out so she can run off. That's great, Jay. Just fucking brilliant."
The man named Jay winced as Sara began to cry even louder. "Where the hell is she going to go? She's little; we could catch her before she got ten feet away. 'Sides...the boss told us to take good care of them."
"Fine. I'll pull over. But you keep an eye on her the whole time, Jay. Got that?"
"What? I can't do that! She's a girl!! That wouldn't be..."
"Wouldn't be what? Wouldn't be right??", Mike taunted his partner. "Like grabbing them from their house and shoving them into a van in the middle of the night was 'right'. Don't let her out of your sight...or else."
Ame's head banged against the metal again; she closed her eyes. "Daddy will find us", she whispered. "Daddy will find us."
****
To Be Continued....
****
A Thing More Precious
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
"What did you say to her?"
"Nothing."
Duo stared unbelievingly at his oldest friend. "Please tell me you're just experimenting with the thing we call joking." One look from Heero answered that question. "You know...sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that you really do love her. Your actions don't always speak it, buddy."
Heero folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the sofa in Duo's living room. "These are the only actions I know. If you have a problem with all of this, you don't have to help."
"No." The braided man shook his head. "My kids were in that house, too. My son screamed in his sleep before you got here, begging me not to let the bad men take him away like they did Ame." Duo balled up his fist. "I'm with you, Heero. I just wish there were another way."
An image of Relena waking up alone flashed through Heero's mind. Blinking back a sudden wave of emotion, he cleared his throat. "Have you told Hilde?"
Duo nodded. "She tried to talk me out of it, of course."
"But I'm still with you." Hilde entered the living room in her nightgown and robe, holding a sleeping Greta. Her eyes were clouded with tears. "I can't seem to put her down. I'm afraid she won't be there when I reach for her again...."
Her husband gently took the little girl. "Heero's going to fill you in on everything, babe." He kissed her forehead. "I'll put her back to bed."
Heero watched Duo disappear around the corner with his daughter. He looked back at Hilde. "You're on board?"
Hilde turned a cool gaze onto him. "I won't lie to her, Heero. If she asks me if you're with Duo, searching for the children, I won't say no." She sniffed. "But I won't offer up the information either. If you really believe this is the only way...."
"It is. I'm a liability to Relena right now. I won't burden her with my protection on top of everything else."
"So..." Hilde smiled sadly. "...you'd rather leave her entirely on her own?"
Heero blinked as though he had not considered his plan in that light. "Relena is strong."
"You count on her strength a lot, don't you?"
"I trust it, yes."
Hilde delicately rubbed her temple. "I hope you're not misguided. I can't speak for Relena, but it would take a stronger woman than me to forgive you for what you're about to do."
A twinge of guilt pulled at Heero's conscience. "Duo and I will find my children and bring them home to her." He raised his shoulders. "She won't be alone. I've seen to that."
Duo's wife gave him a doubtful look, but held her tongue further. It was just as well that she did; at that moment, there was a light knock on the door. Hilde went to answer it. "Hey", she greeted the three men. "Come on in...the party's just getting started."
Quatre gave her a sympathetic smile. "Have they left yet?"
"No. Not yet." She gestured for them to come in. Once they were, she shut the front door. "Can I get anyone anything? Coffee? Tea? Double whiskey on the rocks?"
"Skip the rocks", Trowa deadpanned.
Quatre shook his blond locks. "Thank you, Hilde. But we're fine."
Duo walked back into the living room, his manner abnormally subdued. "Good. Everyone's here." He looked at Heero. "Well? This is your operation, buddy."
Heero nodded and looked at Wufei. "What do we know?"
"That we didn't know three hours ago?" Wufei shrugged. "Not much. There were no fingerprints on the scene...at least not any from anyone who shouldn't have been there." He took a breath. "The guard was killed with a .22 slug...a shade on the old fashioned side. It entered the base of his skull execution style and he probably died instantly. But...here's the interesting part." He paused. "The bullet was made of gundanium."
"Gundanium?", Duo repeated.
"Did I stutter?" Wufei continued. "Gundanium. Not an alloy...real Gundanium. There are only a few known suppliers of gundanium in the entire universe and the Preventers have them all under tight control. They're not making bullets."
"So, someone must have bought the gundanium and then fashioned it into bullets", Quatre concluded.
"There'll be records of the sale." Trowa looked at Heero. "Tracking down the customer will be time consuming. What did Relena say when you told her everything?"
Heero looked uncomfortable, but ignored his friend. "Wufei, get us a list of every one of those suppliers."
"You did tell her...didn't you, Heero?" Quatre's blue-green eyes emenated concern.
"See if you can get us some sort of cover. We'll need complete access to each supplier's financial records. I'd like to keep this from becoming a covert operation, but if necessary, Duo and I will also need blueprints and layouts of each facility, as well as a breakdown of their security systems."
"He didn't tell her", Trowa stated, flatly. Hilde bit her lip and shook her head.
"Oh Heero..." Quatre lowered his head. "How could you not tell her?"
"How would you have told her?", Duo said, quietly standing up for his best friend.
The blond man slowly shook his head. "I would have found a way." He glanced at Heero, his eyes pleading. "Call her, Heero. Go back and leave her a note. Go back and *tell* her. But don't make her wake up to an empty house. Don't do that to her. She's been through so much tonight that..."
"No", Heero said. "I can't tell her."
Quatre pressed on. "So...she loses her children and her husband all in the same night? Are you trying to test her breaking point, Heero? Because she does have one. And if you do this, you might push her over her edge and..."
"I have my reasons."
"Oh...you have your reasons..." Quatre's voice was growing louder by the second. Trowa put a hand on his shoulder, but he ignored his lover. "That's not good enough, Heero. I watched you nine years ago when you promised to stand by her side in good times and in bad. Well, this *is* the bad times. And what do you do? You leave her all by herself in the middle of the night. So whatever your reasons are, they..."
Heero jumped to his feet and used his extra inches of height to look down at his Arabian friend. "I said I had my reasons. Leave it at that."
Quatre blinked. "Fine", he whispered. "That's just...fine."
The tension in the room was thick. Finally, Heero tore his stare away from Quatre and looked at Wufei. "Duo and I are setting out before dawn. We'll need that list immediately." Wufei nodded.
Duo turned to his wife. "Babe..."
She rolled her eyes. "I'll make you some sandwiches.....you bottomless pit." Winking at her husband, Hilde headed for the kitchen.
"We'll make up some excuse for Lady Une." A hint of repressed mischief flickered in Trowa's green eyes. "We'll tell her you two ran off together."
"I would *pay* to see her reaction to that one", Duo replied.
"She'd never believe it", Quatre said quietly. He seemed to be recovering. "Duo is the one who lobbied the hardest for a uni-sex bathroom at Headquarters."
"And logged in 254 man-hours on that sting operation at the Shangri Ooh-la-la Gentleman's Club last year", Trowa added.
"Not to mention his well-known opposition to the mandatory brassiere clause for all female interns at Preventer-sanctioned functions." Wufei shook his head. "You're a sick man, Maxwell. We'll tell Une that you both took personal leave."
"Oh yeah...*that* won't rouse her suspicions." Duo scowled. "Might as well tell her we're rolling in baby oil, arguing over who gets to be..."
Heero cleared his throat loudly. "Do you mind? Tell Une whatever will keep her off our asses....not a fucking comment on that one, Barton. I really don't give a damn what she assumes or doesn't assume as long as she leaves us alone to find my girls. Getting the Preventers involved will only get Ame and Sara..." His voice faltered. "...hurt. Or worse."
Quatre spoke up softly, but firmly. "What do we tell Relena?"
"Tell her..." Heero's jaw tightened. "It's better this way."
****
Relena woke the morning after her children's abduction with a groggy headache that she attributed to the previous evening's tragedy. She lay in bed for a long minute, trying to collect herself. Heero was not in bed with her; she had known that from the second she began to surface from her dreams. His side of the bed was unmussed as though he hadn't slept at all. Which, knowing Heero, was probably true.
It took every ounce of her willpower to get out of bed and even more to get showered. She walked into her closet, searching for an outfit. In truth, she didn't give a damn what she wore for the day. But if the news of the kidnapping had leaked to the public, there would be reporters surrounding the house. Her publicist would commit suicide if Relena were photographed in an old sweatshirt and jeans.
She chose khaki pants and a light blue, long sleeved cotton shirt. Comfortable, respectable...the first things she saw in her closet. When she was dressed, she brushed her hair and with a shaking hand, applied a light coat of lipstick. After giving her appearance a final glance in the mirror, she left the bedroom in search of her husband.
"Heero?" The house echoed her words as she started down the grand staircase. "Heero...where are you?"
There was no reply. Puzzled, Relena walked to the kitchen, only to find it empty as well. Her stomach growled, calling for her attention. She opened a cabinet, reaching for a box of granola. It was hidden behind Ame's cereal boxes. Marshmallow bits sprinkled with a few bits of fiber. Relena touched one brightly colored box reverently before pushing it aside and extracting the granola.
Before she could fix herself breakfast, a cold thread of worry shot up her spine. The granola was abandoned. "Heero!", she called out again. "Where are you??"
When she still didn't recieve a reply, her heart began to pound faster. Something was very, very wrong. Relena ran for the front door. Two Preventers stood on her front stoop, guarding their post. The young men jumped to attention at seeing the Foriegn Minister. "Ma'am!", they saluted.
Relena struggled for breath. "Have you seen Commander Yuy?"
The younger Preventer squirmed. "Commander Yuy? Um...no ma'am. No, we..um...haven't."
"He hasn't stepped out for anything? Gone to Headquarters?", Relena pressed.
"Uh...well..."
The second, older Preventer sighed. "Ma'am...we're not supposed to say anything to you. But Commander Yuy left early this morning."
Relena felt as though the air had been sucked out of her lungs. "Did he...say where he was going?", she managed to ask.
"No ma'am. But..."
"But what?"
The man hesitated. "He had a travel bag with him."
Several long seconds passed as Relena processed the information. "Thank you", she whispered. Slowly, she backed up into the house, closing the door behind her. She stood with her back pressed up agains the door for a long time. A lone tear slipped down her cheek.
"Heero..."
Relena moved forward, but she was not aware of telling her legs to walk. They acted entirely on their own, carrying her into the parlor of her ancestral home. The home she had shared with Heero for nine years. The home they had started a family in. The home he had carried her into on the night of their wedding. She walked to the windows and stopped.
Time passed, but she had no idea how long she stood at the window. Her eyes saw nothing as she stared out the glass. The only thing that brought her out of her reverie was the sound of voices raised in argument in the foyer.
"...going inside whether you like it or not. I have more right to be in this house than you do, boy."
"Sir....I have my orders..."
"And I have someone in there who needs me. You have five seconds to move aside and let me by before things are going to become unpleasant."
"Millardo?"
Millardo Peacecraft peered into the parlor. Standing all alone in front of the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the ocean was the former Queen of the World...the Foriegn Minister, pale and far more fragile than usual. A lump stuck in his throat. Without any prompting, he pushed past the guard, crossed the distance between them and gathered his little sister into a strong embrace.
Relena began to cry the minute his arms encircled her. Heero's arms made her feel loved, beautiful and safe. But Millardo's arms allowed her, just for a moment, to be a child again and to feel the sort of protection that one can only get from an older brother. Her nose squashed against his shirt as she sobbed.
His wife, Lucrezia Peacecraft slipped quietly into the room. Her eyes watered upon seeing her sister in law, the young woman she had grown to love like a biological sister, in so much pain. Millardo held her tight, letting her vent all her sorrow into his chest.
Relena began to speak before all her tears were shed. "How did...you know...to come here? It's not..." She stifled a choked sob. "...in the news yet...is it?"
Millardo gently stroked his little sister's hair. "Heero called us. We got here as soon as we could."
"Heero?" Her head tilted up; hope welled to the surface of her flooded blue eyes. "You talked to him? Did he say where he was going...when he would be back?"
Her brother looked confused. "He's not here?"
"No..." Relena's shoulders slumped under the weight of fresh sobs. "He's gone..."
Noin exchanged a frantic look with her husband. "Relena..." She touched her sister in law's arm gently. "Maybe he just went down to Headquarters. Or Duo's house...have you tried calling Duo's house?"
Relena shook her head against Millardo's chest. "He's gone." She pressed a hand to her own chest. "I feel it...here. They're all gone..."
"Heero wouldn't do that, Relena." Noin looked at the man she loved for affirmation. "Right?" Millardo raised an eyebrow and said nothing.
The Foriegn Minister lifted her head from her brother's shoulder. "When did you...talk to him?", she asked.
"Early this morning", Millardo replied. "He told us about the girls and asked us to come as soon as possible. He said that you needed us." Unconciously, Millardo's fist tightened. He refused to let his anger at his brother in law come to the surface. The last thing Relena needed right then was to hear all the horrible thoughts about her husband that were permeating his mind.
"Where could he be?", Relena whispered. But what she was really asking was, 'why isn't he here?' To that, her brother had no answer.
****
Ame Yuy was known to her first grade teachers as 'the great negotiator'. At six years old, she could talk even the third graders into helping her with her subtraction and the cafeteria ladies into giving her an extra cookie at lunch. She was a bright, talkative and happy child.
Not such was the Ame Yuy balled tightly into the corner of the big, ugly white van that had been driving endlessly for hours. The van's windows were painted, so she could not even see out of them. Everytime the van hit a pothole in the road, her head jolted against the metal siding. She wanted to cry, but she was too scared and too tired.
Her sister did not appear to have the same problem. Ever since the big men in black ski masks had yanked the baby out of Nancy's arms, she had been crying at the top of her little lungs. Ame was happy to hear the sound. It meant that Sara was all right. Scared and hungry just like she was, but well enough to cry. And to keep crying.
The big man awkwardly holding Sara sighed for the hundreth time since his partner had pushed the baby into his arms to take over the wheel. "Don't we have anything to shut the kid up?", he asked.
His partner hunched over the wheel. "I told that moron he should have let us hire a woman. But no...he had to keep the job small. And now we're stuck with this little...." He said a word that Ame had never even heard Mr. Duo say.
Huge tears welled up in her eyes. The van hit a pothole and her head banged against the wall. She could not hold back her little cry of pain. The man holding Sara craned his neck to see her. "Shut up, kid! We've got enough of it with your sister."
Ame bit her lip. Now that she had the man's attention, should she ask him? Would it make him even more mad? Maybe mad enough to hurt her or, worse, Sara? But...she couldn't hold it in anymore. "I have to go to the bathroom", she informed her kidnapper.
The man repeated the bad word. "Did you hear that, Mike? The kid's gotta pee."
"So?", came the reply from the driver's seat.
"So...pull over and let her go."
"Are you out of your mind? Yeah...I'll just let the kid out so she can run off. That's great, Jay. Just fucking brilliant."
The man named Jay winced as Sara began to cry even louder. "Where the hell is she going to go? She's little; we could catch her before she got ten feet away. 'Sides...the boss told us to take good care of them."
"Fine. I'll pull over. But you keep an eye on her the whole time, Jay. Got that?"
"What? I can't do that! She's a girl!! That wouldn't be..."
"Wouldn't be what? Wouldn't be right??", Mike taunted his partner. "Like grabbing them from their house and shoving them into a van in the middle of the night was 'right'. Don't let her out of your sight...or else."
Ame's head banged against the metal again; she closed her eyes. "Daddy will find us", she whispered. "Daddy will find us."
****
To Be Continued....