Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or anything for that matter. I make no $$$ off of my stories, I write them for pure enjoyment.
A/N: Thanks to those who have kept up with this story. You're the reason I do this stuff; YOU ROCK! Oh, Angel Eyes, I hate to tell you this, but this story will not be finished anytime soon. I already have most of the story through Chapter 11, and I haven't finished the story yet. So Please, hang in there. Most of the chapters have been written, I am just waiting on my editor (AKA husband) to review them. So Chapter 6 will be up next week! Until then, Thanks you guys!
Chapter 5
Nothing.
One and a half weeks of searching had turned up nothing. And that in itself was something. L6-2789 was a fairly new colony, but even then there should have been some sort of a paper trail; political/economical debts, scandals...etc.
Trowa's thorough search of the political, executive and judicial branches of the colony had not turned up anything. Not one corrupt politician or judge. Wufei had been assigned to the police force, through the Preventers intervention, to gain access to police records. Again, they ran into a dead end. Even Quatre had come up empty handed after reviewing the transportation logs since the colony had formed.
Duo and Heero had followed up on the information about Carrie Rio. From what they gathered, Carrie Rio was an intelligent, beautiful young woman who had a bright future ahead of her as a lawyer, and she was sometimes mistaken for the former princess of the world. No evidence was found indicating that she had been involved in any terrorist or Anti-ESUN organizations.
The colony was just too squeaky clean for its own good.
Heero sat in the motel room, waiting for Zechs to contact him for the weekly progress report. The broken AC would only make things more unbearable when Zechs had started asking if they had found anything.
'Something doesn't seem right. Everything is too neat and pretty for a colony only 2 years old.' Heero thought as he mopped the sweat from his brow. 'But Zechs won't want to hear my feelings on the whole situation. He'll just want the facts.'
The alarm on his laptop sounded, indicating the secure line had been established, and Zechs was waiting on the other end. Flipping the top open, he was greeted by Zechs' cold, icy glare.
"Report."
"We've finished our search of all the major authorities of the colony. Nothing implicating the colony in any illegal activity was found."
"What about Carrie Rio?"
"Dead End. She had no ties to any anti-peace factions. She's clean."
Zechs sighed heavily, "Okay, pull out and head to L8-14. Colonel Une reported some possible militant activity on that colony that should be checked out." 'The longer we take checking different leads, the more I lose hope that she will ever be found.' But Zechs knew the former Zero pilot wouldn't give up until Relena was found.
Turning his attention back to the task at hand, he said, "I'll contact you the same time next week on L8-14."
"Affirmative." Heero answered, before he killed the connection.
****************
Later that night, all five pilots met in Heero's hotel room to discuss the meeting with Zechs.
Duo took one look at Heero and said, "I take it the meeting didn't go too well."
"We're pulling out tomorrow morning." Heero stated. "Since we've found nothing, Zechs is moving us to a new location to investigate."
Duo vocalized his disagreement. "Heero, you know as well as I do that there is something fishy going on in this colony. We seriously need to check it out further."
"For once, I have to agree with Duo." Trowa's quiet voice came from the corner as Wufei nodded in agreement.
Quatre, the ever-present voice of reason, entered the conversation. "We all agree that there is something not right about this colony. However, the point is, we were unable to find any information suggesting that the colony is involved in illegal activities. Nor were we able to find out if Relena is being held here. We must continue the search."
No one spoke a word, so the silence dragged on until Heero said, "Fine. It's settled then. You four will continue on to the next location. I'll stay behind for three more days, then I'll catch up with you on L8-14."
Duo turned his cobalt gaze towards Heero. "No deal buddy. There's no way I'm going to leave you here to have all the fun. Besides, I'll stay and keep you out of trouble." He added with a wink.
"That sounds like a good idea to me, Duo. Meanwhile Trowa, Wufei and myself will begin the search of L8-14 without you. Just don't except us to do your part." Quatre said, a small smile appearing on his face. 'I know this colony has the answers, but we cannot delay the search any longer. Heero and Duo will find something, I'm sure of it.'
With the decision finally made, Quatre, Trowa and Wufei left the room to pack their things for their morning departure.
Duo turned the chair around, and sat down with his arms leaning on the back of the chair. A mischievous grin crossed his face. "Zechs can't be too surprised with this turn of events. I told him you never follow anyone else's orders but your own." the amusement evident in his voice. "Okay, buddy, we've got 72 hours. Where do we begin?"
Heero walked over to the window in the hotel room, and looked down on the city. 'I know you're here, Relena. But where exactly are you?' "Hn."
****************
For the first 24 hours, they reviewed all the notes taken by the other three pilots, hoping to come across something that was missed the first time, but to no avail.
By the end of the second day, frustration had bloomed in both of them. Duo and Heero had spent most of the day, in some of the seedy parts of the colony; try to find any information on subversive actions. But it turned out to be another dead end.
On the way back to the hotel, Duo's stomach decided it was time for dinner.
"Come on, Heero. Let's stop and get something to eat before we head back to the hotel. We have a long night ahead of us reviewing the information on Carrie Rio." Duo said as he pulled Heero into a local restaurant called Penalty Shots. "There is nothing I know better to cure the blues than sports, burgers and beer."
A bouncy redhead greeted them as they walked in. "Hi. Welcome to Penalty Shots. You here for just drinks or dinner too?"
"Dinner." Heero answered quickly. 'The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back to work.' The hostess escorted them to a corner booth in the back of the restaurant.
"Alex, will be your server. She should be with you in just a minute." Handing them the menus, the hostess turned around and left. Duo turned on the small TV in the booth and flipped through the channels looking for a soccer game.
Alex made her appearance then. She had on a pair of tight black jeans, white tank top and her auburn hair was pulled back into two pigtails. Her green eyes shone as she said, "Great, you guys have the soccer game on! Okay guys, what can I get you for dinner?"
'You have Hilde; you have Hilde.... stop staring at her like she is one of the blue-plate specials.' Duo thought to himself. To the waitress, he said, "I'll have a bacon cheeseburger, French fries and a beer."
"Just a beer for me." Heero said. Alex turned her eyes toward Heero. 'Boy, he looks like he means business. I better not screw this up.' "Okay, I'll go put your order in and bring you guys your beers. Let me know if you need anything." Alex sauntered away and brought them their beers a moment later.
Duo sighed. "Heero, we only have another 30 hours or so until we have to catch up with the others. We need to come up with something and fast."
As the two planned their strategy for the next day, Alex brought Duo his food. "Here you are, sir. Do you happen to know the score of the match?" Duo shrugged quickly. Without hesitation, Heero replied, "2-0 in favor of the Blitz." Duo shot Heero a puzzled look. He was always surprised how Heero could be focused on one thing, yet be aware of everything around him.
"Thanks. It's so hard to try and keep up with the match when we are busy like this." She turned and bumped into another waitress.
Heero and Duo went back to finalizing their plan, when something caught hold of both their attentions.
" . . . I know Alex. I hate to run out on you so suddenly, but something came up. Thanks for picking up my tables."
"No problem, Raye. That's what friends are for. See you later."
That voice, it was her.
Heero turned to Duo wondering if he had also heard the voice. The wide-eyed look Duo gave him as he choked on his cheeseburger was all the confirmation he needed. Whipping his head around, he began to scan the crowd looking for 'Raye', but all he saw was the main door slamming closed.
Hurdling the table, Heero ran to the door and threw it open. 'She couldn't have gotten far.' Down the street, he made out the silhouette of a female against the city lights, turning the corner.
"Relena!" He called, cupping his hands around his mouth, making his voice carry down the street.
When the figure didn't immediately turn back around the corner, Heero broke into a run. Duo emerged from the restaurant and once he saw Heero running down the street, he automatically started after him.
Heero skidded to a halt as he rounded the corner. There were crowds of people everywhere. Relena had melted into the throng of people and disappeared. Panting, Duo came up behind him and asked, "Did you find her?"
"No." Heero replied, throwing his famous 'death stares' at people as they walked by. 'Tell me I'm not losing my mind. That was Relena, it had to be.'
Duo spoke his thoughts. "Heero, I wasn't dreaming, was I? That was Relena, wasn't it?"
Heero turned his heated gaze toward Duo and said, "Let's go. We have work to do."
A/N: Thanks to those who have kept up with this story. You're the reason I do this stuff; YOU ROCK! Oh, Angel Eyes, I hate to tell you this, but this story will not be finished anytime soon. I already have most of the story through Chapter 11, and I haven't finished the story yet. So Please, hang in there. Most of the chapters have been written, I am just waiting on my editor (AKA husband) to review them. So Chapter 6 will be up next week! Until then, Thanks you guys!
Chapter 5
Nothing.
One and a half weeks of searching had turned up nothing. And that in itself was something. L6-2789 was a fairly new colony, but even then there should have been some sort of a paper trail; political/economical debts, scandals...etc.
Trowa's thorough search of the political, executive and judicial branches of the colony had not turned up anything. Not one corrupt politician or judge. Wufei had been assigned to the police force, through the Preventers intervention, to gain access to police records. Again, they ran into a dead end. Even Quatre had come up empty handed after reviewing the transportation logs since the colony had formed.
Duo and Heero had followed up on the information about Carrie Rio. From what they gathered, Carrie Rio was an intelligent, beautiful young woman who had a bright future ahead of her as a lawyer, and she was sometimes mistaken for the former princess of the world. No evidence was found indicating that she had been involved in any terrorist or Anti-ESUN organizations.
The colony was just too squeaky clean for its own good.
Heero sat in the motel room, waiting for Zechs to contact him for the weekly progress report. The broken AC would only make things more unbearable when Zechs had started asking if they had found anything.
'Something doesn't seem right. Everything is too neat and pretty for a colony only 2 years old.' Heero thought as he mopped the sweat from his brow. 'But Zechs won't want to hear my feelings on the whole situation. He'll just want the facts.'
The alarm on his laptop sounded, indicating the secure line had been established, and Zechs was waiting on the other end. Flipping the top open, he was greeted by Zechs' cold, icy glare.
"Report."
"We've finished our search of all the major authorities of the colony. Nothing implicating the colony in any illegal activity was found."
"What about Carrie Rio?"
"Dead End. She had no ties to any anti-peace factions. She's clean."
Zechs sighed heavily, "Okay, pull out and head to L8-14. Colonel Une reported some possible militant activity on that colony that should be checked out." 'The longer we take checking different leads, the more I lose hope that she will ever be found.' But Zechs knew the former Zero pilot wouldn't give up until Relena was found.
Turning his attention back to the task at hand, he said, "I'll contact you the same time next week on L8-14."
"Affirmative." Heero answered, before he killed the connection.
****************
Later that night, all five pilots met in Heero's hotel room to discuss the meeting with Zechs.
Duo took one look at Heero and said, "I take it the meeting didn't go too well."
"We're pulling out tomorrow morning." Heero stated. "Since we've found nothing, Zechs is moving us to a new location to investigate."
Duo vocalized his disagreement. "Heero, you know as well as I do that there is something fishy going on in this colony. We seriously need to check it out further."
"For once, I have to agree with Duo." Trowa's quiet voice came from the corner as Wufei nodded in agreement.
Quatre, the ever-present voice of reason, entered the conversation. "We all agree that there is something not right about this colony. However, the point is, we were unable to find any information suggesting that the colony is involved in illegal activities. Nor were we able to find out if Relena is being held here. We must continue the search."
No one spoke a word, so the silence dragged on until Heero said, "Fine. It's settled then. You four will continue on to the next location. I'll stay behind for three more days, then I'll catch up with you on L8-14."
Duo turned his cobalt gaze towards Heero. "No deal buddy. There's no way I'm going to leave you here to have all the fun. Besides, I'll stay and keep you out of trouble." He added with a wink.
"That sounds like a good idea to me, Duo. Meanwhile Trowa, Wufei and myself will begin the search of L8-14 without you. Just don't except us to do your part." Quatre said, a small smile appearing on his face. 'I know this colony has the answers, but we cannot delay the search any longer. Heero and Duo will find something, I'm sure of it.'
With the decision finally made, Quatre, Trowa and Wufei left the room to pack their things for their morning departure.
Duo turned the chair around, and sat down with his arms leaning on the back of the chair. A mischievous grin crossed his face. "Zechs can't be too surprised with this turn of events. I told him you never follow anyone else's orders but your own." the amusement evident in his voice. "Okay, buddy, we've got 72 hours. Where do we begin?"
Heero walked over to the window in the hotel room, and looked down on the city. 'I know you're here, Relena. But where exactly are you?' "Hn."
****************
For the first 24 hours, they reviewed all the notes taken by the other three pilots, hoping to come across something that was missed the first time, but to no avail.
By the end of the second day, frustration had bloomed in both of them. Duo and Heero had spent most of the day, in some of the seedy parts of the colony; try to find any information on subversive actions. But it turned out to be another dead end.
On the way back to the hotel, Duo's stomach decided it was time for dinner.
"Come on, Heero. Let's stop and get something to eat before we head back to the hotel. We have a long night ahead of us reviewing the information on Carrie Rio." Duo said as he pulled Heero into a local restaurant called Penalty Shots. "There is nothing I know better to cure the blues than sports, burgers and beer."
A bouncy redhead greeted them as they walked in. "Hi. Welcome to Penalty Shots. You here for just drinks or dinner too?"
"Dinner." Heero answered quickly. 'The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back to work.' The hostess escorted them to a corner booth in the back of the restaurant.
"Alex, will be your server. She should be with you in just a minute." Handing them the menus, the hostess turned around and left. Duo turned on the small TV in the booth and flipped through the channels looking for a soccer game.
Alex made her appearance then. She had on a pair of tight black jeans, white tank top and her auburn hair was pulled back into two pigtails. Her green eyes shone as she said, "Great, you guys have the soccer game on! Okay guys, what can I get you for dinner?"
'You have Hilde; you have Hilde.... stop staring at her like she is one of the blue-plate specials.' Duo thought to himself. To the waitress, he said, "I'll have a bacon cheeseburger, French fries and a beer."
"Just a beer for me." Heero said. Alex turned her eyes toward Heero. 'Boy, he looks like he means business. I better not screw this up.' "Okay, I'll go put your order in and bring you guys your beers. Let me know if you need anything." Alex sauntered away and brought them their beers a moment later.
Duo sighed. "Heero, we only have another 30 hours or so until we have to catch up with the others. We need to come up with something and fast."
As the two planned their strategy for the next day, Alex brought Duo his food. "Here you are, sir. Do you happen to know the score of the match?" Duo shrugged quickly. Without hesitation, Heero replied, "2-0 in favor of the Blitz." Duo shot Heero a puzzled look. He was always surprised how Heero could be focused on one thing, yet be aware of everything around him.
"Thanks. It's so hard to try and keep up with the match when we are busy like this." She turned and bumped into another waitress.
Heero and Duo went back to finalizing their plan, when something caught hold of both their attentions.
" . . . I know Alex. I hate to run out on you so suddenly, but something came up. Thanks for picking up my tables."
"No problem, Raye. That's what friends are for. See you later."
That voice, it was her.
Heero turned to Duo wondering if he had also heard the voice. The wide-eyed look Duo gave him as he choked on his cheeseburger was all the confirmation he needed. Whipping his head around, he began to scan the crowd looking for 'Raye', but all he saw was the main door slamming closed.
Hurdling the table, Heero ran to the door and threw it open. 'She couldn't have gotten far.' Down the street, he made out the silhouette of a female against the city lights, turning the corner.
"Relena!" He called, cupping his hands around his mouth, making his voice carry down the street.
When the figure didn't immediately turn back around the corner, Heero broke into a run. Duo emerged from the restaurant and once he saw Heero running down the street, he automatically started after him.
Heero skidded to a halt as he rounded the corner. There were crowds of people everywhere. Relena had melted into the throng of people and disappeared. Panting, Duo came up behind him and asked, "Did you find her?"
"No." Heero replied, throwing his famous 'death stares' at people as they walked by. 'Tell me I'm not losing my mind. That was Relena, it had to be.'
Duo spoke his thoughts. "Heero, I wasn't dreaming, was I? That was Relena, wasn't it?"
Heero turned his heated gaze toward Duo and said, "Let's go. We have work to do."
