As Relena had expected, the Senate allowed her leave. The time limit was not discussed, which Relena was extremely thankful for; Heero had no idea how long they'd be gone, and to ask the Senate for a leave of months was something no one had the courage - or stupidity - to do. They would have labeled her insane...if they didn't already.
The other Gundam pilots and their families had offered to come, of course, but Relena and Heero had steadfastly refused their offers. Everyone had their own lives now; everyone had children, everyone had jobs, and everyone had other duties that could not be overlooked. They weren't young couples anymore; they were mothers and fathers, and bosses and employers - and Relena knew it as well as any of them. She knew was it was like to have to make time to babysit for the Maxwells, and arrange her schedule so Amy could have someone to watch her when Heero had an emergency meeting and Relena had Senate hearings. And she also knew everyone was worrying about her family terribly, and the last thing she wanted was to heap more burdens upon their shoulders.
Thankfully, they all agreed, eventually. Heero and Duo had one of their blazing arguments, and despite the fact that it gave her a headache, Relena was touched; Duo was Heero's best friend, second only to Relena herself, and either would gladly lay down his life for the other. They were buddies of the deepest kind.
Zechs had arranged a flight for them; actually, he had loaned Heero one of his personal ships. The package came with a pilot and co-pilot, and a chef, too - Zechs liked traveling in style - but Heero quickly turned all of them out. He had never had a need for a pilot in his life, and he knew Relena needed some time to herself. With other people besides him there, she would have to don her 'public face' again, and Heero could see it was beginning to crumble.
30 OCTOBER 293 - THURSDAY06:56 AM
They left early in the morning four days after Amy had been kidnapped. The little girl's face was on every news channel, her name on every radio station, on the Earth and Colonies, creating even more of a disturbing atmosphere for Heero and Relena.
It had snowed all night, and as Relena stood outside the ship out on Zech's boarding dock she hugged her arms to herself. Heero was loading their stuff into the ship, with the help of the other pilots, while Relena said goodbye to the wives. Even the children had come along; they seemed to sense the foreboding and anxiety on the air, and stood near their mothers, eyes wide and mouths still. Even Callie Maxwell, easily the most talkative of the group, was holding her baby brother Nathan as she regarded her mother and Relena gravely with her wide, dark eyes.
"You come back soon now, you hear?" Hilde said softly, wrapping Relena in a hug. They were all dressed in winter gear, and the snowflakes stood out sharply against Hilde's dark hair. It was cold outside, bitterly cold for this time of year.
"I'll do my best," Relena replied, attempting a smile.
Sally Po, Wufei's wife and an officer in the Preventers with Heero, also gave her a hug. "Anytime you need backup, you call us."
"Or just a bit of girl talk," Rebecca Barton said, smiling gently. Her red hair framed her slightly freckled face, and the gentle green eyes gazed at Relena comfortingly.
"If something goes wrong," began Lucrezia Noin, Relena's sister-in-law and wife to Zechs. "which it won't, but if it were to, you call us right away." She had Caleb, one of the twins, on her right hip, and ten-year-old Ashlyn was carrying Carter.
Dorothy Catalonia Winner rolled her eyes. "Heaven knows our husbands will be there in five seconds flat."
"She'll be fine," Hilde said firmly, stepping back and surveying Relena. "She's got Heero, after all."
Relena attempted a smile. "Don't be so glum, everybody. We'll be back...soon."
"With Amy," added five-year-old Callie.
Hilde turned and smiled at her daughter, then at Relena. "Yes. With Amy."
Relena nodded, gave them all one last hug, and turned to board the ship.
"If you need anything, you know where to reach us."
Heero straightened from dropping the final box of supplies in the cargo bay and turned to face the speaker. "Quatre," he said with a half-grin, "that's the fifth time you've said that. I'll be fine."
"Actually," Trowa Barton remarked quietly, brushing his hair out of his eyes as he dusted off his hands on his jeans. "It's the sixth."
Quatre blushed, his green eyes sheepish. "I'm "
"Don't be," Heero replied firmly, turning to exit the cargo bay. "We'll be fine."
"Yeah," Duo said. "He's got Relena, he's safe."
Wufei snickered. "What is she going to do, throw some lipstick at any enemies that pop up?"
"More likely bore them to death with speeches," Duo muttered.
"Or run them over with her pink car," Wufei added devilishly.
Trowa turned and raised an eyebrow, and Quatre said, slightly chastising, "You know better than that."
Duo grinned broadly. "We're kidding, Q-man," he said, then turned and gave Heero a brief one-armed hug, slugging him lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, buddy, we'll keep researching down here, okay?"
Heero returned the grin with a quiet smile and the slug with one of his own, and said, "I know. Thanks, Duo. All of you," he added, turning to face them all. Then he turned to leave, but not before throwing over his shoulder at Wufei, "At least she can drive her car."
Wufei's face instantly turned bright red, and he yelled at Heero's retreating back, "That was not my fault! Injustice, Yuy, and - and you know it!"
Duo grinned broadly. "A pity, you know. It was such a nice car, too. What'd it cost again - six months' salary? Eight?"
Catching on, Quatre chuckled lightly. "With all that money, you'd think he'd have paid for driving lessons...or at least a license."
10:12 AM
Two hours later saw Heero and Relena safely in space, well on their way to L1. Heero was in the cockpit, getting everything prepared for the docking on the L1 harbor and setting up the autopilot. He finished what he was doing, sat back, and with a sigh decided to go get a drink. He turned, and to his surprise saw Relena watching him from the copilot's seat.
"How long have you been there?" he said, startled. "I didn't hear you come in."
"I know," she said quietly. She was dressed in loose jeans and t-shirt, her hair pulled back in a scrunchie. Her eyes were grave, but a teasing light sparkled as she added, "You concentrate too hard on your work."
The drink forgotten, he sat down next to her and smiled. "That makes two of us."
She smiled, but her mind was clearly on other things. After a moment, the grave light in her eyes returned and she turned to him and ask, "What information do you have?"
Heero didn't have to ask what she meant. He took a long breath, sat back in the chair and replied, "Quatre and Duo found out a few things. Nothing - nothing's for sure, Re."
When she didn't reply, he turned to look at her. She was staring out at the stars, the light of them reflecting in her eyes. Not for the first time, Heero felt the sight of her tug at his heart. She was by far the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and once again he was overwhelmed by the fact that she had chosen him, of all people, to be her partner for eternity.
Quietly, he slipped out of his chair and came to kneel in front of hers. The starlight was shining off the tears that had gathered in her eyes, and as one gave way and trickled down her cheek, he reached up with two fingers to brush it away. Relena turned to look at him, and at the seriousness - and love - she saw in his eyes, she gave him a tiny smile.
"Don't worry, Relena," he whispered. "There is nowhere they can hide her that I - we - won't find. I promise you that in just a little while we'll be back aboard this ship, and Amy with us."
The tears were dangerously close to spilling over now. Relena brushed at a lock of hair that had fallen loose as she said shakily, "I - I want to believe you, Heero, I really do, I just - "
Silently he gathered her up in his arms and held her tightly. After a moment, she stopped trembling and drew a breath. "It's not just that," she whispered, so quietly he almost missed it.
Heero pulled away to look at her. "What is it, then?" he asked.
"I - I'm afraid, Heero," she admitted, looking at him pleadingly.
"Of what?"
"I'm - it's just that - I'm afraid that...that everything's starting up again," she finally said.
"What do you mean?" he asked apprehensively.
"Everything," she whispered, trembling. "Everything we've been - we haven't had for years, Heero. The - the fighting, and the violence, and the kidnapping - oh, for heaven's sake, Heero, why couldn't it have been me again? Why - why did they have to kidnap her? She's not even five yet, Heero!" Relena's voice had been rising steadily, and now, finally, the tears spilled over. "I can handle me being kidnapped, I can - it's happened before, I can hold up against that - but Amy? What is she thinking? Does - does she blame me for this? Is she -" her voice broke "-even alive? I can't - " but she couldn't continue. The tears choked her throat, her voice, her heart.
And as always, when she was sad, Heero felt his own heart cry out in pain. Tears pricked at his own eyes as he pulled Relena to the floor with him and wrapped her in his arms again. Rocking back and forth slightly, he whispered shakily into her ear, "We - you've raised her well, Relena. She's so strong...she'll - she'll hold up. And she is alive," he said fiercely, squeezing her tightly. "She is alive, and we will get her back. You - you just have to trust me."
"Oh, Heero," came her sobbing voice. He rested his head on hers and closed his eyes as she whispered, "I do. I do. I always have."
12:47 PM
"Trouble just seems to follow us everywhere, doesn't it?" Wufei grumbled, in a foul mood as he punched buttons on his laptop angrily. The screen remained stubbornly black. With a cry of rage, he raised a fist and brought it down, but just in time, Trowa grabbed the computer and scooted it out of range. Wufei's fist hit the metal table and he couldn't help but cry out in pain.
"Imbecile!" he yelled at Trowa, holding his already-turning-purple fist gingerly in his other hand. "What did you do that for?"
"So you wouldn't ruin a perfectly good computer."
"It wasn't working!" Wufei screeched.
Quatre leaned over Trowa and wordlessly flipped a switch on the laptop. The screen flickered to life, and Wufei's jaw dropped for just a split second.
"It helps, you know," Duo said wryly from where he was typing furiously on his own computer, "to turn the thing on."
"Liar!" the Chinese pilot bellowed. "I did turn it on! Somebody - " he stopped and glared furiously one by one at the other pilots. Finally he jabbed a finger accusingly in Duo's direction. "You, Maxwell! You put a virus on my computer!"
Ignoring him completely, Duo called to Trowa and Quatre, "Hey, guys, I've got the database up."
"FBI?" Trowa said, mildly surprised.
"Yup."
"What do you need that for?" Quatre asked. He had barely arrived at Trowa's house, where they had met to do some research. Obviously, Wufei was not having a very good day, but Trowa and Duo had been working hard to find out what they could about Charles Maclemury the Third.
"Preventers didn't have enough," Trowa replied shortly, watching Duo.
"How'd you get in?" Quatre asked, glancing at Wufei, who was ignoring them steadfastly as he worked on his own laptop.
"Learned from the king of code busting," Duo said with a half-grin as he scanned a page of hardware commands. "He gave me a couple of bypass options I didn't know about."
"Supposedly they have the highest levels of security in the world," Quatre said, grinning.
"No, the Gundam database does," Wufei said shortly.
"Decided to join the conversation?" Trowa asked mildly.
"Oooh," Duo suddenly breathed. "Check this out. Our man has a record!"
Wufei whirled around. "You're kidding!"
"The Senate wouldn't believe this - look, here, this window - aggravated assault, resisting arrest, attempted robbery...holy cow, the guy almost spent six months doing time!"
"Why didn't he?"
"Let me guess," Trowa said. "Charges were dropped."
"Yup."
"Which means..."
Wufei snorted. "Money. Bribery. What else?"
Trowa shook his head. "What happened to honor? What is wrong with people these days?"
Pressing the 'print' command on his laptop, Duo gave Quatre a wry grin. "This coming from the guy who swings a hundred feet in the air for a living."