AN: Hope I didn't make you wait too long. Thanks for your understanding, everyone, and please continue to be patient for the next chapter. And welcome aboard, Lady Priestess. : )

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

The five young men burst into Relena's room, where the iciness of the atmosphere and the blatant emptiness of the quarters stopped them dead in their tracks. He was back. It was only mere minutes ago that Heero had let himself in unasked-for, hurt her – hurt her so much, and ran away. In his mind, he could not shake the conviction that the uninhabitable arctic chill of the room was a phenomenon that he had imparted, the very contents of his soul that he had siphoned out and left for Relena like a farewell gift.

"She's really gone," murmured Quatre.

"No sign of struggle, break-in," stated Trowa objectively as he scanned the room. Everything was intact and in place. Her sheets had not one wrinkle in them; the papers on her desk were neatly stacked and filed; even her hairbrush, her earrings, and other small jewelry and toiletries were still partitioned meticulously across the top of her dresser, just below the large ornate antique mirror. The sheer curtains danced ephemerally between them and the rest of the night world.

Then, years of honed battle experience and sixth senses synchronized, all five pilots knew at once. Balcony! Five shadows ran out the glass doors and five figures dropped noiselessly to the grass three stories below.

"There!" exclaimed Duo, pointing to the dewy grass before them. A set of footprints, small and delicate, could be discerned heading in the direction of the forest. Relena was already fleet and light; and with feet bare, she left hardly any tracks in the springy emerald turf. But a few bent blades of grass were enough for the highly-trained eyes of the Gundam pilots. They took off at top speed, guns in hand, Heero taking the lead once again, eyes fixed on the tracks. Duo ran just one step behind him, lending his own eyes and helping him to stay on the trail. Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei followed, flanking each side and covering the rear... eyes, ears, and that sixth soldiers' sense straining to detect the slightest disturbance. They were in battle formation; Although this was Relena's grounds, the air had never tasted more like enemy territory.

Up ahead, the dark eaves of the forest loomed closer and closer. One quick glance to the ground was enough to confirm that the footprints led straight into the darkest tangles. Eyes narrowing in determination, Heero plunged into the thicket. The others were only half a heart beat behind. There was significantly less light here under the spreading branches, and what little patches of moonlight that filtered through the leaves only revealed damp forest floor besotted with tree roots and fallen leaves. The trail of footprints was gone.

But Heero did not stop in his pursuit. True, there was no longer a visible trail to guide him, but that was unnecessary at this point. Knowing her so very well, he guessed that she would plow on in a relatively straight path. He highly doubted that her primary concern was to throw any trackers instead of getting as far away as possible. And wait! What was that in the air? It was faint, almost undetectable, but it was there. Traces of an elegant, feminine fragrance was being carried on the still, nighttime air. It was not that strident, obscenely floral perfume that so many girls liked to use. Instead, it was soft, sweet, and kind – if scents could be called such – perfectly suited to Relena Peacecraft. And it beckoned. Relena had definitely gone this way, and Heero Yuy was predator once again.

The deeper into the forest they ran, the more undeniable was the sense that something was terribly wrong. Gradually, their sprinting slowed to a jog, which then became a brisk walking pace before they came to a complete halt. They needed to analyze the surroundings before they proceeded blindly again. The five young men stood there, breathing hard but breathing softly (heavy panting got you noticed, which got you killed). They remained positioned in a group, far enough apart to each survey different parts of the forest but close enough to communicate in a low, uncarrying voice.

"This is quite deep into the forest. She couldn't have gone much farther," said Wufei, as he knelt to study a small low-growing plant with trampled leaves.

"Something is very wrong," said Trowa, the one visible green eye glinting metallically. His senses were never wrong.

"The animals– listen! The air is as still as a tomb's. No birds calling, no small animals scurrying... not even an insect chirping!" Quatre, ever the one most in-tuned with nature, understood more than anybody that animals know precisely when things were askew.

"Oh man," said Duo.

Heero narrowed his eyes. He had felt it too, that chill in his bones. He started walking again, determined to find any sign of Relena.

A few more steps brought them in sight of a small clearing. Heero's breath hitched in his chest before he sprinted forward. Relena must be there! He ran faster. She'd be kneeling on the grass, or lying by the trees' roots, weeping... But she'd be there! He tore through a tangle of low branches. We'll pick her up, shake some sense into her, and shuffle her back into the mansion, where Cocytus wouldn't be able to reach her... And she'd be safe! He plowed through a net of dried brambles. She'd be– He and the other four pilots burst into the little open space, and froze.

The moonlight that doused the treeless patch illuminated every inch of its ground. And Relena was not here. There was no mistaking it. Heero felt a growl of frustration rise in his throat. He had been so sure she would be here! He opened his mouth to curse when something caught his eye.

It was on the grass, at the center of the clearing, and it was shining as brightly as any star in the heavens. He approached it slowly, horror gnawing at the pit of his stomach. He knew the moment he caught its glimmer precisely what it was, and yet he did not allow his mind to register it. He was afraid to acknowledge it, as if confirming it would mean no turning back. But at the back of his mind he knew; knew what it was, knew why it was there, and knew what it meant.

Dropping to his knees in the soft, damp grass, he cupped the small cluster of stars stringed together with ductile light and raised it up to his face. It was Relena's necklace. And from the looks of the wrenched clasp, it had been torn from her throat; but Heero could not think about that right then. He couldn't think about anything except how brightly the necklace shone. The ghostly moonlight was drawn, as if by magic, into the stones, which threw it back out magnified a thousand-fold so that the light was not ghostly anymore but a brilliant fiery gleam. Did all of Relena's possessions put life into the lifeless? And when did diamonds acquire the ability to shine so brightly as to blur the vision and make the eyes sting? Oh. They were tears. He flinched at that realization and blinked them fiercely away. Just a natural reflex to the unexpected brightness in a dim environment, he reasoned logically. Never would a tear of Heero Yuy's fall from his Prussian blue eyes.

Six feet behind him, Trowa Barton stood watching him silently.

Suddenly, Duo's voice cut through the thick silence from the edge of the clearing. "Guys, we've got ourselves a big problem." Wufei, Quatre, and Trowa turned to regard the American pilot. Heero stood up, still holding the necklace, but kept his back to his comrades. "There are boot prints. Lots of boot prints. And tire tracks. The grass and the branches of the trees are so messed up that it's hard to tell what exactly was here or where anything went. There might even have been a small jet or something."

"They've taken her," said Wufei, "We were too late." His hands were fisted tightly by his side.

"But how could they have known where she was? How could they have found her?" Quatre's expression was full of sadness. He hated to be too late. It was just as bad as being helpless.

Trowa looked to Heero, but he did not say a word.

The former pilot of Wing Zero clenched his hand around the diamond necklace and felt it digging mercilessly into his palm before he opened his grip to stare at it again. "The necklace," he growled, voice dripping with malice and hatred.

"What?" exclaimed Duo.

"The necklace that Cocytus put on her," he turned to show it to the group, holding it up before them with extended arm so that it gleamed blindingly in the moonlight, mocking their incompetence, "is a tracking device."

There was a moment of stunned silence before Duo released the breath he had been holding with a bitter hiss. "That underhanded sneak! When I get my hands on that son of a–"

"How could this have happened?" Quatre cut in, "We should have known! I should have known..." The blond Arabian had an unhealthy penchant for taking the blame whenever he could, whether the matter was in his control or not. He was far too kind of a person.

"There was no way you, or any of us, could have foreseen this. Right now, the only thing we can do to make things right is to find Relena quickly and bring her back," said the cool and collected former Heavyarms pilot.

"There's nothing left here. We need to take that necklace back and trace its signal. And Une needs to hear of this," Wufei spoke in an equally calm voice. But his head was hung in failure, disgusted with his own weakness. The monumental scope of the disaster was just beginning to sink in.

-----

It was with that special brand of urgency brought on by the heaviest of hearts that the five former Gundam pilots returned to Relena's mansion. It was so strange to be sheltered under her roof now, of all times, when she herself was stolen, in danger, and out of reach. The keen sense that they were all intruders here bit at their hearts and tasted of bile in their throats.

This time, the convention point was Quatre's room. On his desk, he and Duo the Sweeper/Small-Parts-Expert examined the necklace and took it apart to isolate the tracking device. Sure enough, cleverly concealed in the largest center stone was the transmitter, unharmed and uninterrupted. This was fortunate for the pilots, for a broken signal would have no means of being restarted and tracked. Focusing their efforts on this tracking signal, the former Gundam pilots set to work discerning its origin.

Six hours later, the sun rose over the horizon to find five stoically determined young men pitting all their skill against their enemy: transmitter technology. Six hours later, by the combined computer skills of Heero, Trowa, Duo, and Wufei, and with the aid of two of Quatre's Winner family satellites, they were able to analyze the signal and trace its transmission path backward. Through the air and back in time the signal led them, until they arrived at the location of the hidden base as of eight hours ago when he gave her the necklace. It was an almost-impossible task, but all things, even time and space, bend to the iron will of the single-minded Gundam pilots.

Beep. The computer acknowledged a regional match. Beep. The computer homed in on a smaller area. Beep. The computer zoomed in to the satellite image of the land. Beep beep. The coordinates flashed red at the center of the screen. The necklace had surrendered the position of Cocytus' base.

"Gotcha!" yelled Duo. The machine continued to sound its dim, droning alarm in the background.

Heero did not even spare him a glance. "Wufei, contact Commander Une. Request an immediate transport to the Senne River Base."

The Senne River Base is something that I just made it up. The Senne River, however, is a real river running between France and Belgium. One of its main tributaries is the Marne River, where, in WWI, an out-manned French army drove back two separate advancing German forces, effectively destroying their Schliffen Plan and saving Paris from invasion. Also, another reason for my choosing the Senne River is because it runs by Belgium, whose capital is Brussels. Wasn't that where Mariemaia held Relena captive in her bunker at the end of Endless Waltz?

AN: Thanks to all who read this and all who take the time to review this.