Disclaimer: I own Gundam Wing... hehe... Ouch. (glares at Heero) What was that for? The truth? But that is the truth. Ouch. FINE! Hmph... I do NOT own Gundam Wing. Happy now!

A/N - Yes i cut down the chapter... Actually, i cut the chapter in half. Smart eh? Now it's not so long, but the downside is -you will have to wait for a short while to get the next half...sorry, but i did it for your sakes, honestly! You could review while waiting for the next half, you know, it might make me get it up faster hehe. Oh and thanks to armygundamgirl for going through this chapter with me and correcting any mistakes!

Chibi Horsewoman - Yes i know... chapter three was a long chapter, i am truly sorry though. Thanks for reviewing!

burgandy3721 - Thanks for the review. You don't know how happy it makes me to hear that i'm not boring you guys to death!

Ariel - Thank you so much for the review. grins madly Don't worry, i love longer reviews anyways. Next time make it uber-long! heh

Anywho... enough of my blabbering and onto the (rather short) chapter!...

Chapter four: The One You Love (Part 1)

Heero sprinted out into the bitter cold hallway, glancing up and down in each direction wondering which way to search first. His mind was screaming that there was danger lurking in all the corners of this hallway but he ignored them, listening to his heart, which was telling him that he first must find Lafeia.

"Heero wait!" Quatre pulled the Japanese man back to his senses, "If something is wrong, you could make the situation worse by just rushing into it. We first need to do some quick research."

"He's right Heero." Hilde told him, Duo now glued to her side. "You know it's possible that she got lost in these corridors, this house is way bigger than anyone would have thought, looking at it from the outside."

"Hn." Heero replied, running his options through his head at faster than light speeds.

"Heero…" This time it was Relena who pulled him from his thoughts. He turned his head to look at her suspiciously.

"What's that look for?" Relena glared at him. "Look, just hear me out. Hilde could be right, I've lived in this house for a long time, and I've lost count of the number of times that I've got lost. I still turn down wrong halls sometimes. Ending up somewhere I'm not meant to be."

"Dude, relax." Duo looked up at Heero. Hah, Heero relaxing, that'll be the day! "Well maybe not relax, just calm down a little." He corrected himself after receiving another death look form Heero, "Lena!" he turned focusing his attention on the young honey-blonde haired girl; she gazed up at him, her cerulean blue eyes full of anxiety. "You have cameras wired up all around this place, right?"

"Yes, there is." Heero answered for her. Having worked in the mansion, he knew the precise location of every single one of her surveillance cameras. His eyes lit up as he glanced at Duo, acknowledging his thoughts.

"The surveillance room." All of the gundam pilots muttered it at the same time, they looked at each other in surprise, (Quatre chuckling slightly) and then, spotting a figure dashing around the far corner, he realised that they where missing a member.

"Hey Heero, wait up!" Duo yelled, also noticing that his friend had slipped silently around the corner.

Shoving open the door to the surveillance room and shoving a security guard out of his way, Heero settled himself down at the main computer, his fingers dashing smoothly over the keyboard as his eyes remained fixed on the screens above him, searching the view taken by the cameras for an indication to where Lafeia may have disappeared.

Tapping on the keyboards, hitting the right keys, he was so focused on his task, he hardly heard the door of the surveillance room open and close, it barely registering somewhere in the back of his mind.

Duo walked to his side, stopping there and examining the monitor. He turned around to cast a confused glance towards Hilde and the others, who had all followed him.

"There…" Heero whispered in a barely audible voice.

"Huh?" Duo jumped and turned around to study the monitor once again. He saw nothing but empty corridors, transmitted each in a small box on the monitor's display. "What did you see, buddy?"

"It's a loop. Set in the system to distract us from their mission." Heero answered.

"What you mean 'their' mission' who are they? And a loop? Are you sure?"

"Positive. Look there on the screen. Watch closely." After about 15 seconds, a small indistinct line appeared on the screen, it appeared for half a second then disappeared just as quickly. Nevertheless, Duo saw it as well and nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"That line. It indicates the end of the loop." Heero sighed deeply, obviously distressed by the situation. "And I do not know who 'they' are. Only a highly technically trained person could transfer a loop into our system. The computer system could definitely not have transmitted the loop into its system by itself. The loop has to have been put in by someone, and they've done it from this control room." Relena gasped suddenly and Heero turned around to her, not realising that she had been there.

"You mean… The person behind this could very well be in this building right now… They could easily have been one of my guests?" Her face had gone paler as she spoke.

"It's possible. It had to have been done from this control room, there' no other way. And with the protection and security you have hired in this place, I doubt they could have gotten inside the grounds or even the house uninvited."

"It's not possible. Everyone here tonight, they are… trustworthy friends."

"Relena you must learn not to trust everyone who appears to be a good person. Relena you must think. The person who did this and kidnapped… Lafeia must have left the room around the same time as her. Did you see anyone leave the hall?"

"Well…" Relena mused as she tried to remember. "Now that I think about it, Adam left straight after Lafeia… Moreover, he had his eye on her all night, watching her closely, but subtlety; I thought it was just, you know, another 'guy' thing. All the guys were staring at her." Relena grew even paler as the realisation dawned on her. "It must have been Adam, no one else left after him." She looked at her friends around her. "But he's such a nice guy. I just can't believe it was him-"

Heero jumped suddenly to his feet, disrupting Relena and her train of thoughts. He laid his hands down on the computer desk, leaning forward to examine the monitor attentively. He had seen an error in the video loop, there is an error in the loop! He had seen something very small had flashed at the bottom of the screen, something that had flashed on so fast that to the normal human eye it would not have appeared at all, but to Heero's specially trained eye it was all but obscure.

"What is it Heero?" Hilde asked concernedly.

"There's a virus of some sort. It must be the computer's way of fighting the loop's software." He pressed a few keys on the keyboard and rewound the video, stopping it then playing it. He paused it once again at a specific point where a blurred figure standing at the bottom of the screen appeared, holding the unconscious form of a small girl. Everyone but Trowa and Wufei gasped. Lafeia… Heero's heart cried out at the sight of her. She was a mess; her hair was strewn untidily across her face, her legs and arms, dangling limply from the man's grasp on them, were showing the many signs of the physical abuse they had suffered. Her face was well hidden by her hair, but Heero knew that if he was to see it there would be many signs of pain shown on it. He felt a sudden anger rising up his body and coursing steadily through his veins, the feelings of hatred he was experiencing where beyond all the feelings he had ever felt.

"It's…Adam…" Relena said, the shock chocking her voice to a raspy croak.

"That's Adam all right." Duo muttered, staring at the unfocused man frozen on the screen. It was not a question; it was more of a statement. "She looks bad." He muttered again, but it was clear enough for everyone around him to here it, as they steadily examined the small girl on the monitor. Duo instantly felt bad for doubting Heero's assumptions that she was kidnapped. He gazed at her, not really seeing her, as he was so lost in his thoughts. He felt like he would do anything to able to protect her right now.

"Wait. What's that?" Trowa pointed to the screen, to a small mark, that was tattooed on the back of Adam's neck. Heero sought out what Trowa was pointing at and zoomed in. The small mark was a triangle with a small spiral placed inside it.

"It's some sort of brand or mark." Heero answered him, glaring at the mysterious mark. "It looks vaguely familiar." He zoomed closer trying to examine the mark to get a clear idea of its significance. "Relena." He turned his glare towards the young woman who stood directly behind him her hand covering her mouth from the surprise. "Where is Adam staying? Do you have any information? I need something, anything to track him down." He looked at her, a slight glint of desperation evident in his cold Prussian blue eyes.

She sighed and met his gaze; she had never seen any hint of desperation in his eyes before. He really had fallen for this girl, big time.

"I can't… I don't recall him telling me anything about where he was staying but I have a hunch he may be leaving the earth tonight. I know that he is currently situated on colony L3, but where exactly, I have no idea sorry. His name is Adam Roster." Why was she telling him this? She didn't want him to get the girl back, not that she hated her, it's just that without her it seemed that everything would fall neatly into place, the way she wanted it to. However, Adam had betrayed her trust. He had done something horribly wrong this time and she could not simply forgive him this time as she had before. A girl's life was in danger. Maybe she did feel envious towards this girl, but for now, she would have to push her personal feelings aside and do her job properly. And as Vice Foreign Minister, that meant playing a role in this havoc and helping out Heero and the other pilots as much as possible.

He looked at her, nodding his head gently as a sign of gratitude. Colony L3? Isn't that where Lafeia grew up? Maybe… Just maybe they have connections. This is a start, a good start, I have a lead, a good lead. I just hope this lead doesn't lead me to a dead end.

"L3. Well I guess it's a start. Duo will you come with me to colony L3?" Heero asked, turning towards his friend. Hilde glanced nervously at Duo, pleading with him silently not to go and Duo smiled at her apologetically and then turned back to Heero.

"Sure thing, buddy." He smiled at Heero reassuringly. Please let her be safe, not just for her sake, but for Heero's sake too. "Hey Quatre, didn't you grow up on that colony?" Quatre looked at Duo sadly.

"Yes I did. But I can't go with you, I'm very sorry, but I have to meet the president of the L4 colony for a press conference." Heero watched his Arabian friend closely. He truly was sorry. Anyway, he and Duo would be fine on their own.

"It's okay Quatre." Heero told him.Heero and Duo both left the room to prepare for their trip to the colonies and Relena called the nearest spaceport to arrange for a shuttle to leave for them tomorrow morning. She had declared to herself that she would help as much as she could, and she was prepared to stick to that promise.

-8-

"I cannot believe this. I knew that this would happen." Heero was walking at a rapid pace towards the room he and Lafeia where to have occupied in the Peacecraft Mansion,"I told myself that something bad would come of my becoming too attached to her, but I couldn't actually imagine it happening as it is now. This is entirely my fault. If I could have just had some self-control when it came to her, none of this would be happening."

Images of his times spent with Lafeia poured through his mind, "but then none of this would have happened."

"Arrgh!" he yelled clasping his hands tightly to his skull, to try to sort out his mind. "I need to get a grip here, I need to have a firm grip on this situation and what I am about to do." He glanced towards his laptop, which was sitting neatly on the old mahogany bureau. He was in the same room he had occupied two years ago when acting as Relena's head bodyguard. He scanned the room briefly his eyes skimming across every object and placing it firmly in his memory. Nothing had changed since he had left the room. He walked into the bathroom and opened up the mirror cupboard to find that all his belongings where still there.

"Obviously, she felt that I would one day come back to her." He had left that day, so abruptly that he had not packed any of his belongings with him; the only thing he had really missed the night he had escaped from her was his laptop, which he'd had Duo deliver to him the next morning anyway. "That is Relena and her idealistic ways." He sighed as he sat down at the desk, flipping open his laptop and starting the system.

"I need to have a clear mind if I want the research; I am going to use tonight to be useful. Good thing I wasn't planning to get any sleep, I wouldn't be able to now anyway. Not when she's not safe with me where she should be." He tapped a password into his keyboard, granting him access to all his documents and past research, but for the minute, they where totally useless to him, he needed new information, not just any information, but specific information on a certain Adam Roster.

"Let's see what I can find out about you Adam."

-8-

"You can't seriously be planning on following Heero on his wild chase across the colony can you?" Hilde demanded answer to her question from Duo, as she followed him around the room that Relena has assigned them. She was storming around the room unpacking everything Duo packed into his case.

"Hilde, babe… Listen I gotta go," He was running around the room after Hilde trying to repack his suitcase for tomorrow's mission. "I can't let him go on his own, not in the condition he's in. What he's experiencing, it must be traumatizing. I mean… Hilde, if I... If you where to go missing, I dunno what I'd do, I'd probably drive myself insane searching for you, and even then I wouldn't give up." Duo looked at her, his eyes showing great sympathy towards Heero. The fury in Hilde's eyes extinguished with his words, she now stood willing to listen to him and willing him silently to continue. "You see, that's why I must go with him. To sort of look after him, who knows what he'll do on his own. I know he's the perfect soldier, but even the perfect soldier can have his downfall." Hilde threw her arms around him.

"Oh Duo, you're so sweet. What you said… was really amazing, I didn't know you felt so strongly about me." She told him, her arms still hooked around his neck. He was surprised by her sudden actions.

"Course I do babe. I love you. I really do." He in turn wrapped his arms around her back and they stood there for a while silently, both comfortable enough with each other and the silence.

"I love you too, Duo." She whispered gently in his ear, as If saying it too loud would make the comment untrue.

"Hold on!" Duo pushed her gently away from him, a laughing twinkle in his eye. "You can't call the Shinigami 'sweet'! This is the God of Death you're talking to!" Hilde laughed at him leaning towards him and kissing him passionately. Duo was still kind of miffed at his pride of being the Shinigami having been shattered, but he gave in to her as she kissed him deeply, enticed by the sweet scent of her. Damn, did I just use the word 'sweet'? What is wrong with me?

Hilde pulled away from him and looked at him thoughtfully without saying anything though because they were both at a loss for breath.

"Go Duo." She said after regaining her breath.

"Huh? What was that?" He asked confusedly.

"Go, with Heero. I understand that you must go but Duo… Please be careful. And make sure to keep a close eye on Heero." She started to walk once again around the room lifting Duo's things, but this time she too was packing them into the suitcase.

"Sure thing, babe." Duo said as he threw his spare preventers jacket into the case and helped Hilde pack his bag. Oh, man! These next few weeks are gonna be tough, but they're nothing the God of Death can't handle. After all, I did manage to survive through the war. This should not be too bad, I just hope the group we're going to be up against isn't thinking of disrupting the peace, or else Relena's also going to be having a hard time.

-8-

"Trowa can you please explain to me what is happening? Please, I want to know." Raven begged. She and Trowa were back in his room. After Heero had resigned from being Relena's bodyguard, Trowa had taken his place. Earning him his own room beside Relena's in the mansion. Raven watched Trowa carefully, waiting for an answer. Trowa was already scanning through files he had found in Relena's offices.

"Nothing much has happened since the incident in the hall. All that happened is that we now know who kidnapped Lafeia. Although we do not know why they have kidnapped her and what benefits they are seeking from doing so." Trowa answered her calmly, his eyes not once leaving the files in front of him.

"This is awful. Why would anyone want to do that? How is Heero coping with this?"

"Hn. He seems a bit shook up, which is strange when describing Heero. Usually he displays himself as a calm, yet serious person. It's obviously affecting him greatly, but he's doing a great job at concealing it. If I hadn't known Heero, I would have thought he didn't actually care. Nevertheless, I can now tell when Heero is uneasy or troubled. Which I might add is very rare." Raven came to sit beside him on the bed. His eyes danced up from the files to meet hers. Her eyes where displaying great concern, but who for, he could not tell.

"How are you, Trowa? That mask that you're always wearing troubles me. Because I want to know what you're feeling underneath it, what kind emotions you are experiencing and how they're affecting you. Sometimes it's hard dealing with you when I don't understand what's going on in your head." She let her hand rest on his back. "It's not good for you to keep your emotions so bottled up inside of you. Let your heart speak its true feelings. It helps to listen to it sometimes."

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine." He answered, his gaze once again returning to the files, pretending to be bored with the conversation. He didn't want her to see his eyes; he knew all too well that his eyes were his weakness. He knew nearly anyone could read him through his eyes, but fortunately, for him his eyes were not enough for most people to understand him, however, he liked to avoid the gaze of people seeking answers in him anyway.

"I don't think so." She leant in and kissed him softly on his lips but pulled away soon after, leaving his lips stinging and longing for more. She read his eyes and knew the kiss had had the desired effect, but she got up anyway. She knew it was cruel what she was doing; enticing him, leaving him with a taste for more, but it was for his own good. As she was leaving the room, she turned around to him and smiled. "Maybe you should open up a little more, remove the mask for a short period of time. You must be tired of wearing it, even if what lies beneath it is only for me to see." Then she walked out through the single door that bound her room to his, leaving him to think about what she had just said.

Anyway, she too had a lot to think about, and even though her body also ached for him, his lips on hers, for more of the happiness that she received from kissing him. Even though her body screamed at her to stay in his room just for tonight, to feel his securing presence wrapped around her, she slowly got into her own bed and fell asleep, full of her own lonely thoughts.

Trowa threw the files aside on the table an hour after she left. He had read them through so many times he had nearly memorised them. He was looking for indications pointing to what group they may be on the trail of, the files he had been scanning through was information on all the rebel groups they had ever dealt with, but he had found nothing, and re-reading them wasn't going to make them suddenly appear on the page in front of him.

He let his mind slip back to Raven, to what she had said. He was aware of the little game she had started before she left his room, that she would have the right effect on him. He now wanted to open up to her completely, to spill everything he had ever felt for her to tell her just how long he has loved her and wanted her so badly. But how could she have known? Am I that predictable, am I that readable to her, that easy to decipher? How is it possible, when she herself said that she couldn't understand me. But she's right, I do need to open up to her more, by closing myself off from her I'm just driving her away. He sighed heavily and got up of the bed slowly reaching towards the handle of the door that led to her room. Do I really want to do this? He hesitated for a moment, pondering on his thoughts. Yes I do. He opened the door and walked over to the four-poster king-size bed by the large Victorian window. The moon shone through the window making the room seem grey and misty yet giving everything an appealing glow. Nothing shone out to him brighter than Raven's delicate form, twisted beneath the white sheets on the bed, he stood beside the bed watching her, his body blocking the moonlight and casting a long shadow over her face and across the room. He smiled down at her sleeping so peacefully and was about to turn to walk out of the room when her hand shot out from beneath the sheets and grabbed his gently. A small smile traced his lips in the shadows as she opened her eyes sleepily.

"Trowa?" she asked her voice sounding a little dry.

"Yeah it's me." He answered

"Don't leave." She pleaded.

"Huh?" She pulled on his hand. Dragging him closer to her as she shuffled across the bed, getting her point Trowa willingly stooped down and climbed into her bed as she drew the sheets across the both of him. She still pulled him forward, leaving his face only inches from hers as she smiled at him gracefully her eyes closing again, needing to sleep.

"Thank you." She kissed him, this time longer than before and drew him in tight to her body. He was glad for the heat that emerged from her body, for it was cold in his room, as he refused to turn the heater on, and sat in the cold of the winter in an unheated room, studying the paperwork.

As she pulled away from him, he no longer felt the desire for more; he was content with what he had earned, for now, as she snuggled up closely to her. As she fell into a deep sleep, Trowa watched her, entranced by her beauty; he leant over and whispered into her ear softly.

"I love you…" And he laid his head down on the pillow next to her, allowing his sleep to catch up to him and take him into its peaceful state of mind.

-8-

Quatre was walking across the room back and forth, both hands clutching the sides of his face. Dorothy watched him her eyes darting back and forth following his movements.

"Quatre calm down please!" He is getting so worked up over this, and it isn't even his fault, yet he keeps blaming himself. "You've dealt with worse scenarios than this. You're making this out to be much worse than it is. At least at the minute, it is no threat to the peace or Relena. Your current behaviour is unacceptable. I demand that you calm down." Quatre stopped pacing the room and glanced over to her.

"But it is terrible Dorothy, the state she was in, she's really messed up. As president of the colonies, I should have been able to do something about it, anything. Relena says these rebels are from my colony! What kind of president am I? Not being able to keep control of my colony, it's my fault they are now starting to rebel against us…"

"Quatre!" she shouted to him, jumping up and grabbing him the shoulders. "What are you talking about? You're doing all you are capable of doing when it comes to the peace and the colonies, stop blaming yourself for things that are most definitely not your fault. You blame yourself for everything that goes wrong and Duo agrees. I was talking with him earlier."

"Quatre you have to chill out and stop taking the responsibility of everything onto your shoulders. If you keep blaming yourself for everything, you're going to stress yourself out way too much." Quatre glared at her, running through his mind, everything she had just said. He sat down on the bed, and laid himself down, his legs still dangling above the ground. Dorothy sat down next to him, her eyes never straying from his; she grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently.

"Everything will work out. Heero is going to do everything he can to get her back; you can see the pure determination in his eyes. However, right now Quatre, all you can do is get some rest. You're going to need it for tomorrow, as I see it, its going to be a big day for all of us." She kissed him lightly on the head, and crept out of the room, and into her own.

-8-

"And you guys are positive she isn't on the grounds anymore?" Sally glared at her fiancée as he stood by the wall leaning against it casually.

"Yes we're sure. We have guards searching every square metre of the grounds at this precise second." Wufei glared back at her.

"Well. I don't understand how the guy could have transported her out of the grounds without anyone noticing, Relena has more than a dozen guards positioned at all the gates leading into the grounds!"

"Yes I know she has. We don't understand how they got out without being noticed either, we think there may be a mole placed within her guards. That girl just lets anyone into her security." You would think that the Vice Foreign Minister and the King of the ESUN would have higher security around their home.

"But she's the Vice Foreign Minister. Is it possible she could have hired someone so untrustworthy?"

"That's exactly what I want to know." He walked over to her pulling her close into a tight embrace, she was startled by his sudden affection but let him pull her in anyway, enjoying the closeness of them.

Hmm sometimes I hate the thought of being attached to you for the rest of my life, your so stubborn, but most of the time, I love it. She stared into his dark brown eyes before pulling away from him.

"I think we both need to get some rest. The dancing we did tonight has totally tired me out." Wufei told her, as he got ready for bed. Sally laughed at him childishly.

"Oh, Wufei."

'To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.' -- Bertrand Russell

Please please please please... preeettyy pretty please review, with a cherry on top... hehe

Part two should be out very soon,very verysoon, but review anyways, it makes my day! And my days haven't been all that great lately, with exams and stuff. Pfft... stupid exams.

Love ya'll

Allura