Hi everyone!

Thanks for the wonderful reviews! I really hope you like this chapter – it is a little choppy but the next one will be much smoother as we return to Athrun. Please review – I love hearing from you all! Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny or any references made to either series.

Abhorrence

Chapter #10: Trace

When Kira and Cagalli returned to the hotel, they found Lacus still awake and waiting for them. Lacus was seated on the side of one of the beds, her pink haro in her hands. Pure worry was etched into her features and the moment she heard the door to the room open, she turned.

Eyes sparkling with hope, her heart went out to Cagalli when only she and Kira stepped into the room. Her cerulean eyes continued to search beyond them but it only took one look at either of the siblings' faces to know that things had in fact not gone well.

She rose to her feet as Cagalli marched past her, throwing her coat to the ground. "Did you hear?"

"Yes, I did," Lacus told her, unsure of what else to say.

"The Blue Cosmos are going to try to shame and disgrace Orb by making up some stupid lies about us harboring war criminals. About us siding with the PLANTS and disregarding the crimes committed by their people during the war. Athrun is going to be their center piece which is why they broke off the deal."

"At least we know he's alive," Kira offered. He had hoped to perhaps brighten the mood but failed miserably as both girls simply dropped their gaze. "And Mr. Saran said that he'd do all he could to control the damage to Orbs' reputation."

"That's not the point," Cagalli retorted. "What was a simple abduction has now become a public-relations disaster. This could seriously damage the trust that the people of earth have for us."

"I know that but we can't undo what's been done."

"Poor Athrun," Lacus sighed. "I hope he's ok."

"Even if we could find him," Kira hesitated before finishing. "The people of earth might pressure Orb into putting him on trial for war crimes because of his involvement at Heliopolis."

"Hopefully, it won't come to that," Lacus shook her head. "None of that was his fault and laws are made to protect the innocent."

"Not always," Cagalli muttered and sat down beside Lacus. "In any case, this still doesn't solve our problem. Athrun is still missing and now Orb's neutrality is being threatened publicly."

Knock. Knock.

The three looked up as the door suddenly burst open and in stepped two figures, both covered with snow. The first one shook himself almost violently as he brushed the snow from his shoulders and flung his coat to the floor. Removing his hat, his glossy, silver hair lightly brushed his shoulders. The scar the marred his face was unmistakable and Kira's eyes widened in disbelief. The second man simply shrugged his coat off his shoulders and grinned.

"Well now," The second one mused and crossed his arms. "Aren't you three a sad-looking sight."

"Dearka? Yzak?" Lacus blinked. "You made it."

Dearka snickered and elbowed Yzak. "Well, we saw the news and poor Yzak here was so worried about our old leader he convinced me to come along and try to bail him out of trouble… again." When he saw that nobody was laughing, he quickly added. "Kira called us and told us he suspected trouble two days ago and on our way over we heard the announcement from the Blue Cosmos."

Lacus and Cagalli both exchanged surprised looks before turning their attention to Kira. His face flushed and he shifted nervously. "I didn't want to say anything because I wasn't sure whether or not they'd make it." He explained briskly. He ended his brief explanation with an uneasy chuckle.

"Shut up Dearka!" Yzak fired him a warning glare, urging him to keep quiet. "You know I don't give a damn what happens to Zala. I just want to make sure that if anyone gets to kill him, it's me."

Everyone couldn't help but smile as the two ZAFT soldiers invited themselves in. Dearka strutted across the floor and rewarded Cagalli with one of his first class smiles before continuing the story. "They've been broadcasting the news about Athrun all across the PLANTS."

"So… you're here to rescue Athrun?" Cagalli raised an eyebrow, skeptically. It was somewhat hard to fathom since she was well aware of the complicated relationship Athrun had had with his team members. "I didn't think you guys were that close."

"It's not a question of being close," Dearka answered briskly. "I guess I shouldn't expect you to understand since you were never a real soldier. Regardless as to how we may feel about him, it is our duty to help a fellow soldier should he come under attack. It's in our code of conduct."

"I just want to see his face when he finds out that we had to bail him out again," Yzak snorted from the corner. Despite his coarse words, everyone knew that Yzak was just as worried about their friend as they were. He just had his own way of showing it. "Just pulled off the street? He's an embarrassment to the ZAFT army."

"Before you start jumping all over Athrun, we need to find him," Lacus spoke the truth and looked over at Cagalli, sympathetically. "Maybe we should to go the authorities after all."

"They already know about it," Cagalli pointed out and sighed. "It wouldn't make a difference."

Kira's eyes narrowed as he listened to the other four exchange words. He was grateful that the two ZAFT pilots had come as he had asked but it still didn't solve the problem of finding Athrun. Glancing around the room, his eyes narrowed when he spotted the radio that was left discarded on the dresser in the corner of the room. Shifting his gaze to the left, a thought struck him and immediately he went for his duffle bag.

"Kira?"

He didn't answer Lacus as he unzipped the bag, pulled out his laptop and hurried over to the radio. Disconnecting the power outlet to his computer, he began to reconnect his laptop to the radio. Setting it up so the power to his computer came from the radio, he continued to work as he felt the others crowd around him.

"What are you doing?" Cagalli asked.

"I can read the signals that come from the radio on my computer," Kira explained as he fiddled with the connections. "If the Blue Cosmos make another broadcast, I might be able to trace it."

"So what?" Yzak demanded. "What does that do for us?"

"It may give us an idea as to where Athrun is," Kira replied shortly and dared a quick glance up at his sister. "The only problem is that we'll have to wait for them to make another move before I can track where they are broadcasting from."

A wave of tension swept over the group as all eyes fell on the Orb princess. Cagalli's eyes narrowed as the full realization of what Kira was saying slammed into her, causing her to stagger back in disbelief.

"You mean we're going to just sit here and do nothing! We're just going to wait around and hope that the Blue Cosmos don't kill him before they make another public announcement! That's the stupidest idea that's ever come out of your mouth!"

"Well, what other choices do we have?" Dearka retorted, leaping, much to his own surprise, to Kira's defense. "It's better then just wondering around and doing nothing."

"I think we should be out there looking for him!"

"Where are we going to look?"

"The locals might know something! We could ask them!"

"You really think they would talk?" Dearka scoffed before shaking his head. "Things are heating up outside. Everyone is flipping out about Orb never laying charges on people who they believe destroyed Heliopolis. Nobody was ever convicted for that and there are a lot of people who want retribution. I can just see it now."

Dearka made a gesture as though he was about to speak to an imaginary person in front of him. "Oh Miss? Have you heard about Athrun Zala? The presumed war criminal? My friends and I are trying to bust him out – do you know where the Blue Cosmos might be keeping him." Dearka snorted and shook his head. "That's not going to work."

Cagalli knew the others were right and with a frustrated sigh, she turned on her heals and stormed over to the nearest bed and flopped over. "Fine," She grumbled. "We'll wait."

Dearka straightened and grinned, knowing that he had won the little dispute. He stretched his arms and yawned sleepily before licking his lips. "I don't know about you guys but I'm beat. Where can I sleep?"

There was a long pause as everyone exchanged nervous glances before all eyes focused on the two double beds in the room. Lacus felt her face redden and turned away when she saw Kira look over at her.

"Well…"

"Lacus and I will share one bed," Cagalli declared and pointed at Dearka and Yzak. "You two can share the other one."

"What!" The two men gasped in horror. "Are you insane!"

"What about me?" Kira asked weakly from the corner of the room where he had set up his laptop.

"You," Cagalli nodded towards Kira. "Are going to be on 24h watch over the radio to see if there are any other broadcasts by the Blue Cosmos."

Kira was about to protest but the look in Cagalli's eyes snuffed any complaints that he had wanted to make. His shoulders sagged and he turned back to the radio. "Okay."

"I'm not sleeping with Dearka," Yzak shook his head in complete defiance. Pointing a finger at the bed, he then crossed his arms. "There is no way."

"Then sleep on the floor," Dearka snapped as he made a move towards the cozy mattress. "I'm not thrilled about the idea either."

"Oh you would like that wouldn't you?" Yzak fired back and quickly jumped on the bed to lay claim to his side of it. He stretched out across it and threw his friend a warning glare. "Then you could have the bed to yourself while I slept on the hard floor!"

"Whatever," Dearka rolled his eyes as he pulled the sheets up and tucked himself into bed. "I'll see you all in the morning."

Cagalli just grunted and twisted around so that her head was buried in her pillow. She didn't want anyone to see the tears of frustration that were burning her eyes. She vaguely felt the bed lurch slightly when Lacus leaned down beside her.

That was exactly how people found her three weeks later. Twenty one days had gone by since Jibril had refused to honor the deal they had made and they had heard nothing. Cagalli had excused herself over the phone from the negotiations that were taking place and although Unato wasn't impressed, he didn't push the issue.

She felt as if she was slowly going mad. The days seemed to meld together and she hated the fact that she was helpless. It had been three weeks since Athrun had been taken and nobody had heard anything. The police hadn't found anything although she doubted they had really tried to find him. The Blue Cosmos also hadn't made any follow-up statements about their prisoner.

Several times Dearka and Yzak had gone out, against their better judgment, to try to fish out any information they could but had had little luck. Nobody knew anything or if they did, they refused to share it with them.

It was a Sunday. Lacus had left to fetch some food from the nearest store while Dearka and Yzak preoccupied themselves with trivial conversation. Cagalli simply lay on her bed, gazing up at the ceiling until her mind felt numb. She could hear the hail drumming on the roof of the hotel over the soft buzz of the radio that had been on twenty four hours a day since the moment they had decided to try to trace the signal.

"You should eat something."

Cagalli turned and noticed Lacus offering her an apple. She hadn't even heard her re-enter the room. "You're not doing anybody any favors by starving yourself."

"I'm not hungry."

"When is the last time you ate?" Lacus frowned.

"I don't know."

"Cagalli…"

"I wonder if Athrun has eaten anything since they took him," Cagalli said suddenly, causing everyone to inwardly cringe. Somehow, each one of them knew the answer to that question. Cagalli's spoken thoughts seemed to cast a dark shadow over the room and for the rest of the evening, nobody spoke.

"They say that humans can survive up to 6 weeks without food and Athrun is a Coordinator." Lacus explained. Her words were meant to comfort but failed miserably.

Throughout the room the soft humming of the radio could be heard over the resumed conversation of the two ZAFT pilots. Lying beside his laptop with the screen-saver on was Kira – sprawled out and barely conscious. The boy had hardly closed his eyes since they had decided to try and trace any signals they could pick up from the radio. Even for a Coordinator, three weeks with next to no sleep was pushing the limits of exhaustion and it showed. His skin had gone slightly pale and large bags hung beneath his weary eyes as he gazed blankly into the screen of his computer. His idea had seemed good at the time but now he was having second thoughts.

He was so tired. Just two hours… that was all he wanted… two hours of undisturbed rest.

His eyes began to drift shut.

"Kira!"

"Huh?" His eyes fluttered open before he jolted upright. "Wha? What?"

Glancing up he saw Cagalli looking down at him, shaking her fist. "Kira! You can't fall asleep! What if something was to come onto the radio that could help us? You would miss it!"

Over the last few weeks we, the Blue Cosmos, have seen the desperate attempts of Orb…

"I'm sorry!"

… to try and cover up the fact that they have been harboring war criminals within their organization…

"Don't you understand that Athrun is depending on us!"

"Shut up!" Dearka leapt up rushed over to where Kira was stretched out on the floor, almost pushing Cagalli right over. "This is it! This is it! Trace it back to wherever it's coming from!"

Lacus and Yzak immediately gathered around to hear the announcement. Each one silently praying that The Blue Cosmos were not coming onto the air to declare the death of their dear friend.

"Um, right," Kira straightened and focused on his computer. His fingers danced across the keys and the computer screen was changing so quickly that Cagalli couldn't make out what he was doing. She saw maps flash before her eyes, followed closely but red dots and some sort of digital code. Whatever it was, Kira seemed to understand and the other Coordinators were able to follow along with ease.

…In spite of this, it has become clear that Orb has no interest in bringing those responsible for Heliopolis to justice thus we have decided to take matters into our own hands. We only have the people of Earth's best interests in mind and we hope that people will take this into consideration when diving into further activity with Orb. Apparently, Orb has sympathies towards ZAFT.

"Oh my god…" Cagalli gasped and turned to Lacus, her eyes also full of worry. "They… they are going to kill him! They're going to kill Athrun!"

Yzak looked over Kira's shoulder as he worked, sweat gathering on his brow. "Well?"

"They're blocking the signal," Kira bit his lip as he frantically tried to override the codes the Blue Cosmos were using to hide their broadcast signal. "I'm trying but…"

"Kira!"

Each one of them waited. They listened to the rapid typing of the keyboard as the computer screen flashed and changed before their eyes. Kira's expression hardened as he wracked his mind, using all his accumulated knowledge to trace the broadcast he knew was so crucial to saving Athrun's life.

"I got it!"

All eyes turned to Kira as he looked up at them and offered them an exhausted smile. "I know where they're broadcasting from. If Athrun is there then we know where to find him! The old M.S Administration building outside the city."

"He could already be dead," Yzak muttered under his breath. "It has been three weeks after all."

"Either way, we're going to find out." Dearka declared.

Kira nodded and as he quickly disconnected his laptop, he turned to Cagalli. She looked wrecked. He stood up and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "I promise you, one way or another, we will get Athrun out of there. Dearka, Yzak and myself will leave right now."

"Wait a minute," Cagalli pulled away. "You aren't suggesting that I wait here do you? I'm coming too!"

Kira shook his head. "It might be dangerous and Athrun wouldn't thank you for risking your life on his account."

"But… I…"

"Athrun would never forgive me if I let you come and something was to happen," Kira added as he moved past her to put on his shoes. He still looked tired but a renewed determination now dominated his features. "Lacus and you should wait here. When we find him, we will bring him back alright?"

Cagalli's shoulders slumped. "Fine," She grumbled and slopped back down on her bed for the second time. She didn't like the way she was continually being brushed aside in all of this. "Be careful."

"Yes," Lacus whispered as she stepped forward and pulled Kira into a tight embrace. Her voice was just barely above a whisper as she breathed into his ear. "Please be careful."

"Hey!" Yzak barked from the doorway. Both he and Dearka had already thrown on there coats and were now waiting impatiently for Kira to join them. "We don't have all day you know. At this rate, Athrun doesn't have a hope in hell unless we pick up the pace."

Kira gave him a quick nod and, tossing Lacus one last look, he took off after Yzak and Dearka. Was he scared of the condition he would find his friend in? Of course he was but he had made a promise to Cagalli. He had promised to bring Athrun back to her and no matter what, he would do just that.

Meanwhile, back at the Blue Cosmos headquarters Jibril and Neo were just coming to pay their favorite prisoner a visit. The boy had demonstrated remarkable resilience. They had proceeded to prod and try to pry information from him about anyone else they could use to discredit Orb through a variety of different methods - all of which had accomplished very little. Suddenly Jibril's cell-phone went off in his jacket pocket. Irritably he pulled it out and turned it on.

"Hello… yes, he is speaking… what do you want?"

Neo frowned as he watched his boss's expression. Holding a cup of water in his hand, he leaned forward to listen in. There was something strange about the way that Jibril had answered the call.

"What! Forget it! I already met with the princess and told her I'm no longer interested in money. How did you get my number? Don't think you can change my mind… what? Where she got the money? I don't know! Probably from Orb…"

Jibril straightened and his brow creased with sudden interest. "Oh really? Now that is very interesting."

Neo studied Jibril carefully as the man listened to whomever he was speaking with on the other line. It had to be someone important otherwise he would have simply hung up. After a couple minutes, Jibril spoke again.

"I had no idea the kid had enemies in such high places… yes, I think we can arrange a deal…"

A deal? Neo's eyes sparked with interest behind the expressionless mask he wore. What kind of deal? What was Jibril talking about?

"Yes, he's still alive, at the moment. What's that? You're surprised?"

There was yet another pause.

"That sounds perfectly fine with me… what's that? Oh!" Jibril snickered, his eyes scanning down the hall and stopping at Athrun's cell. "Don't worry. I assure you he's as good as dead… yes! I promise you!"

Neo heard some mutterings on the other line but gave up trying to make them out. Instead, he simply crossed his arms and waited.

"This is a most unexpected pleasure. I had no idea I was doing you a favor when we grabbed him but I must say I am now extremely glad we did. Take care."

"Who was that?" Neo asked when Jibril shut off his cell phone and stuffed it back in his pocket.

"Simply a fellow colleague," Jibril answered plainly but the smile on his face told Neo that it was anything but simple. "Let's just say it is more worthwhile than ever to make sure that our guest spends his last, dying days with us."

"Someone else wants him dead?"

Jibril nodded. "That's right. Someone who could go a long way in helping us further our cause."

Neo acknowledged his superior respectfully and dropped the conversation. It didn't really matter to him. By upsetting relations between the Earth and Orb with their claims that Orb was protecting war criminals, the Blue Cosmos had succeeded in keeping their hopes for a world rid of the Coordinators alive. He smiled as his gaze moved down the hall towards the lonely cell where their prized prisoner was being kept. Soon, very soon, Athrun would be dead. He just hoped he could be the one to deal the final blow.

"Come on," Jibril motioned towards the cell and hastily increased his pace. "Our guest is waiting and probably very lonely. It will be his last night with us and I dare say that he would want some company."

Neo just laughed and was all too happy to follow.

TBC

Ok… this chapter was really hard. I honestly couldn't figure out another way for them to find Athrun and i didn't want to spend too many chapters explaining it. Don't worry, the story will pick up pretty quickly from here on out. I apologize if there are spelling errors. I'm working 9h days and taking two summer classes so my time to write has been cut a little. Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks so much for the nice reviews everyone! They helped me a lot!

Good old Yzak and Dearka - I love writing them.

Anyway, I shall try to update soon – have a good weekend all!

Krilyn

Cari-Akira Hey! Thanks for reviewing BOTH chapters! I loved both of your reviews. I know you want Jibril to suffer which is why I let Kira rough him up a bit… I guess it wasn't enough though… I shall try to do better. Thanks again.

Slightly Sinister Sinestra I never realized how many people disliked Yuuna. Unfortunately, he will be a recurring figure in the story. Don't worry, the pick pocket will be in the next chapter ( I love that character lol)

Kageharu Kaco I'm glad you liked the fight scene! I liked writing it! Hehhee. Thanks for the review – you gave me a great idea for a sequel that I will write once I am done this one – thanks so much!

Arayelle Lynn I am glad you are enjoying the story.

Justsome1: Thanks for the tip about Jibril's eyes. As of now, his eyes shall be green… it will work very nicely in the upcoming chapters. If you catch any other errors please let me know (but be kind lol)

mingathur: Wow… you read this story like an open book. I'm slightly embarrassed that you could see so easily where this story was going but … oh well… I hope you'll still read it. I figured Kira to be the defensive type… especially towards Cagalli. Anyway, thanks for your review!