Chapter Seven

Damage Control

Broken down and hungry for your love with no way to feed it

Where are you tonight? You know how much I need it

Too young to hold on

But too old to break free and run

Lonely is the room, the bed is made, the open window lets the rain in

Burning in the corner is the only one who dreams he had you with him

My body turns and yearns for a sleep that won't ever come

It's never over

My kingdom for a kiss upon the shoulder

It's never over

All my riches for her smile

When I slept so soft against her

It's never over

All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter

It's never over

She's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever

But maybe I'm too young

To keep good love from going wrong

Sometimes a man gets carried away

When he feels like he be having his fun

Much too blind to see the damage he's done

Sometimes a man must awake

To find that really, he has no one

So I wait for you, and I burn

Will I ever see your sweet return?

Oh, will I ever learn?

Lover, you should've come over

'Cause it's not too late…

- Jeff Buckley, Lover, You Should've Come Over

What a morning. It was going on six a.m. Heero hadn't slept since his brief snooze on the space shuttle, and that was several hours ago. He never could sleep on shuttles anyway, especially when sitting next to Relena; Heero felt a constant need to keep an eye on her. In fact, when he was on assignment with her, he hardly slept at all, too busy keeping vigilant watch while she rested to squeeze in some shut-eye for himself. And so Heero was used to being sleep-deprived, and could still operate at full capacity. This morning, however, had taken its toll.

He had combed 100 city blocks in the course of two and a half hours but had gotten nowhere. It just figured that, of all the colonies to go missing on, Relena had to pick one of the biggest.

Heero's clothes were ragged and dirty. His hair hung in defeated clumps around his eyes. Full of caffeine and yet fully exhausted, he felt as though he could collapse at any moment. There was only one thing holding him up, driving his every step— his need to find Relena. It drove him crazy not knowing where she was. The thought of something happening to her… He couldn't bare it. Not after the way he'd treated her, the horrible things he'd said. He hated the idea of leaving things like that. If it had to end between them, if their relationship would never be the same and she never wanted to see him again, he at least wanted the chance to apologize. He couldn't take back what he'd said and done, but he could at least let her know how sorry he was. He just hoped he would get the chance to tell her these things; he dreaded that it was already too late.

There was one place he hadn't looked, and it wasn't a place, exactly. Sometime between his fight with Relena and his little liquor party for one, Relena had called Duo and poured her heart out; then Duo called Heero and let him have it. It was a logical deduction, then, that Duo might know Relena's whereabouts. It was a long shot, Heero thought, but worth a try.

With a heavy sigh, he grabbed his mobile and brought up the stupid bat icon Duo had selected as his avatar, then punched the "send" key.

"Hey, He-Man! What's up?" It was six a.m. and Duo sounded downright jolly—as if he hadn't used some very strong words to describe Heero just a few hours ago. Something was very wrong, Heero decided.

"Cut the shit," he barked. "Where is she?"

"She?" Duo looked baffled. "Who? What are you talking about?"

"Re-le-na," Heero said through clenched teeth. "You're the last person she spoke with before she went missing."

"What? Rel went missing?" The shock on Duo's face was plain as day, making it obvious that he hadn't been complicit in Relena's disappearance. The braided ex-pilot may have liked to play games, but Heero knew that this wasn't something he'd mess around with. Duo knew better than to make light of any situation involving Relena; with Heero, it was always a touchy subject.

"I was hoping you'd know where she went," Heero glowered. "She took off not long after she called you, and I've been looking for her all over the colony." He sighed again, unable to hide his worry. "This is the one time I was hoping that you'd found her first."

"Damn," was all Duo managed to say at first. He scratched his head helplessly. "You really did a number on her, didn't you?"

"Not helpful, Duo," Heero gritted his teeth again. "I didn't call for a lecture; I don't have time for that. I need to find out where she is, and this was my last resort. If you have nothing useful to tell me, then I have no use for you." He was about to disconnect the call when Duo interjected.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute, buddy. Don't cop that attitude with me." Duo wagged a finger at Heero. "You have no one to blame in this situation besides yourself."

As much as it pained him to admit, Heero knew that Duo was right.

"Anyway, I'm nowhere near that colony, so there's no way Relena could've met up with me, even if she'd wanted to. I hope you find her soon, though."

Heero squeezed his eyes shut. This was not good. Relena had just taken off in the dark of night without telling anyone where she was going. Not even Duo, her annoying confidante. For once, Heero Yuy found himself completely shit out of luck.

"You're sure she didn't say anything to you. No hint of where she might want to go to after…" Heero couldn't bring himself to say it. "After…"

"After what? After you threw her over?" Duo seethed. The cheerful Duo he'd dialed up was gone, replaced by his murderous alter ego, the God of Death. "No, Heero, she didn't give me a hint. She said she was tired and wanted 'the nightmare to be over.' I wasn't sure if she was talking about her fight with you or the entire relationship, but you get the drift. She was pissed. She probably did this to tick you off. And I have to say, man, you really deserve it."

Heero scowled into the vid phone. "Are you finished?"

"Not quite, but I'll save the rest for later." Duo smirked. "You have to go find Relena now."

"And you're sure she didn't say anything to you," Heero tried one more time.

"I swear on the grave of Deathscythe! Ok?" Now Duo was the one to sigh. "Sorry, Heero. Call me and let know when you find her, will you?"

Heero's shoulders sagged. "Yeah."

"You know, if it helps, I could always ask Hilde what she'd do in Relena's shoes," Duo piped up. "Might help to get a girl's perspective on this one, you know?"

Heero shook his head fervently. "No thanks. I don't need anyone else knowing about this."

Duo looked sheepish. "Ah, well… too late for that." He scratched the back of his head.

Heero turned his death glare on the other Gundam pilot. "Duo…"

"What? I couldn't help it. She heard me talking to Relena, so I had no choice but to spill."

"Fine," Heero growled. "But she doesn't need to know Relena's missing. It shouldn't go any further than this."

"Well…"

"Now what?"

"Nothing. Just that I might have also drunk-dialed Wufei at some point…"

"Duo!"

"What? I didn't say much. And he definitely doesn't know Relena's missing; that's new intel on my end."

Heero pressed his temples, trying to ease the migraine he felt coming on. "Whatever. Just keep your mouth shut from now on. Unless, of course, you hear from Relena first."

"You got it." Duo signed off with a little salute.

That was it; Heero had exhausted his last option. Now he truly had no idea where to turn next. He supposed he could retrace his steps over again; it was possible he and Relena had just missed each other. Or that she could be hiding from him on purpose. Or, worse… he hated to think of anything worse.

As more restaurants and cafes were starting to open up, not only would he have to search the same areas over again—now, he'd have even more places he had to check. He groaned. When he found Relena – not if, he told himself – he was going to explode. He alternated between feeling furious with her and agonizing over her well-being. The dichotomy was doing terrible things to his mind. After Relena, he decided, Heero was going to take a break from women. For a long, long time.

He'd turned another corner when he heard his phone ring. Heero wasted no time picking it up. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when the caller ID screamed RELENA at him.

RELENA RELENA RELENA

Heero held the phone to his ear and waited to hear her voice. Just in case it was some cruel joke; just in case it was somebody else.

"Heero?"

Relief, like a baptism, washed over his entire body. He couldn't believe how good it felt, just hearing her voice again. The thought struck him that he was probably more than a little co-dependent on her. That wasn't a good thing, but…

"Heero?" She repeated his name, sounding more anxious. Heero realized he hadn't answered her.

"Relena." He surprised himself with how calm he sounded out loud.

"Where are you?"

Heero swore under his breath. Was she kidding him?

"What did you say, Heero? Just tell me where you are!"

He just chuckled. "You tell me first."

"Huh?"

"Stop playing games with me, Relena. Where are you?"

"I'm in my room, Heero. At the hotel. Now where are you?"

In her room. She'd tossed her explanation off so flippantly. As if she'd been there the entire time. As if she hadn't been playing hide and seek with him all over the city. As if she had no idea of the torment she'd just put him through.

Heero felt his irritation mounting. It would take considerable effort for him to reign in his fury before facing Relena.

"Stay right where you are," he instructed. "I'm on my way."

Author's Note: My first update since Hurricane Irene left me powerless for 48 hours! I hope you're enjoying this so far. I appreciate any and all input; you all know and love these characters, too!

I just want to say, I highly suggest listening to Jeff Buckley's song when you read this. YouTube it. It's beautiful and just fits Heero so well (I think). Actually, I suggest you do that with all the songs I cite throughout this story! They're each chosen very deliberately. Looks like I've inadvertently written a songfic! I hope you enjoy.