-1Like Melting Ice

The door to Nikita's room was slightly ajar. Heero pushed it open slowly, peering in. Rays of dawn seeped through the open blinds, illuminating a bed. Its sheets and coverlets were neatly made, showing no sign that a human being had ever slept there. Though it had been only been hours since the desk was littered with hand-drawn schematics and calculations, they were all gone. Its worn wood was clean and bare. The closet was open, showing its empty interior. It was no longer Nikita's room. It was the spare room once again. The only evidence of her presence was the light aroma of roses. Heero inhaled deeply, and sighed. Would she have left without saying good-bye? If he left, would he have said good-bye? He knew he wouldn't, and therefore shouldn't be angry. However, he did not mind the idea of her waking in his arms. He had almost looked forward to it. Heero pushed the thought aside, and headed downstairs. The other pilots were asleep or absent as far as he could tell. The kitchen and the living room were empty.

Heero found himself in the hangar, the last room in the house. It too was empty save for the five Gundams standing proudly, staring indifferently into the distance. He looked up at Zero. Nikita had proved her worth as a mechanic. There was no evidence that the machine had ever been damaged. She had even seen to the more cosmetic repairs that he had never worried about. It was a beautiful, powerful machine.

Heero leapt up to the cockpit in several bounds. He keyed open the hatch and stepped inside. Heero sat behind the controls, noticing that she had replaced the fraying safety belt and many of the worn grips and buttons. It was then he noticed a small disk laying among the controls labeled "play me." Heero picked up the disk, and slipped it into the software drive. Suddenly his ears were filled with Nikita's sweet voice.

"Hey Heero. As you've probably noticed, the repairs are complete. Now listen closely, I will only say this once. Below the communication's control should be a new switch. That controls the cloaking device. Directly below, you'll see another set of controls. Lever turns on the sensors, slide dials adjust sensitivity—yellow button pulls up the 3D map. Diagonal of the self-detonation switch box should be a box similar to it. Flip it up and see three buttons. Green is the EMP, Yellow is the sonic boom, and Red is the detonation device. Happy Hunting!"

Her voice trailed a bit and the cockpit was silent again. He fondled the new controls tenderly, thinking of where she might have gone. His train of thought was interrupted by sounds outside the cockpit. He decided to test the new radar, and pressed the yellow button. The holographic map appeared revealing the lithe figure of the Heavyarms pilot. Trowa stood at the entrance of the hangar, leaning against the wall. He directed his gaze at the activated Wing Zero. Heero opened the hatch, and sat on the door of the cockpit. He his legs dangled over the edge.

"Were you looking for her?" Trowa questioned. He almost had to shout to be heard. Heero nodded. Trowa leapt up Wing Zero in several bounds and sat beside Heero. He did not like to shout.

"Did you see where she went?" Heero questioned.

"I saw her leaving. She said she had to go home," Trowa replied.

"Did she say why?" Heero inquired. Trowa shook his head.

"Only that something came up. I overheard part of her phone conversation though,"

Heero's cobalt eyes waited expectantly for Trowa to divulge the information. The green-eyed pilot swung his legs back and forth beneath him.

"She was crying, speaking to her mother. Apparently something happened to her younger sister and she had to go meet her mother at her apartment immediately. They were going to leave from there to go remedy the situation."

Heero furrowed his brow. If OZ soldiers had been monitoring where she worked, they would be watching where she lived. There was no way that her apartment was safe. If they got to her and her disk, missions could get infinitely more difficult. Would her mother know that? Probably not. Not good.

Heero didn't bother with the cable and jumped down from the mobile suit. He literally hit the ground running His mind switched to mission mode. He grabbed his keys, phone and gun. He tucked the Glock into the waistband of his pants, and stomped his feet into his worn yellow sneakers. As he bounded down the stairs, he mentally listed worst case scenarios and formulated plans for them. Hopping into his car, he gunned the engine and sped away. Traffic was light, but his fingers tingled has he handled the wheel. He was nervous. He was never nervous before a mission. But this was different. What if he was too late?

He stepped on the gas.

All together the drive was only eight minutes, but it seemed like a lifetime. He pulled into the parking lot and ran to the front door. It was electronically sealed. Remembering the code from the one other time he had been there, he punched it in. He wasted no time bounding up the stairs. Heero walked silently down the carpeted hallway of the second floor. The door to her apartment was not fully closed. It had been forced open. Not good. He pulled out his Glock and nudged the door with it. It groaned quietly. The apartment was in a disarray. It had been ransacked. There were papers, clothes, books and broken glass all over the floor.

He heard the muffled sounds of crying. He followed the sound into the bathroom. The door had been blocked by an overturned dresser. Heero heaved the furniture across the floor, and open the door. A very pretty older woman was sitting on the edge of the bathtub. Her face was in her hands. Her short brown hair covered her face, even as she looked up at Heero. Her red-rimmed brown eyes widened, but remained sad.

"Are you here to kill me?" She asked quietly. Heero holstered his gun and knelt before her. Through the tears and swollen eyes, he could still see the blatant resemblance.

"No, I came to see if Nikita was alright. Where is she?"

The woman paused, peering into Heero's cobalt blue eyes. Her brown eyes probed and analyzed, searching for credibility. She scowled.

"How can I know I can trust you?"

Heero's mouth twitched knowingly. It was almost a smirk.

"How can I know if I can trust you?"

There was silence.

"Soldiers came and carried her off, she barricaded me in here just before they came."

"She didn't want you to charge in and save her," Heero stated. Nikita's mother nodded, gracefully wiping tears from her face.

"I had just gotten her back, after Elliot--I cant lose another child," She whispered. Heero felt sympathy for the woman, it glistened in his cobalt eyes for just a moment. He didn't want to lose Nikita either, but he didn't think it was time to make that declaration.

"I could here them from the window, they're taking her to outerspace," She said carefully. Her eyes were closed as if she was watching the memory on the back of her eyelids.

"How long ago did this happen?"

"Less than an hour ago," She replied. Heero frowned thoughtfully. The nearest facility equipped with aircrafts capable of atmospheric flight was one hour north by mobile suit. The trail would still be warm, but how would he get to her in a mobile suit battle? She would surely get killed in the crossfire. The odds of her survival were lower if they battled in space. But the longer she's held capitive, the more information they may be able to extract. Nikita was strong, but Heero had no idea what kind of torture she could withstand. The thought of them harming her caused his fist to tighten reflexively.

"My name is Genevieve Trique, will you save my daughter, young man?"

Heero nodded, using one finger to catch a stray tear. "You won't lose your little girl."

OMG, that took like ten years! So sorry about the wait. I hope you enjoy.

Syl