Heero Yuy leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the surface of his desk. His latest project sat open and forgotten on his laptop- a new security system for some rich British family. Heero was reluctant to admit it, but he was bored. Designing security systems for rich celebrities didn't quite ignite a fire in him. But what did? That was his current train of thought. Despite his attempts to keep his mind on his career path, his thoughts continually strayed toward a certain blonde woman.

He hadn't seen Relena Darlian in a while, maybe a few months, and he was missing her. Their last interaction had been strange and stilted, and Heero wasn't sure what to make of it. He thought about asking Duo for advice, but Heero stubbornly refused. He didn't want Duo in his personal business. It was bad enough that Duo was calling him every week "just to chat." Heero did not understand the concept of "chatting." It felt pointless. And yet… maybe Duo would have some ideas.

Heero growled and leaned forward in his chair. He pressed his hands to his face and dragged them down, rubbing his eyes at the same time. He looked out the window of his office, a view of New York City that most people might kill for. But it wasn't the view Heero wanted.

There was no way he could focus on anything else for the day. Heero snapped his laptop shut and slid it into his backpack. One of Heero's coworkers, Thomas, walked by Heero's office and poked his head in.

"You out?" Thomas asked. Heero looked up at him.

"Yeah," Heero grunted.

"Join us for drinks. The team is heading to the pub." Heero opened his mouth to reject the offer when his phone began to vibrate. He looked at the caller ID. It was Duo. Heero silenced the call.

"Alright."

A half-hour later, Heero sat at a long table with several of his coworkers, drinking beer. The general chatter was about work, though it tactfully avoided too much information that could compromise any of their clients. Heero could hear a few of the young women he worked with gossiping at the other end of the table. He heard them giggle, but he ignored them. He finished the last of his beer and stood up from the table to grab another.

At the bar, he signaled for another round when one of his coworkers appeared at his side. Her name was Veronica, and she was a tall, dark-haired beauty. She leaned against the bar, angling her body towards him. Heero glanced at her.

"Hey, Yuy," she said, a bit of a southern drawl touching the edges of her voice.

"Veronica," he said by way of greeting. She inched closer.

"How is the Manchester job going?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, causing her hair to slip over her shoulder.

"Fine."

"Why don't you get us a pair of shots?" she asked, flicking her head toward the bartender. Heero lifted an eyebrow.

"Why?"

Veronica rolled her eyes.

"I'm flirting with you, silly," she said, giving him a light punch in the arm. "The polite thing is to flirt back."

"Not interested," Heero muttered. Veronica scoffed and inched closer to him. He could smell her perfume, and it wasn't pleasant. Thankfully, his phone began to vibrate again in his pocket. He checked the caller ID. It was a video call from Commander Une. Heero's stomach tightened as he answered the call.

"Heero," Une said, her face appearing on the screen. Her face was etched with worry.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We have a problem. It's about Relena. We need you to come back to Brussels," she said.

Heero's stomach dropped, and his throat tightened. Relena was in trouble.

"I'll be there as soon as possible," Heero said. "I'll leave tonight."

"Thank you. I'll send a car to pick you up at the airport."

Heero nodded, and they mutually ended the call. Veronica stared at him, her eyebrows high.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"None of your business," Heero grunted, brushing past her and exiting the pub without saying goodbye.

Heero returned to his apartment and threw clothes, including his old Preventer jacket, into a duffle bag. He packed his personal laptop and other effects. He had his own state-of-the-art security system, so it wasn't as though anyone could break in.

He purchased a plane ticket on the way to the airport. He was able to get the last seat on a flight to Brussels, Belgium, an overnight flight that would arrive the following afternoon. It wasn't ideal, but at least he had a seat.

Duo called him while Heero was sitting in the terminal.

"Hey buddy," Duo said, without his usual chipper voice.

"What's going on?"

"Yeah… Une asked me to give you the details. Relena appears to be missing."

"What?"

"There was a blackout in the city, and we believe that someone, or several people, used that time to get past her security system and kidnap her."

"I installed a fail-safe," Heero growled.

"I know, man. I know. But it had been tampered with. So no power, no security."

Heero's hands tightened. He had installed that security system himself. It was perfect. There were no potential problems that he could have foreseen. And yet… someone got past it.

"Are there any leads?" Heero asked.

"I'm sending you a bunch of stuff now," Duo said. "Relena expressed concerns to Une a few weeks ago about some strange messages she'd been receiving through e-mail. She thought they were just spam, but after a while, the messages started getting too personal. And then the blackout. And Relena was gone."

"Fuck."

"You have to keep a clear head, my man," Duo said. "I know how you feel about her, but you have to stay professional. We need your brain to solve this one."

Heero opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came to him. After a moment, he said, "Thanks."

A chime on his phone alerted him to the email from Duo.

"I got the email. I'll look through everything and get with you when I arrive," Heero said.

"Get some sleep on the flight. You're going to need it."

"Hn."

Once boarded and the flight was in the air, Heero pulled out his laptop and began to read through the files that Duo sent. The messages were all dated in chronological order, and each one was more disturbing than the next. Whoever wrote the messages picked apart Relena's life, and it was clear to Heero that they were trying to get under Relena's skin. He hoped that Relena would have resisted the digs, but worry gnawed at him anyway. After reading the last message, Heero was disgusted. Goosebumps crawled over his skin.

He closed the messages and pulled up the backend login for Relena's security system. He wasn't sure if the in-flight wifi was good enough to access her cameras, but he had to try. He typed in his password, and a moment later, the dashboard appeared. Sure enough, there were several warning messages. One about the fail-safe being offline and one about the blackout.

He opened the primary cameras up and pinpointed the time of the blackout, then reversed to see what happened before.

He watched as Relena arrived home from work, leaving her things besides the door. He saw her engage the lock on her front door and walk into the kitchen. She went about her evening, eating dinner and drinking a few glasses of wine. She headed to bed after a while, entering the two rooms without cameras: her bedroom and bathroom. Heero switched to her external cameras, but everything looked fine. Then the power went out, and the cameras went black.

He backed up the footage to the point of the fail-safe warning. The fail-safe generator was located in a small shed in her backyard. Heero switched to the backyard cameras. He watched with his mouth open as Relena exited her house, her phone to her ear. Relena opened the shed, disappeared inside for a few minutes, then exited. That was the exact time that the fail-safe warning went off.

Relena had tampered with her own security system.

Why?

Heero mulled this over for hours until the plane landed at the Brussels International Airport.