Quatre was named base commander, probably because Master didn't want someone with that little body-fat out in the wind and rain. His job was to watch in case Duo came back (which was highly unlikely) and keep a constant stream of hot drinks flowing. Zechs called Sally to come up, probably both in case anyone got hurt and to keep an eye on Quatre, who's weight and health, though better, were still kept under close scurteny by Master. Regardless, Sally arrived within an hour, and immediately began harassing Quatre about his weight, even though it looked like he'd gained a few ounces while he was away. Still, Quatre seemed well at ease with Sally, which helped to put Master at ease.

The rest of us quickly resumed the hunt, with Master at the forefront this time. At first, Zechs and Heero mounted their horses to search while Trowa and I tried to track Duo from the ground. Unfortunately, the storm was so strong that it had washed away all his footprints, and it was impossible to tell which branches had been broken by him and which had been snapped by the wind. Even Trowa's sharp tracking skills failed in the face of such a washout, and we eventually mounted behind Heero and Zechs to lend the mounted search and extra pair of eyes.

It seemed like a hopeless venture right from the start, and only grew more desperate as the hours passed. The storm picked up speed, as though the wind itself was trying to hide Duo from us. The weather turned abruptly cold, made only worse by the wind and torrential rains. I huddled close to Zechs' back, savoring the warmth of his body after only a few days of absence, clinging tighter as the wind threatened to pull me right off the back of the horse. I was beginning to worry that we would neither find Duo nor make it out of this storm.

Zechs, though, was a rock that even the storm could not lift. Onward he trudged, guiding his horse forward through waist-deep water and bogs of my and debris. Never wavering, I was awed by his strength, and it suddenly dawned on me that I had never stood a chance in dueling a man of this caliber. I was only grateful that such a pure soul contained such great strength. I shuddered to imagine the consequences if Zechs had been like the Owner.

If Zechs was a rock in the storm, then certainly Heero was a demon. Always several lengths in front of us, it seemed that Heero could barely contain himself from leaping off his horse and searching on foot at a frantic pace that the storm and the horses would not allow. Despite this, Heero rode Zero like the hounds of hell were nipping at their heels, and Trowa was very little help as he clung desperately to horse and rider in an attempt to stay mounted.

By eight o'clock, hope of finding Duo was beginning to wain as no signs of him were forthcoming. After almost eight hours of constant searching, punctuated by only brief stops for rest and dry clothes, we were all exhausted. When the weather, already fearsome and frigid, took a sudden dip in temperature and began to rain chunks of hail down upon us, Zechs called a halt to our journey and led the horses back to the barn. Once the horses, also exhausted, were settled in the barn, the four of us trudged back to the house, where warm blankets and hot cocoa awaited us.

But one in our party was not ready to even pause. As the rest of us grabbed hot mugs supplied by Quatre and draped ourselves wearily across the kitchen chairs, Heero was already moving determinedly to the maps spread out across the kitchen table. We had placed markers at all the place we had already been, so there was a spiral of dots moving from the farthest edges of the property toward the house. Our best hope to find Duo would be to stumble over him in whatever makeshift shelter he had found for himself. If he was on the move in whether like this we had very little chance of either spotting him or chasing him down; however, the storm made it unlikely that he would be able to maintain movement, especially with the few supplies he could have taken from the house.

Heero's first task was to set up markers for the new places we had searched. He placed the small, blue chips across the map carefully, then absently picked up the mug Quatre handed to him. I have no doubt that, had Quatre not thrust the mug of steaming liquid directly into his hands, Heero would have ignored the needs of his body completely. As it was, he only took a few sips before setting the cup aside and turning to Zechs.

"Based on our search so far, I believe that Duo must be hiding either here," he said, gesturing to a thick grove of trees on the map, "or here," he continued, this time waving to a stone crevice that the nearby stream had created, "we should be able to search both places within an hour on horseback..."

"The horses are exhausted. Taking them out again tonight would be a risk to their health," Zechs countered, his tone as serious as I'd ever heard it.

"I understand. It will be much more difficult on foot, then, but if we leave now..."

"No one's going anywhere right now, much less out into that storm. I won't have you all going hypothermic on the off chance that Duo is close-by. You all need at least a half an hour to warm up before I let you go back out, and that's assuming none of you managed to catch a fever from being wet and cold."

"But..."

"Zechs is right, Heero," Sally interjected, her voice taking on a professional edge. "You are all risking serious sickness as it is, and you could easily die out there if you don't give your body time to recuperate. Everyone needs to get into dry clothes, warm up, and get something to eat. You're no good to us dead."

"We can't just leave Duo out there!"

"We'll find him, Heero," Zechs said placatingly, placing a hand on the tense boy's shoulder, "Just not until the storm breaks."

"The could be hours!" Heero growled, pulling away from his taller master. "Duo could be dead by then! He could be dead now! He could have frozen to death out there and it would be all my... all my..." he gasped, barely holding himself above a complete breakdown. His closest friend was gone, possibly dead, and all over a stupid fight between the two of them. Looking at the raw, bleeding pain in Heero's eyes, I felt like smacking Duo into the next decade, assuming he was found alive and well.

There were really no words that would have comforted Heero right then, and I think Zechs knew this, because he silently pulled Heero tight against his chest, offering support to the emotional teen. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sally leave the room and could only wonder if she had been overcome by the emotion in the room or if something else had come up. Quatre and Trowa, on the other hand, were seated side by side at the kitchen's small bar, with Trowa nurse a mug of chocolate and supporting a teary-eyed Quatre beside him. Like me, their eyes were glued to the scene playing out between Heero and Zechs at center stage. I could only wonder what would happen next as Heero's angst quieted and his determination remained the same. In a moment, he pulled away from Zechs and rubbed his eyes.

"Please, Master" Heero begged, his voice barely above a whisper, "I can't lose him."

"You won't" Zechs promised, "If there's any way to find, I swear to you, we'll get him back. But I won't trade your life for his, Angel. Don't ask me to."

"I have to go with you," Heero decided suddenly, frowning and attempting to pull away from Zechs. "You don't know him like I do, you won't know where to look. You won'tfind him without me!" he declared, clenching his fists determinedly. It was then that I caught sight of Sally reentering the room, and the item clenched in her hand made my esteem for the good doctor rise a notch or two. Zechs, also noticing Sally's entrance, suddenly pulled Heero into another fierce hug.

Which made the boy completely helpless when Sally injected what I could only assume was a sedative into his restrained arm. A dishonorable act, perhaps, but a noble intention, as I was certain that, unrestrained, nothing could have kept Heero from braving the storm again. And, this side of consciousness, I wasn't sure we could even keep him restrained. Heero cursed and thrashed as he felt the needle pierce his skin, but the drug took effect quickly and he slumped in Zechs' arms after only a few seconds.

"Take him from me," Master instructed, motioning Trowa over. Gently he handed his burden over to Trowa, who easily and carefully maneuvered the smaller body. "Take him upstairs, get him into dry clothes, and put him to bed."

"Yes, Master."

"Wufei, could you go help him? Then I want you both in to dry clothes as well. You won't be doing anyone any good with pneumonia," Zechs said. We nodded, and then moved to accomplish the task.

Heero was much easier to handle unconscious. Trowa and I managed to get him out of his wet clothes an into dry ones, an awkward if not difficult task, and tucked him in to his single bed. The frown on his face as we settled him in seemed to single his unconscious awareness of his missing bed-partner, but there was no way to currently rectify the situation. So Trowa and I left Heero to change our own clothes, then met Quatre downstairs, where he had a bowl of soup waiting for each of us.

It was several minutes later, after my own soup had been inhaled in front of the cozy fire in the den, that I realized Zechs had yet to join us. It seemed that he had taken far long enough to change his clothes, and so I asked Quatre about it.

"I'm sure I saw him go upstairs," the blond replied, his brow furrowing in confusion. "I don't know what could be taking him so long."

With a mounting sense of dread, I rose and climbed the stairs to the master bedroom. The door was firmly closed, but inside I could hear no sounds of movement, so I was unsurprised when I opened the door to reveal no person inside. I stepped inside anyway, perhaps to stifle a sense of disbelief. A flash of lightening outside the window caught my eye, and I moved closer, only to have my sight drawn to a door swinging open in the barn. I was certain I had closed the barn when I came out. Which could only mean one thing.

Zechs was gone.