Soulless 2/?

[melrose_stormhaven]

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. They belong to their respective owners.

Freetalk: Did you like the first chapter? I hope you're finding this fanfic okay. I actually wrote this before the Shrine Maidens, but I uploaded Shrine Maidens first. I always wondered what it would be like if Relena didn't end up with Heero…so I did this.

This chapter is for my Dad, who is now in Qatar, working under the hot sun for our family. Love you, Dad!!!


Chapter II: Returning


Relena Peacecraft-Barton gently shuffled the paper in her desk, then stacked it up neatly on the top tray, putting a miniature Deathscythe Gundam head on top of it as a paperweight. Relena had to smile at the sight of the Gundam. It had been a gift from Duo on her twenty-first birthday. She had already married Trowa by then, and the twins had just been a few months old.

At the thought of the Gundams, a frown creased Relena's forehead. Nowadays, it seemed like the war and Gundams were the thing of the past. It had been so long ago, nearly sixteen years since the last major threat to universal peace happened. Since then, peace has spread all over the space colonies and Earth.

Moreover, since then, Relena had not heard or seen him.

Relena shook her head at the thought of him. It was strange she would think of him now, after all this time. She was married to Trowa now. He, like war and the Gundams, was all in the past.

If only it were as easy as that.

Relena sighed and picked up one of the folders on her desk. She was in the act of putting it inside a drawer when the phone on her desk rang. She picked it up. "This is Foreign Minister Relena Peacecraft-Barton speaking. Who's this? Oh, James, it's you. What is it?"

Trowa was then walking towards the study. Relena had said she would only clean up her desk. The task would only take a few minutes, but Relena had been in the study for almost an hour now. Trowa shook his head ruefully. He should have expected this to happen. Relena was probably going over some of the documents as she 'cleaned' her desk.

When he entered the study, he saw that Relena picking up the phone. He took a step towards her, but stopped abruptly when he saw her face completely go pale. Trowa then walked rapidly towards his wife, who was now putting down the phone, her hands trembling.

"Relena?" Trowa asked in a concerned voice, taking her hand into his. They were as cold as ice. He put his arms around her, steadying her. He felt her tremble in his arms. "What's wrong?"

Relena turned to him, her eyes filled with tears. She squeezed his hand hard. "Trowa," she whispered, her voice raw with tears, "It's Freya. She's been kidnapped." Then, she collapsed sobbing into her husband's arms.

~*~*~*~

They arrived at Relena and Trowa's house in an astonishingly small amount of time. Trowa came out to meet them, standing at the bottom of the steps, a cool, calm look on his face.

"How's Relena?" Milliardo Peacecraft, once known to the world as Zechs Merquise, asked as soon as he stepped out of the car. His wife, Lucrezia Noin-Peacecraft, and their two sons, Christopher and Brandon, followed him. Though Milliardo's face had a calm, detached look in them, Trowa knew his brother-in-law long enough to know Milliardo was worried–and furious. His hands were clenched into tight fists. His ice blue eyes were narrowed, and there was a spark of blue fire in them.

"Sally gave her a sedative. She's sleeping. We were worried that Relena might go into labor prematurely. She'll wake up in an hour or so," Trowa replied calmly. Sally had arrived earlier, along with Chang Wufei, to make sure Relena and baby were not harmed. Trowa inclined his head at Noin, who gave him a reassuring smile. He then led them back into the house, heading upstairs to Relena's study. "Catherine's coming in a while."

"What about Alexander?" Milliardo wanted to know. "How the hell was Freya kidnapped?"

"I already asked Wufei to get Alex from the Lake Victoria Academy. He'll be here in a few minutes." Trowa motioned Milliardo to take a seat. Relena's brother sat on the chair beside Relena's desk. "As for how Freya was kidnapped, we'll have to wait for Duo and Quatre to get back from fetching their sons."

"What do those boys have to do with Freya's kidnapping?" Noin wanted to know, sitting beside her husband. Her sons stood behind them. "Don't tell me they instigated this."

"Apparently, they were with Freya when she was kidnapped. It was James who called Relena to tell her Freya was kidnapped." Trowa passed a weary hand in front of his face. "I'm hoping this is just another prank."

Milliardo turned to his sons. "Do you know anything about this?"

"No, Father. I don't," replied Christopher. He was the oldest of the brothers. He was the splitting image of his father, with his shoulder-length light blonde hair and ice-blue eyes. He was eighteen years old.

"I don't think it’s a prank, Dad." Sixteen-year-old Brandon inherited his mother's looks, with his dark bluish-black hair and dark, almost purple, blue eyes. "James wouldn't pull something like this. He's not that foolish."

"Well, we'll just have to wait for the boys to tell us what happened." Noin stood up. "In the meantime, I'm going to see Relena." She turned to Trowa. "Sally's with here, isn't she?" When Trowa nodded, she turned back to her husband, gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. She turned to her sons. "You're coming with me, boys." Both protested, but one dark look from their mother and father stilled their objections. With disappointed looks on their faces, they followed their mother as she left the room.

When they were gone, Trowa asked Milliardo, "Anything from the Preventers?"

Milliardo, who now heads the Preventers, shook his head, a frustrated look briefly crossing his face. "Nothing. There must be a thousand black vans in the city." It was the only clue they had for now. According to James, the kidnappers used a black van to abduct Freya. "My wife's right. We have to wait for the boys."

"And here they are," a slightly subdued but nonetheless cheerful voice said from the doorway. The brothers by law looked up to see Duo leaning against the doorframe. There was a grim look on his face. Beside him was Quatre, who smiled tentatively at the two. Behind them stood two young men, their sons, James Maxwell and Robert Mohammed Winner.

"Come in," Trowa said quietly to the two young men, the younger versions of their fathers. James had his father's coloring and his tendency for mischief. Aside from facial features, Robert inherited Quatre's quiet and calm nature. Trowa felt like he stepped back in time, back when they were only fifteen, waging a guerilla war against OZ. He mentally shook his head and focused his gaze at the two boys. He noted that both boys had bruises on their faces, their clothes rumpled, dirty, and slightly torn. Behind him, Trowa felt Milliardo rising from his seat.

"Can you tell us what exactly happened?" Trowa asked in the same quiet voice. "You three were supposed to be in school. What were you doing outside?"

The boys look at each other. Then James turned, looked at Trowa straight in the eye, and told him what had transpired. The room grew quiet as the former Gundam pilots listened to James. They were so absorbed in his story they did not notice Noin and her sons enter the room, along with Sally. Noin stood beside Milliardo, slipping a hand into his. Milliardo squeezed her hand.

When James was finished, he said in a hoarse voice, "It was my fault Freya was kidnapped. If I hadn't–"

Duo gave a loud snort. "Don't be so quick to blame yourself, James. You had no way of knowing someone was waiting to kidnap Freya that day."

James turned to his father, a look of anguish on his young face. "But Dad–"

"But nothing, James," Duo cut in sharply. "I won't have you feeling guilty over something you had no control over. It wasn't your fault Freya was kidnapped. It's someone else's."

"Your father's right," Trowa said emphatically. "It's not your fault, James."

James nodded, but his eyes had a bleak look in them.

Milliardo turned to his wife, who nodded. She laid her hands on the boys' shoulder. "Come on, let's see to your injuries." She turned to Sally. "Those bruises of yours need healing."

"No!" both cried out, a mutinous look on their faces. "We want to stay!"

"'Fraid we can't stay, boys," said Brandon, putting an arm around the younger boys' shoulders. "The adults are going to discuss now, and it's time for us kids to go." With a wink to his mother, Brandon nearly dragged the boys out of the room.

"Maxwell," Milliardo said to Duo when the boys were gone.

"Yeah, Zechs?" Duo stiffened slightly at the sound of his voice. Milliardo still had the power to intimidate him, even after all these years.

"Brandon's your partner in Preventers, isn't he?"

"Yeah…why?"

"I think you're spending too much time together. Your attitude's starting to rub off on him."

Duo gave a quick laugh, then his eyes narrowed. "Somebody's been very patient. This wasn't some impulsive kidnapping. They waited for the right time. They waited for a very long time."

"I agree," Quatre said. "But who would kidnap Freya? And why?"

"That's what we're going to find out." Milliardo turned to Christopher, who stood silently not far from him. "I want a list of all suspicious groups we have and a report on their activities."

Christopher nodded. "I'll get on it, Father. I also think we should get the video footage from the security cameras outside Freya's school. The kidnappers must have been around the school."

"Excuse me, I'll leave you for a while," Trowa said. "I'm going to see if my wife's all right."

Duo waved him off. "Go, man. She needs you more than ever." He patted Trowa on the shoulder. "I'm really sorry about what happened, buddy. Don't worry, we'll find Freya."

"Duo's right, Trowa. We'll find Freya and the ones who kidnapped her." Quatre's blue-green eyes had a fierce light in them. "Freya's going to be safe. As for her kidnappers, I cannot say the same thing."

Trowa looked at his friends for a moment, and then a small smile touched his lips. "Thank you," he said quietly. Then he left the room.

Duo cracked his knuckles, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. "All right, let's get to work. Let's go and find Freya. Then we'll take care of those bastards who took her."

~*~*~*~

He stood there, just beside the bed, watching Relena sleep. It had been nearly sixteen years since he had been this close to her, but even now, she was just as far away as before.

"Relena." Her name came as a hoarse, painful whisper. Prussian blue eyes swept over her body. Eyes filled with sadness, he noted with pain and bitterness her pregnant state, her belly big with child, rising and falling as she breathed. She was curled into a tight fetal position as she slept, and there was tenseness about her, marked by the frown on her forehead and the tightly clenched fists.

He reached out his hand to touch one smooth cheek, but pulled his hand away as if he were touching a red-hot poker. He had no right to touch her. She wasn't his. Not now. Not anymore.

He heard footsteps approaching, each step growing louder and louder. He knew immediately who it was. He stiffened slightly when the footsteps finally stopped behind him.

"I wonder why I'm not surprised to see you here," a familiar calm voice said. He turned, and found himself facing a tall man, whose brown hair slightly covered one side of his face. Emerald green eyes clashed with Prussian blue ones as they stared at each other.

"Hello, Trowa," he said coolly.

Trowa didn't alter his expression. His calm green eyes continued to regard him gravely. "Hello, Heero. I see you've finally returned."

~T.B.C.~

Free talk, part 2: That was fast. Anyway, Heero's here! Do I hear cheers of joy from 1xR fans? Hmm…I wonder what's going to happen next. Ladididaaaaaaa~a!

The Peacecraft brothers: They're both working for Preventers. Brandon is Duo's partner in Preventers (Duo works part-time with the Preventers). Christopher is more of a diplomat/tactician type. Brandon's a bit more carefree, thanks to Duo. ^^

Next chapter: Will Heero and Relena meet up again? Meanwhile, Freya's still missing and there's no word from her kidnappers.

[RyanEX2000]

Your opening statement gives me a 'twitch' as to how this might end...but I gues I'm a glutton for punishment if a story's good.So I'll just keep my fingers crossed.


hmmm.So Heero didn't take Freya.So who did then?

So why did Heero leave and not come back.Though it does sound like he did...only to find her married,or pregnant,or both.

So this will be a 1xR,eh.Somehow I'll have ta see how she does that.Hope it's not made simple by clownie dying(though that is a pleasant thought ^__^)

Okay,onto part 3.[/quote]

[Faye Faye]

AHHHHHHHHHHHH Heero!!!! But Relena's Married....how's THAT going to work? OH my head hurts from thinking of the possiblities....All I know is that it BETTER work!!!!

They need to Find Freya....seriously...I'm worried just reading about it.

[Morrighan]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But it isn't fair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How's this going to end up 1xR?!?!?!?!?!?! *continues to bawl her eyes out* Melrose...!!!!!!!!!!!

More!!!

[melrose_stormhaven]

Well, I don't know how it will end up 1xR, but this fic is 1xR...
oh, yess...they're going to have an interesting conversation, Trowa and Heero

[lilac310]

mmmmm..that was interesting......so ,Heero's not the kidnapper?...lolz

[Raspberry]

Yeah, I thought that Heero was the kiddnaper, too..God, How would it end? Is Freya ok? How Relena would react to see Heero??? Kami-sama, I need to read next part!