DISCLAIMERS: DON'T AND CAN'T OWN THEM.
AN: AGAIN, REVISED, ONLY A FEW WORDS ADDED, NOTHING
MUCH, BUT HEY, IT HELPS.
A SECOND TIME FOR LOVE
by:sereace
PART III

Duo was fidgeting. It has only been 10 minutes since his' and Relena's friendly talk...10 minutes
since.../Since she was kidnapped.../ He punched his office table for the hundredth time that second.
/Shit. If Milliardo hears about this.../ Fear seemed to win over the usual cheeriness of this pilot today
as he thought of what the two men in Relena's life would do to him if they found out about what happened.
/Not barely "if" you idiot!! It's "when"! They will find out...and when they do...you're life span will be
cut short by the great Lightning Count and the one and only Perfect Soldier./ Just the thought of breaking
the news to Quatre, Trowa and Wufei makes Duo look like a four-year-old who got scolded for getting
cookies from grandpa's cookie bar. Breaking the ice to her brother and lover makes him wish that he be given
a choice. Either to go to hell, face every single person he killed, then go back to earth, or face his
two soon-to-be-executioners. /Not just soon, god of death, very-soon-executioners./ He paced all around
the room, waiting for the arrival of the three pilots.

Unbidden, his mind went back to the most recent event, the cause of his current unrest. ~~"Really, Duo. I
can't help it. I mean, that's my life purpose, remember? You said it so yourself. "Relena, I wish you
really won't take this in any other way, but...no wonder you and that Yuy fit together so much. You can
always manage to squeeze in work with pleasure. Literally. He was waiting for her to respond with
another of her melodious laughs, when he heard someone open the door and never close it. Then he heard a
voice of a baritone. It all sounded too familiar, he craned his brain for the answer, while listening to
what was going on on the other side of the line, a thousand miles from him. The last he heard were the
words of a lunatic, a psychopath he grew to hate just by listening to his voice.

"You will be with me, love. With me." The emphasis on of the "me" was very evident. And she spoke his name. The lunatic was none
other than Relena's deranged ex-boyfriend, Philippe Von Lucan.~~ After that, he screamed his lungs out,
calling out her name, as if she could hear him, as if his voice could still shake her into consciousness, for
he was sure he had sedated her. /A Peacecraft would never let anyone conquer them.../ The face of Lucrezia
Noin pooped out of nowhere in his brain. He had to chuckle half-heartedly at that. /Well...almost no
one.../ His door suddenly burst open, and Wufei was first to step in.

"What is it that you want to talk so urgently about, Maxwell?!??!! Lady Une had to cancel a lot of appointments, and she was blaming it on Sally
and me. Do you have any idea how topsy-turvy the world could be if that onna would go into one of those fits
that has even the great Treize Kushrenda looking for an immediate sanctuary??!!"

Duo's fears suddenly hit him again hard-on. Wufei slumped on a chair, and Quatre followed, with an amused Trowa on his heels.
/Something's wrong with Duo..he's not usually so quiet in greeting... and the face...the eyes.../ The frowning clown took the seat
next to the coffee table with a lamp, and continued to study the usually mischievous face of the pilot of Deathscythe.
Duo's feet were rooted to the ground, unable to move. He was thinking a million things in a span of a second, and he didn't like it.
/I don't do the thinking, dammit!! It's usually Quatre, or Heero.../ At the thought of his comrade, the lover of the woman kidnapped, his
already weak knees turned to jelly.

"Oi! Maxwell!! Hilde's here asking you where the ornate china vase is." Duo frantically searched the room. /Shit!! She
found out!!!/ The color, or whatever's left of it, on Duo face, drained down the sink.

"Just kidding." He turned and saw Quatre's smiling face. He waved it off.

/At least, that's a minus executioner./ "So what is it, Duo?" The usually quiet pilot spoke up softly from
his chair. He dragged himself to go to sit opposite Trowa.

"I..."

Quatre and the others had to lean closer... Duo was too much into how to deliver this right to notice.
/That didn't come out right. What happened to my voice anyway?/ He cleared his throat and tried again. "I..."
/Nope. Certainly not the way to break this ice./ "Let's see... It's like this..." Head down, he began to recall
the events from the time he went to pick up the phone and dialed Relena's
number.