Disclaimer: I own nothing Gundam and am making nothing but a headache (figurative)and a bad day at work (literally) with this. Any resemblance to real people and places are strictly incidental. Any resemblance to any other fic or movie (with the obvious exception of the Gundam universe) is also strictly incidental as I've read too many stories for any part of this fic to be a rip off and at best it's a stew of ideas. This fic is done strictly for my own enjoyment to see if I could do one that was acceptable (preferably enjoyable for everyone else too) to other hardworking authors/readers/reviewers. That said I will add that while constructive criticism is nice, flames are considered childish and immature and will be given the respect, attention, and time they deserve...which is zilch, zero. And if I can sleep through two alarm clocks and still be late to work in the morning do you think a little measly flaming is gonna get my attention???:) So save your breath (figuratively) as I couldn't possibly care less what flamers think of it. In the mean time....on with the tortu.....errr...show!!!

CATCHING THE PAST

CHAPTER 1

'Whew' Quatre sighed as he left the boardroom. It hadn't been easy wringing the extra safety concessions for the Ringen Corp contract but he'd done it and come away with both parties feeling as if they'd gained! Not an easy feat with the Vice President being a crusty old-timer who clearly had doubts about Quatre's abilities and youth.

"Well done Master Quatre!!" spoke a voice enthusiastically to his side as his temporary secretary, advisor and friend Jase Hollander matched his pace.

"I don't think they knew what hit 'em!" Jase chuckled. Then he turned serious for a moment.

"Your Father would have been proud of you I think." He added with conviction.

"Thanks." Quatre said simply.

Later, he sighed as he sank into his comfortable desk chair; glad for a moments respite from work. Really, he was pleased with the results of the meeting. A moment later the mood was interrupted with the chiming of the vidphone. Sighing, he stretched out an arm to the phone.

"Trowa!! It's good to hear from you, it's been a while!! How are you?" Quatre grinned in delight. As they talked, Quatre started sorting through the mess of papers and mail on his desk that had accumulated in his absence. That's when he discovered the small package on his desk with nothing but his name and address on it.

Hilde was perturbed. It had all started when that strange blond man had come around. He'd asked to see Duo and they had disappeared for a good hour and then some. Ever since Duo had been acting, well, shell shocked? No. Possessed? No, that wasn't it either. Hilde sighed and gave up trying to put a name to it. Wrong. That was it. Something was wrong. But when she'd asked him about it he'd denied it. And he never lied. So then what was it?

So, two days later when Hilde came home from grocery shopping and found Duo's black duffel on the floor by the door she was sure she was right.

"Duo! DUO...!" Hilde started to yell then jumped when he poked his head out of the kitchen wincing at his proximity to her yell.

"Sheesh, Hilde try again, I can still hear from this ear..." Duo complained making a face and tapping the ear farthest from her.

"What's wrong?! What's going on? Are you gonn...mmpphh mmmpphh mmmppphh!" Hilde tried mumbling through the hand Duo had on her mouth.

"Whoa, WHOA Hilde take a deep breath and let it out slowly..." Duo said grinning.

"Mmmmph MMMPPH!"

"Oh, right..." Duo sheepishly removed his hand.

"Duo..." Hilde started than stopped as Duo held up his hand.

"Don't get hysterical Hilde. Howard just called and told me he found that piece I was wanting and I'm taking a simple business trip to Earth to go get it. I'll be gone a week, tops!" Duo told her reassuringly.

Hilde was quiet for one short moment.

"Oh."she gave him an icy glare. "I was NOT hysterical!!!"

"No, no, of course not. Not hysterical." He agreed hastily as Hilde proceeded to practically drop her bag of groceries on his feet. He just caught it.

"Oi! Oi! Watch the toes Hilde, the toes. I walk on 'em remember?!?" Duo went on rambling as he started to sort out the sack of groceries.

Hilde giggled to herself and relaxed. Maybe she had overreacted...but that didn't mean she was hysterical, nope! No way!

"...so it'll be really good for business if I can just get it running and with this part that Howard found it'll be cinch! Good as new! Better than new actually when I get done with it! Well, I better get going, don't wanna be late." Duo straightened up, dusted his hands off, grabbed an apple he'd left out, gave Hilde a fast kiss and blew out the door grabbing his duffel smoothly and waving Hilde goodbye with the half eaten apple.

That was the last she saw of him for quite a while.

Three days after he left she tried to call him to tell him about a good deal she had set up that she wanted him to finish while he was on Earth. He had already been to see Howard but no one seemed to know where he was or how to get hold of him. By the next day, still being unable to get hold of him, she was convinced she had been right all along. Something wasn't right. That's when she called her good friend Relena.

Quatre turned the package over again, then again. Still nothing. He'd had it for a whole day now and knew no more about it now than he had when he'd originally found it. He frowned, picking up the keycard that had been in it. It looked like a key for a locker or something. It clearly had his name on it but where had it come from and what was it for? There was nothing to explain it, just the empty packaging that could have come from anywhere. Trowa had been mildly interested in it but had no more idea about what it was for and where it came from then Quatre. And he hadn't been able to get hold of Wufei, Heero or Duo. Wufei was out on a mission, no one knew when to expect him back. Heero, well, who knew where he went? As for Duo, no one had answered the phone, he'd try again later.

Heero stepped through Relena's office door to find her staring into space with her head propped on her chin.

"Relena, you'll be late." was all he said, eyeing her sharply. She brought her gaze down to him.

"Hilde called." Relena said focusing on him more intensely than usual.

"..."

"She's worried about Duo. He's gone missing."

Heero looked at her.

"She wondered if I could help her find him. Shall I go on?" Relena asked sweetly.

"You'll be late." Heero repeated. Relena sighed. Sometimes she didn't understand him at all!!! But this was an important conference and she did have to get going. She had to prepare for the evening and review all the points she wanted to make tonight. She rose and started around the desk towards the door. At the door she paused, smiled a 100 watt smile, and looked directly at him.

"I told her you'd be right on it." her smile powered up another notch. Then she moved on resolutely pushing the problem to the background till she had time to properly focus on it. She didn't always understand Heero and his methods but she knew in her heart that he cared about each of his fellow pilots in his own way. Though it was often next to impossible to tell with him. She wasn't a bit surprised then when, after the conference, he wasted no time in getting the fine details from her. He'd been on his computer ever since.

In a dimly lit room somewhere, in front of a computer, sat a figure. Wiping his hand across his sweating brow, all senses alert, he finished his cryptic message and proceeded to send it on it's way to being rerouted several times before reaching it's intended destination. That done, he pursed his lips, tilted his chair back on it's legs and put his arms behind his back while he thought. Reaching a decision, the chair thunked to the floor and he reached for the keyboard. He'd have to do it fast; his 'friend' was due back any moment and he couldn't afford to get caught.

Quatre glared at the card. It sat there silently mocking him with it's non-informative glaze. It was a full day later and he had gotten precisely nowhere with it. He had finally managed to get a hold of Wufei. Wufei had been tired and looked as if he needed a full week of sleep. Quatre had apologized and suggested he call back later. Wufei had waved him on tiredly and when Quatre had given him the facts; had suggested he call Heero as he couldn't add anything to the information Quatre had outside of confirming that it was a locker key. But where was the locker? With a sigh Quatre had signed off.

After trying Duo's home again and getting no answer (which was beginning to worry him) he decided to try to contact Heero again. Although Heero had started to slowly adapt to the peace that fell after the wars, he had a habit of taking off for unknown places for unknown periods of time. He always managed to show up again in the right place at the right time however; and he always seemed to end up back at Relena's home. He took his self appointed job as her bodyguard very seriously. It was beginning to be considered unofficially his by general consensus. Quatre reached for the phone. It chimed. Startled, he jerked his hand back and then hit the receiver with more force than necessary, irritated with himself for being so jumpy.

"Hello?" A hiss was all he heard and then a oddly distorted voice said something that made his adrenaline kick in.

"Tell Schbeiker beware blitzkriegs and needles." more static and then nothing. What was a blitzkrieg? And what did needles have to do with anything?

Heero was slightly disgruntled. Strike that. He was plain out aggravated. He'd had reason before to acknowledge Duo's skill at being stealthy (subconsciously bringing to mind all the times Duo had appeared out of thin air during the war) but who'd have thought he'd be so hard to track down? I mean really! With that braid of his, he'd be hard put to blend in right? That's....if he even bothers to try.

Heero had even gone so far as to talk to Hilde and Howard both in spite of the time differences. Howard had not been happy at being woke up in the middle of the night. But then Heero wasn't happy either.

Apparently, to all intents and purposes, Duo had dropped off the face of the earth after his little visit with Howard. Howard had been unable to add anything either, only that Duo had seemed, if anything, more exuberant than usual. Heero shook that mental picture as fast as possible. :)

Hilde was insisting it had something to do with their blond visitor but going through the shuttle lists had led to a dead end. She had investigated it personally and had come up with a name, Douglas McArthur. The man didn't seem to exist. The only reference he could find on him was an old North American General who was famous for saying "I shall return" in a war that didn't seem to have anything to do with anything in particular. The vidphone chimed. It was Quatre.

"Heero?" Quatre peered worriedly out at him, his face drawn.

"This is about Duo isn't it?" Heero said flatly.

"Errr...yes and no. Heero, have you talked to either of them in the last week?" Quatre asked urgently.

"Yes, Hilde called. Duo's missing." Heero said succinctly.

"Hilde's in danger, you need to get Relena to invite Hilde over and the sooner the better. It needs to look casual." Quatre said urgently. Heero narrowed his eyes for a moment but nodded his head in acquiescence.

"Hold for a moment. I'll be right back" Heero got up and left. Coming back after several minutes he nodded again as he seated himself.

"Done. Only, Relena wants you to come too. She's extending an invitation to the both of you. She wants you to pick Hilde up tomorrow if possible. So tell me, what happened?" He demanded. Quatre filled him in.

"I could send the message to you if you like but I've done everything possible to it. It's simply untraceable. I'm not even totally sure it's him. I mean, 'Schbeiker'? Since when would Duo call her by her last name? I can't even get a voice match on it! Heero, just what is going on here?!? " Quatre asked in frustration and weariness crossed his features briefly.

"You know as much as I do. Hilde found a trace of a man that she thinks is involved but so far I haven't gotten anywhere with it. I'll keep working on it. As for the message, send it to Wufei. Maybe he can do something with the Preventers database. And Quatre....?" Heero paused.

"Yes?" Quatre looked at him. Heero thought his head would start drooping any moment now.

"Get some sleep. You won't do anyone any good if you can't function from lack of rest." Heero looked coolly at Quatre who found the energy to grin. Evidence that the Perfect Soldier was still there. Quatre's grin slowly faded.

"You're worried aren't you?" Quatre asked suddenly.

"He's a Gundam pilot; he can take care of himself. Now Hilde..." Heero said pointedly.

"Hai, HAI! I'll rearrange my schedule, pick up Hilde and head for Earth. Does she know I'm coming?" Heero nodded so Quatre signed off with a wave. Left to himself, Quatre grinned again. There were definitely some wide open cracks in the Perfect Soldier's armor. In spite of what he said, he was concerned. Quatre could tell. With a sigh he went about forwarding the message on to Wufei then pushed himself up. That bed sure sounded good about now!

Elsewhere, a sun was setting and a long work day ground to a halt..

Sally walked in on Wufei to find him staring at the ceiling.

"Got our new assignment for us Wufei. Lady Une thought you'd enjoy this mission, it's right down your alley. Wufei? Hello... Earth to Wufei...." Sally waved a hand in front of his eyes.

"Tell Lady Une that I'm not taking any long distance missions starting today." Wufei told her without twitching so much as a muscle.

Sheesh! I wish I knew how he does that stone imitation! Sally chuckled to herself.

"Isn't this kind of sudden? I thought we were going to check out that bomb threat the Selvian president received and then there's this assignment Lady Une has, it's a sweetie and I had to do some fast talking to get it." Sally was watching him closely.

"Relena called. Duo's in trouble. She's arranged for Quatre to bring Hilde along on a 'social' visit to the Vice Foreign Minister Darlien's place." Wufei swivelled to look up at Sally.

"That serious, huh?" Sally propped herself on the corner of his desk. Wufei nodded.

"And Heero?" Sally probed.

"Looking for Duo. So far hasn't had any luck." Wufei mused to himself... knew he was good but to evade Heero so completely.....that is...if it's voluntary.

"So he's missing, huh?" Sally thought out loud. Hilde must be taking this hard. The war is over. We're supposed to have peace now, that's why Wufei and I work so hard; so people can live in peace.

"That's correct. No one has heard from him for several days, Quatre being the last we think." Wufei turned his computer off and picking up his jacket shrugged into it, turning to leave.

"We think?" Sally asked turning to follow him.

"It kinda sounded like Duo to Quatre but it's hard to tell from one short sentence." Wufei shrugged as he headed out the door. Sally followed him out the office door and down the hall.

"Did I mention it was impossible to trace? It had been rerouted so many times Quatre couldn't get an ID of any sort on it He sent it to me to see what I could get from it. I'm not doing any better than he did." he threw this over his shoulder then run his hand through his hair tiredly. It was time to go home and get some rest. Huh, somehow I'm not surprised it's Duo. He enjoyed himself too much, it must be karma. Some Cosmic balance trying to right itself or something.

He'll be alright though, he's a Gundam pilot. It's probably nothing..... so why am I sticking close to home then? I don't think I'll answer that one right now. I really need the sleep right about now.