When the morning came, the lovers were still asleep holding each other close. One arm draped over Heero's chest, Duo slept peacefully as the early morning sun danced across his face and over his closed eyelids.

Heero's hands were still around Duo's body, holding the lithe form gently and keeping the boy warm.

The morning was perfectly quiet, as if even the birds had decided to stop their singing, giving the lovers their much- needed rest. The silence was absolute, the only sound present in the old house were the deep breaths of the boys. But only moments later, stirring and a muffled yawn coming from the makeshift bed carelessly broke the silence.

Duo's eyes opened slowly, narrowing as the sun blinded him. He blinked a couple of times, trying to adjust himself to the to the brightness of the room. When he did, he let his eyes travel across the room, fixing them on the strong arms wrapped around his waist and remembering the last night's events. His body tensed, but only for a moment before relaxing and enjoying the feel of the other boy's skin pressed against his own.

He closed his eyes again, searching both his heart and mind for regret and finding none. He even caught himself smiling as his mind supplied him with vivid images of the previous night.

He didn't regret anything, but still this confused him to no end. His life used to consist of rules, the ones he'd liked to break, but still there were rules. And then came this Japanese boy out of the blue, turning his life upside down. For the first time Duo was taken completely by surprise, and that made him feel unsure, scared even.

He turned his head, looking at the sleep cloaked face mere inches away from his own. A slight smile was gracing the Japanese boy's face. It was so pure, so sincere that, although he knew the sleeping boy couldn't see him, Duo couldn't help but smile back.

Quatre parked his car in front of the huge mansion. This was the second morning he had to spend face to face with angry, scared and more than anything worried Hellen Maxwell, and he really wasn't looking forward to it. Earlier that day she'd called Wufei asking him about her son and screaming into the receiver after getting no answers. She had threatened him with everything and anything she could bring to mind, most of which she could not fulfill.

That phone call was the reason Quatre was there. As soon as he'd hung up, Wufei had called Quatre, ordering him to go to Hellen and explain her that they are doing their best and attempt to calm her down. Quatre had done as he was told, but why it had to be him, however, was beyond him.

The young police officer glanced at his reflection in the rear- view mirror, running his fingers through the blond bangs and pushing them out of his eyes. He sighed and exited the car, heading for the large wooden door.

Hellen sat at the kitchen table staring at her food. She poked it with her fork, pushing it around the plate, not feeling hungry in the least. Her stomach was churning with worry and she had a feeling she'd throw up anything she tried to eat.

"Mrs Maxwell! You haven't touched your food! Is there something wrong with it?" the old woman inquired as she walked into the kitchen carrying a tray with a teapot and a mug on it. She placed the tray on the table, filling the porcelain mug with the hot liquid.

The blonde nodded her thanks, taking the cup with both hands and bringing it to her lips. She took a small sip of tea, wincing as the hot liquid slid down her throat, before replying.

"No, Sara. It looks delicious. I'm just not very hungry."

"But you haven't eaten anything in the last two days, ma'am. You might get sick."

"I'll be fine. Thank you for your concern."

Sara nodded and was just about to go and do the dusting when she heard the doorbell. /Who could it be?/ she wondered silently, throwing a glance at Hellen. The woman seemed just as surprised as she was, so she hurried to open the door.

He pressed the doorbell again, glancing at his watch impatiently. Great. They wake him up this early and for what? They weren't even at home. The only thing Quatre truly hated was being deprived of his sleeping time. Sometimes he had to stay up all night working on the cases and he had no problem with that, but waking him up early in the morning was the worst thing one could do to him.

His Casio digital watch read 6:45 and he frowned even deeper. It was so rare to see a frown on the blond man's innocent looking face. He was always kind and smiling, but this morning he was everything but.

He was angry and frustrated for not being able to find the Maxwell boy, and not because he was afraid of losing his job, but because of what might have happened to Duo and what maniac might have taken him. He was also worried about Heero. The Japanese boy acted so strange when they talked yesterday, as if he was hiding something, but still Quatre refused to believe that he had anything to do with Duo's disappearance.

And above it all, he was tired. This was the first time he had gotten some sleep in days, and he hadn't even slept for an hour when Wufei had called. He needed sleep so badly he could almost feel the softness of his pillow pressing against his cheek, the warm blanket covering him...

Just as he was about to go home, the door flung open revealing the old maid.

"Oh, it's you sir! Good morning."

"Good morning," the policeman replied, slightly disappointed he couldn't return home.

"Is Mrs. Maxwell at home?"

"Yes, I am."

The door opened wider, showing the blonde. Her long hair was in complete disarray, and she tried arranging it with her hands, giving up after a while and pulling it back in a loose ponytail.

She looked at the blond man coldly, not even bothering to put on a polite smile, and he found himself fidgeting under the force of her glare. He cleared his throat and looked at the angry woman apologetically, finding this one of the most uncomfortable situations in his life.

"Good morning, ma'am. I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but--"

"Did you find him?" she cut him off, eyes lighting up with hope.

"Um, no. I'm sorry. I'm here because of the phone call--"

"Oh! To tell me to calm down and be patient?! Well, excuse me, but I can't! While you're sitting in your comfortable offices doing nothing, God knows what's happening to my little boy!" she screamed at him, eyes blazing with anger.

"With all do respect ma'am, we are doing our best. I'm here to inform you of the progress of this case, as minimal as it may be. So, if you'd like to listen, I'd be glad to tell you what the police has found out."

"Yes, please. I need to know. Would you come in?"

Quatre nodded, following Hellen inside.

Hellen walked quickly through the endless maze of halls and rooms, Quatre right in tow. Without uttering a word, they reached the large room in which they had their conversation yesterday. They took a seat and Quatre began.

"Like I told you, the reason I'm here is your phone call. You've accused us of not doing anything, but as it's my unit that's on the job, I wanted to let you know how wrong you were. We're spending sleepless nights trying to find your son, and what do we get? You calling us lazy and incapable! Excuse me ma'am, but I won't stand for that," he concluded calmly, anger clear in his tone, and for the first time it crossed Hellen's mind that she might be wrong. She opened her mouth to reply, and then closed it again, the young man's words rendering her completely speechless.

"I... You're probably right. I'm sorry, but please understand how I feel. All I want is to get my son back, but for three days police hadn't found out anything..."

"It's not like we're not trying. We've interviewed the children, and we know that Duo had decided to walk home, heading for the park. No one saw him after that, and as all the children went home with their drivers, the park was deserted. We're doing our best, and I guarantee you we will find him, just keep in mind that it's not an easy task."

"Wait a minute... In the park? No one told me that. At least now I know where he'd been kidnapped. Hopefully, soon you'll be able to tell me by who."

"I hope so."

"This is just going too slow. I understand now that you can't work faster, but it's simply not good enough. Perhaps I should find a private detective," the blond woman thought aloud. Quatre's eyes widened slightly, lips quirking in a slight smile.

"I think I know just the right person."

After untangling himself from Heero's limbs wrapped tightly around his body, the longhaired boy sat on the edge of the bed, stretching his legs. He felt a dull pain in his lower body as he did so, reminding him of the previous night's activities. That and the fact that he was sticky all over. He really needed to take a shower.

He rose from the bed gingerly, wincing at every step he made towards the bathroom. His feet sank in the old carpet as he walked out of the room, making his steps quieter than a whisper.

Quickly Duo found himself in a larger room, with stairs and doors that led to other rooms. This was the first time he was moving around the house freely, and he wanted to explore it all. But the need to clean himself was stronger than his curiosity, and he headed for the bathroom.

He stopped after only a few steps, realizing he had no idea where the bathroom was.

He moved his eyes from one door to another, inspecting them. The first one he recognized as the front door. Next to it on the floor, was a bag of some sort, and Duo couldn't resist his curiosity. So, in less than a second, he found himself walking across the room and peeking into the bag.

It contained all sorts of domestic items, and Duo immediately realized that was what Heero had gone to town to obtain. In it were some old rugs, cans of food and can openers, bottles of water, some towels, soap and even a bottle of shampoo. Duo smiled, somehow sensing it was meant for him.

He picked up the small bottle of vanilla flavored shampoo, along with the soap and a towel, rising from where he kneeled on the floor.

The second door was partially open, and he strode to it, pushing it open completely.

It showed the small kitchen, which welcomed him with slightly cooler air coming from the broken window. The longhaired boy shivered, wrapping his arms tightly around his naked form, in an effort to warm himself up.

He retreated to the room swiftly, feeling the warmth return to his body as he did so.

Now there was only one more door left, and Duo had no doubt as to where it led, so he headed for it, opening it.

The bathroom was small, smelly and dirty, but he really had no choice, so while taking one last deep breath of fresh air, he pressed the light switch, ready to enter. But nothing happened.

He blinked, pressing the button once more. Still nothing. He growled. Well, of course. How could he have expected to find something working in this old place?

He glanced at the bathroom again, a frown marrying his beautiful face, and sighed. It wasn't too dark, the small window in the upper corner of the room allowing some sunrays inside, but shadows still clung to every item in the cramped room.

Duo stepped over the doorstep, the foul smell greeting his nostrils, and making him sneeze. The tiles were cold under his bare feet as he walked over the colorful designs engraved into the ceramic, turning around only to close the door behind himself.

He noticed that a part of the bathroom around the toilet was flooded with stagnant water, the obvious reason of the sickening odor.

Duo moved to the shower stall, not surprised to see it had no curtains, leaving the towel on the tub as he passed by it, and placing the soap and the shampoo onto the floor, next to the stall.

He walked into the stall, letting the cold water run over his skin. He shivered as it slid down his back and soaked his hair. It was numbingly cold, but it felt strangely relaxing at the same time, and he just stood there letting it flow down his face and body.

After a few seconds of simply standing under the flow of cold water, he started to rub himself clean, realizing that he would catch a cold if he stayed there much longer.

Moments later he emerged from the stall, water dripping from him, and reached for the towel, drying himself off. He toweled his hair, getting as much water out as he could before wrapping the towel loosely around his waist and exiting the bathroom.

The sudden change of light surprised him, making him blink a couple of times while his eyes adjusted to it. He walked back to the room only to find Heero awake, looking at him.

The intense gaze followed his every move, not leaving him for a second, and he turned, reflecting it.

Duo was slightly taken aback by what he saw in the cobalt eyes. They reflected uncertainty, worry even, and he couldn't see a reason for it.

"What's wrong?" the longhaired boy asked, moving to sit on the bed next to Heero's feet. The cobalt orbs never left his as the boy answered with a question of his own.

"Any regrets?"

"No," he smiled, moving his hand over the Japanese boy's leg.

"I quite enjoyed it actually," Duo added, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks.

Heero smiled, kissing one slightly reddened cheek.

"I'm going to take a shower," he said, disappearing into the bathroom moments later.

Hellen watched Quatre leave the estate after endless hours of talking and convincing her to take his advice.

She was skeptic at first about why would the police admit some private investigator could do better than them, wondering if the man Quatre had offered was even worse and slower than the police.

But after talking to the blond man and hearing about all the accomplishments of- what was his name? Oh yes, Trowa Barton- she agreed. And now, Quatre was on his way to bring Trowa to meet her.

Hellen wondered how the two men knew each other. Did they work together before, were they friends or maybe even something more? She hadn't missed the way Quatre's eyes had sparkled and how he had sounded almost proud while he spoke of the other man. But, deciding it was none of her business, she opted not to ask anything.

"Hi honey!" he said after closing the door and taking off his jacket.

He moved across the parquet, a slight creaking of the wood following his each step, and wrapped his arms around the tall figure he'd addressed moments earlier.

"Hello to you too," the other man replied, a smile wide across his face.

"How come you're home so early? Not that I mind, there are lots of things we could do..." he trailed off, the predatory look in his eyes making the rest of the sentence very clear.

"Trowa!" Quatre blushed, trying halfheartedly to pull away from the man's embrace.

"I'm only home because I need your help on one of the cases. Will you do it?"

"Anything for you, little one."

Quatre blushed bright red, mock glaring at his lover.

"I thought I told you not to call me that!"

"Ah, but I like it. And I know you do too, don't you?"

"Yes... Yes, I do."

After sharing a quick kiss, Quatre pulled Trowa to the table, seating him on one of the chairs and telling him everything he knew about the Maxwell case.

Trowa listened intently, pausing Quatre every now and then to ask for more details if he found something suspicious or worth investigating.

"So, that's it. That's all I know. Will you help? I know these are your three weeks off, and I'm very sorry for asking you to work during that time, but you should have seen that woman... The desperation I felt in her voice... I really want to find her son, and I know you're much better in the detective work than I am, so..."

"Quatre, it's ok. I would be glad to help. I will do my best to catch this person, whoever it is."

"Thank you," the golden haired man smiled, kissing his lover again before leaving the house. Together they will find him and then he would pay for making that family suffer. Yes, he will personally make sure of that.

End of Part 8