Author's Note: The story is set shortly after the ending of Gundam SEED, so it takes place while Athrun, Cagalli, Kira and Lacus are still settling into their new lives after the war.

Disclaimer: Gundam Seed and all its characters belong to their respective owners.

Berry Blush Shampoo

It was a fairly cool summers day on the streets of Orb. A lazy breeze nudged the branches of the trees planted along the sidewalk as four friends strolled by, just enjoying life. Athrun smiled warmly at his three cheerful companions. Cagalli was assaulting Kira for the last bite of caramel ice cream left on his cone – she had finished hers long since – and Lacus was giggling softly at the scene while Kira struggled to defend his ice cream. It certainly was amazing, Athrun thought. Kira and Cagalli had only recently discovered that they were twins, but already they were behaving like regular siblings. Of course, Cagalli was convinced that she was the eldest of the pair. Athrun was not so sure that the bold girl was wrong about that. Athrun's wandering eyes met those of Lacus, PLANT's Pink Princess, as some on the Archangel had dubbed her.

Abruptly, he wondered how long the four of them would be able to stay in this carefree little world of theirs before reality kicked in. Cagalli would be appointed the new leader of Orb in a couple of days. Things were definitely going to change after that. He forced his lips to curve into a slight smile and did his best to force down a small quake of panic shaking his heart. He did not want things to change. He supposed that he was afraid of what fate might hand him next. He groped for the feeling of pure happiness he had been experiencing only a few seconds ago, but it was too far beyond his reach already.

Lacus sent him a reassuring smile. She seemed so confident. But Athrun did not think he was the only one who had doubts about the future. They all had to be feeling it to some degree. None of them spoke of it – voicing those feelings would make them too real. They were clinging to here and now, uncertain of what the future might bring.

"Earth to Athrun!" Cagalli sang out, and he realized that she was waving a hand in front of his face. He turned his eyes to hers and she grunted. "What planet are you on, Mars?"

"I was just thinking," he replied sincerely.

"You're sure thinking hard if you don't even notice that your ice cream's melting…" she pointed out, indicating the sticky mess of minty goo that was slithering down the side of the cone and onto Athrun's fingers. He stared wordlessly at the gunk that had once been a perfectly good ice cream. No sense in letting it go to waste, though.

"Want some?" he asked playfully. He was rewarded with a coy blush from the tough girl who hated acting her gender.

"You're changing the subject!" she spluttered, her hands balled into fists.

"Am I?" Another preciously bashful expression garlanded her features.

"Something's bothering you and I wanna know what!" Cagalli asserted finally. She was furious with him, and he could not imagine what he had done to provoke her. But that was just one of the things you had to love about Cagalli. He put on a disarming little smile for her. To his pleasant surprise, he found that it was evolving into a genuine grin. It was a talent of hers, turning his blues into cheerful greens and yellows.

"It's fine," he replied, digging in his pockets for a handkerchief and wiping the stickiness from his hand, "I feel much better now." Because of her. As long as I'm with you, I'll be fine… he added silently.

And, he realized at that moment, he was no longer worried about the future. No matter what fate dealt him, he was sure he would make it with Cagalli by his side. He wondered if she felt the same way as she watched him with radiant eyes. Could it be that she could sense his emotions so strongly? He decided to test it, just out of curiosity. I love you… he thought at her.

And she blushed!

"My, oh, my," Lacus chirped at his shoulder, her lake blue eyes twinkling mysteriously, "do I hear wedding bells?"

"W-Wedding bells!?" Athrun yelped before he could stop himself.

Lacus could read his thoughts even better than Cagalli could? That was preposterous! He had not even been thinking about— A deep scarlet hue settled into his cheeks as his ears picked up the sound of church bells ringing in the distance, bellowing out above the general noise of the city. Athrun thought he would die of embarrassment.

"Why, Miss Cagalli, you're blushing!" Lacus twittered excitedly.

It was true. Cagalli's blush was even deeper than his own, her expression stuck somewhere between astonishment and heated mortification. He smiled in spite of himself. The two of them definitely had a connection.

"Hey, Athrun, look!" Kira exclaimed suddenly, thankfully rescuing Athrun from the awkward situation. He was pointing eagerly at a large poster. "It's Battloid Raiders!"

It took Athrun a while to recognize the logo of a video game he and Kira knew from their childhood days on the moon. They used to spend hours playing it. Those days seemed to belong to a different era, the memories of another person. It was funny how the key combo's still leaped to mind when he thought about it a little.

"Number four…" he gasped as he noticed how many sequels they had missed. It had not been that long ago that the two boys had dreamed about whether there would ever be a sequel released. Had it? Kira's eyes held the same sense of loss and longing Athrun felt in his heart.

"Kira?" Lacus cheeped, cocking her head in concern.

"Leave it to you two idiots to get all choked up over a video game!" Cagalli groaned.

Athrun opened his mouth to protest that it really had been a great game when he realized how dumb that would sound. Instantly, he found the whole situation so incredibly funny that he burst out laughing instead. Kira's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but it felt so good, Athrun could not stop himself. He could not remember the last time he had been able to laugh like this. Cagalli stood aghast, her mouth hanging open. The comical expression on her face made Athrun laugh even harder, until even Kira was clutching his sides with glee. Lacus stared at both Kira and Athrun in wonder, and Cagalli pouted fiercely all the while. Maybe she thought he was laughing at her.

"I wonder if they still have the original in store," Kira piped up when their laughter had settled down. He had Athrun by the wrist and was all but dragging him towards the shop.

"It's a video game store, Kira, not an antique shop!" Athrun quipped.

"But it's a classic!" Kira argued. "They have to have it!"

"It was a classic back when we played it. Now it's an antique."

"You sound like an old man, Athrun!"

"H-Hey, just what do you mean by that!?"

"Wait a minute…" Lacus said suddenly. Her face was a shade paler than usual and her crystal eyes held a touch of worry. Seeing worry on Lacus's face was indeed cause for concern. Athrun discarded all thoughts of the ancient video game, and Kira rushed to the pink-haired beauty's side instantly.

"Lacus, what's wrong?" Kira's voice was tender as he put his hands on her shoulders as gently as if handling a glass doll. "What is it?"

Though Athrun had always had a rather clumsy mental image of Kira Yamato, his crybaby childhood friend had changed into a grown man ever since being involved with Lacus Clyne. The transformation was stunning, like a caterpillar evolving into a butterfly. Of course, the same way a butterfly never loses some of its caterpillar traits, Kira still had a very child-like manner about him, but the new Kira's differences were almost tangible.

"Has anyone seen where Pink-chan went?" she asked. "It was right beside me a moment ago…"

Athrun found it hard not to look disappointed. A missing Hallo was hardly something worth getting upset over. Unless, of course, you were a pink-headed songstress by the name of Lacus.

"Hey, you're right," Cagalli remarked quite seriously as she scanned the pavement for signs of the stray micro unit. "I thought it was kinda quiet before…"

"Maybe it's playing a trick on us," Athrun suggested wearily. Though he had not programmed them that way, Hallo's always seemed to aquire strange, yet distinctly unique personalites after coming in contact with Lacus. The pink one had developed a disturbing knack for mischief. That line of thought made Athrun frown. It was bizarre to think of machines that way. It was not like they were really alive.

"Perhaps," Lacus conceded softly. "Pink-chan likes to go for walks."

"We'll search the area!" Kira proposed gravely.

"Right!" Cagalli agreed.

The more Athrun thought about it, he realized, the more it bothered him. The pink one had been the first of many Hallo's he had given Lacus during their engagement. The thought of machines upholding things like loyalty was as outrageous as buildings coming to life and turning into hostile GUNDAMs – a stupid nightmare that frequented his dreams lately – but Pink-chan seemed to have that quality branded into its circuits. It was never far from its pink proprietor. No matter how fervently Athrun hoped that the thing had merely run out of battery power somewhere along the way, a nagging fear remained at the back of his mind. And it told him that something was wrong here.

---

Lacus was distraught over her missing Hallo. After all, they had retraced their steps again and again – with no luck – before finally deciding to return to the orphanage. Kira understood her feelings completely, he thought as he as he tapped his finger absently on the smooth little head of the mechanical bird perched on his shoulder. If Torii were to just disappear like that, he would have been inconsolable.

"What's taking so long?" Cagalli asked for the third time since Athrun had shooed them from the room he was staying in at the orphanage. Her fingers were drumming rapidly on any surface they could find, and any moment now she would start messing with her hair.

She clearly did not understand it, but Kira had known from the moment those tools had come out of the hidden compartment in Athrun's room that they would be seeing very little of his childhood friend that evening. Athrun Zala would need some genius-alone-time tonight – that determined look on his face had said it all. Lacus let out a lonely sigh that had nothing to do with the absense of her precious, pink toy. Kira had had to ask Lacus to send the children to bed early so Athrun could concentrate. Not that Athrun had complained. But Kira knew that it was difficult enough to build stuff in absolute silence. He did not want to know what it would be like with the constant buzz of children in the background. As a result, the girls were bored beyond belief. Kira had never pictured his sister to be a motherly figure like Lacus, and she was not, but his twin did seem to enjoy entertaining the kids with her antics.

"Milk and cookies, everyone!" the cheerful voice of Kira's mom sang out from the doorway that led out of the kitchen. "Who'd like some?"

Cagalli perked up a bit at that, but Lacus only nodded slightly, nothing more than a polite bending of her neck. Kira felt his stomach rumble and suddenly remembered that he had had only half an ice cream for lunch before the pink Hallo's disappearance.

"Thanks, Mom!" Kira enthused, but found it hard to take his eyes off Lacus's sad face.

"Still no luck finding the little critter, hmm?" Kira's mom asked as she set the tray down on the coffee table occupying the centre of the living room. The sweet smell of daintily flavoured lavender cookies drifted from beneath the lace cloth covering the platter.

"None yet, Mrs Yamato," Lacus replied dejectedly. She murmured her thanks at accepting a tall glass of milk, but did not raise it to her lips.

Cagalli gulped down hers along with two cookies before Lacus had even leaned forward to reach for one. Kira stole another glance at his twin. It was obvious which one was the lady between Cagalli and Lacus. Athrun often commented that Kira and Cagalli's table manners were evidence enough of their relation if nothing else was. Sometimes that Athrun said the most infuriating things, Kira thought indignantly. He did not gobble stuff up like that… did he? He shrugged the thought aside and reached for another cookie.

"Maybe I should go call Athrun too," his mom was saying with a thoughtful expression on her face. "He's been in there for quite some time, hasn't he?"

"I don't think he wants to be disturbed," Kira interjected quickly. He knew his friend well enough to predict that the snack would only sit forgotten on the table until the work was finished. Athrun was the kind of guy who always finished whatever he started as far ahead of schedule as possible. And with Lacus's happiness hanging in the balance, Kira doubted that Athrun would stop to consider his own needs. "No, he definitely wouldn't want to be disturbed right now."

"Oh, but he's been at it for hours…!"

"Your concern is only natural, Mrs Yamato," Lacus stepped in smoothly. "But it is necessary for Athrun's state of heart at the moment. He feels that he needs to be of help at a time like this."

Kira's mom just blinked at the pink-haired girl's cryptic words, but thankfully resettled herself onto the couch instead of questioning. Lacus just had that kind of effect on people that made you want to sit down and listen to every word that came from her angel lips. Even if you only understood half of them.

"That boy is always working so hard…" Caridad Yamato observed finally, a worried frown beginning to crease her forehead.

Since their early childhood days, Kira had noticed that his mother enjoyed fussing over his best friend. And Athrun always seemed to thrive on the attention. Kira supposed he understood it now, but at the time he merely found it all a bit embarrassing.

Just then, that forbidden door down the hall burst open. Kira was on his feet before he even realized what he was doing, and the girls were right behind him. They all gasped as a very pale Athrun emerged from the darkened room. For a moment, Kira regretted not saving a cookie for his best friend. He was white as a sheet, and – Kira's guilty conscience added – had not even had half an ice cream for lunch since his had melted.

"Athrun!" Cagalli cried, extending her arms to give the dark-haired boy a vigorous shake. "What the—!?"

At least, Kira's selfishness only bothered him until his twin sister went into a wild coughing fit. As she shook Athrun firmly by his shoulders, a cloud of dust rose up out of his clothing. Only then did it become apparent that his face was ashen with dust, not weakness. Now that Kira was over the initial shock of seeing his best friend in what they had all thought was a state of deprivation, he noticed that Athrun was covered from head to toe in greyish dirt. He looked like he had just crawled out of a sandstorm!

"Oh my…" Lacus remarked with a delicate cough.

"What the hell happened to you!?" Cagalli choked out between ragged breaths.

"I…" Spots of colour lit up Athrun's cheeks. He turned to Kira's mom, who had also joined the crowd in the doorway, and hung his head in shame. "I had to take apart the vacuum cleaner… I'm really sorry, Mrs Yamato!"

"The Hallo got stuck in the hoover!?" Cagalli squawked in disbelief. Kira's mom just shook her head in disbelief.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple…" Athrun replied mysteriously. A small smile was playing on his lips. Kira could see the suspence fuelling a frown of frustration on Cagalli's face. The entire evening of waiting had chafed her patience to a very thin thread. Just as his hot-tempered sister opened her mouth, though, Lacus let out a startling squeal of delight.

"Oh, Athrun, what is this!?" she cried as she dashed past him to cuddle something sitting on the workbench beside Athrun's bed. Something that bore an incredibly suspicious resemblence to a vacuum cleaner.

"Uh… um, it's a…" Athrun stammered, completely caught off guard by Lacus's emotional interruption. He quickly recovered his cool, though. "It's a Hallo Detector. Here, I'll show you how it works."

He ushered everyone into his room like he was inviting them to a formal dinner party. Pride shone vibrantly in his emerald eyes, excitement making his vivid pupils seem larger and rounder than usual. As Kira stepped into the room, the invention – illuminated dramatically by the single light bulb that was fastened to the bedside desk – immediately took his breath away. Sure, it had the shell of a vacuum cleaner, but that was where the similarities ended. How his childhood friend had managed to put together a technologically advanced gadget like this out of regular household stuff was beyond Kira.

An enthusiastic Athrun flipped the power switch on the predictably pink robotic creature's head and its flashlight eyes came to life. He picked up a remote with a palm-sized screen attached to it. Kira had to stand on tiptoe to see over Athrun's shoulder as he demonstrated the remote's features to the enchanted Lacus. He felt a momentary stab of jealousy at the adoring look Athrun was receiving from those blue gemstone eyes. Kira gave himself a mental kick for having thought such a thing. Athrun and Lacus shared an undeniable friendship. Something special that was not the same as anything Kira felt towards the pink-haired girl, but neither was it like the young love that was budding between Athrun and Cagalli. It was a precious relationship Kira was not about to intrude on.

At a surprised gasp from Athrun, Kira noticed that the indicators on the tiny screen were going ballistic. The Hallo Detector sprouted boosters and propelled itself across the room.

"Wow…" a starry-eyed Lacus crooned.

"Wait, no, this isn't supposed to happen!" Athrun panicked, pressing buttons all over the cramped little control in his hand. Nothing he did seemed to be having any effect, though. "We have to stop it! Quick, the off switch…!"

"Can't you just shut it down from the remote!?" Kira suggested, ducking just before the Hallo Detector could ram straight into his nose. The range of peculiar expressions warring on Athrun's face made it clear that he could not.

"I didn't think of that…" he admitted slowly, his expression finally settling on something Kira could only describe as distressed frustration.

"You mean you even painted it pink but you forgot to put an off switch on the remote!?" Cagalli exclaimed incredulously, grunting as the out-of-control Hallo Detector narrowly missed her head.

"It's not as obvious as it sounds…" Athrun defended bitterly. His confidence was melting away faster than that mint ice cream of his had. Immediately, Kira felt sorry for his best friend.

"Come here, come to me," Lacus clucked invitingly, even spreading her arms out towards the buzzing contraption. "My – Name – Is – Lacus: L – a – c – u – s… Come to Lacus, dear!"

"I don't think that will work…" Athrun moaned, burying his face in his hands. "The reason it's out of control is because it's trying to locate all of your Hallo's at once…" He looked thoroughly ashamed as he added: "I forgot about that as well…"

Strangely, though, the hovering menace seemed to be fascinated by Lacus's performance. Kira felt the urge to lunge between Lacus and the unpredictable robotic bug. He did not think she would be able to get out of the way fast enough, should the thing suddenly change its mind. Athrun's eyes were getting rounder and rounder with pure disbelief as the Hallo Detector drifted into Lacus's hands like a tame, pink puppy. With speedy reflexes like that of a swooping bird, Lacus quickly tapped the off switch with a dainty finger. Her calm and controlled image drooped only a little bit as she let out a short sigh of relief.

"Aaargh, I just don't understand it!" Athrun groaned miserably from behind his hands.

Kira had to agree, Lacus had a bizarre influence on machines. To Kira, it was just another one of life's great mysteries that would never be understood. But it was shattering every explanation Athrun's logical mind could come up with right now. That much was clear from the lost look in his friend's eyes. At times like these, trying to work things out with logic just did not help. So Kira put his hand on his friend's shoulder and sent him an encouraging smile. There wasone mystery they could solve now – Pink-chan's disappearance.

---

Cagalli was seriously peeved at Athrun. She purposefully avoided looking at him as they drove through the darkening city streets. All of his attention seemed to be focused on following the Hallo Detector's signal anyway, so frowning at him would have been a waste of energy. And looking at his handsome face for too long would soften the edges of her prickly mood too soon. Not that she wanted to stay mad at him, exactly. She just wanted him to know how she felt before she didn't feel that way anymore. A nagging voice in her head told her that it was the same thing, but she violently shoved her conscience aside for now. Athrun had to suffer at least a little of her wrath, or he would never learn.

The only sound in the car aside from the purring engine was the occasional bleep from the Hallo Detector's revised remote control – it now had an off switch. Normally, Cagalli would have felt compelled to switch on the radio, but she did not feel like letting the outside world into their personal little bubble just yet. News and politics were the last things she wanted to think about right now. She risked a glance at the Coordinator boy behind the steering wheel. His midnight blue hair framed his face just so, creating a deliciously deep contrast with his moonlight pale skin. His strong eyebrows were bent into a frown of determination and his spring green eyes never left the road. No, for the moment, this reality was the best one for her. After her inauguration into Orb's government she could worry about important stuff like politics.

With a jab of irritation, she realized that she was not only ogling Athrun's incredibly attractive features, but, to her great frustration, her lips were slowly spreading into a lovestruck smile. Quickly, she tore her eyes away from him.

"Are you still mad at me?" his sweet honey-voice broke the silence between them.

"Of course I am!" she grunted curtly.

She should have exploded right then. She should have told him exactly what she had been thinking all the time she had been silent. When she had offered her help in the search for Lacus's missing Hallo, he forbade her to come along and announced that he would go on his own. The infuriating idiot! Bossing her around like he was her personal bodyguard or something! Thinking about things in hindsight, she knew that all he really wanted to do was protect her. And no matter how badly she wanted to yell at him and make him understand that she was not about to sit around like rare jewellery in a showcase while he did all the work, she could not. He had given her frustration enough time to seep away. And, after making her promise to do exactly as he said, he had given her her way in the end. He should be the angry one, really. Yet he was not even a little upset. Just… quiet.

Guiltily, she wondered if she had hurt his feelings. She could not remember everything she had said to him during the argument. The fury that had been pumping in her veins at the time had left a rather obscure memory of the conversation. She knew she had a tendency to say things without thinking them through properly. Lowering her eyes, she clasped her hands in her lap.

"You're going to be the death of me, you know that?" Athrun chuckled softly. Cagalli turned to stare at him. A gentle smile graced his tender lips, but his eyes were still fixed firmly on the road ahead.

"No way!" she declared, crossing her arms over her chest firmly. "You're the one who's gonna make me die of worry first!" She thrust an accusing index finger at him for emphasis. "If I don't stick near you to look after you, who will?You sure won't!"

"I can take care of myself just fine…" he mumbled. He had the nerve to look undignified, but the smile did not leave his eyes.

"While I'm sitting at home worrying my butt off over you?" she retorted fiercely. "That'll be the day!"

Athrun could say whatever he wanted, there was no way he would convince her that he had even half as much to worry about as she did. Sure, she got herself into a pickle every once in a while, but at least she was careful about it! Athrun attracted danger the way Lacus's garden attracted birds and butterflies. And he always managed to get himself hurt! Sometimes Cagalli thought that Athrun was too brave for his own good. She wished he would not be so hard on himself all the time. That was why she had to be by his side – to make sure he did not do brainless things like self-destructing mobile suits without coming up with an escape plan first!

"It stopped," he said suddenly.

It took Cagalli a moment to realize that he had dropped the subject and was referring to the Hallo Detector. She was almost disappointed. She would have liked to hear what he would have said to try and prove that she was the one who caused the most worry.

Her thoughts turned to the issue at hand. It was odd, almost impossible, that the pink Hallo could be so far from where they had lost it that afternoon. She wondered if Athrun's latest contraption was not malfunctioning again. She did not have the heart to voice her doubts, though. A sceptical remark about his invention certainly would hurt his feelings, especially since his earlier mistakes were still fresh wounds to his pride.

Athrun steered the vehicle down a sidestreet and parked it in the shadows. He took the remote in one hand and his handgun in the other before getting out of the car. Cagalli felt her muscles tense at the sight of the weapon. An icy chill creeped up her spine, and she caught herself wishing that she had remembered to put on a sweater or something before stubbornly locking herself in the car earlier.

"Do you… really think you're gonna need that?" she asked nervously.

"You can never be too careful," came his simple reply as he placed the gun in its holster hidden underneath his jacket.

Her image of finding the lost Hallo somewhere in an abandoned gutter dramatically transformed into a fire fight between Athrun and a band of thugs who wanted to sell the little pink toy on the black market. Pretty soon it was quite a bleak picture her wild imagination was painting. Abruptly she found his hand on her shoulder, his fingers warm and gentle on the bare skin where her sleeveless blouse failed to cover it. He must have noticed her distress, for his eyes were eternally comforting as he leaned back into the car to reach her. Cagalli felt her whole body relax at his touch. He did not seem aware of it – had he been, he would have been blushing, she knew – but to her this was one of the most romantic moments of her life.

"It's all right, Cagalli," he coaxed, "I'll protect you."

It was a shame that the moment had to end as abruptly as it had begun. Reluctantly, Cagalli unfastened her seatbelt and got out on the passenger side of the vehicle. When she reached his side, she noticed that he was eyeing her with concern.

"Something wrong?" she frowned the question at him. At this, he regained his playful smile.

"I don't know, not really," he replied, and looked like he would have scratched his head, had his dignity allowed such a gesture. "Just that… that's where you're supposed to say—"

"I can take care of myself, you just watch your own butt?" she filled in smoothly. "I thought you hate it when I say that."

"I do— I mean, um…" Athrun stammered. "Ah, well, I… guess I sort of got used to hearing it… and when you didn't say anything I thought you might still be… um… mad at me…"

"You idiot," Cagalli replied affectionately, pushing a lock of midnight hair away from his face. She smiled as she noted a faint blush starting to colour his cheeks. She pulled away just before her own blush could get started. "Let's get moving."

"Er… Yeah…"

The night air was cool, even in the absence of that afternoon's breeze. She tried to stay as close to Athrun as she could without being too obvious about it. The deep shadows from the surrounding buildings suddenly seemed like tunnels from the underworld, where any kind of thing could leap out at you. Realizing that she was only scaring herself by studying their surroundings, she decided to focus her senses on Athrun, who was leading the way. His confidence was like a beacon of light in the darkness.

---

Athrun wished that he could have had eyes in more places as he found his way in the dim light of the moon. With Cagalli tagging along, he felt a constant niggling of fear that something might happen to her. But there had been no convincing her to stay behind. She irrationally insisted that he would be putting himself in unnecessary danger if she was not around to save him. But here she was, risking her own safety and doing exactly what she did not want him doing! It was at times like these that he almost wished girls were more like GUNDAMs. At least those came out with a manual…

He shrugged the ridiculous thought aside and concentrated on the smooth remote lying flat in his palm. The signal from the Hallo Detector was blinking frantically, which meant that it was no longer moving. So it had either located the missing Hallo, or had come across an obstacle, like a wall or building. The Detector had a map of the city stored in its databanks to make it easier for them to follow its path by car, and while it would not have been impossible for Athrun to enable it to calculate the shortest path to the Hallo, he did not want the thing barging through doors or windows. That would have been breaking-and-entering, he thought judiciously.

Finally, the pink shell of the Hallo Detector became visible in the vast shadows ahead. It was hovering lazily in front of an abandoned house, the windows of which had been nailed shut with haphazardly arranged planks. The roof was in poor condition and weeds ran rampant throughout the small garden that once served to beautify the face of the building. The door seemed sturdy enough, though, and was locked, besides. He took a few steps back, and Cagalli gasped as he relentlessly kicked the door down. When he sent her a questioning look, she merely shrugged. He activated the flashlight installed on the Detector's remote and stepped inside carefully. Reaching for the pistol hidden inside his jacket, Athrun felt his heartbeat slow as his military training took over – a honed exercise that sharpened his senses. He could hear Cagalli's every movement as she followed him closely, and the darkness seemed to give way to his vision.

They creeped their way through the dirt-encrusted interior of the old house until a hunch led Athrun down a squeaky set of stairs. The old basement consisted of a long passage ending in a gloom-shrouded doorway. His skin tingled as he inched towards the gaping door ahead. As he stepped into the dark room, his hand instinctively felt for a light switch. He was surprised to find one just beside the door, and even more surprised that it was operational. But as light flooded the room, bathing its interior in an eerie ultraviolet, the oddity of working lights in an abandoned building was the last thing on Athrun's mind. As his eyes took in the expansive underground chamber, he felt sick to his stomach. He could feel the colour draining from his face.

"Wh-What is this place…!?" he breathed.

Along the wall opposite the doorway was a collage of all the newspaper clippings and magazine articles ever printed about the pink-haired idol, Lacus Clyne. Another wall boasted an extensive collection of posters, quite possibly every available poster of Lacus in the world. But worst of all were the photographs… Plastered all over the remaining walls were photographs of Lacus, taken from obscure angles, some enlarged to the point of pixilation – Lacus walking in city streets, Lacus doing her shopping, Lacus having a picnic with Kira, Cagalli and himself, Lacus on PLANT, Lacus in Orb, Lacus in the privacy of the Clyne Mansion. Athrun felt an involuntary shiver wrack his body.

"Who would do something like this…?" was all the stunned Cagalli could utter from behind.

"Someone with an obsession…" he replied gravely, once he had full control of his emotions again. He could not keep his insides from tying itself in knots, however.

"And… some sicko took all these pictures… without us knowing it…?" Cagalli's voice quavered. Athrun nodded in reply, unable to keep the disgust from showing on his face.

Stepping deeper into the chamber, Athrun forced himself to make an inclusive analysis of the situation. Alarming splotches of dark red stained one corner of the room where broken glass littered the floor. He tried not to think too hard about what might have caused the stains, so he focused on the rest of the room. It was furnished with a table that was littered with papers, a desk with a computer and printer, and a worktable with mechanical parts, a handful of tiny screws, a memory chip… He frowned. Why did these objects all look so familiar? When he crossed the room to study the items on the worksurface closely, it suddenly hit him like a blow to the stomach. Athrun felt like he was trying to swallow a brick as his wide eyes recognised the pieces of a brutally mutilated Hallo. The tiny, pink toy looked like it had not even been switched off properly before it was taken apart… He thought of how many hours he had spent putting the critter together with the greatest care. That someone could just smash all that effort apart without feeling a thing was inhuman… Suddenly, he realized that his eyes had begun to sting. He blinked forcefully to clear his vision, checked to make sure Cagalli was not looking at him and quickly scrubbed a hand across his eyes.

"Why would anyone do such a thing?" asked Cagalli. He was glad for her comforting hand on his shoulder. "And… why take the Hallo at all?"

"He probably wanted to see how close he could get to her without being noticed…" Athrun explained grimly. His hands curled themselves into fists. "He's gaining confidence. It's a sign that he'll be making a move soon."

"Then… Lacus is in danger!" Cagalli cried hoarsely. "We have to warn Kira!"

"Found my hidey-hole, I see," a male voice snapped Athrun back into alertness. He spun around and aimed his gun at the dark figure standing just outside the doorway. His features were masked by the gloom.

"Don't move!" Athrun commanded, but was cut off by a sinister chuckle rising from the shape in the shadows. He sensed Cagalli retreating a few steps. Athrun guessed that she was frightened. She did not like openly showing her fear.

"You're in no position to be giving orders," the voice laughed and the figure raised its one hand. Something was off here. He was not holding a weapon that Athrun could see, but he was too confident. Shifting his feet nervously, Athrun found his mind working in overdrive. What did this guy know that he was unaware of? "Sadly, I don't have time to entertain you right now."

Warning signals went off in Athrun's head as the man continued to move his raised hand. Anticipating what would happen next, he lunged forward at the same moment the figure in the doorway flipped a switch. But he was too late. An armour-plated door slid between Athrun and the stalker.

"No!" he cried, slamming a fist against the thick, steel door.

They were locked in.

"I'll deal with you little snoops later," the man's voice crackled through a speaker in the door. "For now, I have better things to do!"

Athrun could feel himself breaking into a cold sweat at the thought of Lacus at the mercy of some obsessed madman. He could not bear the thought of her being hurt. He was willing to die ten times over if that would keep her safe.

"Get back here, you coward!" Cagalli roared, apparently having trouble deciding whether she was scared or furious. The situation was too serious to be amused with her, but she seemed to think that he was, for she turned her scowl on Athrun. "How the hell are we gonna get out of here!?"

"I don't know," he replied as he frantically searched his pockets for anything that might be useful. A small smile of triumph played on his lips as his fingers closed around his cellphone. "But at least we can try to warn them!" He pulled out the sleek, silver phone and held it in front of her nose.

"Yes! Way to go, Athrun!" Cagalli cheered, already starting up a little victory jig.

"Uh oh, wait a minute…" Athrun groaned as the knot in his stomach drew itself tighter.

"Huh?" she grunted, pausing in mid-caper.

"There's no reception in here… The phone's dead."

"Oh, man, now what!?"

Athrun squeezed his eyes shut. Lacus was in very real danger, and there was nothing he could do to warn her. But he had to get to her, somehow. Upon opening his eyes, they fell on the broken Hallo on the workbench. Brimming with determination, Athrun nodded to himself.

To be continued...