Hey everybody! I know it's been weeks and weeks and I am SO SORRY! I have a halfway decent excuse this time (I was REALLY REALLY sick and had to go to the hospital and all that not-so-fun stuff). But, I'm feeling better now and back to tormenting my favorite pilots **evil laughter**. Anyways, this is NOT the last chapter. It's going to take a few more for me to end this properly, so I am no longer making forecasts as to when this series is going to be over, because I just make a liar out of myself (I know that makes little or no sense). Ok, well, on with the chapter.

Formalities: Nothing's changed, still don't own Gundam Wing **SOB**

The chilly air of the underground tunnels assaulted Relena's bare arms despite the smothering crowds running along side her. She pulled her arms in, closing them protectively around her stomach in an equal effort to warm them and also defend her swollen midsection against the other bodies smashing into her as they all sought protection in Lowen's ancient catacombs. The White Fang's mobile suits had descended upon the funeral of the beloved old General Hydek, and were presently destroying the castle grounds. 'Heero, please be all right...' Relena prayed silently. She hadn't caught sight of her husband before Duo had found her and shoved her into one of the tunnel entrances along with Hilde, Quatre's wife Luna, and all their children, not to mention hundreds of terrified Lowenites.

"It's the safest place for you to be!" Duo bellowed as Hilde protested, even though he had long since overpowered her, pushing her towards the stone entrance.

"But what about you?" Hilde cried, looking painfully grief-stricken as Relena searched through the havoc for any sign of Heero.

"Listen to me!" Duo demanded, placing his hands on her shoulders. "These tunnels are like fall-out shelters, and I need you to protect the boys." He looked down at the ground for a moment, but then met her eyes. "Hilde, you know what I have to do."

"I know," she answered quietly, hastily planting a kiss on his cheek before she turned into the darkness.

"I'll tell Heero where you are," Duo yelled, squeezing Relena's hand before she disappeared into the tunnel as well. The last thing she heard was an explosion resounding in the courtyard. Through tears, she fought the urge to look back.

Squinting through the darkness, Relena could see Hilde running directly ahead of her, holding tightly to her twin boys in order to keep them from being swept away by the frantic throngs of people around them.

"Relena!" Hilde beckoned, making an attempt to glance over her shoulder. "Can you make it? Are you ok?"

Relena's reply came in gasps, as she was nearly out of breath. "Yes," she yelled, hoping that Hilde could hear her. "But go on, get the boys someplace safe," she huffed, "I'll be right behind you." Her friend turned around and nodded in acknowledgement, but in a few minutes time, Relena fell behind and could no longer see them. It was evident that she couldn't run anymore, so she slowed to a walk and fought her way through the frightened masses to rest against one of the damp, slippery stone walls. Nearly doubled over and breathless, Relena abruptly stood up straight, alarmed, only to be hunched over in pain once again just seconds later as a sharp pang stabbed at her abdomen. "No, no - please not now," she pleaded as the discomfort radiated to her back and legs. All the doctor's visits and childbirth books couldn't have prepared her for what was happening now. Quite suddenly it seemed as if she had never been so alone in all her life. The last wave of fleeing citizens were a good distance ahead of
her now, and so she was left in the solitude and blackness of the Lowen underground. When the pain in her back subsided, Relena once again straightened herself and trudged on, her senses searching for a hint of light or sound to guide her. She found none. She walked on, blindly groping her way along the slimy, cold tunnel walls. The minutes dragged on like years, until the monotony was broken by another shooting pain. Relena cried out, her own scream echoing through the cavern. The baby was coming - she had to find help.

"Relena!" Heero watched the panicked crowds scattering around the courtyard as the intruding mobile suits cast long shadows over the grass and trees. They seemed to block out the very sun. Heero stood frozen as the chaos ensued around him. "RELENAAAA!" No sign of her. "Relena!" He had to find her - he would not let her be taken away from him - not again. And the baby... she was so close... He darted around Grecian pillars of the crypt, heading towards the place he had last seen her when an explosion rang through the grounds.

"Get down, buddy!" A familiar voice screamed from behind him not moments before he felt a body collide with his own, knocking the wind out of him as he hit the ground. A breeze of sorts ruffled his hair as he realized that a huge chunk of metal had just flown directly overhead - and would have killed him had he been standing up. Heero quickly caught his breath and sat up to face the person who had just saved his life. Duo.

"Close one, eh?" Duo asked, rubbing the back of his head. Small shards of metal from the explosion had grazed the backs of his hands and his forehead and droplets of blood formed at the site of the wounds, but Duo didn't seem to notice them. Heero swiped at his own forehead, a streak of bright crimson appearing on his white jacket sleeve. Just a cut above his eye - it was nothing, really. But Heero didn't take the time to acknowledge the wound or even thank his friend.

"I have to find Relena," he said, his jaw set in determination.

"In the tunnels," Duo replied, "With Hilde and Luna. I made sure they got in there right away."

Heero nodded and picked himself up from the ground, reluctantly deciding that he would just have to accept that for now, since there were rather pressing matters here in the courtyard which required his attention. Another explosion shook the ground, and nearly made both men fall again. Heero and Duo took off running in the direction of the noise, only to see that Zechs had already gotten to the Talgeese and was involved in a heated battle with three of the enemy mobile suits. The remaining unengaged suits, there appeared to be a dozen altogether, were busy thoroughly laying waste to Lowen City. Heero watched as one of the massive Aries fired a shot, sending the cathedral tower crashing into the street. Smoke and flame engulfed the homes below, and the vista before him stirred up memories of the battle-laden days of AC 195. Duo must have been thinking the same thing, because he looked over at Heero, wordlessly telling him where they needed to be. "Right," Heero answered, and they ran for the hanger - f
or Zero and Deathscythe.

"Miss Noin and Sally have gone to the tunnels to make sure that Luna, Relena, Hilde and the children are alright," Quatre said as he met his fellow pilots in the underground hanger behind the palace. He watched his monitor as his four comrades acknowledged the news, and began the ascent to the surface to fight. "Well, Sandrock," Quatre whispered in the cockpit, "It seems you were needed again afterall."

"You call yourself a soldier!" Wufei raged, slicing the arm off of the Aries that was opposing him, making sure to send the debris flying away from the group of terrified citizens cowering below the two massive machines. "There is no honor in making war against women and children," he spat at the other pilot, who was desperately losing the fight with Nataku.

"Earth had no problem using the colonies as their slave labor," the other pilot seethed back. "Tell me, where is the honor in that?"

"You are only a slave if you see yourself as one. Quinze has blinded you. HE is the one who has made you a slave," Wufei said, landing another devastating blow to his enemy. Standing triumphantly over the broken suit, the Chinaman commanded in a low and steady voice, "Leave your suit now and I will spare your life." The opposing suit ceased to move, and Wufei could see the pilot lowering himself from the cockpit and running for cover. "Weak..." he smirked.

"How are you doing, Trowa?" Quatre's voice rang clearly over the com system.

"I've destroyed two suits - the pilots are alive and I'm holding them right now. Send the guard in on foot to take care of them." Trowa looked down to the two men he had cornered against a wall with the massive arsenal of Heavy Arms trained on them. They were wide-eyed and trembling.

Duo's scythe cut through the torso of the Aries across from him. "It's been a while," the pilot said aloud to himself, "but you and I never forget, do we old buddy?" he smiled, patting the control panel affectionately.

"Duo, have all the suits been destroyed on your end?" Heero's image appeared on monitor before him.

"Mmmm, just about..." Duo said, landing a final blow to the condemned enemy. The decimated suit's pilot came running out, hitting the ground as the machine exploded.
"Make that an affirmative," Duo smiled into the screen.

"Which entrance did the girls use?" Heero asked, bringing Zero to halt next to his friend.

"The south one, by the crypt," Duo answered. "We need to get in there, hopefully the enemy hasn't infiltrated those tunnels."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Heero spoke up. "There's access points to them all over the city."

"Then let's go," Quatre said, joining the group with Trowa and Wufei.

"Quatre and I will take the west entrance across the field," Trowa offered as Heero and Duo ran off towards the south.

"I'll go east," Wufei shouted back.

The northern entrance was the one located in the palace basement, and it had been sealed up after Relena's abduction. The safety of his wife and unborn child was foremost in his mind as Heero found himself immersed in the darkness of the Lowen tunnels.

"Just a little farther," Relena told herself. Her progress had slowed considerably since the pains had become increasingly frequent as time wore on, but finally she heard the hushed voices of others echoing through the tunnels and she knew she had to be close. Edging herself along the tunnel walls, she stopped as she heard footsteps approaching, and voices drawing nearer. From a distance, she could make out what they were saying.

"...battle on the grounds above as a distraction while we seize their palace right out from under them." Laughter echoed after that statement and Relena held her breath as she recognized the mocking voice of the man whom had kidnapped all those months ago. She flattened herself against the wall as much as she possibly could. It was dark down here. Very dark. Maybe they would just pass by and not see her. She could hear them getting closer and closer as another contraction enveloped her midsection and she bit her lip to stifle the scream. It was no good. Against her will, a cry forced its way from her throat.

"What was that?" She heard one of them ask, and the rest grumble accordingly. Before she could even straighten herself up, a bright light was shining in her eyes and she could feel two sets of hands forcefully grabbing at her.

"So, Lady Relena - we meet again?" A wry grin crossed Marius Kahn's face. What a gift he would have for Quinze.

"Where IS everybody?" Duo asked for about the tenth time since he and Heero had plunged into the dankness of the underground. Heero made no reply, but just kept walking, eyes straining through the darkness for some clue as to where his wife might be. It wasn't long before they came to a fork in the tunnel. "You go left, I'll go right?" Duo shrugged. Again Heero said nothing, but headed for the left.

Duo walked slowly, trying not to slide on the wet tunnel floors. Annoyed that his progress was so impeded, he broke into a run and after about ten minutes, he nearly crash-landed into a crowd of people gathered in a large open space and the end of the tunnel. Torches lined the walls, casting and eerie glow on the faces around him. Duo was momentarily startled, but once he got his bearings, he felt three pairs of arms wrap around him. "Duo!" Hilde exclaimed, happy to see her husband, but Duo recognized the worried look on her face. He looked down for a moment, seeing that his boys were safe (and glued to his legs), he pressed his wife for what was wrong.

"Hilde, what is it?"

"Please! Please tell me that you've seen Relena!"

"No! She's not with you?"

"She was... I mean, we were running, and she was behind us - and when I looked back again she was gone! I haven't seen her since. Oh, God, where is she? Sally and Noin have gone out looking, but they aren't back yet!"

"Calm down, we'll find her," Duo said assuredly, steadying his frantic wife. "Maybe Heero's found her already."

He could hear them. And they had her - damn them! How could he have let this happen again? "She stopped again," one of them said dryly, sounding very annoyed.

"We'll never get there at this rate," Kahn spat through his teeth. "Give her to me."

"Don't touch me," Relena yelled defiantly, clutching her belly as another contraction nearly brought her to her knees.

"You want to have that baby here in the tunnel?" Marius taunted, roughly grabbing one of her arms. Heero had heard about all he could take.

"Get away from her," he said in his classically stoic voice, stepping into the middle of the tunnel passageway.

"Heero?" Relena gasped.

"Your Highness," Marius said smoothly, giving a mock bow. "So, you've finally decided to grace us with your presence. Oh, what - do we have something that belongs to you?"

"You do," Heero replied, clenching and unclenching his fists at his side.

"Well then, " Kahn smiled, gesturing to his troop of a half dozen men. "Come and get her."

He fought them off as best he could, but six to one turned out to be impossible odds. For every punch or kick he launched, Heero received two in return. He heard the unmistakable breaking of bones as one of the enemy soldiers landed a blow to his ribs. Another grabbed him and threw him into the wall. Heero could taste the blood in his mouth as he turned around, ready to defend himself. He threw himself into one of the aggressors, hearing the man's skull crack as he landed with a dull thud on the floor. Still he was surrounded, and the remaining soldiers were only angrier at the sight of their fallen comrade. Two of the men lunged at him, finally pinning him between them. Heero used them as leverage and jumped up, kicking the man who was advancing on him from the front squarely in the face. But two others remained and they began to pummel him with blows as their fellow soldiers held him fast. They dragged him over to Marius Kahn holding him between them, bloodied and barely conscious. Relena moved
towards her husband, seeking to comfort him, but Kahn held her back. Smirking at the injured man, he thought, 'Yet another gift for Quinze.'

End Chapter 8

Well, I hope that chapter was worth the wait. Again, I'm not sure how much longer this will go on, so thank you all for sticking with me here. Suggestions and comments are always welcome (and so appreciated - cursed writer's block *grumbles*). Love to all, Stella