Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 33 ( Chapter 33 )

Disclaimer: I don't own the G Boys, I just borrow them from time to time and return them a whole lot happier. I do own the plot line and any other characters that appear here that are not in the Gundam Wing Universe; please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.

 

Warnings: Angst, sap, fluff, violence, Mpreg.

 

Rating: NC 17

 

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3, 5xS, HxOC

 

Summary: Sequel to Chimaera. Life in the Maxwell -Yuy household has undergone some big changes when Duo brings Keitaro home from the hospital. Hilde's wedding is approaching and the guys find there's more to this baby business than they thought. Struggling to raise a child, work at Preventer and keep the home happy is certainly a trial for both guys. Add an assassin's threats to prominent government officials' lives and both men find their lives are suddenly changed. Just how far will one go to protect the ones he loves?

 

Dedication: to all my lovely readers out there who enjoyed Chimaera and have since begged, threatened, pleaded, bribed and blackmailed me for a sequel. ^_^

 

 

 

 

"Family Ties"

 

January. 2007 ShenLong

 

 

Chapter 33

 

“Come on, come on,” Quatre muttered under his breath as the immigration officer checked his passport. A soft caress to his lower back reminded him that Trowa was there and just as impatient to get moving.

 

The officer smiled and stamped the passport, handing it back along with Trowa's. “Welcome to Earth, Mr Winner. Enjoy your stay.”

 

“Thank you. I'll try,” Quatre replied quickly and all but snatched his passport back, leaving the immigration officer with a perplexed look on his face.

 

“Business stress,” Trowa apologized with a smile as he took his own passport and practically had to jog to catch up with his smaller husband.

 

The immigration officer scratched his head. // It takes all kinds, // he thought.

 

Customs was the next stop and again Quatre waited impatiently for the officers to check his and Trowa's luggage. Whilst they may have arrived by their own private shuttle, it still didn't excuse them from the formalities.

 

“That's all fine, Mr Barton, Mr Winner,” the customs official stated as he passed their luggage back to them.

 

“Thank you,” Trowa replied seeing as his husband was more intent on simply grabbing his bag and tearing out of the shuttle port than remembering his manners.

 

The customs man raised an eyebrow at Quatre's hasty departure.

 

“He's late for a business appointment,” Trowa offered as an explanation.

 

“Ah.”

 

Without waiting for the official to say anything else, Trowa hurried after his partner. Once he caught up with the speedy blonde, Trowa grabbed his elbow. “Quatre, slow down,” he hissed. “Customs is still watching you.”

 

“Let them watch, I've nothing to hide, they've already checked my bags. Something's wrong, Trowa, seriously wrong and I'm not going to waste any more time that I have to in getting to Heero and finding out exactly what is going on,” Quatre snapped. “Now, where the hell is the rental booth?”

 

Knowing there wasn't much he could do to calm his partner, Trowa chose to go with the flow. “Over there,” he replied and steered his husband towards the car rental booth.

 

Minutes later they were stowing their luggage in the trunk and then flying down the highway towards the mansion Heero and Duo were calling home.

 

* * *

 

The dawn light was just breaking across the sky when Heero woke up. He'd slept fitfully, waking ever hour or two with a lead weight in his heart and the constant question in his mind. Where was Duo? Knowing he wasn't going to get any further sleep, Heero got up and went through to the bathroom to perform his morning ablutions.

 

Miracle met him at the door to the kitchen, whining to go out. Heero let the dog out and put the coffee machine on. Whilst he waited for the coffee to brew, Heero checked the vid phone again and then his cell just in case he'd missed anything. There were no missed calls or messages.

 

With the coffee ready, he made himself a cup and walked outside to the patio area to watch the sun complete its journey into the sky. A noise from inside the kitchen had him turning around to see Chang yawning as he filled the kettle to make himself a tea. Once the beverage was ready, Wufei wandered outside to join Heero.

 

“No news?” asked Chang.

 

“Iie. Nothing at all,” Heero replied.

 

“I'll wake Sally in a moment and then get us all some breakfast.”

 

“Hn.”

 

“I'll contact Une shortly and see if there's any news from that end.”

 

Heero nodded and walked back inside. Sally had just shuffled her way into the kitchen, following her nose to the coffee pot.

 

“I was just coming to wake you,” Chang stated as he made himself a fresh tea.

 

“I need coffee,” Sally replied through bleary eyes. “Not awake yet.”

 

“Morning, morning,” Barney chirped from his perch.

 

“Morning, Barney,” Heero replied and let Miracle back in. He picked up the dog's bowl and put her breakfast in it, much to the dog's delight.

 

Wufei began to rummage around in the 'fridge, finding something for breakfast. He placed a carton of eggs on the side, milk and a loaf of bread. “Scrambled eggs on toast okay for everyone?”

 

“Fine,” Sally replied.

 

“I'm not hungry,” Heero stated.

 

“I'm starving,” Barney chirruped.

 

Three sets of eyes turned to look at the bird.

 

Seeing all the eyes trained on him, Barney cocked his head to one side and stared back through his beady eyes. “Shit's gonna hit the fan,” he squawked.

 

“Is he normally this talkative?” Sally questioned as she sat down at the kitchen table.

 

“He's a great mimic,” Heero replied. “He's very fast at picking things up and repeating them.”

 

“Hmmm,” Sally mumbled absently. “I wonder...”

 

“You wonder what?” Chang questioned as he began to whisk the eggs.

 

“Maybe he can give us a clue to where Duo, Keitaro and Nurse Brown could be.”

 

Wufei rolled his eyes. “Like I told Yuy, since when do you take a bird's word as the truth?”

 

“Well we sure as hell don't have jack shit else to go on,” Sally snapped.

 

Chang's mouth began to open and close like a landed fish; Heero couldn't help it, he snickered. A glare from Wufei though soon had him silent again.

 

“You asked Barney?” Sally continued, ignoring the shocked look on Wufei's face at her outburst.

 

“Hai. I can ask him again.”

 

“Please do.”

 

“Barney?” Heero turned to the Weiro who had been watching the conversation with interest. “Where's Nurse Brown?”

 

“Gone shopping,' Barney chirruped.

 

“Where's Keitaro?”

 

“Gone baby shopping,” the bird responded.

 

“Barney, where is Duo?”

 

“Going out, going out,” the bird chirped and bounced up and down on his perch.

 

“Going out where?” Sally asked.

 

“Shit's gonna hit the fan,” Barney replied.

 

“Where did Duo go?” Heero tried.

 

“Fuck off,” Barney chirped.

 

Wufei dropped the whisk, Sally snickered and Heero simply sighed.

 

“I don't think we're going to get much out of him,” Heero stated flatly.

 

“Pretty boy, give us a kiss.” Beady eyes stared at Heero.

 

“Thanks, but no thanks, Barney,” Heero replied and sat down at the table with another coffee.

 

“At least we know he's telling the truth,” Sally smiled.

 

“How do you figure that?” Wufei asked as he finished whisking the eggs and poured them into the pan to cook.

 

“We know from where Nurse Brown's car was found that she'd planned on going shopping. The mall is just across the street from the park.”

 

“And we know from the security vid that Duo left in a hurry,” Heero added as he tossed the thoughts around in his head once more. “That tells me there was something seriously wrong.”

 

“Hence the words 'shit's gonna hit the fan',” Sally finished.

 

Wufei shook his head and placed the toast and eggs onto the plates, placing one in front of Sally, one for Heero and taking the last one for himself.

 

“I'm not hungry, Chang,” Heero repeated.

 

“I know, but you need to get something into you if you are to be of any assistance in locating Duo and your son,” Wufei replied, his tone deadly serious.

 

With another sigh, Heero began the mechanical task of eating. He'd managed two mouthfuls when the vid phone rang. Heero's chair went flying as he leapt up and dashed to the small office to answer the call, hoping it would be his missing husband. Wufei and Sally were right behind him.

 

Hitting the accept button, the screen flickered and cleared. Trowa's face appeared.

 

“Hn, it's you,” Heero muttered, unable to contain his disappointment.

 

“Good to see you too, Heero,” Trowa said, not taking any offense at the greeting. “I take it there's still no word on the missing family?”

 

Heero shook his head.

 

“Barton,” Wufei greeted, looking over Heero's shoulder.

 

“Chang,” Trowa returned. “What is the current status?”

 

“Still no sign of Maxwell, the child or the nurse. We have located the nurse's car though.”

 

“Ah.” Barton turned and exchanged a few words with his partner, obviously repeating what Wufei had just told him. “Where was the car?”

 

“Car park by the mall and park in the local town. What is your ETA?”

 

“We will be at the mansion in approximately fifteen minutes - shit!”

 

Barton suddenly shot to the left of the screen and some cursing that sounded horribly like - 'Get out of the way, you fucking moron! Why the hell didn't we get a rental with fucking lights and sirens!' - could be heard in the background.

 

“Better make that ten minutes,” a pale looking Trowa corrected as he straightened up and then turned to address the driver of the vehicle. “If you don't slow down and drive properly you will be pursued by lights and sirens!”

 

Wufei quirked an eyebrow and glanced at Yuy, who rolled his eyes in response. Both men didn't really want to think about the last time they'd had a certain blonde, lights and sirens at their disposal.

 

“We will have the security off so you can come straight through,” Chang informed him.

 

“Thanks. Ahhh! Quatre! Look out for that... Oh, fuck.” There was the sound of screeching tires and a horn blaring, Trowa's face distorting slightly and moving rather violently back and forth over the screen.

 

“Barton? Are you okay?” Sally asked from over Heero's other shoulder.

 

“I think I'll need a change of jeans,” came the strangled reply.

 

“Don't you mean a change of underwear?” Sally asked, a little perplexed.

 

“Trust me, I'll need to change both.”

 

* * *

 

The screams of the maid had the staff of the ambassador's residence running for the room. The security guard was the first to arrive, the butler hot on his heels. They burst into the bedroom to be confronted with a scene from their worst nightmare. The maid was still screaming hysterically, the security guard ignored her and ran directly for the bed and the ambassador.

 

The butler took in the sight and quickly grabbed the maid, slapping her once across the cheek to bring her to her senses and then pulling her close to his chest. “Is he...?”

 

The security guard didn't need to take the ambassador's pulse, he could tell the man was dead by simply looking at him. He turned back to the butler who was doing his best to calm the sobbing maid. “Did she see anything?”

 

The butler tried to pry the maid off him a little to ask the question, but the poor girl was too much in shock to answer and simply clung on tighter. “I think she needs to calm down a little before you question her,” he answered.

 

“Take her back to the kitchen. I need to call the authorities.”

 

The butler nodded and managed to lead the frightened girl from the room and back to the kitchen. The security guard took a quick look around, careful not to touch anything and then followed the butler out of the room. He grabbed the first phone he spotted and placed his call to the local police.

 

In the kitchen the butler sat the girl down and made the young maid a hot cup of tea. He stood beside her with a soothing hand on her shoulder as she sipped at the beverage, her nerves calming a little. When she was half way through her tea the security guard came in.

 

“The local police are on their way,” he informed the pair and then sat opposite the maid. “What's her name?” the officer asked the butler.

 

“Candy,” the butler replied.

 

Keeping his voice a soft and encouraging as possible, the security guard attempted to question the girl. “Did you see anything, Candy? Anything at all?”

 

The maid shook her head.

 

“Can you tell me what happened?”

 

“I - I went to take his breakfast to him. He didn't answer the door when I knocked so I went in. He was in the bed... He looked... Oh god!” the girl dissolved into a weeping mess again at the thought of what she'd seen.

 

“It's okay, Candy. Thank you for your help,” the officer soothed. He turned his attention to the butler. “The local cops will be here shortly, they will want to speak to her and the rest of the staff. Can you get me a list of all the house staff that were on duty since yesterday morning, please? I'll get the list of security officers.”

 

“Of course,” the butler said.

 

“Thanks. I'll be back shortly.” The officer left the butler to do as requested whilst he headed off to compile his own list.

 

* * *

 

Quatre brought the car to a stop outside the front entrance to the mansion and cut the engine. He was out of the car and heading for the front door whilst Trowa was still trying to extract himself from the seat belt that had him in a stranglehold. By the time Yuy answered the door, both men were waiting patiently.

 

“Barton, Winner,” Heero greeted.

 

Quatre noted the dark circles under Heero's eyes, Trowa took in the slightly haggard appearance and both knew Heero wasn't coping at all well. Quatre placed his hand over his chest as Heero's emotions hit him when he let down his shields enough to feel.

 

“Heero, despite the circumstances, it's good to see you again,” Quatre said as both he and Trowa entered the mansion.

 

“Thank you for coming,” Heero replied. “Sally and Chang are in the kitchen,” he continued as he led the way through the mansion.

 

Trowa and Quatre followed, both feeling more disturbed with each step they took. Entering the kitchen, they greeted the others with hugs and quiet words. With the greetings done with, Quatre decided it was time to get down to business.

 

“What can you tell us so far?” he asked.

 

Heero, Wufei and Sally brought the pair up to date with all that had happened so far. Quatre and Trowa listened without interrupting, saving their questions until the trio had finished.

 

“Duo didn't leave a note? No clue at all to where he was going?” asked Quatre.

 

“No, nothing. His cell phone is still here and some of his knives are missing.” Heero looked even more despondent, the pain of reliving his nightmare from last night returning with full force.

 

“The nanny's car has been found?” Trowa questioned.

 

“Yes. It's at Preventer forensic section awaiting testing,” Wufei supplied.

 

“Has Duo's car been spotted at all?” Quatre asked.

 

“No. A full description including number plate has been given to all Preventer agents.”

 

“What about the police?”

 

“We can't file a missing persons report until the person has been missing for twenty-four hours,” Wufei stated. “If we still have no word by this afternoon, we will be filing that report.”

 

Quatre went quiet for a moment, letting the continuing conversation wash over him as he blocked out everything emotional in the room. Slowly he let his shields down and began to reach out with his empathy, tentatively sending it forth and searching for Duo. He gasped and clutched his chest.

 

“Quatre?” Trowa asked, the concern in his voice.

 

All eyes in the room suddenly fixed themselves on the blonde whose own eyes were glassy as he concentrated on something only he could feel.

 

Heero raised a questioning eyebrow to Trowa. All the ex pilots knew of Quatre's gift, but none of them had really understood it. “What is he doing? Is he trying to...?”

 

Trowa gave his husband another look over before turning his attention back to Heero. “He's reaching out, trying to locate Duo, I think. He felt him last night after we'd finished talking to you.”

 

“And?” Heero asked, a little demanding.

 

“He could feel him. It was strange though.” Trowa scratched his chin. “He said he could feel a darkness inside Duo.”

 

“Darkness?”

 

“Yes. Shinigami was there, Heero.”

 

The room went deathly silent. All of them knew of Duo's 'alter ego', it was the dark side of Duo's psyche, the part of him he had depended upon, called upon during the war to help him complete the missions and stay sane at the same time.

 

Heero knew if Shinigami was out to play, then it meant Duo was in a very bad situation.

 

Quatre calmed, gave a sigh and refocused his eyes. Taking a moment to sort through his feelings as he put his shields in place again, he turned to Heero and addressed the ex Wing pilot. “Duo is alive,” he began. “I can't tell where he is, my empathy doesn't stretch to that I'm afraid, but he's tired, angry, frustrated and hurting. Something isn't right, there's conflict going on. I can feel Shinigami in there with him, lurking.” Quatre shook his head as if trying to clear his mind. “I don't know, it doesn't make sense.”

 

Everyone in the room latched onto Quatre's words and tried to make head or tail of them. They all came up blank.

 

“Thank god he's alive,” Sally said, voicing the one thought they'd all had.

 

Wufei broke the tension. “I think we should go to HQ, we still have the forensics team to brief, Une to bring up to speed and a park to search.”

 

“Mind if we tag along?” Trowa asked.

 

“I have no objection,” Heero answered. “Chang?”

 

“I'll have to clear it with Une. Civilians are not permitted to work on Preventer cases,” he said. “It's the rules. Although in this case I'm sure they can be waived considering you're both former Gundam pilots and this technically speaking isn't yet a Preventer case.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

The forensics team were given all the information Wufei, Heero and Sally had on the nanny's car and requested to go over it with a fine toothcomb to see if they could find anything at all. Leaving the agents to do their job, Chang led the small group through the Preventer building and into the elevator, riding it to the commander's floor. They exited and walked quickly down the corridor to Une's office where Wufei knocked and waited.

 

“Enter.”

 

Commander Une looked up as three of her agents and two other familiar faces entered her office. “Chang?” she questioned.

 

Wufei explained all that had happened regarding the missing trio thus far and outlined what they wished to do, including Trowa and Quatre's involvement.

 

Une sighed and sat back, thinking through all Chang had said. She eyed everyone in the room and thought carefully before speaking. “Chang and Yuy, you are both temporarily suspended from all other duties to investigate the missing agent. Barton and Winner; as you are not Preventer agents I cannot allow you to participate in the investigation relating to the missing agent.”

 

Quatre looked like he was about to voice his displeasure, but Une cut him off before he could start on his rant.

 

With a conniving look in her eye, she spoke. “However, I cannot stop you from conducting your own search for Maxwell or the nanny and child, providing you keep Agents Fire and Day informed of any and all findings. Sally, you will need to report back to the medical section and resume your normal duties.”

 

“But commander,” Sally objected.

 

“No. Doctor Po, you are needed here. Your job is as a Preventer medical officer, not a field agent. Yuy and Chang are more than capable of investigating this case. Agents; please be aware that if another case comes in that requires your skills you will be expected to put this one on temporary hold. Until this becomes an official missing person's case, then there isn't anything more I can do about it; I'm bending the rules enough as it is. I wish you the best of luck. Keep me informed.”

 

Understanding that their commander was sticking her neck out as it was, Chang and Yuy accepted the terms.

 

“We appreciate the risk you're taking, commander,” Quatre said quietly.

 

Une nodded.

 

“We'd best get started. Thank you, commander,” Heero said. As he turned to follow the rest of the group who were making their way to the door.

 

“Yuy?”

 

Heero paused and turned back.

 

“I'm worried about them all too,” she said softly.

 

Heero gave his boss a rare smile of understanding, then with a nod, he left to catch up to the others.

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...