In The Family
Chapter 4
Something To Say No To
By APs
Beta read by gothic-pixel
Disclaimer: I don't own it…
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"Damn!" Sally smashed her fist into the communications console of the shuttle in bitter resignation.
"Still can't get through?" Fahima asked without looking up from the laptop.
"…No," Sally conceded a bit harshly. She sighed, "It looks like all signals are being jammed."
The smaller woman looked up, "That would mean someone on the inside would have to be doing the jamming."
Sally nodded grimly, still staring at the signal readings on the Moon.
"Are you sure you trust Heero?"
"With my life," her brow furrowed.
Fahima raised an eyebrow, "What about Miss Mariemara?"
Sally turned to her friend in shock, "Fahima!"
The Arabian woman shrugged, "If we've been betrayed, I'm not going to give anyone a free pass."
Sally regarded her friend coolly, "Then I suppose you're willing to admit Quatre carries a frequency jammer?"
Fahima laughed, "Don't be silly. That code I gave you an hour ago would have gotten around it."
"Trowa always had quite a knack for espionage," Sally pondered, knowing full well how close Fahima was to the Blooms.
She glared at the Chinese woman, "Of course, then we can't leave out Wufei's penchant for switching sides."
Sally actually growled, "How dare you. He was confused and-"
"Yes, yes," Fahima waved it away with a look of apology. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. It's just… I'm worried."
Sally put her palm to her temple, trying to calm down, "I know, Fahima. At least we can say that we're fairly sure it's not one of them. That leaves the skeleton staff, though Heero did thorough background checks on everyone. I suppose Zero-two is still a possibility. Jammers and stealth were his specialty."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"Oh?"
She nodded, making her messy, dark hair flutter, "It looks like the Gundam encryption was riding the Alliance hack."
"Wait, you mean that Zero-Two never hacked your computers on its own?"
Fahima looked down at the screen again, "No, it was ghosting. Probably a bot, or possibly a hardware tap, we got lucky and grabbed it with the parent signal. If they're using old equipment as well as old codes, the Gundam encryption could just be coincidental. A left over."
A dark cloud passed over Sally's face, "I'm not sure I believe in coincidence."
A chill ran up Fahima's spine, making her shudder, but she looked up with a reassuring smile, "We'll be there soon, Sally. Then we'll get to the bottom of this."
Sally sighed, "It's just not like them to miss something like this. I wonder what could possibly have distracted them this much."
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The adults were gathered in the theater. Under the pretext of setting up the traditional performance by Catherine and Trowa, they'd left the smaller children under the attentions of Mariemaia. The three older kids were still off somewhere and weren't due to check in until dinner that night. Silence settled as Duo, at the center of attention, let the last of the explanations and proposals work their way into his audience's thoughts.
"No," Heero finally declared.
"Heero," Relena started diplomatically only to be cut off by a motion telling her he hadn't finished.
Heero was glaring at his habitually unfazed friend, "He has no right to make this decision for us."
"He's presenting an option, not making any decisions, Heero," Quatre observed, smoothing his goatee.
"With a time limit," Trowa added passively from the stage.
"Right," Heero nodded, "His presence is forcing us to decide this right now as a group, instead of handling this individually." Duo sat quietly listening under Heero's sustained glare, a small grin tugging at his lips.
"I think we're missing the point here, gentlemen," Relena cut in, "Don't you all think the children have a right to know?"
It was Catherine who answered, "What good would knowing do, other than to put them in danger?"
"Ignorance is not the best defense," Wufei spoke up from where he was leaning against the door.
"But telling them about the war?" A dark cloud passed over Quatre's face.
"Knowledge is the best weapon against mindless violence. Keeping the truth about the Gundams from them could do far more harm than good," Relena had that look about her that told everyone this could quickly turn into a speech.
"Why can't we just let them be children?" Catherine towered over them from the stage.
Trowa put a hand on his sister's shoulder, "They won't be for much longer, even in peacetime, Cathy."
Quatre sighed, "And we would only be offering. The choice would ultimately be up to them."
Heero shook his head, "Tell one and they'll all know. I refuse to be forced into this." The silence that followed was tense. It was Duo who finally moved. With a grin, he stood and stretched, then started for the door. Heero was still glaring at him, "Where are you going?"
Duo paused, looking back coolly over his shoulder, "To take a nap while you guys talk this over."
"What about your say?" Quatre was genuinely taken aback.
Duo shrugged, "You've heard it. Besides, Heero was right, I've got no right to make any part of this decision."
He started toward the door again, but Heero shot out of his seat to bar the way, "What about your wife?"
Duo looked as though he'd been slapped before a disgusted snarl curled his lips, "Hilde's dead."
Duo attempted to shoulder past him, but Heero grabbed his arm and forced the man to look him in the eye, "She deserves a say."
"Well, she ain't talking," he spat coldly.
"Heero?" Quatre tried to placate and Trowa took a meaningful step toward the edge of the stage, but neither of the men were about to acknowledge the rest of the room.
"What happened at the Memorial was because we weren't careful about our information. It won't happen again." There was a promise in there, somewhere beneath the apology and menace, for those that could read the man.
Duo leaned closer to Heero, his voice barely above a growl, "Let go of my arm, Heero."
"I'll take Maxwell back to the shuttle," Wufei cut in before it could escalate further.
Heero set his jaw, but released his friend's arm. Duo let a toothy grin twist his face sharply as he turned, his eyes briefly connecting with ebony before stepping from the room. They could both feel everyone watching them as the walked away until the door swished closed, leaving them alone in the hallway. Duo stalked toward the lobby with Wufei pacing calmly beside him.
"Yuy's only trying to help," Wufei finally broke the silence.
Duo shot a glare at the man, "Is /that/ what he's trying to do?"
The Chinese man halfheartedly held up his hands, "I didn't say he was good at it."
"Well, no shit."
"You're not the only widower in the Earth Sphere, Maxwell."
Duo snorted, "What would you know about it?"
The Preventer was as serenely formal as ever, eyes closed and hands clasped behind his back, "I was married before the war."
"What?" Duo just stopped, staring wide-eyed at his chaperon.
Wufei halted after a step or two and turned back to face him, finally fixing him with a mild gaze, "I was married."
"When you were twelve?"
"Fourteen. Clan tradition."
"But…" Duo trailed off, scratching at his cheek.
"It was an arranged union. A contract between our families," Wufei explained.
Duo snorted, again, "How'd that work for you."
Wufei actually smiled, "We hated each other."
"What part of this are you trying to compare to me, exactly? Jesus, Wufei, I loved Hil-"
"Meiran taught me /everything/ about strength, courage, and honor. Even though we never consummated our marriage, I love her and still strive to be worthy of being her husband, my dear Nataku." Wufei's eyes were deep and weary and, for a second, Duo saw a different man. He saw a scholar, husband, and father, a man implacable, wise and deeply caring. It was a Wufei Chang without the war. Duo had to consciously force his mouth to close.
When he trusted his voice, he continued, "What happened?"
"She died saving our colony," he said simply. He didn't have to say 'the colony the Barton foundation had planned to drop on Earth that I later failed to save'; it was written on his face.
"I didn't know," Duo admitted quietly.
Wufei started walking again, "Of course not. It wasn't something a bachelor would understand."
Duo caught up, smiling a little at this new revelation. He had never considered love as an explanation for Wufei's harshness, but it made a certain sense, once you put it together. Vaguely, he realized Sally must know. After a minute, he remembered something from when they'd both been imprisoned on the moon. "Wait, so was that why you called your Gundams Nataku?"
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Dinner was quiet, too quiet. As a matter of fact, the adults had all been suspiciously quiet since the three birthday celebrants had returned from their exploration. Tristiana glanced at the two boys across the table for confirmation to receive a small nod and a shrug. Usually, they'd simply take this as a sign of some present conspiracy or practical joke, which was not unheard of in this crowd. However, that always involved half-concealed smiles, choked laughter, and a general atmosphere of a bubbly nature, of which there was certainly none to be found. Tension was thick and Wufei was notably absent.
The younger children were chattering as happily as ever, but Quatrine was distracted, keeping one ear on the threatening undercurrent as the boys recapped their game. Her eldest sibling caught her eye, stealing glances down the table at the somber adults. With a small sigh, she turned to her father, who was sitting beside her, "Father? Where is Uncle Wufei?"
Every adult at the table froze, with the exception of Mariemaia, who knew enough to stay quiet. Quatre blinked down at his daughter, "Double checking the security, I think."
"Oh," the girl paused, watching their reactions. Fixing her large eyes on Quatre again, she explained, "I was worried. He hasn't said hello yet, and the last time anyone missed the party was when Uncle Heero was shot."
Catherine choked on her water and Relena quickly offered help. Trowa and Heero exchanged looks while the boys joined the silent watch with Mariemaia and the older siblings. Quatre was staring at the calm little girl. They all remembered that year. Everyone had assumed Quatrine had been too young, though.
"Wufei's fine. He just had to do some things before dinner. Much like Heero, Wufei's here because of work, so it has to come first." Quatre explained to all the children before settling his gaze on Quatrine.
She smiled, "I see."
The silence that followed was a fragile thing. The former pilots carefully went back to their meals. The children exchanged confused glances. Cathy was red faced and nodded as Relena whispered in her ear.
Relena stood behind Cathy's chair, "Alex, Tristiana, Deucalion. After dinner, we have something to discuss with you."
Heero slammed his fork back onto the table, "We do not."
"We haven't finished discussing that, yet, Relena," Quatre pacified coolly.
"Catherine," Trowa warned softly.
Catherine simply smiled sadly, unable to meet his eyes, "For Hilde."
Trowa and Quatre were struck equally dumb by the idea. Heero was not, standing to directly address Relena, "No."
"What in hell is going on?" Duecalion finally snapped. The three children in question were now standing.
"Language!" Quatre reprimanded, also standing incase he needed to vault the table to come between Protector and Protectorate.
"They deserve to choose for themselves!" Relena was preaching. Catherine's boys ran to her while Mariemaia hung back.
The Winner children stayed seated, though, since Deucalion stalking toward their father was no new sight, "What is she talking about, Father?"
"Not now, Deucalion! Heero," Quatre's attention was fixed across the table.
"It's not safe," Heero growled down at the stone solid blond.
"He's not your son!"
"Heero!" Quatre's sharp bark stopped the man's fist inches in front of the woman's wide blue eyes. Her bodyguard glared at her with old intensity, straining at Trowa's hold on his arm, and breathing heavily for long minutes in utter silence. Finally, he dropped his fist to his side and walked away in disgust. Quatre watched him storm out of the room, while Mariemaia helped a shaky, unresponsive Relena take a seat.
"What was that!" Deucalion yelped. Quatre turned pointedly to his son, then paced to the other side of the room. Deucalion followed.
Tristiana sidled up to her father, eyes brimming, "Dad?"
Trowa stopped, mid stride on his way out the door, and let the worry on his face melt into a smile for her. Suddenly, all those burning questions died on her lips. She sighed, leaning against his chest, letting his arms enfold her and his steady heartbeat assure her of his reality.
Occupied as they were, no one noticed Alex slip out the door Heero had used. Once outside, he sprinted down the hallway. He turned a corner and smacked hard into the man's chest.
"Ow! Hee-" The older man's hand clamped down hard over his mouth as he pushed the boy roughly against the wall. Alex blinked through his panic after finding struggle useless and finally looked Heero in the eye. Those eyes were calm and blue, but with a sharpness the boy had rarely ever seen before. In the silence, Alex could hear heavy footsteps and the chilling sound of metal on metal from around the corner. A single finger pressed to Heero's lips in a hushing motion and Alex nodded slowly. The bodyguard carefully withdrew his hand before flattening against the corner and using a small mirror to peek around it.
The air suddenly seemed thinner and Alex's quick, shallow breaths weren't cutting it. A hand on his shoulder, comforting in its strong grip, made him look at Heero again, the man's dark eyebrows rising into his thick bangs in silent question. The boy forced his breathing to slow and nodded. Apparently satisfied, Heero turned back to the corner, but left his hand on the boy's shoulder, steadying him. Footsteps were getting closer, Heero drew back a step, shielding Alex with his body and drawing his sidearm.
The boy's eyes grew and searched the hallway. Urgently, he tugged on Heero's shirt. Sharp blue eyes glared, but the boy was already a few steps down the hall, working on a keypad for a door marked 'Employees Only'. The bodyguard slide back along the wall, eyes on the corner. The door swished open and Alex let a small laugh of victory escape as two men carrying sub machine guns turned their corner. The two blinked in surprise. Heero didn't; one was dead before the other opened fire on an empty doorway.
Shoving Alex through first, Heero destroyed the door mechanisms on both sides before running after the boy, who'd bolted into the internal maze. He was a little surprised when Alex didn't even hesitate at the end of the hall, but turned sharply left and started opening another door.
"Alex…"
The boy didn't look up, but gestured at the door across the hall, "Shoot that lock."
Heero smashed it with a quick pistol whip instead as Alex's door swished smoothly open and he plunged through. Heero followed and helped push a heavy crate of spare hotel uniforms to bar the door before looking at what the schematics in his head told him was a locker room. Once it was in place, Alex collapsed against the cold metal of the crate and Heero finally saw the wet trails flowing from the boy's wide, vacant eyes.
Heero sat next him, "Alex."
The boy laughed a little maniacally, not looking at him, "We went through all the employee areas earlier today."
"It's alright," once again, his hand and his gaze helped squash the panic the boy was struggling to control. Slowly, he started to settle.
The dark blue eyes locked on Heero in lucid realization, "The others!"
Heero nodded, "I'm going to help. Stay here."
The boy grimaced at him, too afraid to ask his question. Heero gripped the boy's shoulder more tightly, "We'll take care of this."
The explosions that erupted, rocking the foundations of the sprawling hotel and plunging them into utter darkness, did not help reassure him in the least.
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Easy does it, easy does it,
They've got something to say no to
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A/N – Thanks for reading! Review so I can know what you think.
Next Chapter - This Old Guitar And An Empty Bottle Of Booze