Disclaimer: If I owned either show, Rei and Heero would be together and Yuuichiro/Chad would be a stain on the bottom of Wing Zero's foot.

Author's Notes: It's been a while, huh? I am just starting to wind down from an absolutely crazy summer and I have my fall semester starting next week. On a high note, my fringe play did extremely well (we got 5 stars and an extra two holdover shows) and I got paid money!!! I'll be extremely busy with classes however so there may be long intervals between chapters. So sorry but it has to be this way. Thanks to all my reviewers, especially Priscilla, lady pyro, sky princess and Tahjako Hino, who have by far been the best reviewers ever. Not that everyone else isn't, and believe me, if you review me, I try to return the favour. Anyways, on with the story.

Brothers and Sisters

Chapter Eight

The Truth Can Hurt But Needles Hurt Worse

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Rei closed her eyes against the heat emanating from the fireplace in her bedroom. She had been seated here for hours after the party, yet she was still unable to rest. Her encounter with Heero on the balcony had left her feeling as though someone had taken her entire world, shaken it up, and replaced it upside down. She couldn't deny her own reactions towards Heero, but she couldn't understand them yet. Yes, she had been attracted to other men before, but never on such an intense level. She had turned to the fire for answers but it only created more questions, responding to her queries by simply showing an image of Heero in its flickering depths. Finally giving up, Rei returned to her bed and allowed herself to fall asleep, images of Prussian blue eyes haunting her dreams.

Minako lay awake in bed, pondering what Hotaru had told them all. So, Quatre possessed some sort of psionic abilities, this would make it difficult to keep their secret safe. Rolling over onto her side while considering all the possible consequences of this, she finally came up with a solution that seemed reasonable. Our only choice is to keep Quatre under near-constant surveillance. Rei or Hotaru would be the best for this job, but they've just been reunited with their brother. Since I am the leader of the Inner Senshi, it's my duty to ensure their safety so I'll take this duty on myself. After all, it's the least I can do.

Smiling with satisfaction at her logic, Minako rolled over once more and promptly fell asleep.

Hotaru sat on the window seat in her bedroom, looking out at the moonless sky. Maybe it's some kind of omen? she thought to herself as she absently rubbed the sore spot on the back of her neck.

Maybe we just weren't meant to find happiness. She pulled her pendant out from her nightgown and traced a finger over the lines of the dragon, stopping at it's amethyst eyes, so like another pair of eyes that belonged to one who was slowly worming their way into her thoughts. Then again…

Ami was pacing, a habit that she rarely let herself indulge in but today was an exception. She couldn't believe the nerve of that…that…baka otoko! Call her an onna indeed. Then he had to go and attack Hota-chan like that. When Hotaru had reverted back to being an infant, all the girls had helped to look after her and she became like a younger sister to them all. Seeing Wufei grab Hotaru had brought back bad memories that she didn't want to recall. And then, after finding out that they were his sisters, he goes and demands a DNA test. Throwing herself onto her bed, she silently fumed, refusing to think about how sweet he had looked when he had been embracing his long-lost sisters. Jerk…bakayaro…stubborn, pig-headed son of a… and with those thoughts still stewing, Ami drifted off to sleep.

Makoto violently attacked the punching bag before her, working out her frustrations the best way she knew how. After they had gotten home from the party, the other girls had gone straight to bed but Makoto had gone down to their workout room, too wound up too sleep. As she hit the bag, she pictured first Wufei's face, then Kaorinite's. Slowly, another face began to appear in her mind and she felt herself beginning to calm down. Finally, she let herself stop, finding that she couldn't hold onto her anger with a certain pair of emerald eyes invading her thoughts.

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The next morning…

* Bing-Bong *

"I've got it!" Hotaru yelled, racing to the door and just beating Minako there. A small scuffle ensued, ending with Ami opening the door while Makoto pulled the two girls apart.

Wufei stopped with his hand mid-way to the bell when the door swung open, revealing a tomato red Ami and Makoto holding the two sheepish looking fighters. "Oh, hi?" Ami said, "Come on in. Just ignore them, just a minor disagreement."

"Let's get over with the pleasantries," Wufei cut in, "We're here for the DNA test and I want Yuy here to conduct it."

Rei walked into the room in time to catch the end of the conversation. "Excuse me?" she asked, "That wasn't one of our conditions. The deal was that we decide who conducts the test."

"We have to consider the possibility that you could be working against us and that anyone you choose would alter the tests," Quatre interjected, before Wufei could reply.

"We could say the same of you," Minako shot back, all her mirth from her scuffle with Hotaru gone.

"What do you have to hide?" Trowa commented from where he stood at the back of the group.

All the girl's eyes swung towards him and he was startled by the intensity of their stares. Rei's violet eyes narrowed, then seemed to shift and Trowa felt as though she was looking past him and into his soul. After what felt like an eternity, she looked away and said, "Fine. Heero can conduct the tests but Ami will assist. That way we all can be sure that nobody tampered with them. Also, only Heero and Ami are allowed in with the Wufei, Hotaru and myself. The rest of you can wait up here."

"Agreed," Wufei responded curtly, "Where are we doing this?"

"Basement," Hotaru replied, "We have a lab down there."

At the guys' suspicious glances she added, "Ami and I are both studying pre-med."

"Let's get this over with," Rei cut in impatiently, "This way."

Heero, Hotaru, Ami and Wufei followed her down the stairs into the basement and past the workout room into the lab. Heero was impressed by the setup. Everything here was state of the art. Dr. J would kill to get his hands on some of this stuff. Rei walked over to him and took the case from his hands. "Is this your equipment for the tests?" she asked.

Heero nodded his head in reply, not trusting his own voice when the warmth from her hand brushed against his as she took the case. Shaking his head slightly to clear thoughts of her from it, he began to unpack the equipment. He never noticed Rei make a slight signal to Ami, who began promptly scanning all the devices with her mini-computer. Looking up from the readout, she gave the all clear, signaling that they hadn't been tampered with.

"I'm going to need your hand," he said, holding out his own.

Rei placed her hand in his and allowed him to draw a small amount of blood from her fingertip. In her rush to get her hand away from the tingly sensations Heero's hand was causing to run up and down her spine, the needle shifted. "Kuso!" she said, pulling her finger away and sticking it in her mouth.

Heero watched her do this intently, until Hotaru poked him impatiently for her turn. Tearing his eyes away, he grabbed a fresh needle and repeated the process with her and Wufei without incident. Once the samples had been taken, Heero and Ami divided each sample between the two of them and set to testing. "This may take a short while," Ami told them, not looking up from her work, "Why don't you go and wait with the others?"

"All right," Hotaru said, jumping up from the stool she was sitting on, "Let's go!"

"I'd rather stay here if that's all right," Rei replied, "But you two can go on if you like."

"I'm staying if she's staying," Wufei added in stubbornly.

"Suit yourself," Hotaru called over her shoulder as she went out the door, "I'll be back in ten to see if you're ready."

Rei and Wufei waited silently while Heero and Ami worked away. Hotaru returned after ten minutes and decided to stick around and wait for the results with her older siblings. Finally, they were ready.

"Well, I checked and double-checked but the results came out the same each time," Heero began, holding up a printout for all to see, "If you look here, you see the DNA pattern for the three of you is nearly identical. There is no question that you are siblings. But if you look here, Rei and Hotaru's patterns alter radically, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that these kinds of patterns are impossible in a human being."

"If they are most definitely my sisters, then they have to be human, don't they?" Wufei demanded.

"Why don't we ask them?" came Heero's reply.

"Ummm…well you see…"

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Ooohh…a cliffie! I would have written more but my sister is demanding I hurry up with the computer. Have no fear though…it's the long weekend so I should have time to get in another (and hopefully longer) chapter. Please remember, I get lazy and slightly depressed if I don't get at least 10 reviews? Happy Long Weekend!

Li Ying Fa