Chapter 76

Daniel Fitzgibbons flipped through the channels again. There was never anything on anymore. He wondered why he bothered to pay for cable. That was good money that could go towards beer or more pork rinds. He wondered if they had enough extra money this month to get more of the salty junk food. He really wanted some now.

"Delia?" he yelled, unsure of where his wife was in the small apartment.

"Yeah?" she yelled back from the direction of the bedroom.

"We got anymore pork rinds? I want some."

"Nope. You ate the last of 'em yesterday."

"We got any money for more?"

"I dunno. Check the canister."

Daniel got out of his chair with a lot of effort and made his way into the kitchen. He reached up on top of the refrigerator and felt around for the small coffee canister where they kept any extra cash that came their way. Usually it was money they found as they walked down the street. A quarter here, a nickel there, but it added up.

The canister was very light as he pulled it down. He frowned as he looked inside. There might have been fifty cents in pennies in it if they were lucky.

Delia came into the kitchen. "Well?"

"Not enough," Daniel grunted.

Delia shrugged. "I get paid next week. Then we can get more."

That didn't solve Daniel's craving now, but there was nothing to be done about it unless he wanted to try selling something or give up his beer to pay for it.

"Well make me some dinner then. I'm hungry."

Delia rolled her eyes. "Fine. Whaddaya want?"

"I dunno. Whaddawe got?"

Delia looked in the fridge. "Not much."

A knock on the door grabbed their attention.

"Who could that be?" Daniel mused as he headed for the door.

He opened it cautiously, just enough to peer out and make sure it wasn't the cops or those nosy Preventers. "What do you want?"

"D-Daddy?" the young woman standing at his door said.

"Amanda?" Daniel was surprised, to say the least. Did that mean that Chase was here, too? Maybe the guy with her was working for him. Daniel opened the door. He looked over his daughter and turned to the man with her. He recognized him, but he wasn't a hundred percent sure where he knew him from.

"And who are you?"

"My name is Quatre Winner. I heard about your plight and wanted to help. So I pulled a few strings in order to guarantee your daughter's safe return."

"And threw around a bit of money in the process, I'd wager," the man said with a knowing look. Everyone recognized the reputation of the Winners. "Yeah, I know who you are. Come in and we'll have a chat."

"Thank you, sir."

Quatre entered the apartment first, partly because he wasn't sure if Kiri would have the nerve to go in first and partly because he secretly feared that the door would be slammed in his face the instant Kiri was inside. He wasn't going to risk it. He hadn't been able to change the specifics of this particular mission and he still thought it was a bad idea to go through with it. If he'd had his way, these people wouldn't even have been allowed to know their daughter was still alive.

Glancing around the apartment, Quatre noted a few places he could easily hide bugs. It wouldn't be hard. The place was a pig sty. Now he really didn't want to leave Kiri here. She would probably need a tetanus shot when they extracted her.

Kiri was looking around the apartment with an expression that betrayed a mixture of curiosity and disgust.

She jumped as Daniel yelled, "Delia! You decent?"

"I'm always decent," a female voice called from another room.

"Get out here. We got company."

Kiri was frowning and Quatre wondered what she was thinking but knew that this wasn't the time to ask.

A woman wearing a tank top and shorts entered the room. Her hair had been very badly dyed blonde and her roots were showing. Quatre was certain that the clowns that performed with Trowa's circus didn't wear that much makeup.

The woman's eyes widened. She was very surprised to see Kiri.

"Amanda? What're you doing here?" she demanded.

Quatre could feel how upset they were that he'd brought Kiri to them. They weren't happy, they were put out. He could feel that Kiri didn't want to be here, either. He wondered if he ought to go ahead and abort the mission now. He could take the rap for it if it meant that Kiri wouldn't have to stay here.

But Kiri was putting on a brave face and tried to get the conversation going. "H-hi, mom."

Delia looked like she was about to make a snide comment when she saw Quatre and her look turned predatory. "Well, aren't you cuter than a monkey with a puppy?" she purred.

Kiri seemed just as thrown by the comment as Quatre was.

"Um…thank you," Quatre responded, hoping that she hadn't noticed his hesitation.

"Get us some beers, woman," Daniel ordered Delia before turning his attention to Kiri. "Make yourself useful and go help your mom."

The girl obediently followed his wife into the kitchen.

'At least Chase managed to get her to follow orders without whining,' Daniel thought. He turned to the wealthy blonde and put his hand out. "Let me introduce myself properly. Daniel Fitzgibbons."

"It's nice to meet you," Quatre dutifully responded, shaking the man's hand.

Duo listened from the van as Quatre and Kiri gained entry into the apartment. He almost wished he was up there, too, so he could see what was going on instead of having to rely on his ears. He knew that Trowa and Heero would stay in the building until Quatre left and told them that it was okay to leave Kiri unattended.

Duo frowned when Kiri's father ordered her to help her mother get beers. How hard was it to get two beers from the fridge? When her mother started talking, however, Duo realized just how much he didn't want Kiri to be left there.

"Just what in the hell are you doing? If you cooperated with those Preventers there will be hell to pay. Now take this out to your father."

There was a pause and Kiri's mother started talking again. "Just one more thing. If you want to make up for all your screwing up you can convince that CEO out there to sleep with you."

If Duo had been drinking anything he would have spit it out in surprise.

"E-excuse me?" Kiri responded. She sounded as stunned as Duo felt.

"You heard me. You get him to knock you up with his heir and we'll be set for life. Now get to it."

Duo was glad he was recording all of this. He was definitely going to have to listen to it again later to make sure he heard what he thought he'd just heard. Kiri's mom wanted her to have sex with Quatre and have his baby so that they would have access to his money. Quatre would have something to say about that when he found out. So would Trowa.

Duo grinned as he imagined their reactions. It wouldn't be funny right away of course but in a few months, after all this was over, it would be hilarious.

"Have a seat," Daniel said, gesturing to what Quatre hoped was a chair under the pile of trash and dirty laundry. Daniel emptied the chair with a sweep of his hand, adding to the mess on the floor.

Quatre sat gingerly, unsure of how stable the chair really was. Daniel attempted small talk which was soon interrupted by Kiri coming out with a couple of cold beers. Daniel immediately took one but narrowed his eyes as Quatre declined.

"Not a drinkin' man?" Mr. Fitzgibbons sounded suspicious.

Quatre decided he'd better appease the man or risk getting thrown out before he could make sure Kiri would be okay here.

"Alcohol and I don't get along very well," Quatre answered, making his voice as casual as possible-as if he told people this all the time. "I actually have a slight allergy to hops."

"Oh, well that's a shame."

Quatre could feel Kiri's relief that her father had bought the lie. Kiri made to take the other beer away when her father spoke.

"Leave it."

She put the beer on the table next to him and stepped back, trying to act as if nothing was wrong, but Quatre caught the fleeting worried expression that crossed her features. He didn't blame her. If Daniel got drunk, she might pay the price for it later.

"So, Mr. Winner, I know you said that you secured Amanda's release, but can I ask you why you bothered? Our lawyer would have gotten her back without your intervention."

"Well, sir, I just couldn't sit idly by. If one innocent girl is allowed to be taken hostage in order for the Preventers to coerce people into confessing to crimes they didn't commit, then what's to stop them from doing it again?"

"Well put. So let me ask you, how much of my daughter's company have you had the opportunity of enjoying?"

Quatre supposed he shouldn't have been as surprised by that comment as he was. He kept a straight face but noticed out of the corner of his eye that Kiri was trying to keep from showing how upset she was by her father's question.

"Your daughter has behaved like a perfect lady."

Daniel snorted. "Yeah, well…I'm sure you'd like something in return for your kindness."

"That isn't necessary," Quatre said quickly, hoping to change the subject. "I'm just happy that I was able to do some good."

"Nonsense. Strong, young, virile man like yourself must want something in return."

"Not at all," Quatre answered, careful to keep his expression calm. Inside, he was pissed and he wasn't entirely positive that his voice didn't betray his true feelings. How could anyone whore out their daughter like that? She had already been through so much and these people didn't even care! "As I said, I'm just happy to help."

Delia came out of the kitchen and gave Kiri a look that Quatre wasn't sure how to interpret. Apparently Kiri knew what she was getting at because she nodded before Delia's attention turned back to Quatre.

"Will you be joining us for dinner?"

"Of course he is," Daniel answered before Quatre could. "Can't let him go away without something for his troubles."

"Well come on, Amanda. Let's get somethin' respectable put together for dinner."

Delia pulled Kiri off to the kitchen, leaving Quatre alone again with Daniel.

"Now, Mr. Winner, if I was to invest some cash into the stock market, what stocks would you recommend?" Daniel asked.

Quatre wasn't sure why Daniel was trying to talk stocks but he played along, unsure of whether or not he ought to try and question Daniel about Chase. If he could get Daniel to talk then maybe they wouldn't need to leave Kiri behind. But if Quatre's questions tipped off Daniel to what they were really after, it would make it that much harder for Kiri to get what they needed.

Duo was listening to the feed from Kiri's bracelet. He wasn't too pleased at what he was hearing. The woman was treating Kiri like a servant already.

"Get to work. I know you were trained to cook. And make it good. You've got your work cut out for you. I'm sure someone like him should be easy to get into bed with you, what with all the stress he's under."

Duo could hear dishes clinking together. Kiri didn't say anything in response. Duo figured that she was trying to do as she was asked so that when she questioned her parents they'd be more likely to tell her.

Duo wondered what Kiri was making for dinner. He was starting to get hungry, too, but Heero was supposed to bring them all something in an hour or so.

Kiri's mom didn't say much else but she made a few comments about Kiri needing to sleep with Quatre, as if she thought Kiri would forget that's what was expected of her. After a while Duo heard something that sounded like a pan being pulled out of an oven.

"Hmph. I guess it'll have to do," Delia said.

Dishes clinked loudly in the bracelet and Duo surmised that Kiri was setting the table. It didn't sound like her mother was helping at all. After a few minutes the clinking stopped.

"D-dinner is ready," Kiri said.

Quatre felt bad that she was so nervous. It was their fault she was here in the first place. He wasn't sure if Kiri would have come here if they hadn't asked her to. She probably would have just gone on with her life, never letting her parents know that she was still alive. He wondered what Delia had said to her in the kitchen and made a mental note to have Duo let him listen to the tape when he got back to the van.

Quatre sat next to Kiri at the small table, ignoring the suggestive look in Daniel's eye as Kiri served up Chicken Cordon Bleu.

"This is very good," Quatre said as he ate. He meant it. He wondered where Kiri had learned to cook like this. He knew she hadn't learned it from Cathy.

"Thank you," Delia answered.

"That's not all that's good to come out of that kitchen," Daniel said. "You're welcome to try anything in there, especially the sugar. Amanda can show you where it is."

Quatre watched Kiri out of the corner of his eye. She didn't look like she appreciated the not exactly subtle hint. Quatre continued to eat and realized that Daniel's comments soured the taste, which was a shame. He was certain that Kiri had put a lot of effort into making something delicious. He assumed that Delia hadn't helped at all based on how she couldn't even pour water into her own glass without spilling it. If she was sober, Quatre was a monkey's uncle.

The awkward dinner finally came to a close and Kiri cleared the table. Delia followed her into the kitchen but Quatre was pretty positive that she wasn't helping Kiri clean up. His offer to help had been diverted by Daniel wanting to talk about stocks and bonds some more.

Quatre couldn't stand the small talk or hints anymore. He made his excuses to leave even though he could feel that Kiri didn't want him to go. He'd known that it would be hard to leave her here and he had to keep a straight face while he told her goodbye.

Once the door closed behind him, Quatre made his way to the elevator. He wanted to punch the button to the first floor but he was afraid of breaking the crappy thing. He absolutely abhorred the fact that he had to leave Kiri in there. If anything happened to her he would hold himself responsible.

He used the ride down the elevator to pull himself together.

"Everything will be okay," he told himself. "Just a few more hours and we can get her out."

As he stepped out of the apartment building and made his way down the block to the van, he noticed Trowa trailing behind at a casual pace. He was tempted to let Trowa catch up to him but knowing that they might be being watched kept him from letting that happen. He stood at the corner near the alley where the van was parked and pulled out his cell phone, pretending to make a phone call. Trowa wandered past him and went down the alley. After a few minutes, Quatre put away his phone and followed him.

"Did you notice anyone watching us?" Trowa asked from the shadows as Quatre approached.

"No. Did you?"

"No. How long are we leaving her up there?"

Quatre shrugged. "I don't have an answer for you. Her father drank about six beers in the time I was up there but I don't know what kind of tolerance he has. He didn't seem like they were affecting him at all. He might not even have a buzz yet so I don't think that blurting everything out because he's drunk will happen."

"Well, maybe now that you're not up there he'll be in a talkative mood," Trowa said. "Let's get to the van and check in. Maybe Duo's got some good news for us."

They opened the van doors and got in.

"Did they talk yet?" Quatre asked.

Duo used a hand to shush them so he could hear what was happening better.

"No," Heero told them quietly so as not to disturb Duo. "He'll let us know as soon as they give Kiri the information we need. I brought dinner if you're hungry. After that I suggest we set up the cots and prepare to stay the night. I've got the surveillance shifts set up."

Trowa grabbed a hamburger and sat in a chair to eat it. Quatre decided to start setting up the cots. He had the next surveillance shift and he figured he should have a bed ready to fall into once it was done. He wanted to be able to be up early in case Kiri was ready to go first thing.

"Are you going to eat?" Trowa asked.

"I already did. Kiri cooked dinner."

"I didn't know she could cook."

"Yeah, it was actually pretty decent considering what she had to work with," Quatre said. "I don't think her mom helped her at all."

Trowa ate more of his burger before asking, "Did we do the right thing? Leaving her up there, I mean."

Quatre sighed. "I don't know, Trowa. I know I don't like it but maybe I'm wrong and everything will be fine when we extract her tomorrow."

Trowa shook his head. "When has your intuition ever been wrong?"

"I'm hoping there's a first time."