Chapter 77

"Well, what are you doing here, girl?" Daniel demanded.

Duo flinched at the tone. He could only imagine how Kiri was reacting. He started fidgeting. He wanted to pull the plug right now, but he knew that he couldn't do that. Kiri was already up there and it would be over with soon.

"I…I was taken and Mr. Winner brought me back," Kiri stammered out. "I've been gone for five years. Didn't you notice?"

"Watch your tone, girl. Of course we noticed. We sold you."

"Why? Did I do something wrong?"

There was a snort and then Delia answered, "I guess you could call it that. We needed money and you were expensive to keep. Then this guy offers to buy you off of us and the price was right."

"Do you have any idea who you sold me to?"

"Of course we did. We're not stupid."

'Could've fooled me,' Duo thought.

"And we made sure he wouldn't actually have his way with you until you were a legal adult…unless you initiated it of course," Daniel added nonchalantly.

That was an interesting development. It explained why Kiri hadn't been raped as soon as she was taken to the house. But Duo had to wonder why Chase had bothered to actually uphold his end of the deal. There had to be something more to it than honor amongst thieves.

"And just what did you get in return?" Kiri demanded.

"Enough. And a guaranteed lifetime fix. Speakin' of which, I think I'm about due for another hit," Daniel said.

"Yeah well, now that we've got ya back we might as well get a little more out of ya before we send you back," Delia informed Kiri.

Duo wanted to vomit. How could they sell their daughter in the first place? And for something as worthless as drugs? Had the other girls been sold for drugs as well? How many had truly been kidnapped? He wasn't sure now that any had actually run away. If they managed to find any of the other girls' parents, would they find the same dismissive attitude and addictions?

"I don't believe this. Am I really so…expendable in your eyes?"

"Watch your tone, brat. I knew we shoulda dumped you as soon as we got landed with you. You been nothin' but trouble since day one," Delia spat.

There was a pause in the conversation and Duo started to wonder if they'd lost communication when Kiri spoke again.

"If…if you didn't want me, why did you have me in the first place?" Kiri sounded like she was going to cry.

"We didn't," Delia sneered.

"I-I don't understand."

"Of course you don't. Although, maybe I shoulda told you sooner. You ain't mine."

Duo swore under his breath. This wasn't stress Kiri needed right now.

"Your father had an affair and the slut died giving birth to you. They dumped you on us and I've had to slave taking care of you. But not anymore. Not anymore."

Duo wanted to call the whole thing off then and there. Delia sounded absolutely nuts and he didn't trust Kiri up there without backup.

"Time for bed. Big day tomorrow," Daniel's voice came through the communicator. "Come on, girl. You'll sleep in the back room."

Kiri didn't say anything and Duo didn't blame her. She was probably still trying to process what Delia had told her.

"Here. Don't get any ideas about leaving. We'll sort everything out tomorrow."

Duo strained his ears as silence filled the feed. If Kiri was sleeping then there was nothing to worry about for the night. Then a soft whimper came through. Kiri was crying. Duo hated that she was upset because it was their fault she was there in the first place. He knew that he was just supposed observe and let things go on a while longer, but he had to make sure she knew she wasn't completely alone and he wanted to offer her an out. He'd deal with Une and Heero later. He spoke quietly into the microphone.

"Kid?"

"D-Duo?"

"Are you alone?" Duo kept his voice as quiet as possible. He didn't want her parents to know she had a way to communicate. Come to think of it, he hadn't mentioned it to Kiri at all so it must have surprised her.

"Y-yes."

Duo frowned. She sounded nervous. Maybe it was just all that information that had been dumped on her but he wanted to be sure before he continued.

"You okay?"

"Physically, yes…otherwise…not so much."

He was right. She was upset at what Delia had told her but she hadn't been physically harmed. That would make extracting her easier. She could fall apart all she wanted after they got her out of there.

"I heard. Sorry."

"Thanks," Kiri whispered.

"They didn't specifically admit to working with Chase, but I think trying to get you to seduce Quatre and admitting to selling you for drugs and money is enough. Get to the door and we'll get you out of there."

"I…can't. I'm locked in."

Duo wanted to curse but he didn't want Kiri to know he was angry. It might upset her and he wanted to keep her calm. "Okay. Where in the apartment are you now?"

"In a back room. There's no fire escape on the window so I can't get out."

"Is there a fire escape on the window below yours?"

There was a pause before Kiri responded. "Y-yeah."

"Can you jump that far?" Duo knew it wasn't a perfect solution but it would be simple enough to climb down once she was on the escape.

"Duo…if I tell you something do you promise not to laugh?" She sounded like she was going to cry again.

"Yeah, what's up?" Duo answered carefully, not wanting to set her off. If her parents heard they might realize she had a link to him and who knew how they'd react.

"I'm petrified of heights," she whispered. "Even looking out of this window makes me want to vomit."

Damn. Duo could imagine her curled up in the corner looking every bit as terrified as she was the first time he saw her. He couldn't let her regress to that point.

"Hm. That complicates things. Are you sure you can't just close your eyes and jump?"

There was a short pause during which Duo heard the window slide open and then shut again.

"I can't, Duo. I'm sorry…I can't."

Duo was sure she was crying now.

"Okay, calm down," he told her quickly. He heard a soft sob. "Can you hang tight until morning then? If we send Quatre in to get you with some story about…well, wanting to take them up on their offer, do you think they'll let you go with him?"

He knew it wasn't a great plan and Quatre would be completely scandalized at the thought but if it got her out of there, Duo was sure Quatre would agree.

"I don't know. It's worth a shot," Kiri said softly after a moment.

Clearly she could tell it wasn't a great plan but it was all they had at the moment.

"Okay then, that's the plan Amanda."

"Duo?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you please not call me that? I prefer Kiri."

Duo grinned. "Sure thing, Kiri. Now, you should get some sleep if you can. We're monitoring the situation and Quatre planted a few bugs for us so we ought to know everything that's going on."

"Okay. I don't know that I'll sleep, but I'll try."

"Good enough. G'night kid."

"Night, Duo."

Duo flipped the switch on the microphone in front of him. Kiri's soft sobs filtered through. When they stopped, he could hear her teeth chattering, though whether from fear or because she was cold, he couldn't tell. He hated leaving her up there. Maybe Trowa could climb up the fire escape and carry her down. Trowa could blindfold her so she wouldn't see how high up they were.

"Are we extracting her tonight?" Trowa asked, breaking Duo's thoughts.

"No," Duo answered, though he was loath to do so. "She's locked in a room with no way to get her out. We'll have to wait until morning."

Trowa cursed under his breath and flopped down on one of the small cots. "Wake me in a few hours."

Duo nodded and turned back to the computer. He knew that Trowa wasn't likely to sleep.

"Get some sleep. I'll take over for a while."

Duo looked up as Heero sat in the chair next to him. "I'm fine."

Heero frowned. "What's wrong?"

Duo sighed and glanced at Trowa before lowering his voice. While he knew Trowa was likely awake, he also knew that what he'd heard would upset the Heavyarms pilot and Duo wasn't quite ready to deal with his ire just yet. "I'm worried about her. She shouldn't be up there. This was a huge mistake."

"What's going on?"

"You mean aside from the fact that her parents sold her for drugs, tried to sell her body to Quatre and locked her in a room so she couldn't escape? Everything's just peachy. You know, the first time they suggested she sleep with Quatre it was funny but the more they said it the less funny it got. I can't believe that they kept trying to push it all evening."

Heero reached out and rubbed Duo's arm. "It'll be fine. We're monitoring the situation. Does she seem to be in immediate danger?"

Duo shook his head. "No, but she's scared. Really, 'Ro, I hate that she's up there. She shouldn't be."

Heero nodded. "I agree. But this was the most direct way to get the information we need. I tried to get them to talk to me before and they were most unhelpful. Kiri's already gotten them to admit more than we hoped."

"So we should get her out now," Duo insisted. "Before they have the chance to do something else to her. I thought we might be able to get her on the fire escape but she's too scared to jump to the floor below her. Her window doesn't have access."

Heero scowled at that. "I'm going to report this building. Trowa checked out the fire escapes, probably thinking the same thing you did, and told me that they wouldn't support the weight of two people. They're so rickety that he was worried his weight would cause them to collapse."

Duo swore again. "So she really is stuck up there then. I thought maybe Trowa could blindfold her or something and carry her down but that won't work, will it?"

Heero shook his head. "Why don't you get some sleep and I'll watch the feed for a few hours. It should be quiet but I don't want to leave her up there without a lifeline. If they try to spirit her away in the middle of the night, we'll need to know about it."

It was quiet for the hours that Heero monitored the feed. The others took turns sleeping and keeping watch. Heero finally gave in and woke up Duo in the early hours of the morning.

"I'm going to get some sleep. There isn't anything to report, it's been quiet."

"Thanks, 'Ro. I'll wake you at seven."

"Make it six. We'll want to do some recon before the neighborhood wakes up."

Duo gave Heero a quick kiss then leaned in to whisper, "So you have good dreams."

Heero smirked and settled onto the warm cot Duo had just vacated while Duo put the headphones back on. Everything was quiet. He was tempted to talk to Kiri again and see if she was awake but decided not to. He didn't want to wake her up if she was sleeping.

Duo jumped as a loud bang came through the feed.

"Get out here and make my breakfast."

"Guys, something's happening," Duo said as he fiddled with the settings trying to get the feed to come through clearer.

"What's going on?" Quatre asked as he pulled on his shoes.

"I think she's cooking. That Daniel guy ordered her to cook breakfast for him."

"So we have a few minutes to get up there, then," Trowa said as he opened the van door. "We're pulling her this morning whether Une likes it or not."

"Trowa," Heero started but stopped as Trowa glared at him.

"I'm ending this, Heero. We should never have sent her up there in the first place and Quatre's been uneasy about this whole thing. We're tempting fate and that's never worked out for us before. I won't use Kiri as a pawn anymore."

The soldier in Heero knew that he should insist on completing the mission but the humanity in him agreed with his comrades.

"Fine. Quatre, I want you and Wufei to get her. That way it will look like you're taking them up on their offer. Duo told me about it," Heero explained when Quatre gave him a questioning look. "Wufei can go in as backup in case they give you any trouble. Trowa, you'll stay here with me and Duo."

"Why?" he demanded.

"You're too close to this. We need level heads up there right now."

Trowa wanted to argue but knew that Heero was right.

"Can you guys shut up or take it outside? I think I need to hear this," Duo said, turning up the volume on the computer console.

"Get going," Heero hissed to Quatre and Wufei. "Make it quick."

"What the hell is this?"

"I…I made breakfast like you asked."

"Where are the biscuits and gravy?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that's what you wanted. If you'll give me a few minutes—"

The sound of plates crashing to the floor came through the communicator.

"You worthless little whelp! Do you think I have time to wait for you to get it right?"

Duo strained his ears, trying to catch every little detail of what was happening.

"Don't run from me you little bitch! Come over here!"

There was a short pause.

"I said get over here," Daniel Fitzgibbons growled.

"I'm sorry," Kiri whispered. "P-please give me an-nother ch-chance."

Duo clenched his fists. She shouldn't have to beg. She shouldn't be up there in the first place. Une was going to get an earful from him.

"You had your share of chances. Now clean up this mess you made!"

There was a light thump followed by the sound of glass clinking against glass.

"Hurry up!"

There was a moment of silence from the communicator before Daniel Fitzgibbons yelled again.

"I SAID CLEAN UP THIS MESS YOU DISGUSTING LITTLE SLUT!"

"You guys better get the lead out! Kiri's in trouble!" Duo told Wufei.

Wufei grunted his acknowledgment as Kiri whimpered.

"Hang in there, kid," Duo whispered. "They're coming."

"SHUT!"

Thump.

"UP!"

Thump.

Duo strained his ears as the sound of a body hitting the floor came through the communicator. He swore as Kiri's voice came through, soft and struggling.

"Ho…ckey."

"Shit shit shit! GET THERE NOW!" Duo practically screamed through the com link. "She said the code! Get her out!"

"Calm down, Duo!" Quatre shot back. He was slightly out of breath from running up eight flights of stairs. "We're outside the door."

"What's wrong, Duo?" Trowa asked from his position near the van's back doors. He had been watching for anything unusual while they waited for Quatre and Wufei to come out with Kiri but Duo's yell had prompted him to climb back into the van.

"Kiri's in trouble—" Duo didn't get anything else out because at that moment men with guns climbed into the back of the van.

"Surrender, Preventers."

"I don't think so," Duo growled back as he and Trowa pulled their own weapons. They started shooting their way out.

Shooting greeted them outside the van, but not all of it was enemy fire. Heero had returned from his recon around the block and started shooting as well. There were a good number of them and it took several minutes but the three pilots finally got the upper hand. The majority of their attackers were dead or injured too badly to escape but a handful had run off.

"Don't worry about those few," Heero said as he put away his gun. "We've got enough live ones that can still talk. We'll hunt the others down later."

"What makes you think they'll talk?" Trowa asked.

Heero gave him a feral grin. "They'll talk. Duo call Une and ask her to send someone to clean up this mess. I'm going to go upstairs and get the others. We're leaving."