Jaid: I don't know how many times I said this but new chapter!
Jad: (flatly) Yay.
Jaid: (sarcastically) Gee, don't get too excited.
Naga: Don't worry; we won't.
A/N: Midii Une review my story *big grin* I love her website. Anyways, I just had to say that. And J.B. is writing her sequel! I'm soo excited! Okay, I'll stop now.
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Chapter Seventeen
Trieze walked down the stairs. Sally was with Une now; the woman had been so delirious that she hadn't recognized either of them. Sally's face had been grave as she looked at Une and then requested Trieze to leave.
"Sir," Mary said. "Ms. Catalonia and Mr. Chang are here."
"Thank you." Trieze told her. "I believe Dr. Po would appreciate your help upstairs, Mary."
"Yes, sir." Mary answered. Trieze entered the sitting room. Dorothy and WuFei stood as he entered. After greetings were exchanged, Trieze asked them what was wrong. Dorothy and WuFei exchanged looks, then Dorothy looked at Trieze.
"We have reason to believe that Mariemeia was kidnapped." she said quietly. Trieze looked at her in mild shock, his head to one side.
"Kidnapped?" he asked.
"Yes." Dorothy answered. "We wanted to tell you first before anybody else."
Trieze nodded, biting his tongue. "Thank you." he said quietly.
"We're going to get Duo Maxwell." WuFei told him. "He's a good tracker."
Trieze nodded again. "Would you mind if I came with you?" he asked.
"Of course not." Dorothy said.
* * *
Quatre let a shot off and ducked behind the corner again, praying that it had hit something. The muted grunt he heard was his answer. Cautiously, he looked around. There was another shot and Quatre felt blood spill down the side of his head. It had grazed him. He swallowed, then decided that this was getting them nowhere.
"Who's there?" he demanded.
"Where's the woman?" a voice Quatre didn't recognize answered.
"Who are you talking about?" he called back.
"The Chang woman."
"She's not here." Quatre told him. The other man laughed hoarsely.
"Yeah, like I'm going to believe that-" he was suddenly cut off. Quatre heard a strangled groan and the sound of a body hitting the floor. He peeked around the corner and there stood Mieran, a heavy skillet in her hand.
"How did you…?"Quatre asked, coming out.
"The window." Mieran answered. Quatre shook his head. It was probably better not to ask.
* * *
Dawn next morning found Duo Maxwell, Quatre Winner, Trieze Khushrenada and WuFei Chang at the gold mine. Duo had ordered the rest away, while he looked over the tracks that had been left in the dusty ground; muttering to himself the entire time. The other three men had had a rather restless night. Mieran was in the care of Dorothy Catalonia, but WuFei was still worried, especially after what had happened last evening. Quatre and Trieze both looked exhausted; Trieze was worried about Mariemeia, of course, but he was also worried about Une. The woman's fever had only worsened during the night.
"Okay," Duo said, remounted his dark brown horse. "I think – "
"You think?" WuFei interrupted wryly. Duo glared.
"Fine." he amended. "I know where we need to head. Just follow me." With that, Duo spurred his horse into a walk, the other three following.
* * *
Mariemeia looked up. Two men entered the room she was in. One was average height, with a compact build, thinning dark hair, and a unpleasant face. The other was tall, broad-shouldered, with black hair and a mustache and goatee that were streaked with silver. His eyes were a steely gray and they made Mariemeia shudder.
The taller man smiled. "So, Khushrenda's daughter. I must say, you don't resemble him much."
Mariemeia looked up angrily. She had the sudden urge to kick this man and then stick her tongue out at him.
"But you do have the Khushrenada eyes." The tall man knelt, so that he was eye to eye with her. "Where's your father?"
"I don't know." she answered.
"Did he come back?"
"Come back where?" Mariemeia said innocently. The tall man's jaw clenched.
"I asked a perfectly good question." Mariemeia told him. "You didn't define what place you were talking about. Anybody who has taken a fifth grade English class should know that."
Almost before she finished speaking, something hard connected with the girl's face, nearly knocking her backwards. Mariemeia blinked and felt something warm and fluid run down her chin. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.
"You would do well to learn respect." the tall man told her, then stood. "Did your father come back?"
"Why, do you need to talk to him?" Mariemeia asked.
"Yes."
"Then you'll have to set up an appointment with him." Mariemeia said. The tall man backhanded her again, this time it sent her sprawling on the floor. Mariemeia closed her eyes and didn't move. One of the toed her with his boot.
"Leave her, Charles." she heard the tall man say. "We can always talk to her later. Come." They left and Mariemeia heard the door lock. She sat up, slightly dizzy, and pushed her self backwards till her back connected with the wall. Then, she drew her knees up to her face and allowed herself the luxury of a few tears.
* * *
Midii rubbed her hands together. "It's getting cold." she commented. "Winter's coming."
Trowa didn't answer, but it didn't bother Midii. She had been around Heero enough to be content in one-sided conversations. She glanced over at the tall young man.
"Do you want to head back to the town? Look for your sister some more?" she asked. "You can use Jimmy if you want."
Trowa looked at her. "You don't need him?" he asked.
"Not at the moment." Midii said. "I've got housework to do and other things. This is my house you know, and I happen to have a small garden."
"I saw that." Trowa said. "You did a good job."
Midii's cheeks reddened slightly. "Thank you." she said quietly. Trowa walked to the door and grabbed his hat and jacket.
"I will take Jimmy, if you don't mind." he said, not turning around.
"Okay." Midii answered. Trowa left without another word. Midii stood there for a moment, then began to work.
* * *
"Well, I certainly hope the wedding is for real this time." Rev. Michael said good-naturedly. Hilde smiled.
"It is." she promised. "Even if I have to drag him to the altar." Rev. Michael chuckled.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." he said, opening the door of the church office for her. "I'll see you soon, Ms. Noin." Hilde nodded her farewell and stepped into the busy street. Walking towards the General store, she was surprised to find Dorothy, of all people, tending the counter.
"Well, well." she said. "I never thought I'd see the day where the richest woman in town got a job."
Dorothy smiled. "Just helping out a little, that's all. What do you need?"
"Material. For my wedding dress." Hilde said. "Duo proposed last night."
Dorothy raised an eyebrow. "Did he? Congratulations."
The two young women spent an enjoyable half hour looking at material, buttons, lace, and several other things. Hilde's face was glowing and Dorothy felt a slight twinge of jealousy. She wondered what it would be like to be that happy.
* * *
Catherine slowly sat up and cracked her neck slight. She should've fallen asleep at the window, but she had. Standing, she shook the wrinkles out of her green skirt. Opening her door, she peeked out into the hallway. Seeing nobody there, she walked out and was about to leave, when something stopped her. Catherine wasn't sure what it was, but something didn't feel right. Turning around she walked the length of the hallway, pausing at times. Then she heard it; somebody crying. Walking up to the room where it was coming from, she tried the door handle. It wasn't locked but there was a latch up at the top of the door, too high for Catherine. She scowled.
"Ms. Bloom!"
Catherine jumped and whirled. Armond stood there, a not-so-pleasant smile on his face. "Mr. Traycsant." she said, her voice shaking slightly.
"I would suggest that you leave these other rooms alone, Ms. Bloom." Armond said, taking her arm in a firm grip. "Besides, there is something I need you to do for me."
* * *
"Anne." Sally said soflty. The woman's brown eyes looked at her, but Sally could tell that they didn't really see her. Half closed, Une's eyes were both dull and bright. (A/N: Have you ever seen someone with a bad fever? Their eyes are almost unfocused, dull in a way, but there is a brightness there that comes from the fever). Sally placed a cool rag on her forehead.
"Anne, can you hear me?" she said again.
"Yes." Une barely whispered.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes."
Sally bit her lip. Sometimes a fever patient would answer questions with no idea of what they were saying. (A/N: this is true too. Sometimes they have no memory of even being talked too)
"Where's Marie?" Une whispered hoarsely. "Where is she?"
"I don't know." Sally answered.
"She could be in trouble!" Une made a weak attempt to sit up, cried out in pain and fell back. "Oh, Lord." she whispered, and then began speaking in German. Sally couldn't follow it.
"Anne, calm down." But it was too late, Une was caught up in a fever induced stupor, repeating something over and over in German almost too low for Sally to hear. The young doctor bit her lip and replaced the rag with a fresher one, helpless to do anything but wait.
* * *
That evening, the four trackers entered the same town that Quatre and Zechs had been too, searching for Dorothy.
"Not this place again." Quatre muttered, then glanced at Duo. For once, the young man's face was dead serious. "We'd better find a place to stay." Quatre said a little louder.
"We will." Duo answered, his voice cheerful even if his expression wasn't. "We will." he said in a quieter tone.
* * *
Heero debated knocking on the door or not. It would be easy to sneak in, but he didn't want to risk alarming Marquise and getting shot in the back. Sighing mostly to himself, Heero turned away and began to walk, when the sound of a song reached his ears. He turned around and followed the sound, which lead him to the south side of the house. He could see Relena's out line in the window. Heero smirked. A window he could handle.
* * *
"No." Catherine said. "I won't. Causing an accident is one thing; cold-blooded murder is another."
Armond raised an eye-brow. "As opposed to allowing your brother be killed?"
Catherine met his gaze levelly this time. "At least I won't be the one responsible." she said. "You will. If fact, don't even try to pin any of this on me. Granted, I shouldn't have listened to you in the first place, but I am not going to take this anymore!" She stood. "You have a child up there, don't you? That child is sobbing. Where are it's parents? Did you kill them?"
"She only has one parent and to answer your question, no. He's not dead. Not yet." Armond answered.
Catherine looked at him and shook her head. "Why?" she whispered.
"Power, Ms. Bloom. A kingdom. Men have killed over less." Armond said easily. Then, just as smoothly, He pulled a gun on her. Catherine gasped slightly and backed away.
"Suppose I kill you right now?" he asked carelessly. Catherine bit her tongue and forced herself to not look at the barrel.
"If you did, my blood would be on your hands." she whispered. "Though I don't see why that would bother you, having so much already."
"You're right." Armond agreed, pressing the barrel to her collarbone. Catherine winced at its cold tough. Then, he stepped back and held the gun level with her head.
"Good night, Ms. Bloom." he said casually and pulled the trigger.
* * *
Relena was brushing her hair at the vanity, when something scratched at her window. Frowning, she got up and opened it. Heero dropped in.
"Heero!" she exclaimed softly. "What are you doing here? If Zechs finds you –"
"I had to see you." he said. "Make sure you were safe."
Relena smiled. "I'm fine." she said, then her smile faded. "But you won't be if my brother finds you."
"He won't. Noin has threatened your brother with bodily harm if he comes out of his bedroom before morning." Heero said.
"How do you know that?" Relena asked.
"I listen."
"Eavesdrop." Relena corrected. Heero shrugged. Relena shook her head and smiled.
"Well, Mr. Yuy." she said in a grand tone. "Since you were so kind as to 'drop' in, won't you please take a seat."
Heero smiled slightly and sat on the bed. Relena sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder. "I've missed you." she whispered. Heero didn't answer but leaned his head against hers.
"Heero." she said.
"Hn?"
"There was a jail break a few weeks ago. Did you-?"
"No."
There was a pause.
"Good." Relena said, yawning. "I was…" her voice trailed off as her eyes closed in sleep. Heero gently laid her down and put a blanket over her. Leaning over her, he softly kissed her forehead and then went to the window. Right before climbing out, he looked at her one more time, a gentle, soft look coming over his features. Then, hearing someone outside Relena's door, he quickly exited.
* * *
Mieran sat in the window seat of the parlor, looking forlornly at the now empty street.
"They're probably going to be gone for a few days at the least, Mieran." Dorothy said, coming up behind her.
"I know." Mieran sighed. "I wish I could be with them."
"Me too." Dorothy told her. "But there…" her voice trailed off as they heard the sound of breaking glass.
"Ms. Catalonia?" Mieran looked confused.
"Out the back door." Dorothy ordered. "Now."
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Jaid: Ohh, I bet you guys hate me now. lol. Don't worry, Chapter 18 should be out by Tuesday. Or sooner, maybe even tomorrow!
Naga: Just don't get your hopes up.
Jad: Jaid! HELP!
Jaid: Did he just say help?
Jad: There's a little furry thing in the alternate dimension room.
LTF (little furry thing): *roars*
Jaid: Uh-Oh, looks like Amber left her rabid bunny slippers here. Uh, you guys review, okay! bye! NAGA, GET YOUR SCYTHE!!!!
Naga: (enthusiastically) All right!