Ghost Knight
Chapter 9
by Anne Khushrenada/Christine Anderson
Mariemaia smiled at Loren Grant, Terra and Lucian's
summer tutor, a hand upraised in greeting as she
approached him. He smiled and waved back, then bent
his head to that of the dark-haired girl standing
beside him, speaking too softly for Mariemaia to
hear.
She approached them quickly, though, and Terra could
see from her elder sister's expression that something
was wrong.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Lucian has pneumonia," Mariemaia replied.
Terra sighed. "I /tried/ to tell him- but he wouldn't
listen to me, or Elena, either. Just said he'd be
okay, and made me swear I wouldn't tell Mama."
"She knows now," Mariemaia replied, "and she's not
happy..."
"I'll bet." Terra turned to Grant. "I should probably
go see my brother," she said. "If you don't mind-?"
"No, of course not, Terra. I hope he feels better
soon."
"Thanks, Loren," Mariemaia replied. "You don't have
an assignment for him, by chance, do you? He's going
to get bored if we have to keep him in the hospital
long enough, and, though I do love my little brother,
I wouldn't want to inflict a bored Lucian on
anybody..."
Shuddering in mock horror, Grant withdrew a book from
his backpack and handed it to Mariemaia. "He keeps
complaining about how dull his history book is. Tell
him to try that- I had a hell of a time finding it,
but it was worth the trouble."
"I'm sure," Mariemaia murmured. The book Grant had
handed her was "The Arts of War and Peace". Its
author was Lucian Khushrenada. Her, and the twins',
grandfather.
"I never knew-" Terra started, but Mariemaia shook
her head.
"I think there are a lot of things we never knew
about Grandfather Lucian. Come on."
* * *
Alice raced into the hospital lobby, her shoes
sliding to a long stop upon the institutional tile
floor. She peered about the room for any sight of
silvery grey eyes or curly blonde hair, but the room
was thankfully sans Linnea, and she breathed a sigh
of relief.
After a few moments' thought, she pulled out her cell
phone and dialed the office. She asked Dorothy to
send a few trustworthy Preventers over- that not
/all/ of them were trustworthy caused her no small
amount of pain -to casually keep an eye upon things
in general, and Lucian in particular. She did not
want Linnea getting upstairs and bothering him, /or/
starting anything with Mariemaia, whom she knew would
be returning shortly with Terra.
Dorothy sent Trowa, and Alice greeted him with a
smile and a wave.
"Heero and Duo are here, too- Heero's got to drag Duo
out of the gift shop, though, so he may be a few
minutes yet..." This said, he saluted smartly and
stood at attention. "Orders, Preventer McKenzie?"
"Milliardo, Lucrezia, and their kids are upstairs
with Lady Une," Alice began, speaking quietly. "Elena
saw Linnea down here, but by the time I got here to
check it out, she'd split. Keep an eye out for her,
and if she shows up, find a way to get rid of her if
you can. Otherwise, let's keep her away from Lady Une
and the kids."
Trowa nodded, and Duo and Heero arrived.
"You want one of us on Nichol watch?" Duo asked.
Alice sighed. "Might need both of you- one to toss
the bucket on his head, the other to beat on it with
a very large stick in hopes of getting through to
him."
Duo laughed. "No promises on getting through, but
we'll do our best."
"Thanks, guys." Alice paused. "Listen... Maybe I've
hit the panic button a little prematurely here, but
Linnea's presence here bothers me, I can't quite put
my finger on why..."
"Because she's crazy?" Duo quipped. He shook his
head. "Nah, but seriously, Alice- trust your
instincts. Think for a minute- Since the bombing
before the twins were born, when Mari was little, the
Preventers have kept good tabs on the kids, and they
don't share that info with just anybody. /We/ hardly
knew what was going on till Dorothy called and said
you needed a couple people you could trust."
"I'd love to know where Linnea's getting her
information," Alice said. "I'm pretty sure Nichol got
here by being more of a nuisance to somebody than
we've been about the kids' security, which somebody
really needs to get on their asses about..."
"Send Wufei and Milliardo," Heero suggested. "It's
not just about Lady Une's kids- when we were first
getting into this and putting it all on paper, we
meant it to be for all the Preventers' kids, and
sending some of the other Preventer parents might
help make everybody more clear on that."
Alice made a few notes on her electronic note pad,
nodding. "Call me if you come across anything
interesting down here."
* * *
Lucian was sulking. He didn't call it that, of
course, a Khushrenada being above such things, but
that was exactly what he was doing, and Terra knew
it, probably better than anyone else did, being his
twin. She rolled her eyes before sitting down in the
chair beside his bed, a chair her mother had vacated
when she'd arrived, with a muttered, "Perhaps /you/
can talk some sense into your brother, dear one- I
certainly can't."
"Go 'way, Terra," Lucian said for the tenth time.
"Nope," Terra replied. "Look, Lucian- I know you're
miserable, but must you be miserable and /bored/,
too? It's your choice, but Mariemaia's brought you a
book. Don't you even want to look at it?"
/That/ had gotten his attention, as she'd thought it
might. Lucian rolled over and looked at her, his eyes
slowly coming back into focus. "Did somebody say
'book'?"
"Maybe," Terra replied. "Are you going to stop being
stupid now?"
"Define 'stupid'."
Lady Une buried her face in her hands. "How could
even that wretched woman think you not Treize's son,
Lucian? I swear..."
Alice snickered behind her hand, coughing in a failed
attempt to cover it.
"Stupid," Terra went on, "is pretending you're not
sick for so long that you end up with pneumonia and
land yourself in the hospital. You can stop blaming
Aunt Alice for that, too- it's not her fault, and if
she hadn't caught it, you- Damnit, Lucian, you could
have /died/, did that not get through your bloody
damned thick Khushrenada skull?"
Lady Une and Alice exchanged looks, Alice knowing,
Une slightly horrified. She would, she thought, have
to either learn to look out for the twins before she
started one of her late-night rantings at Treize, or
tone down the language a bit. /Everything/ wasn't his
fault in any case, no matter that it might seem so...
"C'mon, Ter," Lucian said, "Mama's been yelling at me
about this all day, I don't need to get it from you
too."
"You do so. Now what's it going to be?"
"Alright, alright... I'll stop being stupid. Can I
have the book?"
Terra looked to her mother. "Can he?"
"I suppose," Lady Une replied. "But, Lucian..."
"Yes, ma'am."
"I don't want to hear you swearing like that again."
"But I heard you-"
Une simply raised an eyebrow. "Lucian."
He nodded quickly. "Yes, ma'am." Terra handed him the
book, and he opened its cover reverently and began to
read.
* * *
Mariemaia peeked in on Lucien and Terra, and, finding
them seated close together, their heads bent over the
book, smiled before stepping out of the doorway and
closing the door behind her.
She caught up with Lady Une at the waiting room's
window, and they stood together for a time, looking
out over the city. "Mom," she said quietly.
Une turned. "Mariemaia."
"They look pretty well settled," she said of the
twins, "and I feel kind of useless here. If you don't
mind, I think I'm going to head over to David's." She
found herself about to tell Lady Une about the
research she and David had been doing into Linnea's
background, but quickly stopped herself from speaking
of it. They'd all agreed- she, David, and Dorothy -
that Une didn't need to know, not until they found
something.
"Alright," Une said. "I'll call you there if anything
changes?"
"Please," Mariemaia said.
* * *
Alice handed Lady Une a cup of coffee, which the
Preventers' leader took with a smile.
"Thanks, Alice."
"No problem," the blonde said. "Lady Une, I think-"
Before she could go on, her cell phone began to ring,
and she snatched it off her belt. "McKenzie." She
listened for a moment, swore under her breath, and
issued quick orders. "She's right here, hang on a
sec." Alice looked up at Lady Une. "I've got O'Brien
from the city police on the line. Somebody fire-
bombed their records storage building. They've got
confiscated explosives next door, and they need as
many hands as they can get to help."
Une nodded quickly. "Who've you got covering
downstairs?"
"Trowa, Heero, and Duo."
"You and I will go, and we'll take Heero and Duo with
us; they have experience in these matters. We'll
leave Trowa here, and-"
Alice was already dialing the phone again. "Dorothy?
Yeah, we heard. Lady Une and I are heading out, but
we're gonna need at least one more person here- Yeah,
send Quatre. Thanks." She hung up the phone as they
were racing into the waiting room, where Lucrezia and
Milliardo sat with the kids.
"Dorothy's calling Catherine, getting somebody to
watch the kids," Alice told Une, who nodded.
She gestured sharply at Milliardo and Lucrezia. "I
need you two to head back to headquarters, and
coordinate things with Dorothy."
"What's going on?" Lucrezia asked as they gathered
their things.
Une explained quickly.
"Damnit," Milliardo said quietly, hoping the children
wouldn't catch it.
* * *
David and Mariemaia were seated before the laptop
several hours later, a collection of empty soda cans
and several crumb-strewn paper plates set aside on a
nearby table evidencing they'd been there a while.
Neither of them even looked up as John Ling's key
turned in the door, and the chief of police stepped
into the apartment.
"David? Oh, hello, Mariemaia..."
Mariemaya looked up first. "Hey, Mister Ling." She
poked David in the back with a fingernail. "Dave,
your dad's home."
"Oh," said David. "Hi, Dad."
John Ling shook his head. "I'll tell you, kids, I
have had a hell of a day." He set his briefcase on
the kitchen table beside the laptop and flipped it
open. "Found something for you, though..."
"Yeah?" asked Mariemaia. She looked up as Ling dug
out a manila file folder and handed it to her.
"What's this?"
"Police reports on the council bombing ten years ago.
It may not be much, and it's probably not near what
your mother's got in her files, but..." Ling
shrugged. "I had a funny feeling about one of the
Preventers taking notes for Une's people back then...
Like maybe he wasn't going to report everything the
way it should've been, so there /might/ be something
in here that could help you..."
"With what?" Mariemaia asked. She'd thought that only
she, David, and Dorothy knew what they were up to.
Ling laughed softly. "I wasn't born yesterday. I
don't know, and I don't /want/ to know, exactly what
you're up to, but I know it goes back to that. I
think maybe I know why, but-" He shook his head.
"Anyway. You can keep the file- nobody's going to
miss it. Let me know if I can do anything else to
help."
With that he turned down the hall and stepped into
his room, closing the door behind him. In his wake
Mariemaia and David were left looking at each other,
Mariemaia only a bit startled, but David looking
quite shocked.
"Shit," he said, "I thought we'd been more subtle
than that..."
Mariemaia shook her head. "Couldn't be subtle
/enough/ to keep your dad from knowing we were up to
something, Davey. He's a cop, for crying out loud."
She sighed. "That's why I wanted cousin Dorothy in on
this, tell you the truth. Because I know Mom's going
to know I'm up to no good, and this way somebody she
trusts can say that she's been helping us all along."
"We haven't seen Dorothy since right after the party,
though. Not about this at least."
"/I/ know that, and /you/ know that, but Mom doesn't
need to, now does she?"
Mariemaia flipped open the file and scanned its
contents. She pursed her lips as she turned a page...
and blinked as a detail jumped out at her. "I
think... David, check me on this?"
"Okay," he said. "What's up?"
"Linnea Khushrenada was born in AC 171," Mariemaia
said. "But information on her only goes back to AC
191... There's no record of her before that."
"Okay," said David, not following her yet.
"So she should be thirty-nine, but she's not.
According to her records, she's nineteen."
"Like hell," David said.
"My thoughts exactly. To be nineteen, she'd have to
have been born in 191..."
"Which is the year your real mother- the year Leia
Barton died," David said, finally making the
connection.
"Bingo," said Mariemaia. "Linnea Khushrenada was born
/the same year Leia Barton died./"
"That," said David, "is just too weird."
"Yeah," Mariemaia agreed, "Unless we're supposed to
believe it's an error in the records, and Linnea's
really nineteen..."
David laughed. "Riiight. Sure she is. That'd make her
only two years older than you were, which is
impossible, because she was already a councilor
during the bombing ten years ago..."
Mariemaia reached for the telephone. "I'm calling
Dorothy."
* * *
One of Linnea's aides sorted through the singed
folders they'd rescued from the police records room,
before tossing down the last stack with a sigh. "It's
not here."
"We're too late," said his companion, the councilor's
driver. "She's not going to be happy about that."
"No kidding. Let's get out of here, quick."
* * *
Nichol held the cell phone against his ear, listening
as Linnea relayed his instructions. "Alright," he
said into the phone, "but I don't see how I'll get
close enough to-"
"You'll manage," Linnea said sweetly. "I have faith
in you, Nichol."
Nichol sighed as he pulled his car into the
hospital's back parking lot. "Why not just grab all
of them while we're at it?"
"Don't be stupid. I don't need all of them. Just the
ones I told you about..."
She cut the connection before he could reply, and
Nichol swore under his breath. He /would/ manage
somehow, he'd have to, but he didn't relish the
thought of making this attempt.
* * *
Seventeen year old Carolyn Catalonia-Bloom, the
adopted child of Dorothy Catalonia and Catherine
Bloom, smiled and waved at Milliardo and Lucrezia as
she skidded into the hospital waiting room, auburn
hair and denim jacket trailing out behind her.
"Carolyn!" several voices exclaimed, and Carolyn
found herself attacked by the small forms of Lewis
Chang, Elena Peacecraft and her brother Galen, and
the Barton-Winner kids, Jeff and Alex. This was not
counting her own younger sister, Sarah, who clung to
Carolyn's back.
"Thank God," Milliardo said. "Tell me Catherine sent
you."
"Yep," said Carolyn. "Jessica's sick, and Mom's
staying with her, otherwise she'd have come herself."
She lifted Sarah from her back and set her down upon
the floor. The eight-year-old immediately threw her
arms around Galen, who made a face. "She sent this
one with me so she wouldn't catch it- at least,
that's the theory." Carolyn brushed a strand of hair
out of her eye. "Mama, of course, is working late."
To the Catalonia-Bloom kids, 'Mom' was Catherine,
'Mama' was Dorothy.
"Did you see any of the Preventers downstairs?"
Lucrezia asked anxiously. "I hope so, because we've
got to go-"
"I know, and I saw half dozen or so, including Uncle
Trowa and Uncle Quatre," Carolyn replied. "Relax,
we're covered."
Milliardo nodded. "Good. If you're sure you're okay
keeping an eye on this bunch-"
"I'll be fine," Carolyn said. She adored children,
and never minded babysitting her younger 'cousins',
and watching over this small gathering of them was
nothing compared to having to look out for them /all/
once the Peacecraft-Yuy's daughter (Leanne), the
Maxwell brood (Claire, Mark, and Andrew), and the
Khushrenada twins were added to the mix.
"I can handle it," Carolyn said again, shooing
Milliardo and Lucrezia out of the room. "And I know
you've got to go."
* * *
Nichol entered the hospital through the back door,
cutting through the busy kitchen to avoid notice. He
went up the fire stairs to the third floor, and
peered out into the waiting room.
It was better than he could have hoped. Lucrezia Noin
and Milliardo Peacecraft were gone, leaving only one
older child- he thought he recognized the oldest of
the Catalonia-Bloom brats -to watch over the others.
He knew that there were other Preventers in the
building, probably down in the lobby or along the
main staircases.
Catching Carolyn unawares proved a lot harder than
he'd thought possible, though- he'd forgotten that
one of this girl's mothers was a born fighter, and
the other had thrown knives with perfect accuracy for
years. They'd taught her well, as was apparent when
Carolyn kneed him in the groin and a knife flashed at
his throat.
"It's Nichol, right? Hi. Can I help you?" Carolyn
asked.
Nichol sighed. "I'm looking for Lady Une," he said,
hoping she wouldn't notice as he inched his hand
towards the syringe he carried up his sleeve. He
slipped the cap off and dropped it to the floor.
Carolyn heard it clatter to the ground, but too late.
The needle slid into her arm and she fell back, her
eyes glazed.
He primed the gas grenade, then dashed back to the
stairwell and tossed it before slamming the door
closed. The gas would take three or four minutes to
knock them all out, and not for the first time he
wished the duration were shorter. He needed to grab
the ones he'd come for, and get out quickly.
He hadn't asked why Linnea had wanted the two
children he'd been sent for specifically, nor did he
want to know. It was enough that she had asked him to
fetch them, that he would get what he'd asked of her
if he did it, and probably wouldn't live out the day
if he did not. In any case this brood was nothing to
him, he cared not at all for them except as they
might be used to further his own ends through Linnea.
When the gas had cleared, Nichol stepped back into
the waiting room. He picked up Elena and draped her
over one shoulder, then kicked at Carolyn until she
woke enough to listen to him. "Get your sister and
come with me."
Held in a state of hypnosis by the drugs, Carolyn had
little choice but to obey. She lifted the limp form
of Sarah and followed Nichol, mechanically, down the
stairs and out to his waiting car. She placed Sarah
in the back seat beside Elena, but, when she started
to climb in after them, Nichol shoved her back, hard.
Carolyn fell to the pavement near the hospital's back
entrance, groaning once before she returned to
unconsciousness. The Preventers, stationed as Nichol
had guessed they would be at the main and emergency
room entrances, did not notice the unremarkable aged
vehicle as it pulled out of the lot, nor did anyone
stumble across the inert figure of Carolyn until
Nichol was long gone.
* * *
Lewis Chang woke first. He coughed, and glanced
around. The last thing he remembered was seeing
Nichol approaching Carolyn.
"Caro?" he called out, coughing again. She didn't
answer, and he realized the auburn-haired girl wasn't
there.
The others began to come awake then, the younger ones
realizing immediately that something was wrong. Alex
burst into tears, and his older brother tried to
comfort him.
"Where's Caro?" Galen Peacecraft asked.
"Dunno," said Lewis. It was only then, as he looked
to Galen, that he realized the boy's sister was
missing, too, as was Sarah. He rose unsteadily to his
feet, trying to think. Lady Une and Alice had gone
back to work, and something else had come up- that's
why Aunt Lucrezia and Uncle Milliardo had called Aunt
Catherine, who'd sent Caro, to watch them all... As
far as Lewis knew, there were no adults he knew in
the building.
Lewis dashed over to the pay phone, dropped in a
coin, and dialed his father's cell phone. "C'mon,
Dad, pick up..."
"Who're you calling?" Galen wanted to know.
"I was trying to call my dad...but he's not
answering. And I don't know where Mom went when she
left here. I think we'd better get Terra," Lewis said
at last. "She'll know what to do."
* * *
Terra knew immediately from Lewis' expression that
something was wrong. "Lew?" she asked.
"Caro's gone, Terra," Lewis said quietly. "So are
Elena and Sarah. And I saw Nichol... He said
something to Caro, I couldn't hear what it was, and
then she kicked him, down there, and she had one of
her knives out."
Terra stepped out of Lucian's room and eased the door
closed. Behind her, Lewis had the briefest glimpse of
Lucian sleeping, a book open facedown upon his chest.
She walked back to the waiting room with Lewis and
the others, and made a beeline for the pay phone. She
fished Lewis' coin out of the return and dropped it
into the pay slot.
"What are you doing?" Lewis asked.
"Calling Aunt Dorothy."
* * *
Dorothy shifted the telephone from one ear to the
other, nodding slowly though she knew Mariemaia
couldn't see the gesture. "Okay," she said at last,
"stay on it, and let me know what else you find out.
Want me to stop by David's later?"
"If you have time," Mariemaia said, "otherwise don't
worry about it, we just wanted to let you know..."
"Thanks," Dorothy said.
She'd only just finished speaking to Mari when the
phone rang again.
"Aunt Dorothy?" Terra's voice came across the line.
"Nichol was here, at the hospital-"
"That's /it/," Dorothy said, "I don't care what your
mother says, Terra, I'm going to pay that wretched
little twit a visit later-"
"If you can find him," Terra cut in. "I was with
Lucian when Lewis came to get me- Aunt Cath sent
Carolyn to take care of the kids because of Jessica-
she couldn't leave her alone to come watch us, you
know? Mom and Alice left with Duo and Heero, and Aunt
Lucrezia and Uncle Milliardo went back there, to the
office- that's why Aunt Cath sent Caro- But Nichol
came, and Lewis says he did something, and when
everyone woke up, Caro, Elena, and Sarah- they were
gone."
Dorothy swore. "Hold on a sec, Ter..." She grabbed a
radio mic off her desk. "Preventer HQ to Barton and
Winner, come back, over."
"This is Barton," Trowa's voice came over the line.
"We're here, Dorothy- what is it?"
"Get your asses upstairs, now. We've got three kids
missing, suspected Preventer Asshole involvement. The
others have details for you."
"Right," Trowa said, and Dorothy could hear his and
Quatre's running footsteps as they raced from the
lobby.
"Stairs?" Quatre asked.
"Elevator's faster, I'd bet," Trowa replied. "We'll
take care of it, Dorothy. Anything else?"
"No." She sighed. "I'll screen Cath and the others.
HQ clear."
* * *
The Place Between Worlds
Treize chipped ice from the edge of the Well of Souls
with fingers that no longer felt the cold, and
sighed. He gazed down on the images still rimmed with
ice where he hadn't yet cleared it away, saw the
children gathered under Carolyn's care, and allowed
himself a small smile. They had all done so well for
themselves, his family, his friends, and Treize was
almost as proud of Dorothy's eldest as he was of his
own children.
Then...
/"It's Nichol, right? Hi. Can I help you?"/
/"I'm looking for Lady Une."/
And, finally, /"Get your sister and come with me."/
He felt cold hands on his shoulders, drawing him
back. "This is not your concern," said Death. "Your
children are unharmed, Ghost Knight. Let it be."
"You feel no sympathy, do you? For anyone?"
"Sympathy does not go along with my occupation, as
you well know," Death replied. The specter seated
himself beside Treize and gazed down into the pool.
"But they can deal with this on their own, for now.
They do not need you yet."
"How can one deal with such a thing?" Treize asked.
"Elena and Sarah taken, and Caro-" He winced. "That
could so easily have been Mariemaia, Terra, Lucian...
but I care for those others no less because they are
not mine."
"Of course," Death said, "it's your nature. But,
look." He gestured to the pool, where they could see
Trowa and Quatre arriving and joining the remaining
children. "I tell you, the land of the living is not
your concern, not yet."
"You keep saying 'yet'," Walker commented as he faded
into view beside them. "Does that bother anyone
else?"
Treize raised a hand slightly, weather in greeting or
agreement, Walker couldn't tell. The former OZ
officer peered into the pool. "Bastards," he
muttered. "I don't get it, though," he went on. "If
Terra and Lucian are really the ones they're after-"
"They have their reasons, you can be sure of that,"
Death said with a long-suffering sigh. "Now, you
two..." With a gesture of his scythe the Well turned
opaque. Treize glared up at him, but the specter
remained firm. "I need your full attention, Ghost
Knight, Mister Walker. Have I got it?"
"You do now," Treize said quietly. "Go on, then."
"This-" Death gestured to the ice rimming the Well,
"disturbs me greatly."
"I'm not exactly fond of it either," Treize said,
"but I fail to see what I can do about it."
"You know, Walker has told you, that you have enemies
here, as well as there." Death gestured to the now-
dark pool. "You need to find and deal with them.
Until you do, the others are in danger on two fronts.
Think of it- if you can affect the world in ways you
should not, with so much changed, who is to say they
can't, as well?"
"I thought," Walker said into the stunned silence
that followed, "you couldn't aide the living in any
way, that it wasn't allowed."
"This-" Death gestured now to the unnatural winter of
the Place Between Worlds "This changes everything,
Walker. You know it does."
Treize nodded, and stood. He looked to Walker, who
nodded in reply. "Alright," the Ghost Knight said
quietly. "Let's go. We're settling nothing standing
around here."
Death waved them off with a gesture of his scythe.
"Go. You do what you must, but your obligations to
others are not lifted. I will watch, and summon you
if you are needed."
Treize and Walker exchanged looks. "Trust /you/ to
watch over the ones we love?" Walker said it for both
of them.
"Death is the greatest truth in existence, gentlemen,
therefore I cannot lie. If I say I will watch, then I
will do so. Go, quickly- the sooner you put an end to
this, the better."
* * *
"He makes it sound so damned easy," Walker said as
they looked out at the depressingly large gathering
of souls milling about the Place.
Treize nodded, stroking his chin. He watched the
souls as they passed, gauging their moods and
attitudes, and finally came to a decision. "You told
me not so long ago that your strength might be that
you were an 'ordinary' soul. I want you to do
something for me. Fade into this mass, become
'ordinary', unnoticed. You know what we seek- tell me
when you've found it."
"Alright," Walker said. "What are you going to do?"
"I will be what I am," Treize said. "I will fulfill
my role, do what must be done."
Something in Treize's sapphire gaze made Walker look
away, and he did not want to ask what the other man
had in mind. It was then that he began to truly
understand the power of the Ghost Knight, and what
made Treize Khushrenada so different from him.
* * *
The Lings' phone rang four or five times before John
Ling realized his son and Mariemaia were probably too
involved in their research to answer it, and went to
do so himself. He listened for a moment as Dorothy
Catalonia explained the situations, the children and
the fire, then called out "Mariemaia" in a voice that
made her turn immediately and take the phone from
him.
A few moments later she apologized quickly to David,
gathered her things, and dashed for the door. "I'm
sorry," she said as she stepped out into the hallway,
"I've got to-"
"Go," David told her. "You need a ride?"
"No, thanks, I'm okay."
"I'll walk you out."
David followed her out to the parking lot, and
watched as she got into her car. He waited until she
had gone and several moments had passed before
pulling his car keys from his pocket and hopping into
the station wagon that was his own mode of
transportation.
His pager went off as he was pulling out of the lot,
and he sighed as he glanced at the number. There was
a phone installed in the car, but he wasn't stupid
enough to return Linnea's page on anything his father
had used for police business. He stopped off at a gas
station and went to a pay phone.
"What?" he said when she answered at last.
"Nichol's managed to do something right for once."
"I heard," David said. "Mariemaia's on her way to the
hospital now. If you ask me, you should've grabbed
Terra while you had the chance."
"No, not yet," Linnea said. "Trust me, David, I know
what I'm doing. How soon can you get here?"
"You want me to-? Why?"
"Because I have two very frightened children here who
could stand to see a familiar face. When I said
Nichol had done something right, I should have been
more specific- he also did one thing wrong."
David swore softly. "He left Caro."
"Apparently she put up a fight, and in anger he made
the foolish decision to leave her behind. He is
regretting that, I can assure you." Linnea paused,
and David could nearly hear her smile. "Enough talk.
Get over here. Now."
The line went dead. He dropped the phone back into
its cradle and raced back to the car. When Linnea
said 'now', she meant it. David didn't like this
arrangement, and he was terrified that Mariemaia or
one of the others would find out about it. He'd never
be able to explain, and they wouldn't care- he'd
betrayed them, and the minute they found out about
it...Frankly he would rather take his chances with
Linnea. She was more predictable, on the whole.
* * *
The Place Between Worlds
Well of Souls
He could watch without aide of the Well, being master
of this odd realm turned even more so of lates, but
instead Death sat before the Well as Treize often
had, gazing down. He waited, and he watched, and he
kept his promises. Death saw the boy called David as
he made his way to keep his appointment with a woman
who was more dangerous than the fool young man
realized, saw the girl called Carolyn laying where
she'd fallen when Nichol pushed her away, waiting on
the Preventer search teams sent by Trowa and Quatre,
who would find her in time, but not yet.
This was not his domain, as none of these people were
anywhere near death. But he had promised his Ghost
Knight that he would watch, and watch he would. He
had not Treize's power to interfere, not so overtly,
but Death has his ways, and the specter was hardly
powerless.
He saw the girl Elena claw her way back towards
consciousness, saw her come to and launch herself,
clumsily, with fingers clawed and nails reaching out,
towards the silver-eyed form of Linnea Khushrenada,
who threw back her curly head and laughed as she
brushed the girl aside. He saw Elena's companion,
young Sarah, begin to weep as she cried out, "Where's
Caro?" And even the specter of Death had to admit, if
only to himself and in the privacy of his own cold
heart, that he felt a twinge of something... Could it
be pity? Pity for these children? Pity for all of
them, pity for...
...for this woman, the lovely brunette with the
haunted eyes, the woman Treize had loved enough to
defy him when none other dared? Could it be that he
pitied her, pitied them?
The woman seemed to meet his skeletal gaze, and in
that moment Death understood much. No, he could not
pity her, not this one. She had suffered much, but
she neither took, nor asked for, anyone's pity.
Death shook his head, and gestured irritably at the
Well, returning its focus to the others the Ghost
Knight held most dear, and the woman who had called
Walker inexplicably back from a place where there
should have been no return. He settled back on his
heels, holding to the haft of his scythe for support,
and continued his vigil.
Chapter 9
by Anne Khushrenada/Christine Anderson
Mariemaia smiled at Loren Grant, Terra and Lucian's
summer tutor, a hand upraised in greeting as she
approached him. He smiled and waved back, then bent
his head to that of the dark-haired girl standing
beside him, speaking too softly for Mariemaia to
hear.
She approached them quickly, though, and Terra could
see from her elder sister's expression that something
was wrong.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Lucian has pneumonia," Mariemaia replied.
Terra sighed. "I /tried/ to tell him- but he wouldn't
listen to me, or Elena, either. Just said he'd be
okay, and made me swear I wouldn't tell Mama."
"She knows now," Mariemaia replied, "and she's not
happy..."
"I'll bet." Terra turned to Grant. "I should probably
go see my brother," she said. "If you don't mind-?"
"No, of course not, Terra. I hope he feels better
soon."
"Thanks, Loren," Mariemaia replied. "You don't have
an assignment for him, by chance, do you? He's going
to get bored if we have to keep him in the hospital
long enough, and, though I do love my little brother,
I wouldn't want to inflict a bored Lucian on
anybody..."
Shuddering in mock horror, Grant withdrew a book from
his backpack and handed it to Mariemaia. "He keeps
complaining about how dull his history book is. Tell
him to try that- I had a hell of a time finding it,
but it was worth the trouble."
"I'm sure," Mariemaia murmured. The book Grant had
handed her was "The Arts of War and Peace". Its
author was Lucian Khushrenada. Her, and the twins',
grandfather.
"I never knew-" Terra started, but Mariemaia shook
her head.
"I think there are a lot of things we never knew
about Grandfather Lucian. Come on."
* * *
Alice raced into the hospital lobby, her shoes
sliding to a long stop upon the institutional tile
floor. She peered about the room for any sight of
silvery grey eyes or curly blonde hair, but the room
was thankfully sans Linnea, and she breathed a sigh
of relief.
After a few moments' thought, she pulled out her cell
phone and dialed the office. She asked Dorothy to
send a few trustworthy Preventers over- that not
/all/ of them were trustworthy caused her no small
amount of pain -to casually keep an eye upon things
in general, and Lucian in particular. She did not
want Linnea getting upstairs and bothering him, /or/
starting anything with Mariemaia, whom she knew would
be returning shortly with Terra.
Dorothy sent Trowa, and Alice greeted him with a
smile and a wave.
"Heero and Duo are here, too- Heero's got to drag Duo
out of the gift shop, though, so he may be a few
minutes yet..." This said, he saluted smartly and
stood at attention. "Orders, Preventer McKenzie?"
"Milliardo, Lucrezia, and their kids are upstairs
with Lady Une," Alice began, speaking quietly. "Elena
saw Linnea down here, but by the time I got here to
check it out, she'd split. Keep an eye out for her,
and if she shows up, find a way to get rid of her if
you can. Otherwise, let's keep her away from Lady Une
and the kids."
Trowa nodded, and Duo and Heero arrived.
"You want one of us on Nichol watch?" Duo asked.
Alice sighed. "Might need both of you- one to toss
the bucket on his head, the other to beat on it with
a very large stick in hopes of getting through to
him."
Duo laughed. "No promises on getting through, but
we'll do our best."
"Thanks, guys." Alice paused. "Listen... Maybe I've
hit the panic button a little prematurely here, but
Linnea's presence here bothers me, I can't quite put
my finger on why..."
"Because she's crazy?" Duo quipped. He shook his
head. "Nah, but seriously, Alice- trust your
instincts. Think for a minute- Since the bombing
before the twins were born, when Mari was little, the
Preventers have kept good tabs on the kids, and they
don't share that info with just anybody. /We/ hardly
knew what was going on till Dorothy called and said
you needed a couple people you could trust."
"I'd love to know where Linnea's getting her
information," Alice said. "I'm pretty sure Nichol got
here by being more of a nuisance to somebody than
we've been about the kids' security, which somebody
really needs to get on their asses about..."
"Send Wufei and Milliardo," Heero suggested. "It's
not just about Lady Une's kids- when we were first
getting into this and putting it all on paper, we
meant it to be for all the Preventers' kids, and
sending some of the other Preventer parents might
help make everybody more clear on that."
Alice made a few notes on her electronic note pad,
nodding. "Call me if you come across anything
interesting down here."
* * *
Lucian was sulking. He didn't call it that, of
course, a Khushrenada being above such things, but
that was exactly what he was doing, and Terra knew
it, probably better than anyone else did, being his
twin. She rolled her eyes before sitting down in the
chair beside his bed, a chair her mother had vacated
when she'd arrived, with a muttered, "Perhaps /you/
can talk some sense into your brother, dear one- I
certainly can't."
"Go 'way, Terra," Lucian said for the tenth time.
"Nope," Terra replied. "Look, Lucian- I know you're
miserable, but must you be miserable and /bored/,
too? It's your choice, but Mariemaia's brought you a
book. Don't you even want to look at it?"
/That/ had gotten his attention, as she'd thought it
might. Lucian rolled over and looked at her, his eyes
slowly coming back into focus. "Did somebody say
'book'?"
"Maybe," Terra replied. "Are you going to stop being
stupid now?"
"Define 'stupid'."
Lady Une buried her face in her hands. "How could
even that wretched woman think you not Treize's son,
Lucian? I swear..."
Alice snickered behind her hand, coughing in a failed
attempt to cover it.
"Stupid," Terra went on, "is pretending you're not
sick for so long that you end up with pneumonia and
land yourself in the hospital. You can stop blaming
Aunt Alice for that, too- it's not her fault, and if
she hadn't caught it, you- Damnit, Lucian, you could
have /died/, did that not get through your bloody
damned thick Khushrenada skull?"
Lady Une and Alice exchanged looks, Alice knowing,
Une slightly horrified. She would, she thought, have
to either learn to look out for the twins before she
started one of her late-night rantings at Treize, or
tone down the language a bit. /Everything/ wasn't his
fault in any case, no matter that it might seem so...
"C'mon, Ter," Lucian said, "Mama's been yelling at me
about this all day, I don't need to get it from you
too."
"You do so. Now what's it going to be?"
"Alright, alright... I'll stop being stupid. Can I
have the book?"
Terra looked to her mother. "Can he?"
"I suppose," Lady Une replied. "But, Lucian..."
"Yes, ma'am."
"I don't want to hear you swearing like that again."
"But I heard you-"
Une simply raised an eyebrow. "Lucian."
He nodded quickly. "Yes, ma'am." Terra handed him the
book, and he opened its cover reverently and began to
read.
* * *
Mariemaia peeked in on Lucien and Terra, and, finding
them seated close together, their heads bent over the
book, smiled before stepping out of the doorway and
closing the door behind her.
She caught up with Lady Une at the waiting room's
window, and they stood together for a time, looking
out over the city. "Mom," she said quietly.
Une turned. "Mariemaia."
"They look pretty well settled," she said of the
twins, "and I feel kind of useless here. If you don't
mind, I think I'm going to head over to David's." She
found herself about to tell Lady Une about the
research she and David had been doing into Linnea's
background, but quickly stopped herself from speaking
of it. They'd all agreed- she, David, and Dorothy -
that Une didn't need to know, not until they found
something.
"Alright," Une said. "I'll call you there if anything
changes?"
"Please," Mariemaia said.
* * *
Alice handed Lady Une a cup of coffee, which the
Preventers' leader took with a smile.
"Thanks, Alice."
"No problem," the blonde said. "Lady Une, I think-"
Before she could go on, her cell phone began to ring,
and she snatched it off her belt. "McKenzie." She
listened for a moment, swore under her breath, and
issued quick orders. "She's right here, hang on a
sec." Alice looked up at Lady Une. "I've got O'Brien
from the city police on the line. Somebody fire-
bombed their records storage building. They've got
confiscated explosives next door, and they need as
many hands as they can get to help."
Une nodded quickly. "Who've you got covering
downstairs?"
"Trowa, Heero, and Duo."
"You and I will go, and we'll take Heero and Duo with
us; they have experience in these matters. We'll
leave Trowa here, and-"
Alice was already dialing the phone again. "Dorothy?
Yeah, we heard. Lady Une and I are heading out, but
we're gonna need at least one more person here- Yeah,
send Quatre. Thanks." She hung up the phone as they
were racing into the waiting room, where Lucrezia and
Milliardo sat with the kids.
"Dorothy's calling Catherine, getting somebody to
watch the kids," Alice told Une, who nodded.
She gestured sharply at Milliardo and Lucrezia. "I
need you two to head back to headquarters, and
coordinate things with Dorothy."
"What's going on?" Lucrezia asked as they gathered
their things.
Une explained quickly.
"Damnit," Milliardo said quietly, hoping the children
wouldn't catch it.
* * *
David and Mariemaia were seated before the laptop
several hours later, a collection of empty soda cans
and several crumb-strewn paper plates set aside on a
nearby table evidencing they'd been there a while.
Neither of them even looked up as John Ling's key
turned in the door, and the chief of police stepped
into the apartment.
"David? Oh, hello, Mariemaia..."
Mariemaya looked up first. "Hey, Mister Ling." She
poked David in the back with a fingernail. "Dave,
your dad's home."
"Oh," said David. "Hi, Dad."
John Ling shook his head. "I'll tell you, kids, I
have had a hell of a day." He set his briefcase on
the kitchen table beside the laptop and flipped it
open. "Found something for you, though..."
"Yeah?" asked Mariemaia. She looked up as Ling dug
out a manila file folder and handed it to her.
"What's this?"
"Police reports on the council bombing ten years ago.
It may not be much, and it's probably not near what
your mother's got in her files, but..." Ling
shrugged. "I had a funny feeling about one of the
Preventers taking notes for Une's people back then...
Like maybe he wasn't going to report everything the
way it should've been, so there /might/ be something
in here that could help you..."
"With what?" Mariemaia asked. She'd thought that only
she, David, and Dorothy knew what they were up to.
Ling laughed softly. "I wasn't born yesterday. I
don't know, and I don't /want/ to know, exactly what
you're up to, but I know it goes back to that. I
think maybe I know why, but-" He shook his head.
"Anyway. You can keep the file- nobody's going to
miss it. Let me know if I can do anything else to
help."
With that he turned down the hall and stepped into
his room, closing the door behind him. In his wake
Mariemaia and David were left looking at each other,
Mariemaia only a bit startled, but David looking
quite shocked.
"Shit," he said, "I thought we'd been more subtle
than that..."
Mariemaia shook her head. "Couldn't be subtle
/enough/ to keep your dad from knowing we were up to
something, Davey. He's a cop, for crying out loud."
She sighed. "That's why I wanted cousin Dorothy in on
this, tell you the truth. Because I know Mom's going
to know I'm up to no good, and this way somebody she
trusts can say that she's been helping us all along."
"We haven't seen Dorothy since right after the party,
though. Not about this at least."
"/I/ know that, and /you/ know that, but Mom doesn't
need to, now does she?"
Mariemaia flipped open the file and scanned its
contents. She pursed her lips as she turned a page...
and blinked as a detail jumped out at her. "I
think... David, check me on this?"
"Okay," he said. "What's up?"
"Linnea Khushrenada was born in AC 171," Mariemaia
said. "But information on her only goes back to AC
191... There's no record of her before that."
"Okay," said David, not following her yet.
"So she should be thirty-nine, but she's not.
According to her records, she's nineteen."
"Like hell," David said.
"My thoughts exactly. To be nineteen, she'd have to
have been born in 191..."
"Which is the year your real mother- the year Leia
Barton died," David said, finally making the
connection.
"Bingo," said Mariemaia. "Linnea Khushrenada was born
/the same year Leia Barton died./"
"That," said David, "is just too weird."
"Yeah," Mariemaia agreed, "Unless we're supposed to
believe it's an error in the records, and Linnea's
really nineteen..."
David laughed. "Riiight. Sure she is. That'd make her
only two years older than you were, which is
impossible, because she was already a councilor
during the bombing ten years ago..."
Mariemaia reached for the telephone. "I'm calling
Dorothy."
* * *
One of Linnea's aides sorted through the singed
folders they'd rescued from the police records room,
before tossing down the last stack with a sigh. "It's
not here."
"We're too late," said his companion, the councilor's
driver. "She's not going to be happy about that."
"No kidding. Let's get out of here, quick."
* * *
Nichol held the cell phone against his ear, listening
as Linnea relayed his instructions. "Alright," he
said into the phone, "but I don't see how I'll get
close enough to-"
"You'll manage," Linnea said sweetly. "I have faith
in you, Nichol."
Nichol sighed as he pulled his car into the
hospital's back parking lot. "Why not just grab all
of them while we're at it?"
"Don't be stupid. I don't need all of them. Just the
ones I told you about..."
She cut the connection before he could reply, and
Nichol swore under his breath. He /would/ manage
somehow, he'd have to, but he didn't relish the
thought of making this attempt.
* * *
Seventeen year old Carolyn Catalonia-Bloom, the
adopted child of Dorothy Catalonia and Catherine
Bloom, smiled and waved at Milliardo and Lucrezia as
she skidded into the hospital waiting room, auburn
hair and denim jacket trailing out behind her.
"Carolyn!" several voices exclaimed, and Carolyn
found herself attacked by the small forms of Lewis
Chang, Elena Peacecraft and her brother Galen, and
the Barton-Winner kids, Jeff and Alex. This was not
counting her own younger sister, Sarah, who clung to
Carolyn's back.
"Thank God," Milliardo said. "Tell me Catherine sent
you."
"Yep," said Carolyn. "Jessica's sick, and Mom's
staying with her, otherwise she'd have come herself."
She lifted Sarah from her back and set her down upon
the floor. The eight-year-old immediately threw her
arms around Galen, who made a face. "She sent this
one with me so she wouldn't catch it- at least,
that's the theory." Carolyn brushed a strand of hair
out of her eye. "Mama, of course, is working late."
To the Catalonia-Bloom kids, 'Mom' was Catherine,
'Mama' was Dorothy.
"Did you see any of the Preventers downstairs?"
Lucrezia asked anxiously. "I hope so, because we've
got to go-"
"I know, and I saw half dozen or so, including Uncle
Trowa and Uncle Quatre," Carolyn replied. "Relax,
we're covered."
Milliardo nodded. "Good. If you're sure you're okay
keeping an eye on this bunch-"
"I'll be fine," Carolyn said. She adored children,
and never minded babysitting her younger 'cousins',
and watching over this small gathering of them was
nothing compared to having to look out for them /all/
once the Peacecraft-Yuy's daughter (Leanne), the
Maxwell brood (Claire, Mark, and Andrew), and the
Khushrenada twins were added to the mix.
"I can handle it," Carolyn said again, shooing
Milliardo and Lucrezia out of the room. "And I know
you've got to go."
* * *
Nichol entered the hospital through the back door,
cutting through the busy kitchen to avoid notice. He
went up the fire stairs to the third floor, and
peered out into the waiting room.
It was better than he could have hoped. Lucrezia Noin
and Milliardo Peacecraft were gone, leaving only one
older child- he thought he recognized the oldest of
the Catalonia-Bloom brats -to watch over the others.
He knew that there were other Preventers in the
building, probably down in the lobby or along the
main staircases.
Catching Carolyn unawares proved a lot harder than
he'd thought possible, though- he'd forgotten that
one of this girl's mothers was a born fighter, and
the other had thrown knives with perfect accuracy for
years. They'd taught her well, as was apparent when
Carolyn kneed him in the groin and a knife flashed at
his throat.
"It's Nichol, right? Hi. Can I help you?" Carolyn
asked.
Nichol sighed. "I'm looking for Lady Une," he said,
hoping she wouldn't notice as he inched his hand
towards the syringe he carried up his sleeve. He
slipped the cap off and dropped it to the floor.
Carolyn heard it clatter to the ground, but too late.
The needle slid into her arm and she fell back, her
eyes glazed.
He primed the gas grenade, then dashed back to the
stairwell and tossed it before slamming the door
closed. The gas would take three or four minutes to
knock them all out, and not for the first time he
wished the duration were shorter. He needed to grab
the ones he'd come for, and get out quickly.
He hadn't asked why Linnea had wanted the two
children he'd been sent for specifically, nor did he
want to know. It was enough that she had asked him to
fetch them, that he would get what he'd asked of her
if he did it, and probably wouldn't live out the day
if he did not. In any case this brood was nothing to
him, he cared not at all for them except as they
might be used to further his own ends through Linnea.
When the gas had cleared, Nichol stepped back into
the waiting room. He picked up Elena and draped her
over one shoulder, then kicked at Carolyn until she
woke enough to listen to him. "Get your sister and
come with me."
Held in a state of hypnosis by the drugs, Carolyn had
little choice but to obey. She lifted the limp form
of Sarah and followed Nichol, mechanically, down the
stairs and out to his waiting car. She placed Sarah
in the back seat beside Elena, but, when she started
to climb in after them, Nichol shoved her back, hard.
Carolyn fell to the pavement near the hospital's back
entrance, groaning once before she returned to
unconsciousness. The Preventers, stationed as Nichol
had guessed they would be at the main and emergency
room entrances, did not notice the unremarkable aged
vehicle as it pulled out of the lot, nor did anyone
stumble across the inert figure of Carolyn until
Nichol was long gone.
* * *
Lewis Chang woke first. He coughed, and glanced
around. The last thing he remembered was seeing
Nichol approaching Carolyn.
"Caro?" he called out, coughing again. She didn't
answer, and he realized the auburn-haired girl wasn't
there.
The others began to come awake then, the younger ones
realizing immediately that something was wrong. Alex
burst into tears, and his older brother tried to
comfort him.
"Where's Caro?" Galen Peacecraft asked.
"Dunno," said Lewis. It was only then, as he looked
to Galen, that he realized the boy's sister was
missing, too, as was Sarah. He rose unsteadily to his
feet, trying to think. Lady Une and Alice had gone
back to work, and something else had come up- that's
why Aunt Lucrezia and Uncle Milliardo had called Aunt
Catherine, who'd sent Caro, to watch them all... As
far as Lewis knew, there were no adults he knew in
the building.
Lewis dashed over to the pay phone, dropped in a
coin, and dialed his father's cell phone. "C'mon,
Dad, pick up..."
"Who're you calling?" Galen wanted to know.
"I was trying to call my dad...but he's not
answering. And I don't know where Mom went when she
left here. I think we'd better get Terra," Lewis said
at last. "She'll know what to do."
* * *
Terra knew immediately from Lewis' expression that
something was wrong. "Lew?" she asked.
"Caro's gone, Terra," Lewis said quietly. "So are
Elena and Sarah. And I saw Nichol... He said
something to Caro, I couldn't hear what it was, and
then she kicked him, down there, and she had one of
her knives out."
Terra stepped out of Lucian's room and eased the door
closed. Behind her, Lewis had the briefest glimpse of
Lucian sleeping, a book open facedown upon his chest.
She walked back to the waiting room with Lewis and
the others, and made a beeline for the pay phone. She
fished Lewis' coin out of the return and dropped it
into the pay slot.
"What are you doing?" Lewis asked.
"Calling Aunt Dorothy."
* * *
Dorothy shifted the telephone from one ear to the
other, nodding slowly though she knew Mariemaia
couldn't see the gesture. "Okay," she said at last,
"stay on it, and let me know what else you find out.
Want me to stop by David's later?"
"If you have time," Mariemaia said, "otherwise don't
worry about it, we just wanted to let you know..."
"Thanks," Dorothy said.
She'd only just finished speaking to Mari when the
phone rang again.
"Aunt Dorothy?" Terra's voice came across the line.
"Nichol was here, at the hospital-"
"That's /it/," Dorothy said, "I don't care what your
mother says, Terra, I'm going to pay that wretched
little twit a visit later-"
"If you can find him," Terra cut in. "I was with
Lucian when Lewis came to get me- Aunt Cath sent
Carolyn to take care of the kids because of Jessica-
she couldn't leave her alone to come watch us, you
know? Mom and Alice left with Duo and Heero, and Aunt
Lucrezia and Uncle Milliardo went back there, to the
office- that's why Aunt Cath sent Caro- But Nichol
came, and Lewis says he did something, and when
everyone woke up, Caro, Elena, and Sarah- they were
gone."
Dorothy swore. "Hold on a sec, Ter..." She grabbed a
radio mic off her desk. "Preventer HQ to Barton and
Winner, come back, over."
"This is Barton," Trowa's voice came over the line.
"We're here, Dorothy- what is it?"
"Get your asses upstairs, now. We've got three kids
missing, suspected Preventer Asshole involvement. The
others have details for you."
"Right," Trowa said, and Dorothy could hear his and
Quatre's running footsteps as they raced from the
lobby.
"Stairs?" Quatre asked.
"Elevator's faster, I'd bet," Trowa replied. "We'll
take care of it, Dorothy. Anything else?"
"No." She sighed. "I'll screen Cath and the others.
HQ clear."
* * *
The Place Between Worlds
Treize chipped ice from the edge of the Well of Souls
with fingers that no longer felt the cold, and
sighed. He gazed down on the images still rimmed with
ice where he hadn't yet cleared it away, saw the
children gathered under Carolyn's care, and allowed
himself a small smile. They had all done so well for
themselves, his family, his friends, and Treize was
almost as proud of Dorothy's eldest as he was of his
own children.
Then...
/"It's Nichol, right? Hi. Can I help you?"/
/"I'm looking for Lady Une."/
And, finally, /"Get your sister and come with me."/
He felt cold hands on his shoulders, drawing him
back. "This is not your concern," said Death. "Your
children are unharmed, Ghost Knight. Let it be."
"You feel no sympathy, do you? For anyone?"
"Sympathy does not go along with my occupation, as
you well know," Death replied. The specter seated
himself beside Treize and gazed down into the pool.
"But they can deal with this on their own, for now.
They do not need you yet."
"How can one deal with such a thing?" Treize asked.
"Elena and Sarah taken, and Caro-" He winced. "That
could so easily have been Mariemaia, Terra, Lucian...
but I care for those others no less because they are
not mine."
"Of course," Death said, "it's your nature. But,
look." He gestured to the pool, where they could see
Trowa and Quatre arriving and joining the remaining
children. "I tell you, the land of the living is not
your concern, not yet."
"You keep saying 'yet'," Walker commented as he faded
into view beside them. "Does that bother anyone
else?"
Treize raised a hand slightly, weather in greeting or
agreement, Walker couldn't tell. The former OZ
officer peered into the pool. "Bastards," he
muttered. "I don't get it, though," he went on. "If
Terra and Lucian are really the ones they're after-"
"They have their reasons, you can be sure of that,"
Death said with a long-suffering sigh. "Now, you
two..." With a gesture of his scythe the Well turned
opaque. Treize glared up at him, but the specter
remained firm. "I need your full attention, Ghost
Knight, Mister Walker. Have I got it?"
"You do now," Treize said quietly. "Go on, then."
"This-" Death gestured to the ice rimming the Well,
"disturbs me greatly."
"I'm not exactly fond of it either," Treize said,
"but I fail to see what I can do about it."
"You know, Walker has told you, that you have enemies
here, as well as there." Death gestured to the now-
dark pool. "You need to find and deal with them.
Until you do, the others are in danger on two fronts.
Think of it- if you can affect the world in ways you
should not, with so much changed, who is to say they
can't, as well?"
"I thought," Walker said into the stunned silence
that followed, "you couldn't aide the living in any
way, that it wasn't allowed."
"This-" Death gestured now to the unnatural winter of
the Place Between Worlds "This changes everything,
Walker. You know it does."
Treize nodded, and stood. He looked to Walker, who
nodded in reply. "Alright," the Ghost Knight said
quietly. "Let's go. We're settling nothing standing
around here."
Death waved them off with a gesture of his scythe.
"Go. You do what you must, but your obligations to
others are not lifted. I will watch, and summon you
if you are needed."
Treize and Walker exchanged looks. "Trust /you/ to
watch over the ones we love?" Walker said it for both
of them.
"Death is the greatest truth in existence, gentlemen,
therefore I cannot lie. If I say I will watch, then I
will do so. Go, quickly- the sooner you put an end to
this, the better."
* * *
"He makes it sound so damned easy," Walker said as
they looked out at the depressingly large gathering
of souls milling about the Place.
Treize nodded, stroking his chin. He watched the
souls as they passed, gauging their moods and
attitudes, and finally came to a decision. "You told
me not so long ago that your strength might be that
you were an 'ordinary' soul. I want you to do
something for me. Fade into this mass, become
'ordinary', unnoticed. You know what we seek- tell me
when you've found it."
"Alright," Walker said. "What are you going to do?"
"I will be what I am," Treize said. "I will fulfill
my role, do what must be done."
Something in Treize's sapphire gaze made Walker look
away, and he did not want to ask what the other man
had in mind. It was then that he began to truly
understand the power of the Ghost Knight, and what
made Treize Khushrenada so different from him.
* * *
The Lings' phone rang four or five times before John
Ling realized his son and Mariemaia were probably too
involved in their research to answer it, and went to
do so himself. He listened for a moment as Dorothy
Catalonia explained the situations, the children and
the fire, then called out "Mariemaia" in a voice that
made her turn immediately and take the phone from
him.
A few moments later she apologized quickly to David,
gathered her things, and dashed for the door. "I'm
sorry," she said as she stepped out into the hallway,
"I've got to-"
"Go," David told her. "You need a ride?"
"No, thanks, I'm okay."
"I'll walk you out."
David followed her out to the parking lot, and
watched as she got into her car. He waited until she
had gone and several moments had passed before
pulling his car keys from his pocket and hopping into
the station wagon that was his own mode of
transportation.
His pager went off as he was pulling out of the lot,
and he sighed as he glanced at the number. There was
a phone installed in the car, but he wasn't stupid
enough to return Linnea's page on anything his father
had used for police business. He stopped off at a gas
station and went to a pay phone.
"What?" he said when she answered at last.
"Nichol's managed to do something right for once."
"I heard," David said. "Mariemaia's on her way to the
hospital now. If you ask me, you should've grabbed
Terra while you had the chance."
"No, not yet," Linnea said. "Trust me, David, I know
what I'm doing. How soon can you get here?"
"You want me to-? Why?"
"Because I have two very frightened children here who
could stand to see a familiar face. When I said
Nichol had done something right, I should have been
more specific- he also did one thing wrong."
David swore softly. "He left Caro."
"Apparently she put up a fight, and in anger he made
the foolish decision to leave her behind. He is
regretting that, I can assure you." Linnea paused,
and David could nearly hear her smile. "Enough talk.
Get over here. Now."
The line went dead. He dropped the phone back into
its cradle and raced back to the car. When Linnea
said 'now', she meant it. David didn't like this
arrangement, and he was terrified that Mariemaia or
one of the others would find out about it. He'd never
be able to explain, and they wouldn't care- he'd
betrayed them, and the minute they found out about
it...Frankly he would rather take his chances with
Linnea. She was more predictable, on the whole.
* * *
The Place Between Worlds
Well of Souls
He could watch without aide of the Well, being master
of this odd realm turned even more so of lates, but
instead Death sat before the Well as Treize often
had, gazing down. He waited, and he watched, and he
kept his promises. Death saw the boy called David as
he made his way to keep his appointment with a woman
who was more dangerous than the fool young man
realized, saw the girl called Carolyn laying where
she'd fallen when Nichol pushed her away, waiting on
the Preventer search teams sent by Trowa and Quatre,
who would find her in time, but not yet.
This was not his domain, as none of these people were
anywhere near death. But he had promised his Ghost
Knight that he would watch, and watch he would. He
had not Treize's power to interfere, not so overtly,
but Death has his ways, and the specter was hardly
powerless.
He saw the girl Elena claw her way back towards
consciousness, saw her come to and launch herself,
clumsily, with fingers clawed and nails reaching out,
towards the silver-eyed form of Linnea Khushrenada,
who threw back her curly head and laughed as she
brushed the girl aside. He saw Elena's companion,
young Sarah, begin to weep as she cried out, "Where's
Caro?" And even the specter of Death had to admit, if
only to himself and in the privacy of his own cold
heart, that he felt a twinge of something... Could it
be pity? Pity for these children? Pity for all of
them, pity for...
...for this woman, the lovely brunette with the
haunted eyes, the woman Treize had loved enough to
defy him when none other dared? Could it be that he
pitied her, pitied them?
The woman seemed to meet his skeletal gaze, and in
that moment Death understood much. No, he could not
pity her, not this one. She had suffered much, but
she neither took, nor asked for, anyone's pity.
Death shook his head, and gestured irritably at the
Well, returning its focus to the others the Ghost
Knight held most dear, and the woman who had called
Walker inexplicably back from a place where there
should have been no return. He settled back on his
heels, holding to the haft of his scythe for support,
and continued his vigil.