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Kazoku
by ReySolo and Tori Sakana
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Chapter 3 (In which Duo is childish and Sifir is not)
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Heero typed madly at his laptop, searching for some clue as to where three members of his family might have been taken, who might have kidnapped them, and why. So far he'd found nothing.
Ventuno, meanwhile, paced the house, occasionally attempting to distract himself by playing shoot-'em-up video games, but it wasn't working. He was their older brother, dang it, he was supposed to protect them! He didn't care that he was only seven years old, he still felt like he should have done something—should be doing something.
Heero aggressively typed a few more keys, then growled, slamming his fist into the desk. That was his last lead, until his sources called or emailed him with more information.
He glared at the phone, as if doing so would scare it into ringing.
It worked. Well, at any rate, the phone rang. Picking it up, he growled, "Yuy."
There was a pause. "T--Tousan?"
"Juuni??" A second after Heero spoke Ven was right at his side, head by the phone to listen to the conversation.
He heard her take a deep breath, then begin,
"TherewerethesebadmenandtheyknockedoutDadandkidnappedusandSifirandthey'regonnausehimforsomethingbadbut
Idon'tknowwhatandthentheysaidIwasannoyingandtheyweregonnakillmebuttheydumpedmeoutinthemiddleofnowhereso
IhadtowalkreallyreallyfartothisgasstationandgettheguytoletmeusehisphoneandDadandSifirarestillwiththebadmenbutIleft
thistrackingthingImadethatIwasgonnasurpriseyouwithsowecanfindthembut—"
As she paused to breathe, Heero interrupted, "Wait—what did you say?" He heard her begin to take another deep breath and said, "No—slower. Bad men kidnapped you and Sifir and Dad, and what else?"
Now Ven interrupted before she could speak. "She said Dad was knocked out, the bad men are going to use Sifir for something bad, they found her annoying so they dumped her and she walked to a gas station, and she left a tracking device so hopefully we can find them without too much trouble. Right, Juuni?"
"Uh-huh!"
Heero fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Okay, Juuni, where are you?"
"Um…" She asked the cashier, then repeated the instructions to Heero.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes," he assured her. "Where's the receiver for the transmitter you left?"
"I have it with me." With a note of pride in her voice, she explained, "I made it all by myself, using that old radio Dad got me. It was gonna be a surprise for you and Dad." There was a pause, and she asked more quietly, "They're gonna be okay, right, Tousan?"
Ven glanced at him expectantly.
Heero held his gaze, determination in his eyes. "We will find them." He had never lied to his kids. He was not about to start. Therefore, they would find Duo and Sifir.
He just wondered what condition they would be in once they found them.
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"This is the most cramped cell I've ever been in. And my head hurts; can't I have some painkiller or something? And what's with this room service? You haven't come to feed us once! I'm hunnnngry! And what if we have to go to the bathroom? Will you let us out or just make this cell messier than it is?" After awakening in the small cell, Duo had first inspected his son for any injuries, then looked around their cramped surroundings. There was little in the way of décor, but he had noticed a small camera obviously listening to and watching all of their activities. Always one to find the bright side of things, Duo took this as an opportunity to annoy the living daylights out of their captors.
"Tabun nakigoto o yamereba, sansei suru wa motto arisou yo," Sifir said quietly. [1]
Duo looked at his son suspiciously, "What was that?"
"Nakigoto o yamete tte ita; yakamashii n da yo." [2]
"Sifir, you know Tousan hasn't taught me Japanese."
"Wakatte iru." [3]
Duo noticed a familiar smug look on his son's face. God, Heero, this kid is mine, too, right? You sure he's not just a clone of you with brown eyes? Duo wondered. "Come on, I know you said something about me…" he complained.
"Baka." [4]
"Hey, I know that one. You're going to be in trouble once we get out of here," Duo warned.
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As Heero pulled the car up outside the gas station, Ventuno jumped out of the car and raced toward Juuni, twirling her around in a giddy hug. "Juuni, you're okay!"
She grinned. "Yeah, what'd you expect? I can walk a few miles by myself; I am five and a half…"
He poked her. "I told you being annoying would get you in trouble some day."
"In trouble?" Juuni asked incredulously. "No, being annoying got me out of trouble! See, I learned useful skills from Dad, too!"
After parking the car, Heero approached them, not quite as exuberantly as his son had, but the relief he felt was still obvious. "Juuni, are you all right?"
She nodded, grinning. Soon, the grin vanished, however. "But Dad isn't, he hadn't woken up yet when I last saw him, and he and Sifir are still in trouble. We have to go rescue them!"
Heero looked at her seriously. "I have to go rescue them. You two are going to stay with Hilde until this gets worked out."
Ven and Juuni stared at him in shock, as if the thought had never crossed their minds that he might leave them behind.
Then, after a moment of silence, both spoke at once: "But, Tousan!" Juuni whined as Ven demanded, "Why can't--?"
Heero held up one hand, stopping them from continuing. "You are kids. I know we try to treat you like you are older than you are, but that does not change the fact that you are children. Not only that, you are my children. I will not jeopardize your safety, especially when two of our family are already missing." He spoke respectfully but firmly.
Juuni stuck out her bottom lip, pouting, but Ven just looked pensive. "But what if we can help? Juuni is the one who thought of the tracking device; it's only fair that she's the one to trace them," he pointed out.
"Yeah!" his sister agreed enthusiastically.
"And Dad hasn't been teaching me thieving skills for nothing," Ven continued. "I could probably get into and out of an enemy base without being noticed, no problem."
Heero raised an eyebrow at his son's cockiness. He must have gotten that from his dad…
Ven hadn't finished. "And you aren't going to go do this alone, and I doubt you're willing to wait the time it would take for Uncle Trowa and Uncle Quatre, and Uncle Wuffie and Aunt Sally, to get back from their vacations. So that doesn't leave many options. Face it, Tousan: You need us." He and Juuni were both standing proudly, backs straight, as if that would be all their tousan needed to agree.
Heero had to admit his son had good reasoning. He wouldn't be surprised if Ven had actually been considering this earlier and had that speech planned. However, the dangers of dragging those two into this still remained. "All right, you can come--for now."
"Yay!" Juuni cried, as Ven grinned in triumph.
"However," he continued, a stern look on his face, "You will do exactly as I tell you. When I say wait somewhere, you will wait. When I say run, you will run. No matter what else is going on, you will obey immediately. Understood?"
The two nodded solemnly.
"Good." Heero headed back to the car. "Now, let's go find your dad and brother."
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Finally, the door to the cell opened. A severe-looking woman with dark hair pulled tightly back entered, followed by two guards with guns. She barely glanced at Duo, then met Sifir's eyes.
"Hello, Sifir," she greeted him.
The boy just glared at her.
"You can call me Dr. White. I apologize for any difficulties in your arrival here. I trust your escort treated you properly other than the unfortunate means of transport?"
Sifir remained silent, but Duo was only too eager to answer. "Properly?? They knocked me out and kidnapped us! My head is killing me! And how come we still haven't gotten fed yet?" he demanded indignantly.
Finally the woman turned to meet Duo's eyes. "I am not very concerned with your well-being, Mr. Maxwell. Your injury is not life-threatening. You will receive nourishment twice daily. You will be permitted bathroom privileges three times daily. If you misbehave, meal or bathroom privileges may be taken away."
Duo looked at her incredulously. She's treating me like I'm four and Sifir like he's an adult. What the hell is going on here, anyway? Deciding it couldn't hurt to act a bit more mature, he asked, "Who are you? Why are we here?"
Dr. White raised an eyebrow. "You are here to act as…" She paused, as if searching for the right word—"Motivation."
Realization hit, and both Duo and Dr. White turned to look at Sifir at the same time.
"Sifir, I'd like you to come with me for some tests," the woman commanded, reaching out her hand toward him.
Cold fury flashed in Duo's eyes, and he moved to stand directly in front of his son.
"You will leave. My son. The Hell. Alone."
She sighed. "We are not going to hurt him," she assured. "We're going to use him. Think of it, the son of the Perfect Soldier and Shinigami... He could really be the perfect weapon."
Duo didn't move. "Over my dead body."
Dr. White shrugged. "Well, if you insist..." One of the guards raised his weapon and aimed it directly at Duo's heart. Duo braced himself for the pain he knew was coming.
"NO!" a young but firm voice came from behind him. Sifir stepped out from behind his father's back. "I'll--I'll help you."
"Sifir!" Duo hissed.
When his youngest son looked up at him, Duo gasped. For the first time in ages, Sifir's eyes were not cold or expressionless. Instead there was a look of fear for Duo and a plea for understanding. The four-year-old turned back toward the woman, the cold glare returning to his face. "If you promise not to hurt my dad, I will help you."
Duo's heart was racing with mixed emotions. For the first time, he knew that Sifir really cared about him; he hadn't even realized that he was so unsure of his own son's feelings. But now, he knew his son worried enough about him to become a weapon for the enemy, and that was so not going to happen.
Simultaneously the doctor reached out again for Sifir's hand, the boy took it, and Duo grabbed his son by the waist. The guards were apparently expecting this; one guard smashed his weapon into Duo's already injured head while the other caught Sifir. Duo fell to the ground with a groan, barely able to lift his head as his son was dragged out of the cell.
Sifir's small whisper of "Dad…" was the last thing Duo heard before he lost consciousness.
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TBC
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Footnotes:
[1] "Tabun nakigoto o yamereba, sansei suru wa motto arisou yo." = "Maybe if you stop whining, they'll be more likely to agree."
[2] "Nakigoto o yamete tte ita; yakamashii n da yo." = "I said stop whining; it's annoying."
[3] "Wakatte iru." = "I know."
[4] I hope everybody out there knows what "baka" means…
Co-author Rant: Whee! I have returned! I wish to apologize to any and all Japanese persons for the heinous grammar in the above footnotes. Me no speaka da English, and me definitely no speaka da Japanese. If it sucks, I'm sorry. And if it's right, then hooray for Tori! And go look at my pictures!