Thanks to sparda219 for reviewing again! Yeah, Heero's not too happy right now...

Kazoku
by ReySolo and Tori Sakana

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Chapter 4 (In which Heero has a fluffy flashback)
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"Right… Left… Right…"

Turning as commanded, Heero clenched his jaw, trying to hide how difficult it was to simply follow Juuni's directions. He did realize this was probably their best plan of action, but he still hated it. He needed to find Duo and Sifir, blow things up, and get them the hell out of there. Not sit here following his daughter's direction to a trail that might end up leading to some radio station in the middle of nowhere.

It wasn't that he lacked faith in his child's abilities. He knew she was very bright and especially well trained for someone her age. After all, she was home schooled by her parents; taught everything from math and history to Japanese and survival training. But she was only five years old. He couldn't expect her to have learned all of Duo's mechanical skills and be able to create a functional tracking device from some old radio, could he?

"Left… Tousan, turn left…"

Heero looked ahead, seeing nothing but forest ahead on both sides of the road.

Ven explained, "He can't turn here, Juuni."

She looked up, seeing the problem. "Oh. Well, we have to go left."

Heero nodded, pulling the car to the side of the road. "Then we walk."

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Sifir sat at a desk, staring at the computer before him.

Dr. White explained, "The first test we have for you is rather simple. Since you've been home schooled, we don't have a great deal of information involving your academic progress so far. We also wish to know your level of your computing skills. Are you familiar with the general workings of a computer?"

Sifir nodded.

"What is your reading level?" While she was aware most four-year-olds could read and write little more than their own name, she also knew that this was no ordinary four-year-old. Indeed, had he been, he would not be here ready for testing and, hopefully soon, training.

The boy just looked up at her, a vaguely questioning look on his face.

Inwardly she sighed. While she was grateful that the kid didn't ramble irritatingly like his American father, she knew they would have to get him to speak a bit more, just to enable the training process.

She opened a program on the computer and pointed to the text box. "Can you read this?"

His eyes skimmed over the writing, and he nodded. After a brief moment of silence, he began to read it out loud.

Dr. White was impressed. While she had been reasonably certain he'd be able to comprehend the general ideas of the relatively simple text, she had expected him to at least stumble a bit more over the longer words, or maybe stutter a bit.

"That was very good," she said honestly. "Now, I want you to go through it and follow the instructions. If you have any questions, I'll be right here, but I want you to try to do it yourself first, okay?" Great, I sound like I'm talking to a two-year-old, she thought. Since they had decided to go after Yuy and Maxwell's son, she had told herself that the best way to get him to cooperate with them was for them to treat him as an adult. She had been trying so far, but it was hard; the boy was just so little, so young.

His first question after a few minutes further reminded her of his true age. "You're going to leave my dad alone, right? If I help you, you'll let him go?" He turned and looked at her, a look of worry in his previously emotionless face.

For a moment, Dr. White forgot she was a military scientist training a boy to become a weapon for destruction. "He'll be okay, Sifir," she assured him softly. Suddenly realizing what she was saying, she added, "Assuming you behave properly and do as you're told. If you cooperate, we'll have no reason to harm him. If you refuse, we will have to take proper actions to discipline you. His treatment is up to you, do you understand?"

His face hardened again, and he turned back to the computer screen without another word.

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When Duo awoke again, he was alone in the cell. His head still ached, but at this point he had more important things on his mind.

Like what the hell they were doing to Sifir. Where was he? Testing? What was that supposed to mean? All he knew was they were not going to make his son a weapon, and he sure as hell was not going to be the reason his son went along with it.

He hated this. He had to get out of here. But how? He still had a killer headache, and possibly a concussion, from that malicious tree branch. Plus he had to deal with how to find and get Sifir out as well. At least when he'd been captured during the war, he didn't have anyone else's survival depending on him. This sucks.

At least he was the one here instead of Heero or one of the other kids. This way, Ven and Juuni were safe, and he knew Heero would find some way to come rescue them. He just hoped Heero would think to bring somebody as back up. Remembering that Trowa and Quatre were off somewhere celebrating their anniversary and Wufei was with Sally and their kids on vacation, Duo wondered who his partner would get to help find them. He grinned as he imagined Heero trying to leave Juuni and Ven at Hilde's, the two of them complaining vehemently about their being left behind. He was sure the kids would drive their tousan nuts trying to convince him to let them come rescue their dad and brother.

His grin started to fade as he began to realize the seriousness of the situation. Did Heero even know what had happened to them? He supposed the ex-soldier could figure it out when they didn't return for several hours. But how could he find them? These people seemed like professionals; they wouldn't leave behind evidence for an ex-Gundam pilot to find. Duo realized that there was a strong possibility that Heero had no clue where to even start looking for them.

Come to think of it, Duo had no idea where they were, either. In fact, only the feeling that less than a day had passed gave him any evidence that they were even still on Earth.

Duo sighed, getting tired of his morose line of thoughts. Glancing up at the tiny camera, he smiled again. Might as well give his captors an interesting show…

Taking a deep breath, he began to sing, warbling horribly off-key. "This is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend…"

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As he followed behind Juuni, Heero pondered where they might be going. It was fairly obvious the kidnappers couldn't have come through this way; there was no way a van could have fit through here, and it would have been quite a challenge to drag two captives through here, especially when one was an unconscious adult. Though if Duo were conscious, Heero mused, it may have been even harder. There was no way his partner would allow himself and their son to be dragged off somewhere without a fight.

So if they hadn't come through this way, they must have entered the forest by some other path, possibly some secret entrance. They been driving for several hours before they began walking, so Heero didn't know the area very well. He supposed there could be a secret area hidden away in the trees somewhere, but why, he couldn't figure out.

The motives behind the kidnapping escaped him. Juuni had said something about using Sifir, but for what? The boy was only four years old! Granted, he is the intelligent son of two of the best soldiers on Earth and in the colonies, Heero admitted with a certain level of pride. But he was still only a child… Unless that was why they wanted him…

A chill ran through him as he considered the possibilities. If they needed a highly capable yet well conditioned soldier, the best way to get one was to begin training at a very early age. Remembering his own childhood of training to be a killer, Heero definitely did not want his son to go through that. Their kids were supposed to get the childhood he and Duo had never had. True, they were far from normal children, but they were not going to deal with the war and death their parents had experienced so early in life.

These thoughts reminded Heero of a night about eight years earlier…

The two lovers lay in bed, Duo's head resting on Heero's outstretched arm. "Hee-chan?" the braided boy asked.

"Hn?" came the reply.

"You know that couple we saw with the baby in the park today?"

Heero tilted his head to look at Duo. Where was this leading? "Yeah."

Duo kept his eyes focused on the ceiling, as if afraid to see his partner's response to his next question. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have a normal life like that? To have a family?"

Heero stiffened. "What do you mean?" Was Duo unhappy living with him? Did he want to leave, to find a woman who could make a loving wife and mother?

Sensing his partner's unease, Duo turned to look him in the eye. "Don't worry, Hee-chan, I love you and always will. In fact, I… What would you say to us… having kids of our own?"

The question surprised him, though he supposed it shouldn't have. "Adoption?" he asked, trying not to sound like he was agreeing or disagreeing, just wanting more information.

Duo shook his head, a half-smirk on his face. "Nah, better. I saw this ad that said they've been working on this new technology, that they can create an embryo from the genes of any two people, regardless of their genders. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I thought… maybe we could…" he trailed off, looking at his love with apprehension.

Heero was silent for a moment, considering what Duo had suggested. He had never actually thought about having kids; he didn't really consider himself father material. But suddenly the image of little Duos running around causing mischief popped into his head. Strangely, the image gave him a warm, contented feeling inside.

He also realized they had never mentioned any sort of commitment before. They had been sleeping together for over two years now, and Heero had even admitted to the braided boy that he loved him, but there had been no talk of how long they intended to remain together. If they had kids together, especially in the way Duo was proposing, that would almost certainly mean they would have to stay together for quite a long time, if only to raise the children. The idea of that kind of commitment… wasn't scaring him as much as he'd thought it would.

Heero realized he had been thinking in silence for a while, and Duo had turned back to face the ceiling. "I mean, I understand if you don't want to. It was just a thought…"

"Duo," he interrupted. He didn't continue until his love was looking him in the eye. "The idea sounds… interesting. Look into it, find out what exactly we would have to do."

Duo's face burst into a grin. "Thanks, Hee-chan! I will!" He pulled closer to his lover and planted a quick peck on his lips.

"Just so long as the kids don't interfere too much in our… nightly activities," Heero added, a feral look in his eyes.

"Well, in case they might, we'll just have to make up for that before it becomes an issue, won't we?" Duo replied, a matching expression full of desire on his own face.

Their serious talk was temporarily forgotten as they communicated in more primitive ways that night…

The corner of Heero's lip curved upwards as he remembered that night. He never would have dreamed eight years ago how important this family would become to him.

And now his family was in danger, and he had to save them.

They continued their trek through the forest.

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TBC
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Co-author Rant: Not much to rant about now...cute lil part, yay...Um...Er...Eh...Oh yeah! Please review and go look at the pictures of the kids (if you haven't already). Artists need feedback too. I'm so unloved. *sniff sniff* But begging is beneath me. So I won't beg. But I will cajole, wheedle, and blackmail! Review, or else! C'mon, you know you want to... All right, I'm done. Happy Tuesday everyone!