Hey all! Thanks for the reviews again, Shichan (glad to know you like Dr. White; I was worried about whether people would hate her or like her) and Sparda (vengeancy goodness on its way!). I think this is my favorite chapter yet... Enjoy! :)
Kazoku
by ReySolo and Tori Sakana
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Chapter 13 (In which we give you yet another cliffhanger)
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Dr. White watched Yuy in action as he stealthily moved down the corridor, glancing back every few seconds to make sure all three kids were behind him, and presumably to be sure that she wasn't acting against them in any way. She had no intentions to do so, however. She had told Sifir's Japanese father the truth: while she had felt loyalty to her organization in the past, the last few days had convinced her otherwise. Now she really did wish to help the bright young boy who had been in her care get out of here safely.
They had discussed plans for locating Maxwell. Dr. White had offered to take the kids either outside the building or to a secure room on the premises, but, as she'd predicted, Yuy had rejected that offer with a glare. He had no reason to trust her with the lives of his three children. Despite the benefits his being alone would give the search, it wasn't worth the risks. So the five of them were left to investigate the place systematically, with Dr. White attempting to give helpful advice on where the missing Maxwell might be.
They had checked the cell first, just in case. As they'd expected, it was empty. While her superior had informed her that the man had been killed, Sifir's questioning of Hanaoka indicated something suspicious. Could the execution have been fouled up somehow, and Maxwell escaped? In that case, she realized there was a possibility those in charge would simply attempt to go through with Sifir's Stage 10 anyway. Dr. White hoped that was the case.
The only problem with that was actually finding the man. On the run, he would be just as hard for his family to find him as for her organization to do so. And she was willing to bet that, as a former Gundam pilot, Maxwell would be rather difficult to catch.
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"Who would have thought catching you would be this simple?"
Duo assumed Wong was asking that question rhetorically. He did agree, however; he had been a complete idiot. He knew the man who'd been sent to kill him was on the run; the body on the floor should have set off alarms in his head immediately. But the distraction of seeing that Heero was here and Sifir was safe caught him off guard just long enough for Wong to get the drop on him again.
"You realize that if you do anything to me, my Hee-chan's gonna be pretty upset with you?" Duo informed the smirking man holding the gun on him.
Wong shrugged. "I was planning to phrase it slightly differently, actually. Either he helps me escape here unscathed, or I kill you."
Is this guy suicidal, or just stupid? Probably that second one… Duo thought to himself. "He's not going to like that."
"He doesn't have to like it," Wong replied confidently. "He just has to do what I say."
Geez, you try to warn a guy… Duo rolled his eyes at the man's utter ignorance of the wrath of a pissed Heero Yuy.
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Heero was pissed. The relief of finding Sifir safe had worn off, leaving only worry for his partner. That worry had rapidly turned into frustration, as he wanted to just find Duo so he could get the kids out of here as soon as possible. Dr. White's presence, while she might prove to be useful, also presented him with an unknown. While he wanted to trust his son's judgment of her, it simply wasn't worth the risk.
He was about to turn the next corner when a vehemently whispered voice stopped him.
"Wait!"
He turned back to look at Dr. White, his eyes asking her what the problem was.
"That hallway is probably filled with guards." When she noticed Heero seemed to desire more of an explanation, she sighed. "The MS bay is in that direction."
Ven and Juuni looked up at her curiously. Sifir watched his tousan in silence.
Heero's eyes widened for a moment, before he realized he shouldn't be surprised. This probably was the radical group he'd read up on the night before, and the converted areas he'd seen from outside before were large enough to hold several mobile suits. Still, the existence of those now-illegal machines meant they had yet another objective before leaving the area. After finding Duo.
Heero nodded, then asked, "Where do you suggest we search next, then?" He didn't want to think about the possibility that Duo, assuming he'd escaped at all, had headed in that direction and been captured once more, or been simply shot on sight. He would rather exhaust all other possibilities before investigating that route.
Dr. White furrowed her eyebrows in thought for a moment, then met Heero's eyes once more. "We could check out Security," she suggested, knowing not to phrase any advice like an order. "There will be several guards, but we might be able to find some trace of him on the security cameras."
He nodded again and gestured for her to lead the way. He was about to follow her when he heard Juuni gasp. She pointed wordlessly behind his back, and he spun around to find two guards just turning the corner.
Swearing silently, Heero thought quickly. He grabbed Dr. White and held his gun to her head. "Weapons down or your good doctor dies." He was grateful to see Ven pull his two younger siblings so all three were behind their tousan's back and out of the line of fire. He did not miss the worried look on Sifir's face.
The guards seemed rather startled to find the intruders standing right before them, but recovered quickly, bringing their weapons to bear on the apparent hostage situation.
"I said weapons down!" Heero commanded.
The ferocity of his voice caused both to flinch, but neither lowered his gun.
"Please, he's going to kill me," Dr. White begged as the gun to her head was cocked. "He's already killed several others, please, put your guns down!"
Heero realized she was playing along wonderfully. He fought the urge to smirk, as that might render her acting job pointless.
Looking unsure, the two finally dropped their weapons to the floor. He began to walk backwards toward the closest corner, having confidence that his kids were doing the same. "Follow us and she dies," he warned.
They were almost to the corner when he saw one of the guards pull a second gun from a hidden pocket and bring it up. Heero tried to turn his own weapon on the man, but was too slow.
BANG!
He winced as the bullet grazed his upper right arm, nearly causing him to lose grip on the weapon. Before he could react, he heard two more sudden sounds from behind him.
POP!
ZZZT!
Both guards dropped to the ground and didn't move.
Eyes wide, Heero released the just-as-startled doctor and whirled around.
Ven and Juuni were both looking between their respective weapons and the unconscious men behind their tousan.[1]
Sifir was staring at his older siblings in admiration. Dr. White appeared to be in shock. Heero recovered first.
"Nice shots, both of you," he congratulated his oldest two, smiling slightly.
Both looked up suddenly, as if just realizing he was there. Ven gave a half smile, half smirk, then looked at Juuni's taser and frowned. He grabbed it and shoved his own dart gun into her lax hand. "I want the one that zaps people," he mumbled.
"Hey!" Juuni shouted. "Tousan, make him—" she cut off her complaint as her eyes fell on his arm. "Tousan, you got shot!"
Blinking, Heero glanced at his sluggishly bleeding wound. "It's just a graze; I'll be fine." He looked back at the unconscious guards. "We should get going, in case someone heard the shots."
Dr. White seemed to have finally snapped out of it. "You're right. Security's this way," she gestured, and the troop was once again on the hunt for Duo Maxwell.
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Duo was getting annoyed. Wong had forced him to sit facing away from the security cameras, while the man himself watched with exaggerated facial expressions whatever was going on elsewhere in the building. Duo thought all the other man needed was a big bag of popcorn instead of a gun in his hand and he'd be the perfect picture of a movie-viewing audience member.
"Some kids you got there," Wong commented, after some particularly intrigued-looking expressions.
At the mention of his kids, Duo reflexively started to turn to see what was going on. A gunshot right to the side of his leg stalled that motion immediately.
He was getting excessively frustrated with this guy. "Look, all I want is to see if my family is okay. Is that so much to ask?"
Wong shrugged. "Seem okay to me." He glanced up at the screen, then back at Duo. "Huh, looks like they're headed this way, too. Ready for a nice little family reunion?" he asked, gesturing with his weapon.
Despite the motion that he assumed was meant to be intimidating, Duo couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief. Soon, this would all be over.
Heero was coming to save the day.
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When they reached the security office, Heero put his ear to the door to listen.
"Please, Yuy, come in."
He jerked back in surprise. He certainly hadn't expected to hear that. It then occurred to him that perhaps leaning against the door had not been the most brilliant idea: glancing down the hallway, he saw the camera that no doubt relayed his image to a screen just inside this very door. He'd been lucky that those inside hadn't just shot at him through the door.
Slowly, he opened the door, weapon at the ready.
His eyes hardened as they fell upon a man holding a gun to Duo's head, other hand gripping the chestnut braid. Heero ran his gaze along his partner's body, checking for any obvious injuries. Satisfied enough with his search, he met Duo's eyes.
When their eyes locked, so much emotion was shared that Heero felt he could never tear his gaze away. Still, somehow he managed to meet the eyes of his partner's captor. "Let him go."
Peripherally, he saw the others file in behind him, but he kept his attention on the two before him.
The man looked at the new arrivals. "Joined the enemy, have you, Dr. White?"
"Failed your assignment and trying to weasel your way out of here, are you, Dr. Wong?" she shot back.
Not wanting this to turn into a verbal sparring match between White and Wong [2], Heero ordered again, "Let him go."
"I'll let him go if you get me out of here safely," Dr. Wong argued. "Like White said, my own people are after me."
"If you hurt him, I will kill you," Heero stated flatly. "Let him go."
"Told you so, Wong buddy." Duo smirked.
"Shut up," Wong growled, then shrugged. "He's not going to do anything that bad to me with his kids watching."
Heero's eyes narrowed. "Out," he commanded the children shortly.
Wong looked nervous for a second, then masked it. "My organization is after your kids, too, remember. You're going to leave them out there alone? Or maybe with that turncoat?" He glared at Dr. White, who glared right back.
Heero hated the fact that he agreed with the man. Fighting the urge to sigh, he pulled out one of his spare guns with his free hand. "Ven, give the taser to Sifir," he instructed, handing the spare gun to his oldest son.
"Hey, he took that from me!" Juuni argued. "Sifir can have this, I'll take that one!" She shoved the dart gun at her younger brother.
"I'm the oldest," Ven retorted, thrusting the taser at the boy.
Sifir just looked warily at both weapons as if they were live grenades. Heero supposed it might have something to do with the fact that he had nearly been talked into killing someone minutes earlier.
"It doesn't matter, all you have to do is get me out of here," Wong interjected, but no one seemed to be listening.
"You two are both kids; I—"—Dr. White saw Heero's glare aimed at her—"—don't expect to be trusted with that, though." Heero nodded at her.
"I'm the one you should be paying attention to!" Wong protested. He was still ignored.
Heero grabbed the taser, forced it into Sifir's barely willing hand, and pushed the lethal gun into Ven's hand, all while keeping the gun in his right hand trained on Wong. "Only if absolutely necessary," he commanded his oldest.
Ven nodded solemnly.
Suddenly a gasp was heard, followed by "Itai!!"
Everyone looked up at Duo, whose braid had apparently been yanked by the frustrated Dr. Wong.
"I told you to pay attention to me," the doctor complained.
"I told you that if you hurt him…" Heero his Death Glare remind the other man what the rest of his threat had been.
"Now you've done it, Wong buddy…" Duo announced. "Hee-chan's pissed."
Heero jerked his head toward the door. "Out. Now. White, you too."
As the kids left, they looked absolutely terrified. Duo didn't know if it was due to the gun to his own head or the ferocious look in their tousan's eyes.
As the door shut behind the four, Wong swallowed in fear.
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Outside the door, Ven, Juuni, and Sifir stood against the wall, too afraid to listen to what was going on behind the door. Dr. White stood across from them, watching for any coming guards.
There were a few nerve-wracking minutes of silence.
Then, a single gunshot.
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TBC
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[1] See! Ven and Juuni can do stuff! They're not just there as liabilities! Okay, fine, they kind of are, but they still managed to help out, so there!
[2] ::authors sweatdrop::
Coauthor Rant: Buwahahahaha! White and Wong! Man, I really crack myself up sometimes... (Rey: Hey! I came up with that! Tori: So what? Shut up and get back to work!) Anyway, another cliffhanger! Ha! But since school's out in only two short weeks, I'm thinking we're going to have to hurry up and get out the rest of this fic before summer! Rey's going back home and I'm going out to Arizona (National Solar Observatory! Whoot!) so work over the summer is kinda hard. Oh well. We'll get it done, never fear! It's just been rough recently, what with tests and projects and martial arts. But we're back! Sorry, no progress on the pic yet... don't kill me! I just had to finish up a sketch for something else first. I'll get to work on it soon, promise!
In other news, Taboo is much more fun to play if you use clues from fandoms. Nothing confuses your teammates like saying 'Quatre plays it, but it's not a violin' when they have noooo clue what you're talking about.
Pop Quiz: What instrument is it, and in what episode does Quatre play it? Guess right and win a prize! All right, you don't, you'll just get our admiration and respect. But hey, that's gotta be worth something, right?
Good luck with finals and the end of the year!
I'll catch you on the flip side...