Author's Notes: *Gasp* Egads, she makes an update! Sorry about that, ya'll….laziness, laziness on my part. *bows* Gomen ne!! Enjoy. Chapter Fifty: Zoku

          Anna sat by Jack Avis' bedside, his chart in her lap under the book she was reading. His condition had improved dramatically since he arrived in Chicago that morning, and she hoped that he might wake up soon.

          She knew that Duo was worried about her, and she knew that Wufei knew something was wrong. Poor Sparky just wanted to sleep, which was what he was doing at the apartment at the moment.

          She stared at Jack's pale face and smiled sadly. He was a beautiful young man, and from what she had seen he was extremely intelligent not to mention loyal.

          "Doctor?" a young nurse stuck her head through the door.

          Anna looked up. "Yes?"

          "There's a call for you at the desk."

          "Thank you."

          Anna stood and went down the hall to the floor desk, and hit the hold button. "Yes?"

          There was a pause. "Are you Ms. Maxwell?"

          Anna frowned. "I am. Who is this?"

          "I just wanted to congratulate you. You'll be hearing more from us shortly." There was a click, then silence.

          Anna blinked and hung up. That was weird… She'd have to tell Duo about it later. She shook her head and went back to Jack's room.

          As soon as she opened the door, she knew something was different. It was instinct, coming back to scream at her. She glanced around before looking at Jack himself.

          His hair, she realized, was different. Not only that, his face was tilted to the right, as if he was looking at the window. She cautiously moved towards him, sitting back in her seat.

          "Jack?" she asked softly.

          The boy stirred and he inhaled deeply. His eyelids fluttered several times, he was still; and he opened his eyes. The blue-grey orbs were wide and confused as he looked around, trying to get his bearings. His gaze finally fell on Anna. He recognized her, but didn't appear to feel threatened.

          "Wha…" he tried, finding his voice scratchy and his throat unbelievably sore.

          Anna brought over a cup with water and a straw. She waited until he was finished and put the cup down. "Welcome back." She said.

          "Where am I?" he rasped.

          "You are in Rush Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. You are also in the year 2012." Anna told him. "What do you remember?"

          He thought for a moment. "My name is Jack Avis, I'm nineteen years old, and I work for Trowa Barton." He frowned. "Or at least I did. He took me to Tokyo to get me away from OWN. How did I wind up here? Where is Trowa?"

          Anna leaned back in her chair. "There's a lot you need to be caught up on, Jack. Do you remember what happened to you in Tokyo?"

          He blinked. "I was shot. Yes, that's right. I was shot by Heero Yuy. Oh, no, Yuy didn't kill Trowa did he?" Jack asked, heart rate rising on the monitor.

          Anna patted his arm. "No, darling, Heero didn't kill Trowa. Do you remember anything else about Tokyo?"

          Jack shook his head. "I remember falling, and Trowa catching me…after that nothing."

          "All right. I'll be frank with you, because I think you deserve that much. I'll make it short, because you still need to rest. You died, darling." She said, making it smooth and easy, as if it happened every day.

          He blinked again, digesting this information. "Oh. And they revived me or something?"

          Anna nodded. "Or something."

          "Is there permanent damage?" he asked, not sure where she was going with this.

          "Not that I can foresee. I'll give you a little background before I hit the point home. If you don't remember me, I'm Anna Maxwell. You saw me when Trowa thought I was a traitor and I thought he was a traitor and all that mess. Neither of us were, I've come to find out."

          Jack smiled.

          "At any rate, yes, Heero Yuy shot and killed you. Several days later I fought with Victor and killed him. I was injured in the process and when I came too I found out that a friend of mine had experimented with a drug. A life-reviving drug. She revived you."

          "They couldn't bring me back with shock, huh?"

          "Not at that point. You'd been dead three days."

          Jack paled as the point set in. "What?" he croaked.

          "Three days." Anna repeated. "I'm telling you this because a lot happened during that time period that you'll later need to know about. You would have found out anyway, but I wanted to get it in so you would have time to chew on it. I'm sorry I overwhelmed you." Anna apologized.

          Jack gratefully accepted the water she handed him. He gave it back and stared wide-eyed at her. "Wow." He muttered. "Wow."

          She rubbed his arm. "You'll be fine. You may get a little more winded than before, but time should cure that. You're a lucky man, Jack."

          Jack decided the best way to handle that information was like a soldier, to take it as fact and swallow it. He nodded and met her gaze. "So we're on the same side?" he asked.

          "Yes, we are. And I'm glad of it." Anna replied.

          "Me too. Where's Trowa?" he asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

          Anna paused as his eyes grew droopy. "You sleep. We'll talk later, okay? I'm going to take care of you."

          He nodded, and drifted off.

          Anna rubbed the cross at her neck and sent silent thanks heavenwards for small miracles. And big ones. 

          "You didn't tell him." Wufei said quietly from the doorway.

          Anna turned, and shook her head slowly. "I didn't know what to tell him."

          "Trowa's dead Anna, tell him the truth."

          "He wasn't ready to hear it. I'm afraid it would destroy him. You saw…"

          "But you will tell him."

          "I have to. I don't have a choice." Anna said. "It's just that…not everything isn't as it seems, you know?"

          Wufei tilted his head and began to ask a question, but Duo came in.

          "Hey, you two. I've got bad news and good news, which would ya like?" the American asked.

          Anna set her book down on Jack's bed. "Bad."

          "There's been another attack on Relena. Chase and Heero didn't reach her in time."

          "I hope you're not going to say the good news is that she's dead." Wufei said dryly. Anna smacked him with her fan.

          Duo grinned. "No, she isn't dead, much to Chase's irritation. I think our Queen of the World is wondering if Chase is her ally, what do her enemies want to do to her?"

          "Is she all right?"

          "No idea, Chase was kind of ticked when I talked to her. Didn't give me any details." Duo said.

          "What's the good news?" Wufei asked.

          "Quatre called. He thinks he got a spot on Ryuujin in Tokyo. He wasn't totally sure it was him, but how many Caucasian boys with blue hair can you find over there?"

          "Depends. Are we at an anime convention?" Anna asked.

          Duo grinned. "Very funny. Do you think we should go after him?"

          "No." Wufei said. "We should wait and see what he's up too."

          "What makes you think he's up to something? I have to agree with Chase's point on this one. He's probably just hanging low because of Trowa." Duo said.

          "Whom he killed, if you weren't up to date. Whether Trowa was as a big a traitor as we thought or not, Ryuujin still murdered him, and Trowa was still one of us." Wufei said, eyes narrowing.

          "I know that! It hurt me as much as you, we were all family. Ryuujin killed Trowa, duh. Nobody knows the reason behind it. Maybe he knew something we didn't."

          "Or maybe he was just protecting Quatre, proving that he wasn't…"

          Anna cut them off. "That's enough, both of you. There's a patient in here, don't forget." She snapped. "Trowa's death has no bearing on our next move. There is obviously a bigger enemy out there that we now have to face. We should leave the dead dead, and Ryuujin to his own doings." She stood and moved past them. "I'm going home, you guys. I'll see you later."

          Duo and Wufei stood shoulder to shoulder as she disappeared.

          "She knows something." The Chinese man said.

          "I know." Duo replied quietly.

          They sighed simultaneously.

          Anna decided not to go straight home, but when she did she walked, so she wasn't surprised when she saw Duo's car in the parking lot. She felt like she was living on borrowed time. What had been confusing before was picture perfect now, but she could see the fuse on the end of her life. There was the war on the horizon, Ryuujin's disappearance, and Trowa's fragile life hanging in the balance, the baby…

          She took a deep breath and stuck her mailbox key in the lock. She opened the little door and pulled out a single card from the box. Anna frowned. It was postmarked from the year A.C. 210. Unless Chase had sent her a postcard…

          She ripped open the envelope. It wasn't a card, it was an invitation.

Addressed to:

Duo and Anna Maxwell

We Would Be Honored if You Would Accept

This Invitation to the Inaugural Ball

At Peacemillion Hall

This Saturday

8:OO p.m.

Her Majesty Looks Forward to Your Company

          "What in the world? Her majesty?" She mumbled. Anna glanced around out of habit and put the invitation back in the envelope.

          She made her way up to the townhouse, opening the all ready unlocked door. She saw Duo's jacket, so she wasn't concerned.

          "I'm home!" she called, dropping her jacket beside his. She placed her purse on the floor and made her way upstairs. She went to her bedroom doorway. "You won't believe………Duo?"

          He was sitting on her bed, a box in his lap, papers and pictures in his hand. He looked up at her with emotionless violet eyes. "Akage? Baby? What is this, Anna?" he asked, voice just above a cold whisper.

          She felt the blood drain out of her face. "Oh," she whispered.

          She had major league problems now.