Artemis shifted in her hospital bed, her brown eyes staring up at the stark white ceiling. Everything was white. The floor, the walls, the bed... the ceiling, etc. She closed her eyes, annoyed, and called out to the empty air, "Am I done yet?" Muffled laughter greeted her ears from another room, and she grumbled, "Where's the damn doctor?" She nearly fell out of her bed when someone answered her.

"Probably hiding from your next fit."

"Apollo!" She hollered, "Don't do that! Tell a Goddess when you're in the damned room!" She shifted a little, and finally caught sight of her younger brother hanging out by the medicine counter. "You were napping when I came in, was I supposed to tell you then?" His cool smile pricked on her nerves, and she waved her arms around in anger, only to groan and lay them back down.

"It would have been nice."

"Before or after you bit my head off for waking you up?"

He definitely had her pegged. Artemis smiled sweetly at him, and Apollo gave her an oddly tortured look. "None of that, Artemis, I'm not allowed to drug you anymore." The two of them were only half brother and sister, with Artemis being older by a bare six months, but the sibling connection was obvious. They'd both inherited their Father's brown shaggy hair and his warm brown eyes. Apollo's were just a little more honeyed than Artemis' were.

"Two options, same result. One's just quicker."

"You are not getting out of that bed; you've got more injuries than last time. You're lucky Nike and Tyche were able to get you here alive." Apollo reprimanded strongly, knowing full well she was talking about beating the shit out of him to get the painkillers.

"I'm too stubborn to die, duh."

Apollo looked away from her and continued measuring the small pink pills into the medicine bottle. For a while, his older sister ignored him, turned her back on him even and stared at the white wall. "Who needs meds?" Artemis asked finally, her curiosity getting the best of her. "Oenothea needs some pinkies." He said absently, and to this, she lifted a brow and rolled over to face his back.

"Oenothea does?"

She knew their younger member often had problems with nightmares, but to ask for sleeping pills? Sure, they all had problems. They all came from different walks of life with different things to go bump in the night. They'd never asked for the pinkies though.

"Commander said to give them to her, it's gotten bad," Apollo started to write on the label for the bottle, shaking his head, "the girl did watch rebels kill her parents in front of her only seven months ago." Artemis lay back, locking her fingers together beneath her neck, "So? We've seen worse massacre."

"We weren't six with all dreams of a stable future, now were we?"

"True." She admitted, shrugging a little as she did so. All three of them had been fondly referred as the Tightrope Trio by Jun Keitori, their Commander's late wife. It was her joke about how they had to walk together, before they joined Myth, on a little tiny rope of sanity and security. Their parents, all four of them, had been rebel targets. Only the three half brother-half sisters had made it out.

"Are you done chitchatting?" Nike asked from the door way, and Apollo shrugged, "Not really, but join us." The red head grinned, and smacked her leather clad hip, "Wish I could. I need to pick up some date rape bait and take off."

Artemis eyed her comrade, taking in the tight leather pants, the leather tube top, and the black stilettos. "You aren't going clubbing, not without me," she whined, and Nike shook her head, "Mission, you know how it is. One pill here, another there, see what they carry on them, position four men in compromising positions..."

"Only four?"

Nike shrugged, "Four men, two women. Maybe another man and woman at the last minute. Plan for triple that, Apollo, and give me the pills." The only God in Myth eyed her oddly, "You won't overdose them?" She reacted like she'd been slapped, hard, "And make Tyche go through another five hour lecture? Good Goddess, no! She comes back and gives it all back to me!"

Artemis grinned cheekily, "I guess there's a good reason to be cooped up in the infirmary. No lectures."

"Don't count on that, Artemis!" Tyche called to her as she walked past the infirmary, pausing only to smile over Nike's shoulder, which required her to stand on tiptoe, and speak briefly. "I've got a mission to run, I'll be back tomorrow morning to give you your share, Artemis."

"Damn... spoke way too soon," Artemis grumbled, and then peered at Nike as Tyche disappeared, "What's with all the missions?" Apollo gave his sister and odd stare, then shrugged and began filling Nike's order of mickies.

Seeing that Apollo wasn't going to explain, Nike attemptively did so with one word, "Baby." Artemis raised a brow, and tilted her head in confusion, "Baby? I thought we don't assassinate preggies."

"You dunce." Ker shot over Nike's shoulder, shoving past the Goddess of Victory to stand, hands on hips, over the foot of Artemis' bed. "Does Jun pregnant ring a bell, moron?" "Ooohh..." Artemis got really confused then, "Wait, isn't Jun dead? The baby lived? I'm confused..."

"Yes, the baby lived... we all played with the baby Artemis, remember? Scream, cry, throw a fit? Giggle, coo?" Ker stared at her, and Artemis grinned, "Oh yeah! The baby! Shouldn't she be like... five or six now?"

"She's only four, Artemis." Apollo informed her as he handed Nike the bottle of mickies, to which his sister replied, "I was close." Truth be known, Artemis probably remembered the child more than she let the others believe. It had hurt them all deeply to lose Jun, and then lose the baby later on. They'd each had their nickname for her, since the Commander hadn't named her since he'd been so grief-stricken.

Artemis had held that baby girl in her arms and fed her, burped her, and rocked her through colicky fits. She'd called the baby Doumina-san, carrying on the tradition of the nickname which had been given to her by a young aunt. It was like taking her heart out of her chest, laying it on the counter and taking a sledgehammer to it. She would have continued the observation of Doumina-san, but Tyche and Nike had made her leave after the American man had picked up their baby and left.

It had taken all their effort to stay quiet and not snatch the baby away from the man.

"I wonder what she looks like now?" Nike asked, accepting the pills and sliding the bottle in the cleavage of her tube top. It was small enough to be hidden beneath breast flesh if she push down far enough, and the tube top wouldn't show it was there. "Probably like the Commander, with her mother's nose." Apollo said with a smile.

"I think she had Jun's eyes," Ker said softly, and Artemis gave her a look, "Those eyes were the entire Commander." "Let's at least hope she's got some of Jun in there, or she's got no chance in the world." Nike commented, laughing as she left the infirmary to the siblings.

"Guys... promise you'll keep this in the family?"

First she slid into a sitting position, and then Artemis poked her fingers together, looking down at her lap guiltily. Ker and Apollo exchanged a look, her emerald green eyes accusing while his honey hues were confused. "What'd you do now, Artemis?"

"I... I... I've been surveillance on her."

The confession had Ker running a hand through her short shaggy brown locks, and tugging on the green highlights, "Her, who?" The middle sister looked up awkwardly, and attempted a smile, "Doumina-san." The nickname for the baby got Ker's attention, and she laughed while looking towards Apollo, who blushed and tried to busy himself with refilling the vitamin supplements.

"I think we all have, Artemis." Ker admitted, her hands coming back to her hips, and Artemis spoke up, "I don't think Tyche and Nike have." "You've got to be kidding," Apollo mumbled, "Those two more than anyone would be watching every move that little girl makes."

"Only the Commander isn't constantly watching her, bitch," Ker said, grinning at the title that Artemis had earned, both as a real Goddess and a Myth Goddess. "Reminds him too much of Jun, though that brother of his is doing a good job with her." Artemis held her hand out, "Give me painkillers, now."

"Why?"

"I want to ask for a mission."

"You're infirmary laid, there's a tear in your lung, you have four broken ribs and the rest are bruised. You have several minor burns and cuts all over your body, and you want to ask for a mission?" Their doctor raised an eyebrow at his sister, leaning back against the counter as he said this all casually.

"Yes."

Her simple but happy answer had Ker laughing, "Let me guess, wheelchair or walk?" "Yup!" Artemis nodded, nearly bouncing with enthusiasm. Her enthusiasm did her in though, the pain was leaking through the painkillers she was already loaded with. She didn't wince though, she controlled her face and kept smiling.

"No, Artemis. You said you'd willingly receive medical attention. As the only Doctor here I'm going to have to order you on at least two months bed rest."

"I hate yooouuuuu Apollo." Artemis whined, and he shrugged it off, "Deal with it."

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Heero shifted on front seat of Trowa's jeep, rubbing his forehead and trying not to listen to Yumeko's excited voice. The girl was practically shouting with excitement, because all though she wasn't fond becoming Sandy Veritine for a month, she was ecstatic about visiting colonies. She had never been off of Earth before.

While he still nursed a minor headache, Heero's problem wasn't that. It was that there had been a battle in space last night, while he'd been "getting some" as Duo put it. No one knew who attacked first, only that there were a lot of destroyed mobile suits. One suit that had sustained minimal damage revealed one sides' name, 'Earth Avengers'.

Who had fought them was anything but apparent, as all the mobile suits found were old Taurus style suits from OZ, and the good most having Earth Avengers' symbol. No other suit was found. A conversation played out in his mind from earlier...

=-

"There was a mobile suit battle near the L3 colonies." Quatre announced to Heero as he finally descended from his room, and Heero's lips twitched in a firm line. "The Preventors have only identified one side, a group called Earth Avengers. They're suspect of being an Earth Sphere Alliance rebirthed."

Wu Fei shook her head, "I've heard of them. They're ruthless rebels, supposedly, who will take any cause as long as it allows them to kill." "But who were they fighting," Duo said softly, "that's what I want to know." Shaking his head along with Wu Fei, Trowa sat down, and "If someone fought them, it means that there are more good guys in this pitiful solar system."

"Or that a rival rebel group wiped them out." Heero interjected, "The colonies are still festering with rebellion."

/-=

Shifting restlessly, he glanced to Trowa, who had both eyes on the road and was paying full attention to the process of getting to their new home. "Tommy," he whispered quietly, and the green eyes flickered his way for a brief moment. 'Thomas Jesu' gave him a stern nod, letting him know he was listening.

"We need to talk later, now that my hang over is gone."

Again, he nodded.

If he was comforted by this, Heero didn't show it.

He swiveled in his seat to glance back at Yumeko, who was still chattering. With a small frown, her eyes redirected to him, and she fell quiet. Heero's head rose and fell in a nod of approval, and inwardly, Yumeko grimaced. Good little Japanese girls didn't talk incessantly, she reminded herself, but she couldn't help but feel she wasn't a good little Japanese girl.

"Uncle Kitty said there was a lady waiting for us at our destination." Yumeko piped up, her eyes narrowed slightly with curiosity. Trowa raised a brow at the new name for Quatre, figuring she'd picked it up from Duo like so many of her habits. "That's right," Heero answered, "Miss Jones."

"Why is she going to be there?"

It was Trowa who opened his mouth first, "Une and Po think we need a little more information, and so she gets the honor of staying home with you while your Father and I go out." "Sounds like a babysitter to me." Yumeko mumbled, crossing her arms and looking down at her worn out hiking boots. "Because she is." Heero announced, and Yumeko stifled a snort.

"I'm almost five; I can take care of myself."

"We're almost there." Heero didn't bother to tell her she was too young to take care of herself, because they'd trained her very well. She was still his daughter though, and he was still going to see that she was taken care of properly.

"I'm going to be bored all night." Yumeko was bordering on whining. Heero decided that he needed to cut down her time with Duo, the damned American was giving her bad bad habits. At least she hadn't master the puppy dog face yet.

"You won't be. Two of our co-workers are married to each other, and they have a son your age." Trowa told her, and she gave him a dirty look, "I thought parents were supposed to discourage interaction between genders." Trowa stifled a laugh at Heero's face, who was busy mentally punishing himself for teaching the girl to know so much.

"Be a kid, Yumeko. Run, jump, play. We brought you lots of playclothes."

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Yumeko would probably never get to wear those playclothes, Heero surmised as he stared out the jeep window at the pouring down rain. And her playmate would be less than enthusiastic about a girl who could beat the hell out of him if she wanted to.

Of course, he could be wrong, it was Miliardo's son after all.

"Father," Yumeko started, and he gave her his attention, "I am not playing out there." She pointed to the rain disdainfully. Heero cracked a smile in spite of himself, "We brought monopoly?" He sounded so hopeful that Yumeko sighed and leaned forward, straining against her child seat, "Okay. Run, jump, play, right?"

"That's right. Run, jump, play."

Grumbling, Yumeko sat back in her seat and stared out at Trowa as he and Duo unloaded their bags, running them into the house. Her two Uncles had been that kind, trying to keep everyone else out of the rain as much as possible. A car pulled up alongside Trowa's jeep, and she found herself staring eye to eye with a boy kid her age.

She raised an eyebrow at his odd shirt, which was blue and decorated with some sort of cartoon character. He pointed at her, and then indicated her shirt. Yumeko glanced down at her little white tank, and then back over at him. He made a laughing gesture, and she scowled.

He stuck his tongue out.

Oh yes, Yumeko thought to herself angrily, the war was on!

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Their Commander stood outside the infirmary, rubbing his forehead in the traditional motion... indicating he was either angry or weary of the fight going on inside the infirmary. "Kuro-sama?" He turned and nodded to Circe, who was leaning her hip against the door frame, eyes on his face. She waved a hand to the infirmary, and he shook his head, "She's refusing to be civil. She wants painkillers, and if we give her more, she'll overdose."

Circe shook her head, and then pushed past him into the infirmary.

"Doumina-san, stop that racket right now!"

Artemis stopped, mid shout, and stared at her Aunt in disgruntled disbelief. "You just had to walk in on the best rant, "she mumbled, "I was getting to the good part." Circe smiled her million dollar smile, and sat down on the edge of her hospital bed, a hand soothing her niece's hair, "I know love, I could hear you across the building in the training center."

The niece had the decency to look proud, to which Circe chuckled, "You're scaring the trainees." Artemis grinned, "And you weren't?" Her Aunt had no response besides a matching grin.

"Now, what's the deal? You want painkillers?"

"Duh."

"Apollo, how much is she on?"

Apollo glanced up from his medical charts, and then searched for Artemis' sheet. Sighing, he told her, "Way too much. She should be in happy land, or visiting Hades." Circe eyed Artemis, and then lightly thwapped the girl on the head, "You're drugged, heavily. You don't need anymore." Artemis winced, and rubbed her head, "See?! I felt that! I still feel pain!"

"That's enough." The Commander finally butted in, and Circe grimaced, "She's doped as doped can be, and she's feeling pain." Apollo looked towards their Commander, and added in a hopeful voice, "The only way to stop the pain completely would be a heavy load of tranqs."

Artemis whined.

"It's the only way." Circe informed Artemis, who whimpered pitifully, "But... but... Onty!" Apollo hid his grin behind his clipboard, and even the Commander had to turn to hide a smile. "No. Tranquillizers, and then your brother can take care of that pierced lung."

She'd been on the border of crying for a moment or two, but now Artemis looked angry and definitely pissy. "He should have taken care of that earlier... I want to go now. Now!" Apollo shook his head, reaching for a shot already prepared with the heaviest dose of tranqs he could give her, "Can't do, Artemis. You're going under, and I'll keep you under until you're completely healed."

Circe stood up as Artemis began screaming protests, the Commander leading the way out of the infirmary. She shut the door behind them, and as the door clicked shut, all was quiet. He looked at the older woman for a moment, listening, and then they heard the sharp whimper as the shot was administered.

It was followed by a quiet mumble of words that neither of them understood, but apparently, it had been funny. Apollo was heard chuckling.

"That went well," she commented dryly, turning to head towards the training center again when the Commander called out to her. Circe glanced over her shoulder, and saw not the man every one else had grown used to, but the boy she'd first come to work for. Nervous, he looked down at his feet, then up at her.

"Do you think it was a good idea to continually use code names?"

She wetted her bottom lip, taking this angle tactfully, "It is and it isn't."

"Why?"

Carefully, Circe lead her Commander to his office and shut the door behind them. "In some cases, taking away their names and giving them new ones helped the get over their pasts... Like Ker, Apollo and Artemis. If you asked them, Kuro-sama, they probably could vaguely outline their past for you. They probably don't remember their names, or their Father's name..."

He looked a little confused, disorientated, and she focused on that, "Why are you worried about that now?"

"Tyche."

As if that one word said it all, Circe nodded and smiled faintly, "Tyche... I see. Want to talk about it?" Kuro Keitori looked up at the woman who'd been a good friend of his Grandfather Yuu's, and who was nearly twenty years his senior. Before his Grandfather died, he'd tell everything to the old man. Their conversations had been deep and had helped him a lot.

Circe was the closest thing he had to his Grandfather anymore. Taking a deep breath in, he nodded.

"Yes. Yes, I want to talk about it."

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Rose: grins Two chapters in one day... long ones... review! Disclaimed...