Disclaimer: This chapter contains views I thought the characters might hold when faced with the issue of abortion, this is just a personal idea not necessarily how they might react.

Chapter 24

"Chang, you're tired, rest your soul." Asuka crouched by her meditating husband, resting her hands on his shoulder and right thigh.

"I am." He muttered, his voice carrying the weary feeling that coursed through his body. She rolled her eyes and said, "My husband lies."

"I never lie, that is dishon-" Chang began to fuss at his wife when he caught the smirk on her face and became puzzled, "Why do you grin?"

"You amuse me with your battle of testosterone vs. sleep." With an indignant scowl, he turned away and said, "Do not tell me how to sleep!"

"Cows sleep upright, you're just stubborn."

"So what if I am?" Chang snubbed his nose. Asuka brought his face back to hers as she whispered, "Might I assist you in going to sleep? My methods seem to wear you out every time."

"Asuka, there's people around!" Chang nearly blushed as he pushed his wife's hand away from his belt. With a coy giggle, she purred, "Are you ashamed of letting people know what you're really good at?"

"Asuka, quiet!"

"Duo? What's wrong?" Everyone turned to see Duo slowly descending the steps of the capitol, a mortified expression on his face as he walked toward Trowa. Standing, Trowa faced him and said, "What's wrong?" Duo firmly grabbed Trowa by the collar, shaking him as he yelled obscene names at him and tried to hit him without much luck.

"I don't know whether to hit you for what you just called me or what cause I don't have a clue what I did to deserve this." Trowa responded calmly, holding his assailant at bay for the moment.

"You did this to her; she wouldn't even let me sleep in the same room as her! That has to be the reason, she was with you! It was you who did this to her! It was you. . .it had to be. . ." Duo's knees gave way below him and he sunk to the ground, half being held by Trowa. Tears slowly rolled down Duo's cheeks as he clung to Trowa's sleeves, his jaw clenched to hold in the cries of anguish aching his body.

"What. . .did I do?" Trowa was completely lost by now.

"He thinks you slept with Rachel." Heero was stepping outside, looking paler than before, his arms loosely wrapped around himself.

"What? Why would he think that!" Trowa stared in shock.

"Because, she's pregnant."

"Wha-but how-I would never-" Trowa stuttered, glancing over at Hope who had been listening with wide-open eyes.

"It's not yours, Trowa. . .it's mine." Everyone practically passed out when Heero said this, especially Milliardo who quickly leapt to his feet.

"Heero, how could you do this to Relena!" Milliardo yelled fiercely.

"I don't know, I could ask you the same question." Heero responded, barely keeping his cool in tact. Milliardo blinked in confusion by this remark. Collecting his voice, Heero said, "She's pregnant too. . .with your child."

"You lie." Milliardo's breathy voice was barely audible as the words seemed to suck all the air out of his lungs, his eyes wide with disbelief. Just seeing the distraught expression on Heero's face told him it was true. Slowly, he broke into a run, screaming out to Relena as he entered the building. With his eyes shut, Heero winced as Milliardo passed him, barely making it down to the bottom step before his legs gave way beneath him. Quatre ran to his side immediately, holding him up as he exclaimed, "Heero, what on earth is happening! Why. . .how!"

"I. . .I don't. . .I didn't. . ." Heero said softly, his eyes glazed over by shock and fear. Chang was wide-awake by now and standing motionless beside his wife as he said, "I could understand Heero cheating on Relena but. . .Milliardo and his sister. . .?" Quatre fiercely looked up and shouted, "How can you say that, Wufei! Heero would never do such a thing to Relena!"

"Well, divine intervention doesn't happen very often, if you haven't noticed." Chang crossed his arms, frowning at Quatre's seemingly stupid response.

"There. . .there has to be an explanation to this. . ." Quatre muttered, his face contorted into a painful expression as he stared down at Heero. Hope was completely lost, feeling as if she was in a live reality show as she held Precious in her arms. While everyone was shocked and stunned speechless, Precious was curiously blinking, her little mind thinking over the various things said. Finally, her face brightened with an idea and she pushed away from Hope, running over to her father as she shouted, "Daddy, I know what happened!"

"Precious, not right now. . ." Trowa muttered.

"Daddy, weren't they together? Heelo and Rachel? That's why you went away before, to make them come apart!" Precious said, not quite able to pronounce Heero's name yet.

"Precious, please-" Trowa tried to quiet her.

"Wait. . .what did you say?" Duo looked up at Precious, his tear-stained eyes locking onto the girl's beaming face. She cocked her head to the side and said again, "Weren't they together this morning?"

"This. . .morning. . .oh my gosh, that's it!" Duo struggled to his feet, running toward the capitol building again.

"Wha-Duo!" Trowa called out, not getting what just happened.

"Heero, I know how it happened! You're not an S.O.B.! Come on, I'll explain!" Duo grabbed Heero's arm and dragged him to his feet. Heero was still in shock and merely followed out of reflex. The others followed as well, if only to find out what this great explanation was that didn't involve the birds and the bees. Duo burst into the bedroom and nearly gave Milliardo a heart attack as Duo exclaimed, "I know what happened!"

"Duo, are you insane!" Milliardo yelled.

"I sure hope not! Look, when you and Relena were. . .that thing, something happened to you two."

"Glad you solved that for us, Sherlock." Chang said as he entered the room with the others.

"No, listen to me! There was something living inside both of you, another being!"

"Oh boy. . ."

"Would you shut up for a minute!" Duo yelled at Chang who jumped slightly at this outburst. With a sigh, Duo continued, "This angel-thing, it wanted to kill Rachel and Heero cause there was something inside them too, but it was supposedly evil! Of course, that wasn't going to happen as long as I was there! So I told it it couldn't do that and it asked me why. I told it that I loved Rachel and it didn't understand so I had to explain. . .long story short, it wanted to know love and I said it had to be like us. Then it kicked me out."

"So. . .what are you saying?" Milliardo asked, looking confused.

"I'm saying. . .maybe that thing is inside Relena now. . .trying to be like us. . ." Duo softly responded, walking over to Rachel and sitting on the bed beside her swelling abdomen, gently running his hand over it.

"So. . .this baby inside her is. . .that entity?"

"I think so. . ."

"Then what's inside Rachel?" Quatre asked curiously.

"Gabriel. . ." Duo whispered.

"This is insane! Duo, have you lost your mind! We can't let those things be born into this world, there's no telling what they're capable of doing!" Chang exclaimed harshly.

"Maybe through our influence they'll-" Quatre tried to speak but Wufei cut him off.

"Are you trying to rationalize these walking atrocities!"

"They're hardly in any position to be walking anywhere." Duo commented.

"Don't tell me your all on their side! Have you forgotten what they did to your loved ones just a few hours ago!"

"I'm not impartial about keeping them, they did try to kill my sister after all. Why should we let them live. . ." Milliardo said in a deep and snarling tone.

"Milliardo, no!" Quatre protested his remark.

"They had no right doing this! We will have to care for them until they become adults because if we let someone else adopt them, there's no telling what they'll do outside our watch!"

"So you're just going to kill them! Have you no conscience!" Quatre shouted.

"NOT when it comes to monsters harming my LOVED ones! YOU wouldn't understand, you're wife didn't have to suffer like they did!" Milliardo yelled back.

"You're calling THEM monsters!"

"STOP IT!" Everyone turned to see Precious standing in the doorway, hands balled in fists over her ears as she shuttered from the fighting. Trowa walked over to her to comfort her but she shoved past him and ran over to the bed, jumping up and crawling over to Rachel and laying over her stomach.

"Precious-"

"He's just like me, he doesn't have a mommy to take care of him. None of you had mommies and you were mean when you were kids! He doesn't have anyone to tell him not to do things, don't say he's a monster when you were once too!" Precious cried, hugging the bulge tenderly. Everyone stared in stunned silence at the words of this small child's speech, unable to argue her reasoning. Slowly, Trowa walked over to his daughter and lifted her off Rachel, cradling her in his arms as she cried on his shoulder. He turned to the others and said softly, "She's right, we all used to be like that, killing mercilessly and destroying buildings and cities. . .we can't kill them, we have no right."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Chang asked in an exasperated tone.

"Nothing." Duo whispered, his head hung so his eyes hid behind his bangs.

"What?"

"You don't have to do anything, I'll raise Gabriel on my own. . .with Rachel's help, if she wishes to do so." Duo replied, looking up at them all with glimmering tears in his eyes and a sad smile on his face, "I may not be a good role model but I'll do my best. . .at least I can feed it."

"You are noble to put your future under the bonds of parenthood, to sacrifice any dreams you might have had to take this child under your wing. . .I will assist you if ever you need a sitter for it." Asuka bowed her head to Duo while Chang glanced at her in surprise. She shot a look back at him and he swallowed whatever comment was perched on his tongue, turning to Duo and saying almost reluctantly, "I too will help, if you need me to. . ."

"And you can always count on us to help!" Quatre chimed in cheerfully with a bright smile as his wife nodded in agreement. With a nod in return, Duo said, "Thanks, you guys."

"Oooh, Duo. . ." Rachel cried out, reaching to grope for his hand as she assumed a pained writhing on the bed. Quickly turning his attention to her, he said, "Rachel! What's wrong!"

"She. . .she's going into labor. The baby's coming. . .look." Sayla pointed to a growing wet patch on the covers beneath Rachel. Jumping up, Duo panicked, saying, "AH! What's happening!"

"Her water broke, you idiot! Calm down and hold her hand!" Chang ran to the bed and propped her legs up.

"What are you doing!" Duo yelled at Chang when he saw him reaching under her dress.

"Do you want this baby to stay in there! If I don't take her underwear off, it'll be like a fish in a net!" Chang shot back snidely.

"I can do it! Get away from her!" Duo shoved Chang away, jumping to take over the birthing. One look at what was going on and Duo's face went pale. Immediately, he leapt away from the bed, grabbing Chang and shoving him back, saying, "Nevermind, you seem to know what you're doing!"

"I should, I assisted in several births in my clan. Now get over there and help her breath!" Chang commanded Duo. Just as he was trying to calm Rachel's breathing, Relena let out a cry of pain.

"Not her too!" Duo's eyes were wild with anxiety, almost forgetting Rachel until she screamed and crushed his hand. Quatre ran to Relena and said, "I'll help her! Heero, guide her through this!" Finally, in the midst of the yelling and the pains, Heero came back to his senses and went to his wife, calmly holding her hand and speaking to her. As the labors came faster and harder and the men sweated nervously, a cry unfamiliar to the others broke the tension.

"Congratulations, Duo, you have a son. . ." Chang announced, holding up the wailing, dripping child. As Chang cleaned it off, another cry pierced the air and Quatre exclaimed with a chuckle, "It's a girl!"

"Great, now I'm going to have to explain all of this to Precious. . ." Trowa sighed to Hope who merely grinned.

"It's okay, daddy, I won't ask if you don't want me to." Precious said, wiggling out of her father's arms.

"You're one lucky man, Trowa." Hope whispered. Trowa nodded and watched as his daughter ran up to Duo who was cradling his new son in his arms and just staring at him.

"Look, Precious, this is Gabriel. . .he's gonna need a big sister, do you think you can do that for him?" Duo said with a soft voice. Precious grinned and said, "Of course! What about Heelo and 'Lena's baby?"

"Well, I suppose they wouldn't mind. . ." Duo glanced over to see Heero holding the little girl in his arms, a look on his face that Duo had never seen before. He had the look of a man who had just become a father; a softened and calm air consumed Heero's body as a smile crept onto his lips, causing him to whisper, "She looks just like. . .Relena. Just like. . .an angel. . .Angel. . .what do you think, Relena?" With a weak smile, Relena responded faintly, "Yes, our Angel. . ."

"He has his eyes. . ." Rachel slowly rocked Gabriel in her arms as she stared into his intensely blue eyes filled with equal curiosity in her. Duo glanced over her shoulder, leaning his hand on the bed behind her as he said, "Huh? Whose eyes?"

"Whose do you think?" On closer inspection, he got a chill from just a single stare from his new son.

"Heero. . ." Duo muttered, taking a peek over at the other two new parents. Heero was still staring down at Angel, gently rocking her in his arms as Relena slept. He looked as if he wasn't quite sure this wasn't a dream yet, a distant look in his expression as if deep in thought. Milliardo stood off in the corner, watching him and the little bundle in his grasp with a slight tension in his form, also quite deep in thought. Out in the hall, the others stood quietly conversing while the parents got used to the new additions to their families.

"So I suppose Rachel and Duo will have to marry now. . .in order to give the child a proper family." Sayla commented, gently rubbing her own swollen belly as she leaned into Quatre's arm. He held her close as he said, "Yeah, just so Gabriel doesn't ask questions in the future or anything. . ."

"Can I be the flower girl, daddy? Daddy?" Precious tugged at his sleeve as he stood against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and eyes locked on the floor.

"Huh? I guess so. . ." Trowa said quietly. Quatre frowned in silence, watching Trowa turn his gaze to the end of the hallway away from the group.

Oh, Trowa. . .look beside you, not behind you. . .Quatre thought, glancing over to the woman who stood quietly by Trowa's side just feet away, her head bowed and hands folded over her skirt as an obedient servant.

"If this matter has been settled, I must bid you all farewell as I have my own country to see to." Chang said, turning to the whole group.

"Yes, we have many things that have been left unattended to these past weeks. . ." Asuka added, standing by her husband's side. They bowed and Chang said, "Contact me if anything else comes up."

"Wait, aren't you going to say goodbye to them?" Quatre motioned to the room.

"No, I will see them again, they need their privacy. Until later. . .Stacy?"

"Coming." Stacy hurried over to Chang as he walked away with his wife.

"Stacy, wait. . ." Mike called out, running over to her. She paused and he whispered something to her that made her blush as she nodded and took something from him. He assumed his position by the others to watch them leave and Chris elbowed him and said with a sly grin, "You player, you!"

"Well, our job here is done, we need to be getting back to our families as well. . ." Dexter said, the rest of the spy team joining him.

"And here I thought you were a bunch of swinging bachelors!" Quatre chuckled.

"I am!" Chris said with a grin.

"I have a wonderful wife awaiting me, she must have gotten worried by now. . ." Dexter mused.

"And I have a girlfriend who is probably wondering where I went to. . ." Mike glanced over his shoulder cautiously as if expecting her to be standing there.

"Not me! All I have is a PS2 back at my place that's been VERY neglected!" Mike said with a laugh, adjusting his shades. Mike merely glanced over his shoulder at Stacy's form slowly disappearing around the corner.

"Adieu, my fair employers! Hopefully we won't have to meet again!" Dexter said, turning and exiting down the hallway with the others in his team. Everyone said goodbye and Trowa glanced up at Quatre.

"I suppose you're next to go." Trowa muttered.

"Yeah, I do need to get home, I have duties to my country as does Chang. Plus I'd like it if my child was born in my home, not Heero's." Quatre winked before turning to his wife, "Darling, shall we go now?"

"If you're ready. . ."

"Thank you for helping me earlier, Sayla, it was good to see you again." Noin said, giving Sayla a gentle hug. At that, Quatre smiled and went over to Trowa, extending a hand as he said with a sigh, "Well, I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Trowa took his hand and got pulled into a hug that made his face turn a little red.

"Call me later, we need to talk." Quatre whispered into Trowa's ear before letting go. With a nod, Trowa resumed his place against the wall with an indignant look about him. After hugging Precious and saying goodbye to Hope, Quatre turned and led Sayla on out of the house to go home.

"I'd better check in on Milliardo, he's been in there for a while. Want to come with me, Precious?" Noin said, walking over and taking the little girl's hand. She led her into the room and quietly closed the door, leaving Trowa and Hope alone in the hallway.

"Well. . .since everyone else has left, I suppose it's my turn next. My father is probably worried sick that I haven't been home in so long." Hope said shyly, stepping away from the wall to face Trowa. He looked up and stared into her eyes as she did in return, carrying on like this for several seconds before Hope said, "I guess. . .I won't be seeing you. . .for a while."

"I guess. . ." Trowa said, turning his gaze to the side. With a sigh, she said, "Well, goodbye. . ." Hope turned and started down the hall when Trowa leapt up, stepping over to her and grabbing her arm, saying, "Hope, I. . ."