A/N It just occurred to me that the link to my media mine account isn't working. I will be uploading chapter 3 in it's original format (lemon intact) on my website. The URL is www . heidimcvay .com / promises3
Please enjoy, and once again, my apologies for the long wait.
Promises
Chapter 5
Duo glanced at the clock on the wall over the receptionists desk. 5;45 in the morning. He suppressed a groan and set to work on the lock to Sally's office. "Damn Quatre and his overprotective ass."
He'd been hauled abruptly out of bed by his friend, who was steaming at the ears after an apparent confrontation with Wufei. Quatre had all but demanded that he go immediately to the Women's Clinic that Sally worked at part time and retrieve Megan's file. Duo had grimaced but assented after Quatre explained to him what he'd discovered at Wufei's apartment.
Duo had been sufficiently pissed off enough to overlook the breaking and entering to agree, though with protest. He had half an hour to get in, locate the file, copy it and get out. He'd deactivated the alarm easily enough, it being one of his own design. With a little luck, he'd be out in 10 minutes. The lock clicked beneath his hands and the door swung inward with only a nudge. Duo glanced out the window, pleased to find that it faced a courtyard. He moved around to the desk and flipped on the desk lamp, first flipping through the files stacked neatly on the compulsively neat Sally Po's desk. Sure enough Megan's was third from the top. He grinned to himself and chuckled. "Damn, I'm good."
He flipped through it, finding the test done the previous day with relative ease. He did not have time to copy the entire file, it covered most of Megan's life. He found the notes and tests from the previous day and studied them for a moment. Most of the gibberish meant nothing to him. The blood tests however, were slightly more discernable. She'd been tested for just about every illness Sally could dream up. He muttered to himself as he ran a finger down the list. "HIV negative. HGC positive. T-cell count good. Negative for STD's… What on earth?" He shook his head and studied the list again before it sank it. The only result that seemed unusual was the HGC levels. Understanding dawned on him in a flash. "Holy Fuck! She's pregnant."
He moved from the desk and copied the single page with that result on it, then left, carefully making sure to cover his tracks. Quatre waited, parked in the rear at the service entry at the back of the building. Duo dropped into the passenger seat and buckled his seatbelt.
Quatre pulled out smoothly, guiding the car wordlessly until they pulled into the parking lot of a fast food place. He at last glanced over at Duo, his expression anxious. "Did you find it?"
"Yeah." Duo reached into the pocket of the lightweight black jacket he's worn and pulled the baseball cap off his head, letting his braid fall over his shoulder and into his lap. He extracted the single sheet and passed it to Quatre.
The blond man blinked. "Do not tell me we came all the way uptown so you could commit a felony and only get one paper."
"It's the only one we need. Trust me on this, man." Duo turned his head to stare out the window as he waited for Quatre to interpret the jumble of jargon on the page.
After a long moment his friend cursed softly beneath his breath. "That's what I thought." The paper was folded carefully, creased, then folded again before being tucked into Quatre's vest pocket. "She's pregnant."
"It looks that way." Duo answered softly.
"And Wufei's the father."
"Yeah."
There was silence for another moment. "We have to find her, Duo."
"Yeah, I know." Duo fell silent for a brief moment before he grimaced. "Trowa's going to shit a brick, isn't he?"
Quatre's jaw flexed. "He's going to upset. Very upset. Especially when he finds out what happened between her and Wufei. Duo, we have to find her." He repeated, desperation seeping into his voice. "She's going to be so scared."
"Scared… that makes sense." Duo turned back to regard Quatre sympathetically. He rested a reassuring hand on Quatre's arm. "We'll find her, I promise you. Between the five of us, we'll find her in no time."
"Four of us." Quatre corrected. "I don't want Wufei involved. He's done enough damage. We're going to find her and bring her home and then she's never going to see him again. I'm not going to let him hurt her ever again."
Duo worried at his lower lip. He didn't bother telling Quatre that it was inconceivable that Wufei would take kindly to that order. Or that Megan would either. "After Wufei finds out, he'll go after her you know."
"He won't find out." Teal eyes landed on him, blazing with repressed fury. "Wufei will never find out he's the father of this child. He will never know because no one is going to tell him she's pregnant. I'll send Megan to L4 and she can have the baby there. After it's born Trowa and I will adopt it and raise it as our own."
Duo narrowed his eyes. Quatre was way to calm. His voice emotionless. "Megan won't fight me. I won't let her. She will be free to pursue her life as she should. Someday, she'll get married and have more children. Then she'll understand. When she's a parent, she'll understand that there was no other way. Besides, Wufei deserves it."
"Deserves what?" Duo frowned.
Quatre's lips thinned into a bitter smile. "He deserves to be hurt as badly as Megan has."
Duo shook his head. "I don't know about this. Revenge isn't like you and plus it isn't your place to judge either of them, Quatre."
"That's enough Duo. You worry about your own children and let me worry about mine." Quatre's tone clearly defined the end of the conversation. He started the car again and backed out of the parking space, turning in the direction of home.
X x x x x x x x x x x x X
It had been 3 days since she'd arrived in Beijing. In the last three days, she'd kept to the hotel room, depending on room service and the bathroom sink to launder her clothes. She pushed herself out of the bed and reached for the remote control, turning the TV on as she moved to the chair. For three straight days she had done nothing but sleep, pray and cry. She had no set plan, no idea how one went about starting a new life. It was horribly depressing, she realized, having no one and nothing left. She hadn't even brought her laptop, her prized possession. It was a beautifully crafted piece of machinery customized for her by Heero on the day of her 17th birthday. How long ago it all seemed now. How horribly complicated it was now.
She flipped off the hotel menu channel to the English language CNN12 station. To her horror, her picture appeared in a small box next to the broadcasters head. She turned up the volume and listened with a sinking heart as he reported her disappearance.
"The oldest daughter of Quatre and Trowa Barton-Winner was reported missing yesterday. Megan Noelle Hanahan-Barton-Winner is the oldest daughter of WEI President and CEO Quatre Barton-Winner and his husband of 15 years, Trowa Barton Winner. Miss Hanahan is reported to have disappeared from the Manhattan area 3 days ago. Sources close to the family have revealed that she may have left of her own volition due to unknown circumstances. Quatre Barton-Winner made a short appearances before cameras this morning from his home outside New York City. Here's what he had to say."
The screen changed to show the image of her fathers, both of them pale and haggard. Megan began trembling as she listened to Quatre's soft voice. He was strained and visibly on the verge of exhaustion. "I'd like to keep this as short as possible, for the sake of my family's privacy." He lifted his eyes from the gathered reporters to look into the camera. "Megan, if you're watching this Trowa and I need to know that you are safe and well. Please contact us, even if it's only a phone call or via e-mail. We want you to know that we are doing everything we can to find you and we will leave no stone unturned to have you back with us, safe at home where you belong. If anyone out there has any information, we urge you to please step forward and help us in our search for our daughter. We thank you for your effort and cooperation in this difficult time."
Quatre stepped back. Catherine appeared in the picture next, her arm around her brother-in-law as she shooed away the reporters. "No, no questions. You have your statement, now leave them be."
Megan bit her lower lips as the picture changed. She turned the television off and stared at it in stony silence. Never had she seen her fathers so distraught, not even when Reenie broke her leg last fall. Briefly she toyed with the idea of calling them. But she knew the security measures would pinpoint her almost instantly. No doubt the Preventers had set up camp in their home and were screening all incoming calls. Heero would definitely have set up a tracking program on all her e-mail and financial accounts. It would only be a matter of time before someone recognized her with her distinctive hair and eye color.
All thoughts of contact were pushed aside as she rose from the chair. It was time to leave her old life behind, forever. She knew the basics of avoiding detection. After all, the identities in her packet had been set up by Duo, he'd also taught her how to elude potential kidnappers for long periods of time. She could live quite comfortably on the large amount she'd withdrawn from her account for several months at least. She moved to the bathroom and gathered up the few items she'd purchased at the airport, mostly toiletries, and packed the backpack she'd gotten at the same time. She was moving on.
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X
24 hours later, Megan stepped off the bus at her final destination. Before her stood a small inn, barely more than a tavern with a few room to rent out to passing travelers. Xie-Tai was not even a dot on a map. It was, quite literally, the ends of the earth for her.
Megan ran a hand through her freshly-cut hair and pushed the sunglasses up on her head. It had hurt to cut her hair so short, barely grazing her ears, and have it chemically straightened. She'd also dyed it that same obsequious shade of black that was so prevalent here in China. Through less than legal means, she'd obtained a pair of flat brown contact lenses. Her new identity was that of Anja Zhang. She was now a Chinese-American who had come to Xie-Tai after the unfortunate death her husband. She fingered the band on her left hand, the same one she'd worn around her neck for so many years. She'd put the necklace back on, now bearing Wufei's ring.
She smiled bitterly as she mentally gave Duo props for clueing her in on how to set up a new identity so readily by asking the right questions of the right people. Anja was not from her packet, no, she was a creation of Megan's own. Anja was who she felt like. A stranger in a foreign land who'd had everything ripped away from her. And the loss of her old life was a grief she felt as acutely as Anja's supposed grief of losing her beloved husband. The details were different, but it was essentially the truth.
Megan gripped her newly acquired suitcase and entered the inn, moving brusquely to the counter in the foyer. She silently thanked Wufei, at least he'd given her one positive thing in their tumultuous farce of a relationship. A fluent command of the language of the region. It was thanks to him that she was able to speak both Mandarin and Cantonese.
A stooped old woman read the paper by the light of the mid-afternoon sun streaming into through the window. Megan cleared her throat lightly and waited to be addressed.
The woman raised her eyes and gazed at her steadily, apprising her appearance carefully. Megan prayed she would pass inspection. She wore the customary white of a woman in mourning. Her face was free of makeup and she wore no jewelry save for the necklace and the ring on her finger. The woman nodded perfunctorily. "Yes?"
Megan moderated her voice carefully, slipping into the calm cadence of Anja's voice. "My name is Zhang Anja. I was told you could rent me a room for a while."
"How long do you need it for?" The woman's manner was abrupt, but not rude.
To her surprise, Megan found herself instantly liking her no nonsense mannerisms. "Until I can find a place in the village. No more than 2 weeks."
"Where are you from?"
"America." Megan replied just as shortly, not caring to elaborate.
The woman nodded again. "You speak the language well."
"My husband taught me." She responded with a brief blush. She did not know why she thought of Wufei when she said that. He wasn't her husband, never would be.
The woman frowned. "You are in mourning?" She lowered her newspaper and leaned forward, studying Megan more closely. "And with child. Is it the child of your late husband?"
Megan nodded, stunned that she'd seen something that was barely there, not even a bump yet.
The woman's expression changed to one of sympathy. "I have a room. No drinking, no smoking inside, no overnight visitors. I run a respectable place for respectable people."
"I understand. Thank you for your kindness." She bowed deeply.
The woman rose from the wooden stool she'd occupied. "Come, I will show you the room. You may call me Mrs. Wang."
Megan followed her up the narrow staircase to the second floor. The woman unlocked the door and stepped inside, gesturing to Megan to follow. The room was simply furnished, with a single bed, a desk, dresser and small TV.
Mrs. Wang watched as she lowered her bags to the floor. She spoke again, her tone softer. "It's not much, but it is clean. Breakfast is served promptly at 8 am. Lunch you'll have to get on your own. Dinner is served in the tavern from 6-8 pm. No loud music. Telephone is at the front desk for local calls only. The temple is at the far end of town, a 10 minute walk if you need to pray. Do you have any questions?"
"No, thank you."
The woman turned to go, turning a moment to give a respectful bow. "My condolences on your bereavement, Mrs. Zhang."
"Thank you."
"You have 2 hours if you wish to nap before dinner. I will ring the bell when it is time."
"Thank you." Megan repeated quietly.
Mrs. Wan left, shutting the door softly behind her. Megan sank onto the bed and sighed heavily. The activity of the last few days were catching up to her. She was exhausted and only wanted a hot bath and to sleep. She forced herself to focus, she only had a few hours before she could sleep as long as she wanted. She quickly unpacked the meager wardrobe she'd brought with her. She'd bought only a few things, enough to last until she could get settled in somewhere. It was astonishing to her to think that suddenly her keen fashion sense and near-obsession with her appearance had become meaningless in just a few short days. The clothing she'd bought in her brief stopover in Hong Kong was all white. The color of mourning according to Chinese custom. She'd decided that she should dress the part if she was to take on Anja's life for now. She hoped she'd gone far enough not to be found.
Even now, she wasn't sure how long she needed to be away, maybe forever. But at least long enough to get her head on straight. Thinking was a thing of the past. She had taken action, and now had to get through. She unzipped the pocket of the basic black suitcase and withdrew the envelope with her money in it. She counted it carefully, pleased to find that she had enough to last a while. When she'd asked the shady character who'd prepared her new papers about a place where she could live cheaply and simply, he'd smiled wistfully and said, "The country. It is where I would go to disappear."
She'd taken his advice and booked a ticket out of Hong Kong by ferry, then traveled to the far north of the country via charter plane before finally taking a bus to the tiny village she now found herself in. The modern world seemed to have left this place behind. It was literally, one of thousands of villages that dotted the Chinese countryside in the north.
Megan smiled to herself, her heart was not as heavy as it had been yesterday. She'd consoled herself with a final indulgent dinner in Hong Kong's finest restaurant before she left for her self-imposed place of exile.
The feeling of loss was not as prevalent at this moment. She had a mission. She needed to find a place to live. She had to find a job. And she had to focus on the new life growing inside her. It was the thought of her child that drove her on in those dark moments in Beijing when she wanted to turn tail and run back home. She could give her child a better life. One free of all the chaos that would surely ensue if Wufei ever found out. She could give her child all the love in the world. All the love that she had ever felt for Wufei would be channeled to this tiny person she'd be holding in just a few months. In the spring. It was appropriate that she would give birth in the spring. The ironies of it did not elude her.
Her old life was dead even as a new one was beginning. No… two new lives. She rested her hand on her still flat stomach, indulging in a rare moment without worry, only pure contentment. A new beginning, starting now.