A/N Please remember, reviews are loved, flames are used to light bonfires. J

Promises

Chapter 6

Heero had been working at it for two straight weeks now. He was on the verge of exhaustion. He'd gone days without sleep until he passed out from sheer weariness. It was now eight pm on day 15. He'd been monitoring any and all communication from Quatre and Trowa's as well as their own home. He'd tapped into the server for the e-mail program he knew Megan favored. He'd even hacked into her bank accounts. All he knew for sure was that she'd withdrew a huge chunk of cash from her primary checking account, almost wiping it out. Her other accounts had been left untouched.

He was now deeply involved in tracing that last name on the list of fake Ids that Do had set up for Megan in case of an emergency. There was absolutely no activity on the credit cards for any of them.

They had no leads. Megan, it would appear, was a quick study from years of watching Duo repeatedly update her emergency packet. Her car had been located a week ago in the long term parking of Peacecraft International Airport. Her keys had been left under the mat on the driver's side. The only thing missing was the packet that contained ten preset ID's. Complete with visas for any number of countries or colonies, passports, driver's licenses, credit cards and a large amount of cash for each identity.

The search through all channels was literally like looking for a needle in a haystack. Megan, smart cookie that she was, most likely hadn't used the ID's. She knew enough to make the appropriate contacts and set up her own. She wouldn't blithely use something she knew they could track. He'd argued with Duo about the insanity of it until he'd finally relented to search all possibilities. It was a waste of precious time as far as Heero was concerned. He was now on the last name on the list, and still hadn't found anything.

He lowered his head to the surface of the desk as he activated the search for any sign of Kiseki Bloom. Heero was growing disheartened with his inability to find anything that would help them find the missing girl. He wouldn't find anything, just as he hadn't found anything for the last 15 days.

It seemed he'd barely closed his eyes when he heard a beeping. He groped for the alarm clock, then remembered he wasn't in bed. Blearily he rubbed at his eyes as he glanced at the clock on the laptop. 11:30 pm. He'd slept nearly 4 hours. He cursed to himself and forced his sleepy eyes to focus on the screen. The program was beeping in response to a hit. Or rather several hits. He'd found something.

Heero released a whoop of joy as his body automatically went into battle mode, instantly fully awake. He scanned the results, surprised to find that he had four results.

"Duo! Duo, wake up!" He called to his spouse, who was snoring obliviously on the battered couch in their mutual study.

The braided man was instantly on his feet. "What did you find?"

"You were right, Megan did use one of her aliases."

Duo crowed in delight. "See, I told you it wasn't a waste of time."

"Just hold on. I've found four hits on the name Kiseki Bloom." Heero moved his mouse over the window, scrolling down. "She purchased a ticket on a flight bound for Beijing the same day she disappeared."

"That was 15 days ago." Duo groaned and sank back into the couch. "She'd have discarded the name long ago."

"Will you just calm down. Geez, you're worse than Quatre with the whining." Heero studied the list again. "She stayed at the Royal Dragon Hotel in the financial district of the city and checked out 3 days after she arrived. I've also found another flight ticket purchased the day she checked out bound for Moscow. An emergency visa was issued by the Russian consulate in Beijing at 3:43 pm local time."

"So she's in Russia?"

Heero scratched the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know. It depends. She checked in for the flight, and her name is on the passenger manifest so it's possible she did go."

"Yes." Duo shot off the couch and danced happily around the room.

The Japanese man held up a hand in warning. "Don't celebrate yet. It's also possible she may have used that as a decoy to throw us off. She could still be anywhere."

"But we found something." Duo retorted cheekily. "I'll call Quatre."

"No, we'll go over there." Heero hit the print command and rose from the seat, stretching until his spine gave a satisfying crack.

Duo grabbed the papers before they had time to hit the tray. "At least it's news. She was alive as of 11 days ago. I'll book a flight to Beijing, do some legwork and see what I can come up with."

"I think that would be the next logical step, there's just one problem." Heero snorted dryly.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"You don't speak Mandarin or Cantonese. I think that we should have Une take care of it for us. There's a Preventer's branch in Beijing. She can have someone on it in less time that it would take you to book that flight." Heero approached his husband and laced his arms around Duo's waist. He pressed a gentle kiss on Duo's nose. "Settle down, babe. We'll find here. It's just going to take a little longer than we thought."

"I don't know how much longer Quatre can drive himself like this though, Heero." Duo's voice was suddenly serious as he leaned into his lover's embrace. "I'm worried for him."

"We all are." Heero hugged him tightly. "Let's get going. I think Quatre won't mind us coming unannounced."

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Wufei had arrived in Beijing tired, hungry and very upset. Une had been less than thrilled when he'd demanded to take his leave. All of it. At once. He had all told, over 2 years of sick leave and vacation time saved up after so long at the same job. He'd been aware that the others were purposefully excluding him from their exhaustive efforts to find Megan. He, however, was not about to take the pointed lack of contact lying down. He'd launched his own inquiries, taking more traditional routes than his former comrades. He knew that they would be focused on tracking Megan's movements via electronic means.

He, on the other hand, chose a more physical approach. He'd personally gone to every travel agency in Manhattan with a recent photo of Megan. He'd found the agency she'd used easily enough, it was the third one he visited. He found out from there that she'd taken a flight to Beijing under and assumed name. Once he'd flashed his badge he'd had the name of the hotel she'd also had the agent book as well as a deeply discounted fare to the same destination leaving later that same day. He wasn't the Preventer's best agent for nothing.

Megan had checked out of the hotel a scant 3 days after her arrival. He knew she'd arrived with nothing but the clothes on her back. Knowing her tastes, he'd hit the upscale stores. But his search yielded nothing. He'd found the salon she'd visited and managed to bribe an updated description from the diminutive hairstylist. He now knew she'd had everything possible done to herself to change her appearance.

The stylist had been obliging enough to visit with a sketch artist, who'd put together a composite of the new Megan. He knew now, what she looked like, at least for the time being. It comforted him to know that short of shaving her head, there wasn't much more she could do to change her appearance.

Megan was still in China. He knew that much for certain. It was either China or Japan, given the black hair and straightening treatment she'd paid a small fortune to have done. Megan had a distinct dislike of the Japanese language, using it only when she had to. Too many verbs, she'd told him once. She wouldn't voluntarily go to a place where she had to be around the language. China was the next logical option.

As far as he was concerned, he'd find her. He only needed the information. He'd tracked her as far as Beijing, which was an advantage as far as he was concerned. She didn't know he was after her. He was the last person she would be expecting to see when he did find her. No matter how long it took, he'd search. After all… surely it wouldn't take two whole years to find one Caucasian female in a country of conformists.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X

She stood with her hands on her hips and surveyed the tiny room. She'd found the house, well… more of a cottage really, through the local grapevine. An elderly woman was moving to the city to live with her son and his new wife. She needed to sell the place.

Megan had paid her a visit and shared a cup of tea and several hours of conversation with the woman. In the end, they'd come to an amicable arrangement. Megan paid a fair price for the house and the tiny patch of garden behind it. It wasn't much, but it was enough. For a small amount extra, the woman had left the furnishings and most of her household items. She wouldn't need them in Hong Kong, she'd said. She'd patted Megan on the cheek affectionately when Megan had shared the reason, the lie, as to why she was searching for a place on her own.

"Such a dear heart, to be so brave. Such a pity to have suffered so much." And then to Megan's distinct surprise, she'd placed her hand over her stomach and smiled mysteriously. "At least you will have the little one to comfort you in the coming years. And you're young yet, you may still find a new love."

That was the second time someone had known of her pregnancy. After she'd returned to the inn for the afternoon, she'd stared at herself naked in the mirror for a long while. She couldn't see any visible changes to her body. Her stomach was still flat, her breasts the same size, though they were tender. She was now 12 weeks pregnant. Three months. Her first trimester was over. The morning sickness had eased a bit, leaving her with the strangest cravings at the oddest times of the day. She mostly craved fruit. Megan usually hated fruit.

She frowned as she realized she was holding a peeled banana. She took a bite of it and chewed thoughtfully as she studied her new home more closely. The main living area was one room. There was one miniscule bedroom upstairs with an attached sitting area that looked out over the vegetable garden.

The bottom floor was simply, but comfortably furnished. A couch and rocking chair faced a wood burning fireplace. The floors were bamboo, worn and polished from generations of bare feet passing over them. The kitchen was small but functional. She'd have to learn to cook for herself. She no longer had the use of a gourmet chef at her disposal. Until now she'd taken all her meals at the inn or the small café in the middle of the village. She had to admit, for being in the middle of rural China, the man who ran the place made a mean decaf latte.

The battered wooden table, scarred from years of use, contained a bowl of fresh fruit, her touch. The earthenware bowl had been her sole touch that made the first floor seem more her own. Her laptop, a generic Japanese import she'd purchased in Hong Kong before her arrival here, sat open and waiting her attention.

She moved to the stairs and made her way up to the bedroom. From the doorway, she surveyed the contents carefully. The bed was a double, a far cry from the king sized monstrosity she was used to back in the States. On closer inspection, she'd been surprised to find it was a rope bed. She hadn't thought they existed outside the Smithsonian. The old woman had told Megan, with no small touch of pride, that he long dead husband had fashioned it for their first anniversary. The mattress was a simple feather affair Megan had yet to test out. The woman had given her detailed instructions on the care of the mattress, from cleaning to fluffing.

The room contained no closet, but did have a single armoire she was using to store her meager collection of clothes and newly acquired bed linens. The sitting room was attached with only a small partitioning wall to separate it. It would be perfect for the baby. The thought had startled Megan at first. More and more she was thinking of the coming child as more of a human life and less of a foreign object growing inside her.

Megan took another bite from her banana and moved to the sitting area, taking a seat in the home's second rocking chair. The bookcase was low, taking up the area beneath the window. It was still filled with volumes of leather-bound poetry and philosophy. She hadn't yet examined the collection, but from the writing on the spine knew it contained many things that would please her naturally insatiable curiosity and thirst for knowledge. The previous owner had taken only a few with her, journals her husband had kept for years. They were for her son, she'd said. The rest Megan could keep. She did not read much anymore with her failing eyesight. Megan had protested, citing the obvious value of the aged books. The woman had merely smiled and shook her head, firm in her resolve.

Megan had purchased several quilts made by a local woman as well as new linens for the bed. She'd made it promptly, not having much else to do. The new pillows were clad in simple white cotton sheets. It was comfortable, if a little bare of any personal touches. That would come in time. After all, Anja liked different things than Megan's more expensive tastes for silk and Egyptian cotton. Anja would like flowers… Megan thought idly.

She chuckled to herself as she briefly wondered if she were losing her mind in these first few hours by herself. She was thinking of Anja as if she were real, merely occupying the same body. It was strangely comforting, to think of her fictional self in that manner, as another person. At least she didn't feel so alone. Anja was innately good, something the Megan was far from. Anja would not be afraid to be by herself. After all, she would soon have her own little family. Megan on the other hand, was terrified. Perhaps Megan could learn a thing or two about courage from Anja. After all, she was Anja now. It wouldn't do for her to become any person other than Anja.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Trowa paced the living room as he listened with half an ear to the theories that his friends and spouse were coming up with. It had been a rough couple of weeks on all of them. None of them had eaten or slept properly since Megan had disappeared. Finding her car at the airport had merely confirmed that she'd left alone. The Preventers had apologetically withdraw their assistance after the discovery of surveillance video of Megan walking through the airport of her own volition. She had violated no laws in using a false identity, nor could she be classified as a runaway since she was legally of age.

Unofficially, Une was calling in every favor she had at her disposal. But on the record, there was nothing she could do. Quatre had fumed for days about the pulling out. He'd even gone so far as to call in the entire Maguanac Corps, bringing Rashid back from his political duties on L4 as an ambassador. Amala had left school and joined them at the large estate, determined to be of assistance any way she could.

Quatre had divulged only to Trowa and Heero of their discovery concerning Megan's pregnancy. Trowa had been absolutely livid to find out that Wufei could have violated his oldest child in such a way. Megan was of age, yes, but that hardly made her an adult. She'd grown up much more conventionally than either he or Quatre had, and as such she'd had everything provided for her. Why did she feel as though she couldn't come to them?

"Hey, Tro?" Duo's voice was concerned. The braided man snapped his fingers in front of Trowa's eyes from where he'd come to stand in front of him.

"Yeah, sorry Duo. What did you say?" Trowa's voice was only slightly apologetic.

Duo repeated his question. "Do you want me to go to Beijing?"

Trowa glanced to Quatre who was watching him wearily. One look at his spouse told him what he already knew. Quatre was tired beyond coherency. Trowa shook his head. "Not yet. Megan won't be there. She's smart, but so long as her life isn't in danger, she won't do anything so rash as actually go to Moscow knowing we can track her down there. I think the best thing to do is wait until she slips up."

"But Trowa!" Quatre interrupted.

Trowa held up a hand. "Quatre, I can understand that you don't want to hesitate following any possible lead. But you need to be realistic here. Megan obviously doesn't want to be found. And she's the child of two Gundam Pilots. She had the rest of us training her on how to be a chameleon since she hit thirteen. She can shoot straight and she can bluff her way out of any situation. But on the flip side of that, she's also a novice at changing her identity, she's bound to slip up and when she does, we'll catch it."

"But what if she contacts Wufei? Trowa, the entire plan could be ruined." Quatre's stress was now agitating even Trowa's temporarily calmed mind.

"That's just a chance we'll have to take. But I don't think she will. She didn't say anything to him. She left not only us, but him too. Don't you think that having her away from him is best, even if takes her from us as well?"

"No! Not at that cost." Quatre lunged from his seat and fisted his hands at his side. "I want my daughter back. Safe… not later… now. I don't want to wait and smoke her out."

Trowa gritted his teeth. "Quatre, I swear if you don't calm the fuck down right the instant, I'm going to have Sally come over here and give you a sedative."

"You wouldn't." The seemingly-fragile blond stared at his husband in disbelief.

The taller man stood toe to toe with him. "You want to test me, Quatre? Do you really want to test me? My patience is running thin with you as it is. You're obsessed with finding Megan to the point that the other children are feeling it as well. And not just the ones with empathy. They need you right now, to reassure them. All you do is make them more uneasy with the constant carrying on. Feel free to lose it in private, but this breaking down has to stop sometime. I'm not trying to be callous. I miss Megan and I'm just as worried for her as you are. But she made a choice, Quatre. We have to respect that."

"What are you saying, Trowa? That we should give up?" Quatre's volume increased with each word.

"No. Don't put words into my mouth, Quatre. That's not what I'm saying at all and you know it. I'm saying that we should stop approaching this as if a baby had wandered off in the supermarket. Call off the hounds. For crying out loud, Love, you have literally hundreds of man hours going into this every single day. You haven't rocked any of the triplets in days. And it's been even longer since you spent any time with the others. You have got to face reality. She's gone, Quat. And she's not coming back until she's good and ready." Trowa's face twisted with the harsh reality he knew he was demanding his spouse face, the reality he was demanding they all face.

Duo's voice was quiet. "Trowa, dude, calm down a notch."

"No, I've had enough. I've stayed silent for weeks. Quatre, WEI isn't going to run itself. And my book, it isn't going to write itself. And the kids? Well, they aren't going to raise themselves either. Life HAS to go on. Megan wouldn't want that." He stepped forward and cupped Quatre's face in his hands.

Quatre twisted from him violently. "I will NOT put business before my family. And if you're willing to, then maybe I never knew you."

"That's enough, both of you." Heero, ever the voice of reason these days, interjected. "Trowa, you're going too far, and… he really does have a valid point. Are you aware that none of your school aged children have attended class in 2 weeks?"

The blond man whirled on Heero, white knuckled from trying to contain his temper, then stopped suddenly as his friend's words sunk in. "Two whole weeks?" His voice was suddenly calm again, tinged with disbelief. "Have I really let it go that long?"

"Yes, you have." Heero replied. "And WEI… the stocks have dipped by 7 points since this started."

Quatre's eyes widened. "Seven…"

Trowa watched as his husband's eyes slid shut. Quatre's empathic aura was now somewhat calmer, no longer tinged with the near blood-thirsty rage he'd felt moments earlier. Quatre drew in a shaky breath. "I'll issue a statement to the press tomorrow. I'll return to the office on Monday. I swear that if we don't have any more leads by then, I'll pull off the Maguanac Corps and leave Heero and Duo on it. Is that a suitable compromise, Trowa?"

Trowa stepped forward again and put his hands on Quatre's shoulders, drawing his lover into a tight embrace. "More than fair. We won't stop looking, never. But we do have to carry on, for the kids sake as well as our own."

Quatre's breathing was muffled in Trowa's shirt as he sobbed. He caught Heero's eye as the Japanese man rose from the sofa, taking Duo's hand. "We'll see ourselves out."

Trowa nodded and hugged Quatre tightly, guiding him to the couch. It took almost an hour, but at last Quatre cried himself into a restless sleep. The first real sleep he'd had since Megan disappeared that wasn't the result of passing out in exhaustion. Not long afterward, Trowa joined him.

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