-

The shaggy haired man grinned impishly to himself as he waited for his cotton candy (super sized). It was a one of a kind experience. Talking to the ex-foreign vice minister's husband, Heero Yuy. The glare that man had, which, of course didn't phase him one bit. Hell, they never affected him in the first place...

Paying and thanking the vender for the cotton candy, the tall man left the stall and made his way towards the animal cages. Maneuvering his way through the large mass of bodies, his thoughts drifted back to Yuy and his family. It was good too see them in person, and not just on TV. Both Heero, now working as an inactive Preventor, and Relena, who had long since resigned from being vice foreign minister and had become a teacher instead, looked much happier than they had ever been. The man entertained the thought that getting laid regularly probably quelled most suicidal urges on the husband's part, and cured the stalking on the woman's.

Though, he mused, you could never really tell with those two... probably passed those traits onto their kids... poor little blighters... But then again, he wasn't really complaining. He passed along some of his more unwanted traits to his own kid as well. The numerous 'I'm sorry my kid beat up your kid(s)' notes he'd written since she'd started school being proof of that.

Eyes flicking back and forth unconsciously, he scanned the crowds as he moved towards the large cats tent. That's where his daughter would be, standing there quietly near the back of the probably large crowd of little kids, waiting for it to thin out, waiting for him to show up. He had to smile at that thought. The two rarely did anything with out the other being there (his Assistant Teacher jokingly called it a father-daughter complex - ha, little did the other man know...), the 'complex' being the bi-product of a few to many assaults on the two because of his former status.

Cobalt eyes caught a flash of black and metal; peering closer, it disappeared. The hairs on his arm began to tingle. Alarm bells began to ring in the back of his head, and red flags appeared on the people around him, marking them for their potential danger; analyzing and processing. He sniffed the air, legs propelling him faster. Gunpowder.

Why couldn't they go anywhere with out trouble following them?

-

Christian ooo'ed and aaa'd at the lions along with all the other kids in the tent, most of them being the winner children, HL and his sister (yuck... girls!), Uncle Trowa and Jonathon...

One of the lions roared causing all the children to scream and jump. Jonathon, sitting on top of one of the cages with his best friend Amhed Winner was grinning while Amhed laughed, but Chris paid them no mind, it's not like he didn't enjoy their company, but they we're best friends, who was he to intrude? The boy looked around the tent. His mom was there in the back with Aunt Dory, laughing while the dark haired blond said something and waved a hand dramatically; Aunt Sally was laughing at a red faced Uncle Woof, while Uncles Trowa and Quatre watched on, as well. His dad would be walking through the tarp threshold any moment, carrying a big thing of cotton candy.

Chris turned his attention back to the lions, a happy grin on his face. It was nice to see everyone smiling and at one place... A lion with a large tawny mane rumbled from its place in the back of the cage. The blue eyed child grinned at it - must be lonely in there, being the only boy.

"Chris." A voice called over the laughing din. He turned and spotted his father by his mother, holding a large cotton candy.

"Tou-chan!" He threaded his way through the rest of the excited kids and glomped his dad. "Did you get it?" His father nodded and handed him the huge cotton candy.

"Woo-hoo!"

Heero watched his son munch happily on the sugary substance. Despite looking almost exactly alike (apart from the kids lighter shaded hair), their personalities were vastly different. He imagined that if he had grown up like a normal child, he might have acted like Chris... like Duo? Yes. Chris did act like Duo at times... his need to talk constantly, pranking, and hiding things behind a smile mostly. The Asian man knew about his 'brother's' mask... though it had taken his disappearance to figure it out.

Heh... With those thoughts of Duo - he now figured why that man by the concession stand was so familiar to him. With thoughts of his 'brother' floating around the top of his head, he let his gaze wander over the rest of the children in the tent. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled, and a slight chill ran up his arms.

"Tou-chan..." Chris snagged hold of his pants, a frown marring his features. So Christian was feeling this to? Not surprising (he WAS his fathers son after all). The part Asian rested his hand on the boys head.

"Let me worry about It." he muttered, then turned his attention to Relena. "Relena..."

The woman looked at him. She had grown up a lot since they'd first met. She was no longer the naive teenage girl, but a mature woman who finally realized what she done when she had been named queen of the world. A woman who had grown beyond her years just like the rest of those who had fought in the war had. Physically, she had grown as tall as him - an inch taller than him as a matter of fact - as tall as Dorothy. With her sky blue eyes... Light, wheat blond hair...

She looked at him now, with those lovely eyes of hers, happy and smiling.

"Yes, Heero?"

"Time to go." he said bluntly. Then he added after seeing her confused look. "Just... trust me."

"Something wrong, Heero?" Dorothy.

"Yes. Very wrong." Heero glanced at Trowa who nodded. The others quieted to listen to their exchange. 'They probably sense what I do...'

"He's right. You should all leave. Take the kids and go." The clown added softly. "Now."

-

"EVERYBODY OUT OF THE TENTS AND ON THE GROUND, NOW!" roared an amplified voice. "NOW!"

Machine gun shots were heard through out he complex as were the screams of people as they dived to the ground. Multiple men in black military fatigues stood over the bodies, each holding an AK-47, and wore black paint smeared over their faces.

"NOW!" the voice yelled again. From whom and what direction, no one could tell. "I WANT ALL OF YOU ON THE GROUND, FACES IN THE DIRT! HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!"

Heero allowed himself to be hauled out of the lion's tent, and shoved into the dirt, Relena and Chris beside him. Somewhere around them, he heard a litany of Chinese curses - most likely Wufei.

"What do you want?" One of the circus performers yelled out.

"OOOOOOOOOH, NOTHING MUCH REALLY, JUST YOUR EVIL SPAWN." 01 could very much imagine the grin in the amplified voice.

"Fucking hell..." someone growled from his left. "No way in hell are they taking my kid." The Asian man turned his head to see who was talking. Prussian orbs narrowed in recognition - it was him, the man from earlier that reminded him so much of Duo. Said other man had a glare on his face so lethal, Yuy was almost relieved that it wasn't turned on him. Then, it took him a second, but he noticed that the other man was also very much alone.

Sensing he was being watched, the man from earlier turned his gaze towards Heero. They locked eyes for a few moments before the other grinned and cocked his head ever so slightly; his face face a mask that he knew he had seen somewhere, someime ago. He just couldn't remember.

'You look like a pretty smart guy...' the other mouthed 'So I figure you can read my lips - '

Why did that sound familiar?

'Do NOT do anything stupid, or you'll live to regret it.' The other's eyes glinted. 'Trust me'

-

Author's Notes: La di da di daaa... No spell check, no grammer check, no grammer nazi's over my back - so if you spot misspellings and crap, please inform me so I can work on it. Thanks.

V.W.