Earth

Noin watched as Zechs tried to help the situation. Things looked grim on his sister right now. No matter how much Zechs vouched for Relena, no one believed. They'd rather believe the Doctor and the medical reports. In most cases, that would be the right move, but it wasn't. All of them knew something was wrong. Heero texted her. Relena was having genuine problems. Yet, the only thing the media was focused on was if Relena had been swayed away from her previous ideals about peace and fighting. Not to mention, bringing up every damn little thing they could get their grubby hands on for Heero's past!

Heero was a private individual. He rarely talked and never about his past. He wasn't someone to open up much about the present, he certainly didn't want to talk about the past, and she could see why. A boy never should have been raised that way. More proof and more eyewitnesses, wherever the vultures could get a story. From his simplest missions they could get any details on, to supposed rumors he was involved in, and even now about the mysterious life of the man who took the great Heero Yuy the colony leader's life so long ago. All for what reason? To know Relena was ignorant and naïve?

Those who believed in Zechs were few with any power. Those who believed Relena was at fault had dominated the media by almost half, with the other part believing she was tricked or lulled into everything by Heero Yuy, the Former Gundam Pilot. The more they dug up on him to show how terrible and tricky he'd been, the more that side of the media thought they were proving the point. Poor Zechs. Poor Relena. Poor Heero. All of them.

Noin just hoped for now that Heero was keeping Miss Relena from seeing the social media at the moment. Let her heal.


Duo and Hilde's Place

"I'm not glass, Duo," Hilde complained as he got up to get her a bowl of popcorn. "I said I'm going to go and get popcorn because I wanted to make my own popcorn."

"You are dreaming." She was going to take it easy as much as possible. Hilde scared the honest crap out of him. Yeah, he was watching after her as careful as he could. Quatre was helping out extra now that he knew what was on the line too. It wasn't work and come home and relax anymore. It was watching her 24/7 and making sure she was okay. She hated it, but she had to live with it. Duo wasn't easing up.

The first time she went in and he heard the news, he'd been sure it had been far progress in the sepsis. She was delirious in that bed, but it was just from the high fever. She was okay and recovering fine but only because he'd been there in time to take action. Any later and who knew what would have happened? Now she was pressing him about his brothers too, this Finn and Gin. She wanted him to leave her behind and go look for them. Yeah, right. Not with her like that. Okay, so there really wasn't a 'like that' but it was too close.

It was just too close.

"Duo, I'm fine," she insisted as he came back over with the fresh popcorn for her. "You should go see them."

"See who?"

Hilde popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "Your brothers. What if they are in danger?"

Ugh. "I seriously doubt they'd just bug a couple of innocent guys, Hilde," Duo said. He watched her toss his phone at him. He looked at it and saw the message 'sure'. "What's that?"

"Trowa saying Catherine and I could hang out while you two go hang out."

Ah! "Hilde."

"What? You can't shove me in the house all day, Duo," Hilde said. "Hanging out with Catherine sounds okay."

"You're gonna get irritated," Duo warned her. "She's not like you. She's a lady." He felt her smack the brim of his baseball cap over his eyes. "I don't get happy ever afters. This is something that could wait."

"Unless RTL is trying anything with them."

"What if RTL is just waiting for me to leave you?" Duo suggested as he fixed his baseball cap and looked back at her. Nah. Duo picked up the phone and retexted Trowa. There. That was agreeable. "I'll go see my brothers, once Trowa comes to watch you."

"Okay."

"Don't worry, Trowa and Catherine are coming to hang out," Duo cheered her up.

" . . . oh." She sighed. "Fine."

"Don't go overboard."

"I know."

"Don't do too much on your own."

"I know." She smiled at Duo. "Fingers crossed, Duo. I bet your brothers are the family you always wanted."

Eh. He wasn't so sure.


Finn's Place

Duo looked at the place. According to the data he got, Hilde had been right. RTL had affected them.

Two brothers, not a thing to do with him.

One of them had been found, dead in the colonies. It was supposed to be the guy Dorothy Catalonia murdered. Yeah. One of his brothers. Damn them. His other brother was currently declared missing and so was that pigheaded guy known as his biological dad. If RTL had bumped his dad off, that would be a nice gesture. His other brother though? The one who died, Finn, was apparently someone that was in the company of prostitution.

This so-called Gin brother was fine. He had nothing to do with those riches, instead working at some fast food joint. He was denying working with Finn and his family business. That's all Duo could find of him now. He'd already checked Gin's place for clues. Not much, but he did find a wire trap at the front. Not a good sign.

The only place now to search for clues was the mansion. If Gin was okay, maybe he just wanted to get away to his brothers to hide? His place definitely wasn't safe.

Duo didn't go up and knock on the door. He never did that. It was never his style. All his years of training never led up to 'knock on the front door and you'd get to the bottom of things'. He skulked around the corner, keeping his hat low as he moved. He looked into the first several windows. The place was definitely classy. Then as he moved farther backwards, he found a sight that he could not believe. 'Aww, shit!' Hilde was right, he should have come sooner! How was he supposed to know?

Tied up in a chair was the picture of the young woman he'd seen. The picture he kept in his memory for Trowa, just in case he ran into her. Middie Une, tied to a chair. She looked terrible. Her arms were bruised, her face was smashed up, and it looked like her leg was at an odd angle of rest. Was it broken? Injured?

His own brother. His own half brother had been abusing the hell out of her. Duo muttered words he rarely muttered as he thought about his own gun. He needed to get her out.

Duo went toward the back and turned all of the security off. As much as Trowa deserved to be the one to rescue her, this was his own blood that hurt her. He was getting her away.

Duo knocked on the front door this time. A direct route was the best way in. He could bullshit his way with a smile, it's what he'd done to lots of people in his life. He watched as Gin answered the door. "Hi there. My name's Duo Maxwell." Damn. This guy looked a lot like him. A darker hair color and slightly different eyes.

"Not looking for cookies at this time," the guy joked. "My brother isn't here anymore. Can I help you there, fella?"

"You bet." This guy's defenses were all the way down. He knew how to beat someone up strapped down and he knew how to command with a gun. His fighting skill would be easy to take down. "Yeah. This guy's my dad." Duo held the picture of his biological father up.

Gin looked toward him. Uncomfortable. No surprise. "You're a half brother?"

"Yep. Visited Earth and just thought it'd be good to see the side of the family I'd never seen," Duo remarked. "Mind if I come in?"

Oh yeah, this guy was definitely nervous, but Duo sort of brushed past him. He had no guard up at all against him. "Nice place. I thought this place belonged to our other one? You said he wasn't here anymore?"

"This was Finn's place," Gin agreed. "He's dead. He was captured and he was found dead in the colonies. He left me his place, but I don't know what to do with it. I don't know what to do with anything." He looked back toward Duo. "You should really go."

"I just got here." Duo strolled toward the back, knowing the way to go. She could be seen before in a distant window on the side of the house. It shouldn't be long.

"Look, i-it's not a good idea, Duo," Gin said as Duo continued to stroll with purpose. "Listen, Man, I don't even know you! Don't make me bury another brother!"

"Yeah, you have an interesting way of seeing things." Duo pushed the doors she was in, wide open. Of course, being a huge place, Gin would come from the side. There was more than one way into the room. Duo had his knife ready to cut her ropes. He gave it to her, knowing he wasn't going to have enough time and pulled out his gun on his brother.

"Hey, get out!" Gin warned him. He had his gun on Duo. "You don't know what's going on. Get out before you get hurt!"

"I can see when someone is getting abused," Duo warned him. "I'm not about to let you continue just because were blood. Blood means nothing to me." He grew up without blood. If he had to kill his own brother, he would. He didn't want to. It was supposed to be a time of peace, an end to the killing. He wouldn't let him continue to hurt her though. Seeing how well she was taking out her own ropes strategically and the look in her eye, Duo moved away to the left.

The effect worked. His brother edged closer into the room. He was on her right. "Get out. Get out before something happens."

Yeah, right. Duo held his gun on him. He didn't want the girl to have to do anything she wasn't ready for, but she had murder in her eyes. To rescue her, meant either she or him took out his brother. "Am I a coward?" He didn't mean to say it out loud. "I don't want to kill you. I think that you're a sick individual, and I'll make sure you go to jail for a long time, but I don't want to kill you." He watched Gin's eyes. They didn't make sense. He'd been coming for Middie, putting on his own show to get back there. This guy did not have the eyes of a killer. "I just hope, that everyone thinks about how important life is." His warning to Middie. He couldn't stop her. He didn't want to, she needed to get out, and once he set her free, she would do as she wished.

Right now, she wished to kill his brother. She was eyeing Gin's gun real well.

"What you've been doing is sick, but you haven't killed anyone," Duo said, speaking more to Middie but acting like it was his brother. "At least, not in a long time. Mercy is a harder thing to grant."

Then, he watched as Middie Une moved from her chair, grabbed Gin's gun, rolled and-

Shot out the door past Gin? Duo heard a loud scream then the word 'dad' from Gin. Not an anxious happy 'dad' or even a sad 'dad'. Then?

Sometimes, riding in an impenetrable machine like a Gundam made you forget some things. Like, you're human. Like, everyone makes mistakes. Duo was reminded of that as he found that same gun on him.

By Middie Une. "Leave us alone!" She held the gun at Duo. "Why can't RTL just leave me alone? I don't want to do this anymore." She held the gun straight at Duo's head.

"Not the enemy," Duo insisted. Gin was right, he didn't have all the facts. She just killed his dad, and she was siding with Gin.

"Come on, One Song, let's go." Gin said. "No more killing. There's only one person we have to kill. Then we'll be safe."

Duo would have tried to take the gun, Gin didn't know a thing about guarding, but Middie Une clearly did. Trowa was right, she was definitely trained as a spy. "Can I say something?"

"No!" Another voice. Definitely an older woman. He recognized her too. Gin's mom. "Give me the gun Middie and you two get going."

Gin grabbed Middie Une's hand as she gave the gun to the woman.

Duo watched the woman carefully. She was good at her skills too. She wasn't even blinking, she'd shoot him dead. "Can we talk about this?"

"What's there to talk about?" she insisted.

"My name's Duo Maxwell." He had to find a way to bust through to her. "Don't I look even a little familiar? I'm half brother to Gin and Finn." The woman was biting her bottom lip. "I only came in because I saw a young lady in here getting hurt. That's all."

"You sound just like him," she muttered. "I am not surprised there is a half brother to my son. This was not a time to show up though, and I can't believe that is the only reason you are here."

"Please? Lady, I've got a kid on the way too," Duo said. "You're good at reading people, I can tell. Does it look like I'm lying? I'm not. I just wanted to help."

"Then leave them alone," she told him. "Go and forget you ever saw this place. They should be safely away now." She sniffed.

"I can't." No way. "She's pregnant."

"I know." The woman knew? "She is being used by RTL. She's not perfect. My sons weren't perfect." She shrugged. "RTL are monsters in the guise of pacifists. They do nothing but torture, and after burying my first, I may have to bury my second!"

"Let me help then." She didn't seem like she wanted to shoot anymore. There had been a time delay. Why was she here? Why was that so-called biological father here? Why did Middie Une run with Gin? "Ahhh, okay." Yeah. Duo was putting two and two together. "One of your sons. They are the dad you think?"

"Yes," she said. "Of course, but it's not fair. RTL can reach anywhere." She moved away from the center of the room.

"You got it backwards, your sons aren't the dad," Duo tried to tell her before she left. "Really. I wasn't lying when I said I had an unborn waiting on me. I was a gundam pilot, Lady. They want revenge on us, not your small time boys. Think about it."

"Gundam pilots?" Ooh. She started to come back into the room. He was getting somewhere. "What are they up to then?"

"I don't know, but the mother of my future kid just survived sepsis, and my mom died of it," Duo admitted.

"They are killing the mother of your children, the same way your mothers died." She was almost ready to believe. "That is their fashion, I could see that. It makes more sense. Your father was absolute trash. Finn was . . . iffy? Gin never did anything, he was my good boy. He only puts on a show, he never does anything wrong. RTL was for revenge against children, it made no sense. None of them fought in the war."

"Yeah. He was a coward, evading all capture." Duo's father. "Can you tell me what was going on?" If she just believed him.

"I came over and I helped reason things out. We were getting her something cold to eat, packing up the car, and I was going to take her back to her home," she said. "Then he showed up. Courteousy of RTL releasing him. He came in, told us the deal. That Middie Une was pregnant with Finn's child, also thanks to RTL."

Yeah. Duo could see how this was going. "Who hurt her?"

"I told you. I reasoned things out with her," she repeated harder.

Duo stared at her. "You." He sneered. "Middie was ready to shoot your ex. Why not you?"

"I reasoned it out," she said again. "I didn't say anything about what he did or did not do. I won't get mixed up with his business again."

Frak! Be nice, get to the bottom of it. "Ah. So, I'll go explain what I know to your son before he ends up getting his butt in trouble. That's what's about to happen, right?"

"Nearest Space Shuttle, I used a favor to get tickets," she insisted. "RTL enjoys making people become what they don't want to become." She sighed. "He has to go kill the one who killed his brother, or she has to." She sniffed. "Then they will leave her alone."

Got it. Good. She could buzz off now. When he had nothing else to give her, she started to leave. "I better call Trowa."

"Trowa?!" She came right back, but this time Duo was out of the line of fire. He was running, her with that gun on him. "I will kill you before you reach Trowa Barton!"

Whoah! What the hell did they say about Trowa?

Duo had a few facts now. First, he had to call Trowa. He was going to be closer to the first shuttle area than he had been, and Middie Une was his responsibility. Two, that so-called 'mom' was part of the roughing up of Middie Une so she didn't get any sympathy from him. And three? That Middie Une was aiming heavily for his dad. That old ex-wife could call that guy trash but she didn't tell Duo what he did.

Blood relatives? "Who needs them," he said as he picked up his phone. He'd rather have reliable people he trusted any day.

"Duo," Trowa answered right away. "I'm sorry, Catherine is watching Hilde. I had to go, someone tripped my wire camera."

Uh. First sign right there. Think, Duo, think sometimes. "Yeah, that was me. I found Middie," he said as he moved to his car. Now he really needed to get home, what did Catherine know about defense? He didn't know and didn't want to find out. "Listen, Trowa. You've got a big problem. You need to get to the nearest Space Shuttle between us. You should actually be closer," he reasoned. "Oh and yeah, there's this old witch out here that started gunning for me when I said your name. I think RTL made up some kind of lie about you being the enemy." He jumped into his car, finally reaching it, still evading fire. "Second." He started it up and barely got out in time. That woman was a good shot, she was going for the kill too. He moved back to the phone. "Sorry, getting shot at and all that. Anyhow, Middie thinks someone else is the dad."

"What?"

"Yeah, and you are apparently part of RTL or something, trying to hunt her down so be careful. Call me back later." When he could talk better.