Chapter Twelve
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but he's really pregnant." Sally said, standing up from the bed where Quatre was laying.
"How can that be, Sally?" Quatre asked, slightly pale faced.
Sally frowned. "Alright, let me rephrase that…" She said, observing the panic on the five faces around her. "He's not pregnant in the same way a woman would be." She turned on a small machine next to Quatre that showed a picture she had taken of his insides. Most was black with a few green lines.
"This is Quatre's stomach." She said, pointing to a circular shape in the green. "This over here," she pointed to two very pale green blobs off in the center of the green circle. "Are…well…embryos. They're similar to those found in women, but there different somehow. Almost, genetically enhanced." She turned to the men. "They've been designed to survive with very little nutrition and without an actual uterus." She glanced at Quatre. "Regio may be a killer, but he's obviously very intelligent to have created this kind of technology." With a sigh she turned the machine off.
"At least we know what Reigo is after now." Heero said.
The others turned to him. He was sitting in the dark corner with his head down and his arms crossed over his chest.
"He wants to destroy the one human piece that remains in all of us." He looked up. "Our hearts."
Wufei nodded, sitting next to Quatre. "By destroying our offspring, he can truly get his revenge."
Duo had started pacing half-way through the conversation and he abruptly stopped, turning to Sally. "But…how?" He asked.
She opened her mouth to re-explain what she had already said when Duo interrupted her again.
"No, I don't mean 'how is Quatre carrying them', I mean, how did it happen? I mean…don't ya kinda need a girl?" He asked.
Sally frowned. "I'm not sure to be honest." She looked at the others. "I'll have to do some more research." She said apologetically.
Trowa nodded. "We understand. Please, hurry." He said as he escorted Sally out.
She nodded and paused at the door. "Reigo obviously wants Quatre to carry the babies to term. So I doubt he'll try and hurt you. I'll be back once I figure things out." She looked to Heero. "I'll send Relena here. Judging from the note, Reigo didn't bother creating a child of yours because Relena is already pregnant. She'll be safer here."
Heero nodded and the men said goodbye to Sally.
Duo collapsed in a chair and sighed. "This is…"
"Not possible." Trowa finished.
Heero crossed his arms over his chest again. "This is getting interesting." He droned.
Relena arrived within the hour and Heero immediately forced her into his bedroom so she could rest. She argued with him all the way to the door and even after it was shut, the others could still hear her muffled voice as she complained.
Duo paced all the way around the room several times, trying to process the new information, while Trowa watched him from the couch.
"Duo, stop. You're making me dizzy." He said.
Duo paused and turned to Trowa. "This doesn't freak you out? Our good friend has just been impregnated by a psyco! Nevermind the fact that he's a guy!" He almost shouted he was so freaked.
Trowa sighed and closed his eyes. "It's odd. Of course. But with technology these days, it was bound to happen."
Duo's mouth fell to his chin. "You're…okay with this?"
Trowa opened his mouth and looked up at him. "Of course not. I'm not comfortable knowing that Regio snuck in here, stole our DNA, created our offspring and then placed them in Quatre's body. Especially since Quatre's body was never meant to carry children. It could kill him and the embryos." He stood and walked to Duo. "However, panicking will not help anyone. I'm sure Quatre is more concerned about this than any of us. We need to be strong for him." His voice was calm and soothing.
Duo took a few deep breaths and sighed. "Yeah…your right." He walked to the couch and sat down. "You know, I thought I had seen it all in the war…" He shook his head. "You learn somethin' new everyday…"
While the crew awaited Sally's return with more information, Wufei kept a constant vigil of Quatre. The blond grew weaker by the day as the embryos sapped nutrition from his body. He couldn't leave the bed, so Wufei waited on him hand and foot. He was always by his side, just waiting for his next request.
Quatre felt guilty that he couldn't do anything to help Wufei, but when he tried to argue, Wufei would counter with "I want to help". How could Quatre argue with that? He looked up as Wufei was setting down the tray that held his dinner and smiled.
"Thank you." He said weakly.
Wufei smiled and nodded. "Do you need anything else?" He asked sitting on the bed next to Quatre.
Quatre smiled and nodded. "You." He said and pulled Wufei closer to him.
Wufei was shocked at the strength that Quatre still had and smiled as he lay down next to the blond. "You seem to be feeling better."
Quatre nodded slightly. "A little. I don't know if it's because I'm getting more energy or because I'm getting used to it." He shrugged and nuzzled Wufei's neck. "I just…wanted you." He said softly.
Wufei smiled and wrapped his arms around the small blond. "I give you my word, Quatre. I will help you through his." He looked down at the blond. "And who knows…" He leaned down and kissed Quatre's nose. "Maybe we'll actually be able to raise the children inside you." He whispered.
Quatre blushed slightly and nodded. "I would like that." He whispered back.
Wufei smiled. "So would I." He said and kissed the smaller man passionately.
When Sally returned a week later, the crew was on edge. She had only just stepped through they door when he bombarded her with a volley of questions.
"Hold it!" She yelled at them and they stilled. "Calm down. I'll tell you everything. But In Quatre's room. I want him to hear." She said and they all followed her into the blond's room. Once everyone was settled, she continued. "Alright, I have a little more information." She said, again setting up her equipment. "Judging from the tissue samples I took from each embryo, I've determined the parents and how they were created." She moved to Quatre and did a quick ultrasound to take a new picture of the embryos, which looked remarkably like the first one. "Alright," She said and pointed to the one on the top. "This one contains DNA from Quatre and Wufei." She explained.
Quatre blushed and couldn't hide the smile that formed. He glanced at Wufei, who also had a smile.
Sally chuckled and pointed to the second embryo. "This one, contains the DNA from Duo and Trowa."
Duo glanced over at Trowa with a nervous look on his face and Trowa blushed.
Sally didn't seem to notice, because she continued. "It seems to me, that Regio has found a way to alter genetic material." She said and leaned back against the dresser. "Some how, from the DNA he extracted from Quatre and Duo, he was able to change the chromosomes from X,Y to X,X."
Duo gasped. "He made us women!" He nearly fainted.
Sally rolled her eyes. "Of course not, Duo." She glared. "However, he made the extracted DNA female in order to create the embryos." She explained.
Trowa crossed his arms over his chest. "So Quatre is carrying the children he created…" It wasn't a question.
Sally nodded. "Yes. However, since his body was never intended to support life outside of his own, the embryos are taking their nutrition from his muscles and organs. If we don't remove the embryos, Quatre will die in a very short time." She turned to them with a serious look on her face. "The way I see it, we have two options…One, I can abort the pregnancy."
Wufei glared. "Never."
Quatre grasped his stomach and Trowa shook his head. Duo frowned. "No, Sally. It's not the baby's fault that this happened. They deserve a chance to live."
Sally smiled and nodded. "I had a feeling you'd feel that way. Alright, then it's on to option two." She whistled and two men brought in a large machine. "This is an incubator." She explained. "I believe that I can safely extract the embryos from Quatre's body and grow them in this machine." She looked at Quatre. "It will be done in much the same way as all of your sisters. Grown in test tubes." She said and Quatre nodded.
"I don't know how the embryo's will develop because nothing like this has ever been attempted before." She said with a sigh. "However, I promise to do whatever I can to keep them alive."
Wufei, Trowa and Duo all nodded. Quatre looked nervous but he nodded as well.
"How difficult will the procedure be, Sally?" Relena asked.
The taller woman sighed. "Theoretically it isn't. I just need to take the embryos out of the body. However, I have no idea what will happen until I'm inside."
They all nodded and Wufei turned to Quatre. "It's your choice, really."
Duo and Trowa also nodded, though their eyes said they wanted their children to live.
Quatre smiled at them and turned to Wufei. "It's all of our choice." He said and turned to Sally. "Do it."
Well, there's chapter 12! What do you think? I'll try to get the next chapter out soon. Thanks so much to my reveiwers: LastXExile and Racheal07. You guys rock! Well, that's it for me, Happy Reading!
