A Daughter's Will

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters. Only what I create with my twisted mind is mine.

A/N: Here's Chapter 9.

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Duo looked up from the styrofoam container of chinese food he was eating, staring at Wufei, who was seated at a nearby desk, typing up a storm on some sort of report. "I'll tell you one thing, Chang," he said, his mouth full of low mein noodles that were drooping out of his mouth," Your people sure know how to make a damn good lunch."
Wufei paused in his typing, his eyebrow furrowing at the comment. He then took a deep breath and went back to his work, not even bothering to look back at Duo." I'll pretend that you didn't just say that, and instead remember you saying 'I'm a lonely loser with no sense of intelligence whatsoever'." Duo made a face, a bit sad. "That was a compliment."
"Not when you word it the way you just did," Wufei snapped back.
Duo fake pouted and threw down his chopsticks, crossing his arms."Fine! Then I won't eat your crappy food!" He reached out to get the uneaten fortune cookie he had, resting on a napkin, and cracked it open. He shoved one half in his mouth, while shaking the other in Wufei's direction as he said, with his mouth still full," You know, I'm lucky these things weren't even made in your country. Otherwise, I"d be starving right now."
Wufei rolled his eyes. "You, with your big mouth, would never starve. You're always shoving some sort of crap in it." He ceased typing again to turn in his chair and look at Duo better. "You know, I find it rather sad that out of all of us, you're still the one who acts like a damn child."
Duo just shrugged and read his fortune out loud. "Your day will be faced with many conflicts and trials. Don't jump to conclusions and be short-tempered." He raised an eyebrow and looked to Wufei, waving the tiny paper in his hand. "I think this was yours.
Wufei let out a growl of frustration and turned back to his work. "Why do I continue to work with you?"
"Because you love me," Duo said, smirking.
Wufei shuddered and tried to focus on the report he was typing. "Please let me repress that later, mind."
"I found something interesting," Heero called out, his voice causing the other two former pilots to jump in their seats. Heero had been so quiet, they had forgotten his presence in the farthest corner of the room.
Heero had shown up early that morning, wanting to work on the investigation with the others at the Preventer's HQ. The former gundam pilots were hardly denied any request they made, due to their history.
So, there they all were, pilots 01, 02, and 05, working on separate issues.
Duo got up out of his seat and walked over to Heero. "What'd you find?"
Heero leaned back in his chair, a slight bit satisfied. "The security system was disabled, obviously, from an outside source and location. These guys were smart enough to try and hide where this was by setting up false routes and blocks in their computer system. However, I was still able to trace the source of the system shutdown."
Duo nodded a little and leaned against the table by Heero. "Where'd it lead to?"
Heero shrugged. "Not sure, actually. I'm still getting to that."
"Oh." Duo made a face at that. "I thought you actually got something more than that."
Heero, surprisngly, made a face too, seeming to be a bit upset. "Well, I'm working on it. It's not like the technology has stayed the same for the last couple of years. I'm still trying to keep up with the new stuff... And these guys are really hi-tech."
Duo gave his signature smirk and clapped Heero on the shoulder. "Aw, that's okay man! Didn't mean to make you feel inadequate. Although, you're starting to sound old, with that 'new technology' speech you just gave."
Before Heero could say anything, the door to the room flew open.
The two pilots, plus Wufei, quickly got in attack mode, reaching for whatever random weapon they had nearby, and got in their fighter stances.
Shane stood frozen in the doorway, a peculiar expression on his face. "Chill, old guys. It's just me." He had a folder in his hands and he motioned for them to sit. "I've got some news for you. And it's not good."
He walked into the room and sat on top of an empty table against the wall by Wufei.
Duo looked at his son, eyebrows raised in question. "What have you got for us, Shane? Please tell me no more dead clients. That's all I need right now."
Shane gave a half-hearted shrug, and held up the gold manila folder in his hand. "Well, it's not a dead client, but it's a dead person, all right."
Duo continued staring at him, his violet eyes darkening. "Who?"
Shane tossed the folder to Wufei, who immediately snatched it up to look over. "Our wonderful suspect caught the other day in Aunt Dorothy's office."
Heero's eyes widened in shock, as did the other two pilots. "What?" he asked incredulously.
Duo looked away, having a similar reaction like his son's: "Shit!"
Wufei kept his exclamations to himself, silently reading the contents of the folder. " I can't believe this."
Shane nodded his agreement. "I'm still trying to accept this... I guess the man managed to make a noose from the clothes he had on... I think it's safe to say that these guys are well trained and equipped to handle any situation."
Duo looked down and shook his head. "Damn it, he was the best thing that could have happened to this investigation." His head suddenly shot up when a thought crossed his mind. He looked pleadingly into Shane's eyes. "Please tell me you a least got a chance to interrogate him."
Shane looked at him apologetically and shook his head. "Sorry, dad. I hadn't gotten the chance to deal with him yet... And now it's too late."
Duo let out a sigh and looked away, shaking his head. He wasn't necessarily angry with his son. He was angry that they'd let the guy slip through their fingers so easily. He leaned against the table silently, trying to figure out their next course of action.There was a long awkward silence between the four men, as they mulled this bit of news over.
After about five minutes, Duo broke the silence. "All right, you guys," he said, not quite looking up at anyone in particular. "It's apparent that we're just going to have to carry on and continue this investigation.. We're back at square one and all we can do is hope that another one of these idiots will walk into our hands again... There's nothing much else we can do." He sighed and shook his head. " I wish we could've gotten something, anything, out of that guy before he decided to off himself."
He jumped up when his cell phone began to ring, interrupting him. He frowned, looking to the caller i.d., and then let his anger go when he saw that it was Quatre. He flipped opened his phone and brought it to his ear. "Hey, Quatre, what's up?"
"Duo, I've been calling around, asking everybody, and they all said they don't know and to talk to you."
Duo made a face in confusion. "Know about what?" Why does he sound so worried and panicky?
"Have you seen my daughter? I've been trying to get a hold of Caterina for two days now, and she hasn't called me back or anything. I'm really worried about her." Quatre was very distressed at this point.
Duo tried to hold back the alarm that was rising in him from hearing Quatre. Caterina Winner was missing? Why hadn't anyone brought this to his attention sooner?
He stood up straight and pulled on his shirt with his free hand, trying to remain calm, for Quatre's sake, and be as soothing as possible. "Um, I personally haven't seen her, but I'm sure she's fine..." He looked to Shane. "Hey, Shane, have you seen Caterina at all in the last two days?" His eyes conveyed just how much he wanted a decent answer from his son, something that wasn't pointing to the dark barren path of death that Quatre was making him think of.
Shane looked up thoughtfully and then nodded. "Yeah, I saw her the other night, when Heero's apartment was robbed. She was with Jacob. Although, I think she went home with Jennifer." It was then that he realized that something was wrong. "Why, dad? Did something happen?"
Duo waved a hand and shook his head. "No, Shane, nothing happened. Quatre's just a little worried is all." He turned his attention back to his phone. "You hear that, Quat? She was seen the other night. It's just today that she hasn't been accounted for, right?"
Quatre's voice was weighed down with worry. "Well, I guess so, if Shane saw her... But that still doesn't explain her not answering her calls."
"Well, have you tried Jennifer and Jacob then? I'm sure they had to have talked to her."
"Jennifer hasn't heard from Cat since the conversation they had about those delightful pictures of her... She told me that Caterina was really upset about those, which goes without saying... Jacob's been too busy watching Elysia. He did say that he tried calling Caterina, but she didn't answer her phone... He last saw her that same night Shane did... But nobody's seen or heard from her at all today..."
Duo sighed, knowing that this really wasn't a minor situation. But he didn't want to think about another child of the pilots getting hurt or ... worse... And he especially didn't want to break it to Quatre that everything was pointing to the "bad" possibilities of what may have happened to his daughter.
He wiped his face with his hand, brushing his long bangs back, while looking back at Heero, Wufei, and Shane, who had all stopped what they were doing to listen intently to the conversation he was having. They were all obviously worried. "Well, I'm sure she's got a good excuse for running off. Perhaps she's had some last minute thing with the wedding plans or something... Don't worry, Quatre. Caterina's just fine... But, I will keep an eye out for her, as well as the guys here. So, you don't have to worry, all right?"
Oh, how he hated lying. It was just so wrong, no matter what the situation or reasoning.
It was Quatre's turn to sigh dejectedly. "I suppose... Thanks, Duo... I'm going to give Trowa a call, and maybe my sisters. Hopefully one of them ran into her."
Duo nodded, even though Quatre couldn't see him ."Good idea. I'll make a couple calls too, and see what I can find. I'll call you later if something comes up, okay?"
"Sure... Bye, Duo."
"Bye." Duo closed his phone shut, ending the call, and looked down sorrowfuly. "That's just what I needed right now, you guys." He looked up to Shane. "That's just what we all needed." He looked to his watch and then to Shane. "You cover for me, son. I've got some calls to make."

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Elysia looked up to Jacob, who was sitting across from her at the small table in the cramped booth of the little diner she loved. He had been picking away at his pile of pancakes, not really eating. Although, if she had put as much peanut butter as he did on his pancakes, she'd probably wouldn't want to be eating them either.
She silently watched him as he periodically pulled out his cell phone, looking at the display screen expectantly, nervously, and then putting it away with a sigh. She wondered what was going on.He was staring out the big glass window now of the diner, just looking up at nothing in particular. After a while, he felt her staring, and looked back to her. "Enjoying your omelette?" he asked, the first words spoken to her since they got to the restaurant. He hadn't seem too overjoyed at leaving the safety of Theo's apartment. But he had offered to take her, on account of making her cry.Elysia took another bite of the giant egg and vegetable combination in front of her and nodded, smiling. "Mmhmm."Jacob gave a slight smile back, satisfied of her answer. "Good... Because we can never come back here."Elysia frowned, but went back to smiling, when he laughed, signaling that it was just a joke. She allowed herself to giggle a little bit, but stopped when her stomach began to hurt. "Oh, ow... That was a new pain," she muttered as she quickly grabbed her abdomen.Jacob rose a bit from his seat, reaching out to her. "Are you okay? Is everything all right?" he asked, nervously.Elysia nodded, despite the sharp stabbing feeling in her stomach. "Yeah, I'm fine..." She looked up at him slightly. "I guess the baby didn't like your lame joke."He snorted and sat back down, crossing his arms. "Pfft... I bet the kid just doesn't have a sense of humor to begin with."The pain had subsided a bit, so Elysia let go, and poked at her omelette a bit, glancing up at Jacob. "Oh, I hope not. Because that would seriously depress me. I really wouldn't know what to do if my kid never laughed." She paused, the feeling she was getting from talking about her child overcoming her. It was so weird to talk about the growing person inside of her, and it was even more strange to talk about her child. She had avoided all talks about the baby up until now, so it was still nonexistant to her. But now that she brought it up...
She gripped the table suddenly as a wave of dizziness swept through her. "Okay, here we go again."Jacob reached out to her and gripped her hand tightly. "Are you sure you're fine? Because if you're not, I'll just take you to Jade or the house or something." When she didn't answer, he made a face. "I knew we shouldn't have left."Elysia had her eyes shut and was trying to clear her mind. But she couldn't let him say things like that and use this as an excuse for no future outings. "Aw, c'mon, Jakey! I'm fine. It's just a minor setback in my biological system. I'll be fine, I promise. You just sit there and eat your pancakes. You know you love them."Jacob sighed and shook his head. "You really are stubborn, you know that?"Elysia laughed a little as she started to feel a little better. She opeend her eyes and looked to her cousin. "Yeah, but you all love me anyways."Jacob snorted again and began to smother some more peanut butter on his pancakes. "Maybe Theo does, but not the rest of us sane people... And now I have to wonder what it is that makes him love you..." He stopped smearing the peanut butter and set his knife down, leaving the pancakes alone again.Elysia made a face and pointed to his plate. "Oh, right, I'm crazy. You're the one who puts a crap load of peanut butter on your pancakes, and then not eat 'em. What's up with that?"
Jacob glanced down to his plate and shrugged. " I'm letting them rest a bit and breathe, before I put the syrup on. If I don't do that, then they all just soak together and get soggy. And there's nothing worse than soggy pancakes."Elysia just stared at him as if he were crazy and shook her head. "Man, I wonder what it was that Uncle Zechs and Aunt Noin did to mess you up like this."Jacob waved a hand dismissively as he reached out to the line of syrup bottles at the end of the table, reading over the labels. "Many, many things, my dear. Like, giving me a sister, for one thing." As the words came out of his mouth, he suddenly looked down, guilt and sadness rising in his face. He hadn't meant to say it like that, or make it seem that he was happy without Lisette around.Elysia saw this and reached out to him, grabbing ahold of his arm. "It's okay, Jake. I ... I understand... You didn't mean it to sound like that."Jacob shook his head and covered his face with his hand. "I still shouldn't have said that... Lisette doesn't deserve this, you know..."Elysia stared at him sympathetically. "I know... But..." She tried to think of something to comfort him, or even change the subject. He was really starting to show his sadness at Lisette being stuck in a coma. She wasn't sure if it was going to get worse or not.At that moment, her cell phone began to ring. She jumped at the unexpected high tingling notes of it's ringing. She bit her lower lip, a tad annoyed at the timing of the call. She sighed and reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out her small pink cell phone. "Yeah?""Oh, so you are okay," Theo's tired voice came through the phone, souding relieved.
Elysia was momentarily confused, until she realized that they weren't in his apartment as they had all agreed to. He must have just gotten home from work. She reached her arms up to rest her head on her palms and looked away from Jacob. "Yeah, we're fine. I was a little hungry, so we went out and got some breakfast.""It's almost eleven-thirty, El," Theo replied back teasingly.Elysia smiled a bit and began to run her fingers through her hair, a habit she developed whenever Theo joked around with her. "I know, but Jacob is taking his sweet time eating his pancakes. We've been sitting here for a while now." She stole a glance at Jacob, who appeared to have gotten over what he had said and was now listening to her phone call.He made a face at her last sentence and crossed his arms. "I already told you," he said semi-seriously.Elysia just shook her head and continued her conversation. "I'm starting to think he doesn't even like pancakes... Oh, hey, do you want us to bring you anything?"
"Nah, that's okay. I'm wiped out. I just want to sleep." He paused, seeming to be thinking. "I was just a little worried, since I got home, and you two were gone. There wasn't a note or anything, so yeah... Just thought I'd give you a call... Oh, and have you heard from Caterina? Quatre's left a message on both of my phones, and he sounded pretty worried... I haven't seen her since the robbery, so... yeah..."Elysia frowned as she looked over to Jacob. When was the last time I saw Caterina? She tried to remember, but she couldn't place seeing her older friend, not even on the night Theo mentioned. She must have been really out of it.
She opened her mouth to ask Jacob, when it suddenly hit her that that's what he'd been doing the whole time he was checking his cell phone. He had been waiting for Caterina to call him. In fact, he was doing it again at that very moment.She frowned some more, wondering what was going on. She looked away from Jacob, so that he couldn't see the worry etched on her face and looked down. "Uh, no... Actually, hon, I really can't recall anytime I've seen her, outside of the party where she was dancing with you."As she said the last part, her head began to pulse with a sharp pain. She cried out and dropped her phone unknowingly, grabbing her head in pain.Jacob quickly got up to check on her. "What happened now?"All she could do was shake her head, as it hurt to do anything, and she didn't really have the answer. Why did her head start to hurt so much?She reached around blindly for her phone, to try to talk to Theo, but Jacob smacked her hand away and took her phone instead. "No, you sit there and relax." He put the phone to his ear. "Hey, who is this?"Elysia watched him through narrowed eyes as Jacob began talking to Theo. She couldn't stop the pain pounding through her skull."Dude, what'd you say to her?" Jacob looked to Elysia as he listened to Theo's answer and rubbed the back of her head comfortingly. "She's on the floor in pain, man... I don't get what- wait... She said something about the party?" He looked down to Elysia in surprise. "Fuck, she remembered something from that night..."Elysia rested her head on the table, closing her eyes at Jacob's soothing touch and tried to focus on something else. It was working a little bit, as the pain subsided for a couple of seconds."All right, Theo, I'm going to have to call you back. I'm thinking of swinging by the hospital now or something, since she.. you, know..." He was still looking at Elysia incredulously. "Okay, then... Bye."
He pushed the "end" button on her phone and tucked it into his front pocket. He leaned down to Elysia, ignoring the stares from the other patrons in the diner and asked quietly," Are you okay, now?"
Elysia waited a few more seconds and nodded. "Yeah... I... yeah..." She felt his hand grab hers and squeeze reassuringly.
"C'mon, then. Let's get going..." He gently pulled her to her feet and leaned her against him. He reached over to grab the rest of their stuff, holding it over his right arm. He looked to one of the waitresses passing by and asked," Can you get this stuff to go for us? I gotta take her to the car."
The waitress nodded and walked off to grab some containers.Jacob looked down to his cousin, who was clearly still in pain, but pretending she wasn't. He couldn't get how throughout the entire meal she was constantly in pain, for some reason or another. And through a simple conversation wtih Theo, she had rememberd something from the New Year's party. It wasn't something useful to the investigation, but it was still significant.
I wonder if we were to continue with her on every day conversation and pick up more information from her...?
He slowly began to walk her out of the restaurant, trying to determine which would be better to go to next; the Preventer's hospital or Shane's office. He could only hope that there was nothing seriously wrong with his only cousin and that her recent pain was just a coincidence.

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Jennifer looked up at her answering machine sitting on the far end of her desk as it clicked on. She was at work again in the Maxwell Orphanage, and it had been another hard, busy day, since Elysia still hadn't returned back. Because of this, she had stopped answering phone calls, as they were just another nuisance she didn't want to deal with, and they also prevented her from finishing her paperwork.
She waited for whoever it was to leave a message, not really wanting to hear who it was. There was a second of silence before the person began talking."Hey Jennifer, it's me. Just calling like I said I would."Jennifer looked up quickly, and smiled happily, recognizing the voice as Jonathan's. Oh, how she looked forward to hearing from him again. The other day was so great..."Sorry for not calling you sooner. I've been so busy with work. One day off after a holiday just doesn't cut it. I need more vacations... Anyways, I remember you saying how you never knew where your family was buried and have never seen them. So, I thought I'd look it up for you, and sure enough, I found them. So, if you want to, I'll take you to go visit them the next free day you have off. Sounds good? Then give me a call and let me know."She could practically see him smiling right. Hers was a bit different now, it being caused from gratefullness. She had mentioned that to him when they were visiting his parents, but she hadn't expected him to do anything about it. She really didn't even think that her family was actually buried somewhere. And now he went and did this nice thing for her for no really good reason.She quickly picked up the phone, before he could hang up. "Jonathan! Hey!" she said cheerfully. "Sorry I didn't pick up right away. I thought you were another telemarketer or something."
He chuckled on the other end, music to her ears. "Ahhh, is that what it was?.. So, what do you say? You're up for another walk?"Jennifer's smile broadened and she nodded. "Oh, yeah. Definitely. I mean, I can't believe you did this for me... I have to go now..."
"Aw, it was no problem for me. It gave me something to do while I wait for these lazy bums to assign me some work."Jennifer gave a light laugh. "Oh, so you only did it, because you were bored, not because you cared so much for me." She faked sadness in her voice."Oh, uh... Is it too late to take that answer back?"Jennifer smirked as she tapped a pen on her desk. "Yes, but if you buy me a lunch, then I'll pretend you never said it.""Oh, you drive a hard bargain, woman, but I suppose I'll do it." She could tell he was holding back his laughter.She didn't though. She giggled, a bit flirtatiously, as she said," Woman? Congratulations, you just bought me dessert too, for that comment."
"Aw, damn it. I should probably hang up before I dig myself any deeper.""Ha, ha.. Maybe you should think before you speak." She looked to her cell phone as it began to ring, and groaned in disappointment. As much as she wanted to, and loved, speaking to Jonathan, she had to answer it. Her cell phone was different than the work phone. People she actually wanted to talk to called her on that."What's wrong, Jenny?"Jennifer sighed and picked up her cell phone, glancing at the display to see who was calling. "Someone's calling me right now, so I just might have to hang up on you." She frowned when she saw Quatre's work number on it. Why's he calling again?
"Aww... Well, that's okay, I think one of my supervisors is calling my name right now... So, I'll see you soon then?"Jennifer stared at her phone as it continued to ring and nodded again. "Yeah.. .Saturday morning."Jonathan laugh, clearly amused by her straight forwardness. "Oh, okay. Saturday it is. I'll meet you the same place we first met."Jennifer smiled, remembering the little store again. "Okay.. Bye.""Adios!"She put the phone back on the hook and answered her cell phone, which never stopped ringing. "Hello?""Jennifer! Hi!"Jennifer blinked, taken aback from the voice she was hearing. How the hell did her cousin get her work number, and why was she calling from Quatre's work phone. "Mariemaia?"Mariemaia laughed on her end of the phone. "Oh, I know, dear, I'm sorry for confusing you. I was just in the area for some business, and came across Quatre's office. He seemed busy making some calls, so he told me to wait in his office. I, obviously, got bored, so I flipped through his rolodex and came across your work number. So, here I am, calling you... Did you get my message?"Jennifer looked down, and shook her head, silently laughing at her distant cousin's behavior. Mariemaia Kushrenada-Dreizehn was a young girl at heart still and never took no for an answer. She was surprised that her cousin hadn't busted out the prank phone calls first."Uh, yeah, I got it. I was going to call you right after I was done hearing it, but I had to call Jacob first, for something he wanted me to do for him. And by the time I was done talking to him, it was really late, so I didn't want to go and wake you up.""Oh? And what does that Peaceraft boy have to do with you? Isn't he with Quatre's daughter?"Jennifer shook her head some more at Mariemaia's motherly response. "Yes, he's marrying her, remember? I was just doing him a favor.""What kind of favor?"
Jennifer gasped. "Mariemaia! Nothing like that! He just wanted me to help him on a surprise he's doing for Caterina."
"Oh... Well, I was just asking..."There was a pause as Jennifer then heard a voice in the background. A few seconds later Mariemaia was back on the phone."Jenny, dear? I'm going to have to call you back. Quatre just got back."
"Oh, sure, not a problem." Jennifer tried to listen to what it was the other two were talking about. She really was confused on why Mariemaia was visiting Quatre. It wasn't like she just took off and did as she please, without bringing her kids along."All, righty, then.. I'll call you later at home, okay?""Perfectly fine with me... Bye, then..."Bye, bye!"Jennifer hung up her phone and gave a sigh. That was a silly conversation. She almost regretted hanging up on Jonathan just to answer her cell phone.She frowned when it began to ring again. She picked it up, wondering what Mariemaia forgot to say and answered it. "Yeah?""Stay away from the double agent!" a young girl's voice hissed through the phone.Jennifer froze, trying to fight back the confusion and fear that swept through her. She blinked and took a couple deep breaths, before replying back. "Uh, I'm sorry... What?""Stay away from the double agent! Your life may be in danger if you stay around him!"Jennifer frowned even more, the girl's voice starting to sound scary. "I don't know what you're talking about. .. Who is this?"
But she didn't get an answer. The girl abruptly hung up the phone, leaving Jennifer to start at her phone blankly.Who the hell was that? And what was she talking about?
She then remembered the caller i.d. and quickly went to retrieve the recent calls list. As she looked it over, she grew more confused, wondering why there was no number on her phone, but a bunch of odd letters and symbols.She let out a breath of disappointment and leaned back in her chair. Why did she have to get a weird phone call at this time? Everything was going fairly well in her life. She didn't need some psychos calling her and telling her strange things.She stared at her desk for a while, and then got up. She needed a break right now.She stood up and walked over to her door, grabbing her jacket on the way. Now she was going to be forced to think about a "double agent" and who it was exactly she was supposed to stay away from.It was going to be another drinking night for her.

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