A/N: Sorry this has taken so long. Things have been a little crazy and my muse seems to have wandered off somewhere. Hopefully it comes back soon.

Chapter 48

Heero frowned as he read the printout again. "This can't be right," he muttered.

He called Quatre.

"Yes, Heero?"

"You remember when you got that information on Wayne Harris?"

"Yes."

"Can you contact your source again? I have some more questions for him."

"Sure. When would be a good time to schedule a meeting?"

"I can meet with him at any time. Just make it soon."

Duo ensured that the safe house was secure before allowing Hilde inside. He knew Quatre would have a state of the art security system in place, but this was L2. People here lived to break security systems. He was pleasantly surprised to note that the reason nobody bothered with Quatre's house was because the outside looked like the place was about to collapse. It was very clever architecture. Even the fence outside had a condemned property notice. The lower level had broken windows and there was trash strewn about. But upstairs a hidden panel led to the real safe house. And it was just as luxurious as one would expect the wealthiest man in the universe to make it.

"This is amazing, Duo!" Hilde said as she took off her jacket.

Duo smirked. "Yeah, Quat's always had the nicest places to hide out. He said it should be fully stocked. Are you hungry?"

Hilde shook her head. "Not right now. I'm actually kind of tired. Do you think I have time to lie down for a bit?"

Duo nodded. "We've got a couple of hours. The bedrooms should be down that hall. Pick whichever bed looks the most comfortable. I'm gonna do a perimeter check and I'll check on you in a bit, okay?"

Cindy wiped the sweat from her brow. The ticket booth was almost ready for the performances that evening. It was a small square building that came apart so it could be transported easier. She just had to get the door attached. "Hey Kiri! Can you help me with this?"

Kiri nodded and came over.

Cindy smiled at her. Kiri was quiet but Cindy liked her. She was always willing to lend a hand. Paul had gotten after Cindy once because he thought she was taking advantage of Kiri's helpful nature. Cindy had been careful not to ask Kiri to do so much after that.

"Can you hold this steady while I put the pins in the hinges?"

Kiri nodded and held the door up. Cindy popped in the pins and tried the door. "Perfect. Thanks, Kiri. Will you be helping me out again tonight or will you be helping Paul?"

Kiri frowned a little.

"Oh! Sorry, I forgot again. Are you helping me tonight?"

Kiri nodded.

Cindy smiled. "Great! I'll see you later, then!"

Kiri nodded and headed for the horse enclosure.

Cindy sighed. She liked Kiri, but Cindy wished she would talk.

"What can I do for you Agent…I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."

"Yuy. Mr. Richmond, I got your name from Mr. Winner. He said that you might have information for us on a lead he provided. What information can you give me about Harold Branagh?"

Sebastian Richmond thought for a moment. "He was the Dean of Stanford from 173 to 186, when he retired. I haven't heard anything about him since."

Heero filed that information away. "Would you happen to have information regarding his place of residence?"

"I think he had a home in Fresno, but I don't know if he still lives there. To be honest, I'm not sure if he's still alive."

"I understand. I am compiling information that might be the slightest bit pertinent to this case even if it doesn't amount to anything. The case is such that we want to be absolutely certain our suspect is the perpetrator we're looking for. Any information that will allow us to narrow down the possibilities is valuable. Is there anything else at all that you can tell me?"

"I really don't know anything else about him. I had no reason to ever meet with him as a student. Really the only time most of us ever saw him was at a memorial service for Wayne Harris after his suicide," Mr. Richards said.

"Thank you for your assistance. If you happen to think of anything else please contact me immediately."

Heero hung up the phone and pulled out his information again. It seemed almost impossible, but the fingerprints were an identical match.

Angus Carruthers was none other than Harold Branagh, former Dean of Stanford University.

"Do you think she'll talk to us this time?" Quatre asked as Trowa drove down an empty stretch of highway.

Trowa shrugged.

"Will Cathy be angry that we didn't call first?"

"No, Quatre. She won't be angry. And it isn't like we'll be staying. We're just checking on the girl and leaving, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," Quatre muttered as he turned his attention to the landscape.

Trowa frowned. Why was Quatre being so moody? "There's a rest stop ahead. Do you want me to stop?"

"No. We can keep going," Quatre said, still staring out the window at the passing scenery. "Unless you need to stop."

"I can go for a while yet."

The two fell into silence.

Quatre was beginning to think that his plan wasn't such a great one after all. Trowa was being quieter than usual and Quatre was having a hard time reading him.

"Why don't you just spit it out, Quatre? What's eating you?"

Trowa's sudden question caught Quatre off guard.

"I…I don't know how to put it into words."

"What's the real purpose behind going to see the girl?"

Quatre continued to look out the window. "I told you. Une will want an update on her and it would be better to be prepared with firsthand knowledge."

Trowa snorted. "You were never a good liar, Quatre. I've known something was up since you first suggested this little outing so you might as well fess up."

Quatre sighed and pulled his attention away from the window. "Fine. I'm worried about you."

Trowa glanced at the blonde before watching the road again. "How is this road trip to see the girl you found about me?"

"You've been working yourself too hard again. I thought that taking a small trip to see Catherine would help you to relax. I just used the girl as an excuse."

"And?"

"And?" Quatre repeated, slightly confused.

"What else? I know there's something else."

"There's nothing else," Quatre assured him.

"Quatre, you can't fool me. I know you too well. What is really bothering you? And don't give me some lame excuse. I want an honest answer."

"I told you, I don't know how to put it into words."

"Well, you've got plenty of time to figure it out. The circus is four hours away."

Quatre fell silent as he tried to figure out what he could tell Trowa to satisfy him. He wasn't sure Trowa was ready for the truth. And if Quatre did confront Trowa about his feelings, would he deny them or get angry that Quatre was prying? He certainly didn't wish to alienate his friend. He truly wanted to help Trowa accept his feelings. He worried that part of Trowa pushing himself was because he was trying to get rid of his emotions. During the wars his default setting was stoic. If there was an option not to show how he felt, Trowa took it. Quatre worried that Trowa's refusal to accept his emotions would lead to a slow destruction of his innermost self.

"Trowa…I…I don't know how I can explain why this trip is important. But it really is because I'm worried about you. You need to stop pushing yourself so hard. The Preventers are a team. We're all there to help. You don't have to do everything by yourself anymore," Quatre said quietly.

Trowa raised an eyebrow but didn't respond. The silence between them bordered on awkward but it stayed until they pulled up to the circus.

"Quatre," Trowa said as he turned off the car, "I know that you worry about me…about all of us. But you don't have to, you know. We're not the same people we were during the wars. I know I sometimes come across as distant but the reality is that I prefer to observe what's going on rather than put myself into it. When it comes to work I take on so much because I know that I will not be as negatively affected as some of our coworkers. I don't want to claim to be immune to some of the things we deal with but if I can take some of the burden off those around me, I sleep better because I feel like I made a difference. Do you understand that?"

"Of course I understand it, Trowa! I feel the same way and because of that I worry that one day you're going to take on something that will be beyond your ability to handle on your own and…and something bad will happen to you." Quatre took a deep breath. "I nearly killed you once, Trowa and it's something that I'm still trying to forgive myself for. I think that's why I concern myself with your wellbeing more than the others."

"You only care about me because you're guilty?"

Quatre groaned. "No…that came out wrong. I told you I couldn't explain it."

Trowa chuckled. "Relax Quatre. I'm messing with you. I understand what you mean. Can you promise me something?"

Quatre nodded.

"I've already forgiven you. I want you to promise me that you'll figure out how to forgive yourself. Life is too short to hold onto things you cannot change."

Quatre took a breath and blew it out. "I can't promise that I'll be able to do that, but I can promise that I will work on it."

"Good enough," Trowa said. "Let's check on the girl so we don't have to spend the night out here. Cathy isn't expecting us and it wouldn't be fair to take over her trailer on such short notice."

Duo was quiet as he moved through the house. He assumed Hilde was resting and he wanted to check on her without disturbing her. The door to the room she'd picked was open and she was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling and absently rubbing her stomach.

"Hey, Hil. You doin' okay?"

"No," Hilde whispered.

Duo laid on his side next to her on the bed. He propped his head up with his hand. "Wanna talk about it?"

Hilde didn't answer right away. "No one ever expects stuff like this to happen, ya know? I mean…girls always dream of the perfect relationship with the perfect guy, living in the perfect house and having perfect kids. None of us ever wants to end up alone and knocked up, with no money and nowhere to turn." Hilde took a shaky breath. "I should have listened to you."

"Aw, Hil, don't," Duo said as he reached over and pulled Hilde close as she tried to blink back her tears. "You were right to give him a chance. I had just as much chance of being wrong about him as being right. I promised I'd help fix this and I'm gonna. Quat's got a shuttle on the way to take you away from here. Since it's a private shuttle there's no way he'll ever find out where you are and I bet Quat's got some of his Maganac buddies set aside to help keep you safe. Everything'll work out. You'll see."

They stayed that way for a while. Hilde was more than happy to let Duo comfort her. Even though he would never be interested in her in a romantic way, he was very much like the older brother she'd always wanted and she felt safe around him in a way that she hadn't found with anyone else. She silently promised herself that the next man she allowed herself to get involved with would make her feel the way she felt when she was with Duo.

Hilde could feel herself drifting off, which was fine with her. She was exhausted. Unfortunately, her body had different plans. She groaned and pulled away from Duo.

"What's wrong?" Duo asked.

"I have to pee again."