A/N: Sorry about the long wait. Life happened and then the holidays showed up. Hopefully my muse has gotten its act together and won't make us wait so long for the next update. Enjoy!

Chapter 51

Duo watched Rashid grapple with Hilde's ex-boyfriend. He wondered if this was what it was like watching gladiators in the colosseum back in Ancient Rome. Duo had to scoot out of the way as the two large men fought for domination.

Rashid got Gabe into a full nelson and held him. Looking at Duo he said, "What should I do with him?"

Duo grinned. "I'd like to question him, so you can do whatever you want as long as his mouth and brain still work."

Gabe's eyes widened. He knew he was no match for the behemoth behind him. He realized that if Duo told Rashid to kill him, he would be dead before he hit the ground.

"I'll…I'll tell you anything you want to know," Gabe sputtered out.

Duo curled his lips in disgust. "Pathetic. Rashid, can you put him under and I'll deal with him later?"

"Of course."

Duo wasn't sure exactly how Rashid did it, but Gabe was unconscious on the floor an instant later. Duo and Rashid quickly tied him up and dumped him in a closet, just in case he came to before Duo was ready to deal with him.

"Thanks, Rashid," Duo said, shaking the large man's hand. "I almost bit the dust there."

"You are very welcome, Master Duo. I am only sorry I was not here earlier. There were issues at the docking station."

Duo frowned. "Anything that will keep you from leaving?"

Rashid shook his head. "It is nothing that I cannot handle."

"Good. I need you to take Hilde away from here. She's pregnant, and she's too far along to travel safely to Earth, but Sally said it should be okay for her to go to another colony."

Rashid nodded. "Quatre mentioned that your friend needed a place to stay. I am sure that she will be comfortable on L4 with Miss Iria."

"Is that okay?" Duo asked. "I know she's planning a wedding and all."

Rashid waved his hand. "She will do anything for Quatre. And Hilde will be no bother. There is more than ample space. And besides, with all of the Maganacs in residence Miss Iria will be glad of the female company."

"As long as she'll be safe," Duo said. "Let's get you two out of here and then I'll deal with Gabe."

Rashid frowned. "Will you require me as backup?"

Duo paused. It wasn't a bad idea, but he really wanted to get Hilde to safety.

Rashid had years of reading Quatre's moods so he could tell what Duo was thinking. "I can have Miss Hilde escorted to the shuttle to wait while we deal with him if you wish."

"That sounds good," Duo said. "Let's do that."

Trowa pulled away from the circus grounds and handed his phone to Quatre. "Let Heero know we're ready for his instructions."

Quatre nodded and sent Heero the text. He could have used his own phone but it wasn't like using Trowa's would make any difference. Trowa drove on while they waited.

"So…Kiri looked like she was doing well," Quatre said, after a few minutes of silence.

Trowa nodded. "Being fed will do that."

Quatre kept his sigh of exasperation to himself. He could tell Trowa felt something, but it was being pushed so far down that he couldn't read it properly.

"Have you ever thought of what would happen if Chase found out where she was?" Quatre asked.

That got a hiccup of response from Trowa, but it was quickly squashed. "Cathy and the others would take care of her. She'll be fine. You can stop worrying."

Quatre decided to let it drop. Trowa wasn't going to let his guard down and it would be exhausting to try and force him to.

Quatre was grateful when Heero's response came. "He sent us an address he wants us to check out. The property is owned by Figaro de Seville. That's the name that the taxes on the other property were paid by."

"Any other instructions?" Trowa asked.

"Just to be careful and call for backup if we need it."

Rashid followed Duo through the safe house to get Hilde. When they opened the hidden door, Hilde was sitting on the small bed with her face buried in her hands.

"Hilde?" Duo said softly to get her attention.

"DUO!" Hilde threw herself into his arms. "Did he hurt you?"

Duo held her. "Shhh…I'm fine. Rashid showed up to help me. You don't need to worry about Gabe anymore."

"Did you kill him?"

Duo shook his head. "No. But you're going to go to L4 with Rashid. I'll keep Gabe here and get the information out of him that I need and then I'll turn him over to the Preventers with instructions to keep him behind bars for a long time. Sixty years ought to do it, don't you think?"

Hilde shook her head. "I'm not at a place where I can joke about this yet."

Duo kissed her forehead. "You're safe now. I promise. I won't let him near you ever again." Hilde's reaction bothered Duo a little. He hadn't ever known her to be this afraid of anyone or anything. He hoped it was just because of her pregnancy hormones and not anything permanent. "Look, Rashid's gonna take you to his ship so you'll be safe and then we're gonna interrogate Gabe. Rashid will be here to help me so you don't have to worry, okay?"

Hilde nodded. "Don't underestimate him, Duo."

Wufei let himself into Sally's apartment, carefully balancing the groceries he'd brought so he didn't drop anything. He was still angry at Colonel Une for getting Sally drunk in the first place, but now he was worried because Sally had been sick ever since. Hangovers didn't last this long. He'd nursed Duo through enough of them to know. Sally had told him she thought she had a bug, but Wufei wasn't so sure. There wasn't anything currently going around.

Once the groceries were put away, Wufei went in search of Sally and found her fast asleep on the couch. He felt her forehead and found that she seemed to have a slight fever, but he didn't feel it was anything to worry about. He decided not to wake her. If she wasn't feeling well later he would take her in to be checked out. He got a blanket and covered her with it before going into the kitchen to start something for dinner.

Heero jumped when the phone rang. He was relieved to see that the caller was Duo. It had been far too long since Duo's last check in for Heero's liking.

"Hey, Heero!"

"You really ought to check in more often, Duo," Heero chided.

"Things got a little busy. I'll try to call sooner next time," Duo promised.

"What's the status of your mission?"

"I've secured private passage for Hilde to L4, courtesy of Quatre. Her ex has been beating the hell out of her."

Heero swore. "You offered to let her stay with us, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately she can't travel to Earth right now because she's pregnant. Sally said it should still be safe for her to go to L4. Rashid said Quatre's sister Iria is going to take her in for now. She'll be in good hands."

"That's good. Have you had a chance to check on Sylvia yet?"

"Not yet. Hilde said something about her ex frequenting a brothel so I'll be interrogating him as soon as Hilde's on her way."

"You don't suppose he could be going to the location we're looking for, do you?"

"You bet I do. He's just the kind of creep that'd frequent somewhere like that."

Heero blew out a lungful of air. "Okay. If it turns out to be what we're looking for, I want you to get backup from the L2 Preventer Division. The place we found before seemed to be more of an exclusive location. If someone as unremarkable as Hilde's ex can afford to go to this location, I'd bet there are more girls being held there. If they're anywhere near as bad off as the last girl was, you'll need help extracting them. And there will likely be more security there as well."

"I know, Heero. I promise I won't do anything stupid. I'll come home in one piece."

"I expect you to keep that promise, Duo. If you need me to come out there…" Heero let the offer hang in the air.

"I don't think that'll be necessary, but I'll let you know if I need you out here."

"Hn. I love you, Duo."

"I love you, too, Heero. I'll talk to you soon."

Trowa pulled up to the address Heero had supplied. The building was located in the middle of San Francisco and looked like every other building nearby.

"Is this it?" Trowa asked.

Quatre frowned. "It's the correct address."

"So what's the plan?"

"Well…I thought it would be wise for you to approach first, to see if it's what we think it is. If it does turn out to be a brothel…I can pretend to be a client in order to gain us entrance. You can act as my bodyguard so they won't be suspicious that you were checking things out."

"You're willing to blow your cover? Quatre, is that wise?"

"It's the best way for us to enter the building and get the information we need. Besides everyone inside is involved and will see jail time. And if, by any chance, it does get out that I was here, I can put out a statement saying that I was merely doing a favor for the Preventers. No one needs to know the truth."

Trowa nodded. "If you're sure that's the best way to go about it then that's what we'll do. Wait here and I'll check it out."

Trowa left Quatre in the car to keep a lookout and made his way casually to the door. He opened it and a tinkling bell above the door announced his presence. He was in what looked like a small waiting room. There were three chairs along the wall and a coffee table with a few magazines on it. A well-dressed male secretary greeted him from behind a desk.

"What can I do for you today, sir?"

Trowa frowned. "I think I might have the wrong address. I'll tell my boss he has faulty information."

"Hold on a moment. What were you looking for?"

Trowa was careful with his answer. "He was looking for somewhere with a bit more action."

The secretary's eyes gleamed. Bingo.

"I believe we have what you were looking for. When would your boss like to schedule a visit?"

"What have you got available?"

"Let's see….our next opening will be tomorrow."

Trowa frowned. "You don't have anything today? He's here on a business trip and this afternoon was the only time he had free."

"I don't know…"

Trowa nodded. "I understand. Mr. Winner will just have to go elsewhere."

Trowa turned to walk out but the secretary, who was much faster than Trowa would have guessed, blocked the exit.

"You don't mean the Quatre Winner, do you?"

"I do."

"I didn't think he swung this way," the secretary said thoughtfully. "If you'll give me a moment I'll see if we can squeeze him in."

"Thank you." Trowa knew that dropping Quatre's name was highly risky, but it was Quatre's idea to use his status to gain them entrance into what was, if they were correct, an exclusive brothel.

"It seems that we can just get him in if he can be here in ten minutes. Will that work?"

"Of course. He's outside now. I'll go get him."

"Wonderful! You're welcome to come inside to wait if you like."

Trowa nodded and headed back out to the car. He got in and closed the door before telling Quatre what had happened.

"Right. Here's the plan. We'll go inside and I'll insist that you stand guard outside the door. Then you can observe the comings and goings and if at all possible, snoop around a bit. I'll try to get the girl they set me up with to talk to me. Have you got the number for the local Preventers so we can call them in to break up the place?"

"I do. At what point should we alert them?"

"I want to speak to the girl first. If it's legitimate then we've got no reason to shut them down."

"True," Trowa said. "How will you let me know to call them?"

"I'll tell you that I forgot a meeting and ask you to call and cancel it, okay?"

Trowa nodded. "Are we ready then?"

"Let's do this."