A/N: Sorry for the delay on this. As stated on my other story life has been crazy. I'll be in San Diego at Nerd HQ this week so I don't know if I'll get any writing done but we'll see. :)

Chapter 56

"It seems that those nosy Preventers need to be put in their place."

"Yes, Master."

"Carter, I have a job for you."

"Yes, Master."

"I have received word that one of those pesky agents has a sister. I think we can put her to good use, don't you?"

Carter grinned maliciously. "Oh, yes, Master."

Duo pulled himself together on the way to Sylvia's apartment. He had promised Heero that he would check into her whereabouts and try to get her to go home. He would deal with his issues over the raid once he was home. For now, he had work to do. He pushed the buzzer and waited for an answer.

"Yes?"

"Hi. I'm looking for Sylvia Noventa. Do I have the right address?"

"That's me. What can I do for you?"

Duo rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… see, I'm friends with Heero Yuy. He asked me to check on you for your grandmother."

"Hang on a sec."

The door to the apartment complex opened a moment later and a blonde young woman greeted him. "I'm Sylvia Noventa. I don't believe we've met."

Duo held out his hand and the two shook as he introduced himself. "I'm Duo Maxwell. Can I come in? There are some things I think we need to talk about."

Sylvia nodded and led him inside.

Once up in her apartment, Duo said, "I don't want to alarm you but you really need to be a bit more careful."

Sylvia frowned. "Excuse me?"

"You don't know me," Duo pointed out. "I spouted off a name you recognized and you let me right in. You didn't ask me for identification or any other information that would have let you know I was telling the truth. For all you know, I'm a serial killer."

Sylvia burst out laughing.

"I'm not kidding," Duo said, glowering at her.

"I know," Sylvia said with a grin. "But I know who you are." She pulled a picture off a shelf. "Heero sent me this a while back."

Duo took the picture from her. It was a picture that they had taken on a vacation a few years ago. Duo had his arm around Heero's shoulders and Heero had a small smile on his face. It was one of Duo's favorite pictures of Heero because he didn't smile like that often.

"When he sent it, he told me about his awesome boyfriend and how much you liked this picture. I think he may have sent one to my grandmother, too," Sylvia told him.

Duo grinned. "Well, that makes me feel a little better then." He handed her the picture. "Look, I work for the Preventers and we've had a case that…well, it's been weird."

"Oh?" Sylvia gestured for him to sit on the couch and they sat down.

Duo proceeded to tell her about the raid on Perdu's house, the bodies in the attic, and the forensics list that had her name on it. "I don't know how your name ended up on that list, but it freaked Heero out pretty bad. I think he's worried that someone may be targeting you."

Sylvia had gone pale during Duo's story. "What should I do?"

"I think it might be wise for you to go stay with your grandma for a while…just until we get to the bottom of things. It's entirely possible that there's another Sylvia Noventa in the world but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Sylvia nodded. "Okay. Um…how is the best way to go about getting home safely? I don't want to accidentally make myself a victim."

"No, you definitely don't want that," Duo agreed. "How soon could you be ready to leave?"

"Well…I would need to pack a bag…let my landlord know that I was going to be gone for a while…get a shuttle ticket…and let my aunt know that I'm heading home. So…maybe tomorrow?"

Duo shook his head. "You can pack a bag in ten minutes. I wouldn't advise telling anyone that you're leaving until after you're gone. Maybe not even until you get back to your Grandmother's place. That way there's no chance for anyone to be waiting for you at the shuttle port."

"That makes sense," Sylvia agreed slowly. "But I still need to get a shuttle ticket. I don't even know when the next available shuttle is."

"Leave that to me," Duo told her. "You go pack your bag and by the time you're done, I'll have us both tickets off this place and we'll get you home."

Jason Carter double checked the information The Master had given him before putting the information into a search engine. Agent Barton had a sister working with a traveling circus. The circus had a website, which was convenient. Carter scanned the tour dates and cities. He frowned. His initial idea had been to befriend her and start dating her, luring her to The Master to be taken care of. Now he wasn't sure that plan was going to work. He would either need to follow the circus like a lost puppy or else kidnap her and do things the hard way.

He didn't like either of those options.

He scanned the circus' web page again, making sure he knew who his target was. She was very pretty, and that would make The Master happy.

He clicked on the "Career Opportunities" link and grinned. He had found his way in.

Duo was cautious but casual as he and Sylvia made their way through the shuttle port. He had gotten them tickets and then timed their arrival to get them straight from check-in to shuttle boarding.

"Which gate is it?" Sylvia asked him.

Duo glanced at the departure board to make sure that their flight hadn't changed gates. "It's Gate B12. This way, honey."

They had decided in the car to act like newlyweds on their way to a honeymoon destination on Earth. Duo put his arm around Sylvia's waist and led her to their gate. Once the shuttle had taken off, Duo let out a sigh of relief.

"Well…now we can relax a little," he told her with a grin.

"Maybe you can," Sylvia mumbled under her breath as she gripped the armrests. She had forgotten how much she hated flying.

Her trepidation didn't escape Duo. He patted her hand. "It's okay. I promise."

She nodded but didn't stop grasping the arm rests until the steward came by with their meals. After they ate, Sylvia watched a movie and Duo was actually glad when she fell asleep. He hadn't realized that flying scared her so much. The more time she slept the less time she'd have to freak out.

Duo didn't sleep at all. He didn't dare. Not because he was worried about a threat. If someone was going to do anything they would either wait until they landed or else they would have already done something. Duo was afraid he would have a nightmare about the raid and he didn't want everyone on the shuttle to have to deal with that mess. He was saving that especially for Heero because Heero knew how to handle the nightmares. And he knew Heero would understand.

Paul Johnson sat in his trailer with a large glass of lemonade. It had been a long, trying day. Jake had decided to go after Rocky while Kiri was trying to get Rocky's feed bag on. Apparently he thought he should have been served first. Paul had heard the commotion and managed to get Jake under control before he did too much damage but the horses had managed to scare Kiri and she'd retreated to Buttercup's stall again. Fortunately it had only taken an hour and an ice cream cone to coax her out this time but Paul really didn't want a repeat performance. As much as he appreciated Kiri's help, he really needed someone who was strong enough to keep the horses under control.

He wasn't blaming Kiri for what happened, it wasn't her fault in any way, but he felt bad that she was frightened by the horses. He still hadn't decided whether she was scared because the horses were acting out or if she was scared because she thought she would be in trouble over it. He wished he could figure out how to get her to talk. It would make it easier to figure out what was bothering her.

A knock on his door drew him out of his thoughts. He opened it to find the Manager waiting.

"Manager, what can I do for you this evening?"

"I was wondering if we might have a little chat."

"Of course. Come in. Would you like something to drink?" Paul stood out of the way so the Manager could enter.

"No, thank you. This shouldn't take long. I just wanted to let you know that I've found a new assistant for you."

"Really? Who is it?"

"A young man that came with a letter of recommendation from Trowa. I'm sure he will be able to do the job."

Paul couldn't help but feel relieved. Trowa knew what to look for in a good hostler, in fact it was Trowa who had found him amongst the Preventer's ranks and suggested him to Colonel Une for this undercover job. With any luck, it would be another agent on undercover assignment. It would be nice to have a chance to be "off duty" sometimes, but Paul wasn't about to get his hopes up. It was more likely to be someone who caught Trowa's attention and passed a rigorous background check. Either way, it solved several issues.

"That's great. When will he be joining us?"

"He will meet us next week when we stop in Fresno."

Duo escorted Sylvia through the shuttle port, alert but casual. He was pretty confident that they were safe but that was no reason to get sloppy. After retrieving their luggage they made their way towards the rental desk where Duo planned to rent a car. Just before they got there, Duo's phone rang. Since it was Heero Duo didn't waste any time in answering.

"Hey, Heero!"

"Duo…has your shuttle landed yet?"

"Uh…yeah. How did you know?"

"I've been watching the camera feeds for you. Agent Cresswell sent in her report to Colonel Une so I knew you were moving on to the last part of your assignment."

"If you knew the answer why did you ask?" Duo asked, rolling his eyes.

"Because telling you to come up to the second floor of the parking garage without giving you a reason why would have made you think there was something wrong."

"Yeah, okay. Sounds good. I'll see you soon." Duo hung up the phone and grinned at Sylvia. "Come on. We've got a ride waiting."

It didn't take long to get up to the parking garage and Duo had to grin at the sight of one of Quatre's limousines waiting for them.

Sylvia let out a low whistle. "You weren't kidding when you said you had a ride for us."

Duo chuckled. "Well…I'd be lying if I said I set this up."

"Who—?"

Quatre exited the car and greeted both of them with a hug. "Good to see you! And Miss Sylvia! It's been too long."

"Mr. Winner! Did Grandma send you?" Sylvia asked as she returned his hug.

"Not exactly. Heero asked me to pick you up. He thought it would be nice to surprise your Grandmother."

"Oh, she'll be delighted to see you again!"

Trowa got out of the driver's seat, dressed as a chauffeur. He helped Sylvia into the car. "If you will follow me with the bags, sir."

Duo smirked and followed Trowa to the trunk to put in Sylvia's luggage. He was about to put in his own bag when Trowa stopped him.

"I'm afraid this transport is for the lady."

Duo quirked an eyebrow.

"Yours is waiting over there." Trowa gestured with his head to where Heero was leaning casually against Duo's black corvette.

Duo's face lit up in a smile and he sprinted over to Heero, dropping his bag and throwing himself into Heero's arms in order to kiss his boyfriend soundly.

Heero smiled as they parted. "I missed you, too."

"Aren't you gonna say 'hi' to Sylvia?" Duo asked. "I'm sure she'd love to see you again."

Heero shook his head. "No. I'm not in a state to see her right now and the sooner she gets to her grandmother's the safer she'll be."

"It'd only take a second," Duo reasoned.

"Well…Quatre's already gone," Heero said as he leaned down to pick up Duo's bag. "We should get going, too."

Cathy settled into her lawn chair with the GED practice book. She was going to give Kiri another practice test later and she wanted to make it harder than the last one had been. Kiri was doing really well with the material and Cathy wanted Kiri to be able to go into the exam knowing she could pass it. Kiri was currently practicing throwing knives again. She was working hard trying to learn an act. Kiri practiced every day on the tight rope as well. Cathy didn't want to dampen Kiri's enthusiasm but she was starting to suspect that Kiri wouldn't ever get the hang of throwing the knives. She was much better at the tight rope but Cathy could tell that Kiri didn't like doing it.

Cathy looked up as Kiri sighed…again.

"Keep practicing, you'll get it," Cathy told her with a smile.

Kiri responded with a snort. Cathy suppressed a chuckle. Kiri knew she wasn't getting this and that was her way of telling Cathy so. Still, if Kiri wanted to keep trying with the knives, Cathy wasn't going to stop her.

"Maybe you shouldn't spend so much time around the horses. You're starting to sound like them."

Cathy looked up as Paul walked around Cathy's trailer. He grinned as Kiri glared daggers at him. If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead. Kiri glared at him for half a second longer before sticking her tongue out at him and then turning away so she could pick up the knives.

Johnson chuckled softly to himself. Kiri had come a long way in the short time she'd been at the circus. He was certain Trowa would be glad to hear it.

"You're in a good mood," Cathy said softly.

He smiled broadly at her. "Didn't you hear? The Manager is finally hiring another hostler." He looked at Kiri who had picked up the knives and come back over to them to try throwing them again. "Not that Kiri isn't a great help, but I need someone who is strong enough to hold them when they get jumpy." He wanted Kiri to know that he still appreciated her help and that she wasn't in trouble. He hoped she didn't get it into her head that she was going to get kicked out of the circus for not being able to handle the horses. She really was helpful, not only with the horses but with running notes and other small jobs that needed to be done. He hoped she understood that.

"That's great, Paul," Cathy said, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, apparently we're picking him up in our next town."

"I wonder what made him finally agree." Cathy knew that there had been several applicants for the job and the Manager had rejected all of them for one reason or another. Sometimes the reason had been legitimate, like the guy who had to ask what a mane was, and sometimes Cathy had thought the Manager was just being nitpicky, like the guy who only had 2 years, 11 months and 12 days of experience instead of 3 years' worth. Like that two weeks was really going to make any difference!

"Trowa recommended him," Paul answered her with a shrug. "I guess that's what the Manager's been waiting for. If Trowa thinks he's good enough then he must be pretty good. You know how picky he is about caring for the animals."

"Oh, well then I'm sure he'll work out great for you."

Johnson smiled broadly at Catherine. "I think so, too."

As he walked back to the animal tent, Cathy thought about how much Paul had been hanging around lately. He didn't linger but it seemed like he found excuses to come by the trailer whenever Cathy was out working with Kiri on her acts. She wasn't complaining, though. Lately, Paul had really started to grow on her. Cathy figured it was Kiri's influence on the man. He seemed to have grown less crotchety since Kiri started helping with the horses and the attitude adjustment had made him more attractive in Cathy's eyes. She shook her head. Dating people you worked with was a bad idea.

Cathy's thoughts were derailed by a dejected sigh. Kiri was trudging over to the target to pick up the knives again. In the few days since Cathy had shown Kiri how to throw the knives she hadn't hit the target with the sharp end of the knife once. Cathy set down her book and went over to help Kiri with her technique.

Duo was tired from his mission so he was more than happy to let Heero drive them home. He filled Heero in on everything that happened.

"What I don't get," Duo said as they pulled up in front of their apartment building, "is how they knew we were coming. They had the girls locked up and drugged before we could get to them. No matter how organized they are there's no way they could've managed that without knowing we were coming. We should have managed to save at least one girl but—" Duo's voice broke. "But I was too late, Heero. I…I couldn't do anything but watch them die."

Heero turned off the car and leaned over to pull Duo in close. "It wasn't your fault, Duo. You did everything you could."

Duo clung to Heero and sobbed into his shoulder. "I know…but I hate when my best isn't good enough."

"Let's go inside. You're exhausted and I'm sure you'll feel better after you get some sleep," Heero told him gently.