This would be chapter 10. I'm in the damn double digits!
Trowa sank to his knees as Quatre fell, their hands still intwined, and shouted his name in alarm. Iria was at the silent boys side a second later, straightening the very pale assassin. She looked over him quickly, then, after thumbing open an eye, she took the goggles and slipped them back on over his closed eyelids. The boys and Hilde were shunted aside for the moment as Iria ordered two newly arrived Preventors to carry him to the medical wing. They followed closely behind, all concerned. Une disappeared about the time Quatre arrived in the med wing, off to go do urgent Preventors business. Ultimately, Heero ended up sitting on a chair, staring at nothing, Wufei began to meditate best he could. Hilde sat by Duo, whose normally bright face wore a worried expression as he constantly glanced at Quatre, and Trowa had positioned a chair at the side of Quatre's bed and simply sat there, staring at him with his emerald green eyes.
"Trowa," Iria murmured. Quatre had been out for almost an hour now, and Trowa hadn't moved from the chair since or blinked.
"You said he was going to be alright," Trowa stated, his eyes not roaming from Quatre's face.
"He will be alright," Iria replied. "I told you, Trowa. He simply passed out from the intensity of the light and colors. I should have thought of that-yes, I know-but he's still going to be fine. The light is dimmed in here, so when he wakes up, it won't be overwhelming."
"Why does he have silver eyes?" Duo perked up, curious.
Iria opened her mouth for a moment, then sighed and said. "You know, I have no clue. It could just be a side effect."
"How's he gonna go outside?" Hilde asked. "It'd be pretty odd to have him pass out every time he steps outside."
"We can just get him sunglasses!" Duo exclaimed. "It'd be real easy, since everyone's got a pair here. We just have to swipe 'em..."
"No stealing, Duo," Iria said sharply. "We've already gotten Quatre a pair of sunglasses for his own. He'll most likely have more than one pair. I'd rather he never wears the goggles again."
"You and me both, sistah," Duo answered, and Iria chuckled.
"if there's anything I know about the most, it's sisters," Iria commented. "I have twenty eight of them."
"Twenty eight?" Wufei gaped, thinking of the horrors of that many onnas.
"Yes. And it's hell, sometimes!" Iria laughed, then her face grew somewhat sad. "I had a little brother once, but he died ten years ago." There was an awkward and sad silence in the room until Quatre broke it by moaning. His eyes fluttered open, then he squinted and covered them, trying to shrink into the mattress.
"Q-meister!" Duo called out.
"Turn it off," Quatre cried. 'I don't like it. It's too bright!" His voice begged and pleaded with Iria. Iria replied by expertly slipping sunglasses she took from her big lab coat pocket over his eyes.
"There," she smiled brightly as he opened his eyes and blinked. "How are you feeling, Quatre?"
Quatre didn't reply right away. His fingers trailed lightly on the frame of the sunglasses, then his mouth drooped in a serious frown. "I hate this all!"
"What?" Iria blinked. "What do you hate?"
Quatre sighed. "Everything. It's all just too confusing!"
"You can say that again," Duo said. "Eh, Heero?"
"Hn. It's good to see you're awake," Heero spoke to Quatre, who nodded.
"Thanks, Heero."
"Good, you're awake!" Une said as she came through the door, a folder in her hand. "Sometimes I swear I have split second timing!"
"Not quite split second, Une, but pretty close," Iria smiled. "Now what makes you so chirpy?"
"Relatively good news," Une replied, falling into an empty chair. "I have the DNA genetic tests back, and they found some matches for all of you!"
"Woah, neat-o!" Duo jumped off his chair and ran to Une, who held the folder out of his reach.
"Be patient!" Une laughed, seating him beside her. He looked up at her with puppy eyes, begging her to hurry. "First of all, Heero Yuy. We located an uncle of yours...uh, Odin Lowe. He's an...actually, I'm not sure what he is, but he's your uncle."
"Odin Lowe," Heero repeated, not recognizing or caring a bit. He didn't have or need family.
"Duo Maxwell!" Une continued, and she swore Duo was bouncing. "We also found you an uncle. His name is simply stated as Howard, no last name, but the genetics match. He was easy to find, since he works for us. Of course, I've never personally met him, myself."
"Cool, I have an uncle!" Duo laughed.
"Howard?" Hilde was looking at Une with wide eyed shock.
"Yes. Howard. He's a scrap yard owner."
"That's my uncle!" Hilde yelled.
"Your uncle?" Duo stared at her.
"Well, sort of. Howard actually kind of adopted me when I was five, and it was too wierd to call him dad, so we decided he'd be my uncle," Hilde gasped. "Hey, Duo! That means we're like family. Almost."
"Cool!" Duo shouted. "I got a cousin, too!"
"And a brother."
Duo froze mid bounce and swallowed, looking back at Une. "A brother?"
"Yes. His name is Solo Maxwell," Une paused at the name, then chuckled. "Solo and Duo. Anyways, he's your older brother by four years, I believe. He's currently on L2 right now."
"Howard never mentioned any family," Hilde said. "He always said his family died."
"I don't know why that is, Hilde, but Solo is Duo's brother, most definitely."
"I love the miracles of modern technology," Iria smiled. "The fact that everyone has to have a DNA code registered. Brilliant."
"Trowa Barton," Une continued on. "You have a sister and a brother. Your sister's name is Catherine Bloom, and she's a knife thrower in a circus currently residing on L3. And your brother is Triton Bloom, and he's the knife target for Catherine. Catherine is seventeen and Triton is fourteen."
"Circus people!" Hilde clapped her hands. "They're the best!"
Trowa let his eyes drop as he thought about this. Catherine and Triton. His family. He couldn't have family, not while he was still an assassin at heart. Oh, but it would be wonderful to meet them. If only he could.
"And you have an uncle. Well, not a biological uncle, mind you, but he's listed as the uncle in your family. His name is Dekim Barton," Une spoke. "He's where you got your last name, I'm sure. We have no idea where he is right now." Une flipped to the next page, read a line and smiled, then flipped another page. "Wufei Chang. You had an uncle as well..."
"Man, everyone's got uncles!" Duo exclaimed.
"...but he died just last night," Une finished sadly.
"Low blow," Duo muttered.
Wufei did not feel sad. He had never known the man, and probably never would. If he died, so be it. Nature calls to all men, and death comes.
"We claimed his will, since you are his last of kin," Une continued. "And it states something quite interesting. According to it, you, Chang, Wufei, have a fiancee."
"A what?" Wufei sputtered, caught completely off gaurd.
"A fiancee," Une raised an eyebrow, extreme delight in his surprise showing in her eyes. "Her name is Chien, Meiran."
"Meiran?" Wufei coughed suddenly, and proceeded to wrack his lungs out as his breath got stuck in his throat. Duo patted his back not too gently, muttering about how it would all be alright.
"You'll survive, I'm sure," he was saying. "Of course, woman have been known to tame the life out of men, but I'm sure you'll manage. After all, some weak onna won't get the better of you."
"Maxwell, shut it!" Wufei pulled on his braid hard. Duo yelped and rubbed his head in pain, sulking quietly.
"And last but not least," Une flipped the page back. "Quatre Raberba. You, my dear Night Wraith, have a surprisingly large amount of family. You have a father."
Quatre looked at her unblinking as Une went complete suspense mode. "Yes?" he asked.
"Who happens to be Ramid Winner, owner and CEO of Winner Enterprises Incorporated. And Ramid Winner has twenty nine daughters, one of whom is Iria, here. You, Quatre Raberba Winner, are a multi-billionaire heir."
Iria let out a strangled gasp and looked at Quatre, eyes wide and darting between him and Une. "You mean...he's our brother? He's...Ra'id?"
"Yes, Iria," Une smiled. "Congratulations."
"But Ra'id was taken ten years ago!" Iria cried. "He can't be alive..."
"He's alive, and he is Quatre," Une stated. "The DNA testing matched to every one of your sisters and your father! And his age is correct. Quatre is Ra'id Rabah Winner."
"No!" Quatre suddenly shouted out, surprising and confusing both Une and Iria. And everyone else, in fact. "I...I'm not Ra'id Rabah Winner," he said firmly. "I'm Quatre. Quatre Raberba!"
"I'm with Q," Duo said. "Like, it's awesome he's rich and got a big family and stuff, but if everyone started calling me Mark or something, I'd kind of hate it. I'm Duo Maxwell, just like Q is Quatre Raberba and always will be."
"I agree," Wufei stated.
"We're not trying to change your name, Quatre," Iria consoled him. "It's just...well, ten years ago, my only brother, Ra'id Rabah Winner, was kidnapped from our house. He was three years old. There was no ransom note from the kidnapper, who left no trace behind. We never saw Ra'id again. Now, a boy appears, who is Ra'id's age and matches our DNA. I can't help it. If you are Ra'id, or were Ra'id...you'll have to excuse me if I accidentally call you Ra'id."
"You don't want me," Quatre stated matter of factly. "I'm an assassin. I've killed people. I don't deserve a family."
"Hell, none of us do, Quat," Duo muttered.
"You all damn well deserve families and more," Une suddenly shouted, pounding a fist on her chair's armrest. "And you're getting them. Lowe, Solo, Howard, Catherine, Triton, Meiran, and Mr. Winner are all coming down here tommorrow morning."
"We get to skip school, yeah!" Duo shouted. "Do they know about us yet?"
"No."
"Well, this'll be fun!" Duo grinned in that maniac way of his as a twinkle cprung to life in his eyes. "Very fun."
Dun dun dun dun! Chapter ten hath been completed! And I only have 2 new chapters worth of stuff, not three. /sighs/ Oh well! I'll just have to write more. Review please!
Oh, and here are the thank yous for my reviewers so far! Thank you, nataliewinner! Thank you, dae! Thank you, armygundamgirl! Thank you, anissa32! Thank you, RayneDancer! WOOT to you for reviewing. Thank you, thank you, thank you...