AN: This is sort of longer than usual... but don't let that fool you. This is dedicated to all the people who've ever read one of the cliffhangers in this story and thought to themselves "Man, I wish she'd stop with the cliffhangers already!" This is for you guys!

And dedicated, too, with lots of love to my 'daughter'. VED, that's right! This is YOUR chapter! LOL

*huggles*

Waking Up In Vegas

Chapter Thirty Eight

"Rabbits aren't blue," Vanny laughed, tickling the bare, tanned little feet in front of her.

"Asool asool!" Zander chuckled, pulling his feet away. "Bloo, bloo, asool!" (1)

"Gotta be better than a blue canary," Maia commented wryly, glancing at Meilan's coloring book.

"It's a Hyasync Macaw," the girl retorted.

"Hyacinth Macaw," Meg replied duly, correcting her from across the room.

"I'll give you Hyasync M'caws," Maia drawled, diving on the girl. Meilan's shrieks filled the air.

"Uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle!" the little girl hiccuped as she was attacked, knowing fingers finding weak spots behind knees and under ribs and on feet. The girl shrieked, squirming and giggling, fighting to get away.

Zoe decided it was no fair that the other children got to enjoy such fun, so she squealed in delight as she threw herself into a massive tickle assault of Meg's leg. Meg decided to give in and got down on her hands and knees. In five minutes flat, all six occupants- three adults and three children- of the house were laughing and yelling in fun.

Meg thought it was for the best, really. Keep Vanny and Maia's minds off of what was happening to their sister and cousin... respectively. And keeping Meilan's mind off of the fact her father's weren't present. All in all the girl was taking this remarkably well.

Alejandro had went with some someone named Heero and someone named Relena.. apparently both friends of Quatre's... in assisting Jasper to calm down the rest of the town. Things like this didn't often happen in places like this, and several people were shocked and scared.

Yes. All in all... Meg thought it was best to keep the kid's minds off of things.

*knock knock*

"I've got it, girls," Meg laughed, standing up. It was probably someone wanting to know what had gone on in town. She pulled open the inside door.

"Hello," she smiled at the man on the front porch. He was clean-shaven, ordinary and, while not Meg's 'cup of tea' so to speak, she could admit he wasn't completely unfortunate looking. He had a rather tall, mysterious look about him, but she truthfully found him a bit on the creepy side. Maybe Ali had just ruined her for other men. She mentally shrugged. She really couldn't care.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said politely. "I'm looking for Duo Maxwell. I was told he might know something about a friend of mine, Quatre."

Meg's eyes narrowed. She didn't buy that. From the first moment he spoke, she'd gotten the same feeling she'd gotten back in college when she'd went to buy a used car. That slimey salesman pitch. Meg prided herself on her intuition. And right now her intuition was screaming 'sleazebag'.

But she smiled kindly.

"Quatre's out of town at the moment. I'm sure you could try calling if it's important."

"I wouldn't want to be a bother, but do you know where he is? It's kind of a surprise. He doesn't know I'm here."

That did it. He'd just dug his own grave, she thought. Idiot. He wasn't getting anything from her.

"I can't say that I do, sir. But please, I'm sure you could try somewhere else. I wouldn't be much help at all, I'm afraid. Good day."

She shut the door quickly, and flipped both the lock and the deadbolt before going back to where the girls where, still coloring.

"Kids. I think we should go upstairs," she said, picking up the phone on her way.

Vanny looked up at her. "But why? There's more room down..."

*BOOM*

Meg stumbled forward as Maia screamed. Behind them, the door exploded inward in a shower of splinters.

"I think you're lying, lady," a voice rang out, and Meg's blood ran cold.

"Maia, Vanny, take the babies and RUN!" Megan screamed after the girls as she scrambled to her feet. Vanny, recovering from her shock quickly, grabbed a frantic Meilan's hand and pulled her along, down the hall, urging Maia to move. Maia was fast on her heels, little confused Zander clutched in her arms. Megan thanked God for such smart, brave, quick-thinking girls.

"MOMMY!" Zoe cried, her emerald eyes welling up with tears. Megan wrapped an arm around Zoe's shoulders and another behind her knees, snatching her up from the floor and making a mad dash after the two teens.

"FREEZE!" Meg skidded to a stop, face to face with a gun. She tightened her arms around Zoe, twisted just enough to take her daughter out of immidiate firing range.

"Where's Quatre Winner?" The dark haired man demanded. "Tell me!"

Meg growled. Yes... she growled, watching and praying that Maia and Vanny escaped with Zander and Meilan. "Asshole," she spat. "Leave my children alone. We've done nothing to you. I just heard something about a funeral. I don't *know* where Quatre is." And even if I did, she thought, I wouldn't be telling you.

"Lady, you're makin' a big mistake here." The gun moved... two inches to the right- and straight at Zoe. Meg gasped, and twisted, pushing Zoe around so that the girl was clinging to her neck. The girl whimpered into her mother's short blond hair.

"I said leave my baby alone," Megan snarled. Good, she thought. If she could keep this lunatic talking to her, then she might be able to buy precious seconds for Vanny and Maia to escape.

She backed up. One step, two. Three, four and five until she was up against the wall, standing in the corner. The only thing between her baby girl and this psychopath. "What kind of sadistic bastard are you? Pointing guns at little children?"

The man just smirked. "I'm the craziest son of a bitch you'll ever meet, lady." The gun moved again, straight at Megan's heart. Meg wasn't the best when it came to anatomy and gun-shot wounds... but she knew that at this close of range, her body alone would not stop the bullet. At this range... she and Zoe would both be hit.

"Zander, Zoe..." she whispered, closing her eyes tightly. "Mommy loves you. Now and always." She thought of both her children. Then, a picture of her husband filled her mind. "I'm sorry, my love," she whispered.

She heard the gun click, and she gulped. "Alejandro," she breathed., filling her mind with thoughts of her love and her children. She wanted them to be the last thoughts she ever had. Her family...

Hours dragged by as Jezzy labored alongside the people of the small town, alongside firefighters. The fire had been quenched, but the house was in little more than rubble. A smoking, ashy, sodden mess.

It was good to work with her hands again. Doing something a little more involving than cleaning a house or serving tea. She only wished it weren't for something like this. It shouldn't happen to anyone. And underneath that... there was the feeling that it was connected somehow. Somehow, she doubted anything and everything nowdays.

Somehow... she had the feeling that everything all tied back in to Zero. She just wasn't sure how or why, yet.

She collapsed against the wall outside Sylvia's diner. It had become like the official congregation spot today. As everyone worked in shifts to stop the fire, to try to save the house... or at least what they could of it, everyone ended back up at Sylvia's at some point or other. The kindly woman had taken to flitting around with drinks for all the workers, covered in sweat and soot. Fire-fighting out here wasn't the same as in big cities, Jezzy thought. Down here everyone was family. Everyone pitched in to help. From the police to the fire-fighters... to the little seven year old girl who was helping Sylvia deliver drinks.

"Y'look like you could use a strong bourbon, honey," Sylvia commented as she pressed a glass of iced tea into Jezzy's hands. Jezzy opened her eyes to gaze at the blond.

"Thank you. But I don't really drink. Bad things happen if you're intoxicated." She let the condensation on the glass drip onto her forehead before she took a drink... and promptly gagged and made a face. "What the hell is this?" She asked, eyeing the innocent looking glass.

"Sweet tea," Sylvia said, confused. "What's wrong with it? Not enough sugar?"

Jezzy couldn't help it. She laughed. "Me and sugar aren't really friends," she smiled up at the woman. "I'm sorry, but I'm just not used to ice tea. Caffeine and sugar aren't really things you need to be jacked up on in my line of work, ma'am. I've been avoiding them for about a decade now."

"Something else I can get for you, then, darling?"

"Just ice water will work, please. If it's no problem, that is."

Sylvia laughed. "No problem at all. Don't meet to many people that don't like iced tea. I'll go grab you some water..."

"Here," Emily, her blondish brown hair plastered around her face, plopped down on the sidewalk beside Jezzy. "I've got water. I'll trade for your tea."

"You're on," Jezzy said, and the girls switched glasses before drinking down a good bit.

Sylvia just laughed and shook her head as she walked away.

"Thanks," Jezzy told the other girl. Emily wasn't very many years younger than she herself, and she could see a bit of the same fire in the girl. And she had the feeling Emily knew alot more about the world than she let on.

Another woman, that Jezzy was told was Midii, dropped down and she and Emily got caught in a hushed conversation. Jezzy rested with her glass against her forehead for a while before something in the conversation caught her.

"Strange guys in town this morning?" She asked, eyes snapping open to regard the woman and girl.

Emily nodded. "I didn't think much of it. About four, I'd say. They were friends of Quatre's or so they said. Didn't really believe them, though."

Jezzy glared at them as she scrambled to her feet. "No friends of Quatre are in town but me and mine. I have no idea whose side they're on... or you for that matter, because you're not the least bit shocked by anything."

"We're on our own side," Midii said calmly. "We've both been used. Some scumbags tried to blackmail me into hurting Quatre and Trowa. I told them to fuck off."

"Lovecraft," Emily said quietly, and Jezzy's eyes widened. "Louisa Lovecraft is my aunt. She tried to use me... but I'm not sure I agree with her tactics. My cousin Sei is in town somewhere. She's armed."

"Great," Jezzy snapped. "Just fuckin' great. As if my day couldn't get any worse." She turned on her heels and raced as fast as her feet would carry her back to where Heero and Relena were sitting, comforting some old lady.

"Hey, 'Bro. Give me the wheels. I've gotta get mobile for a while."

"Status?" Heero demanded, already tossing her the keys.

"Four unknowns, plus we've got at least one confirmed Serpent Guard in the area."

"Shimatta. What the hell does Lovecraft want down here?"

"I've got no idea, but I sure as hell will find out!"

She turned, dashing to the Lincoln.

"We're coming, too."

She looked over her shoulder. Jasper she knew. He was an okay sort. Really old-fashioned, spiritual, down-home-country kind of guy. Couldn't hurt a fly with a flyswat. Alejandro. She's been introduced to him once, but that was it.

"No," she said. "There's alot going on that you don't know about. Get it? Danger, Will Robinson," she quoted.

"Listen," Alejandro growled, grabbing her arm that was on the door of the SUV. "My wife is out there alone with my kids. If there's anything out there that hurts them... You're going to be the first on my list of people to come looking for, girl."

Jezzy's eyes flashed and she twisted her arm, down, then up, and brought her other hand into play, effectively turning the tabled, and turning the much taller, bigger man until he was pressed face first against the vehicle.

"Never threaten a Special Ops soldier, even one as small as me. I know a hundred and one ways to kill you before you could ever realize I've moved." She backed up, letting him go. "But yeah. I'll drop you by wherever your wife is. You should get them out of town if you're at all involved with Quatre or this Trowa fellow's family."

She opened the door and jumped in.

"Get in," she ordered, rolling the windows down. As soon as the two men were loaded up, she pulled away and onto the roads, following the directions she was given. For a moment, she relished the quiet of the country. She could really like a place like this, she thought. Nice and quiet.

*boom*

They all heard the echoing sound of the gun on the wind. Her eyes met Jasper's beside her, and she stepped on the gas.

And she was the first to catch sight of the black sedan in the driveway... and the plates. She knew that car... and those plates. Her four unknowns weren't all unknown after all.

And that wasn't a good thing.

"Oh, shit..."

Foot Notes:

1) Translation... in kiddy speak, he's saying 'azul'... which is Spanish for blue. 'bloo' is 'blue'.