Waking Up In Vegas
Chapter Fifty One
#
The first thing Duo noticed upon awakening was the rush of cool, sweet air over his body. And the scuffled sound of people coming in.
The second was Wufei being wrenched up, away from him.
"Changed your mind yet? Remember something?"
A string of Chinese curses let loose, and Duo barely hung onto his laughter as his sleep-fogged mind recognized his lover calling whoever it was an arrogant traitorous harpy with the heart and face of a pig.
As his eyes finally blinked open, Duo caught Wufei's exclamation as the sound of a fist hitting gut met his ears.
"Hey!" Duo shouted, scrambling to his feet only to be knocked down. A woman stood over him. He was blinded by the sudden rush of light from the door, but he could make out a lean silhouette and long, long hair that glowed with a gold nimbus in the light.
"You two are way too much trouble. I don't know why we even bother." He felt something being set in his hand as he was pushed away. And damn, but that voice sounded familiar. "Lock up the door. And this time... it doesn't get opened."
"You're going to kill us!" Duo exclaimed. "Bitch!"
"Death is a gift given to us at birth," the woman said, and he could just imagine her shrugging coldly. "So Happy Birthday."
"Duo?" Wufei asked as the door, wherever, whatever it had been was closed, once more cutting of the light... and the air.
What the fuck, Duo thought, running his hands over the *thing*. An Ipod, it felt like. He pushed a button he found, and the screen illuminated, showing clearly a blueprint of a building. Not just an Ipod, he realized, scrolling down to find more blueprints... and a single message.
"Door Unlocked... ~D."
"Who the hell is D?" Duo asked.
"Did you not see who the hell was doing this to us?" Wufei demanded. "And what is that?"
Duo closed his eyes, trying to place the voice and the silhouette. Eureka.
He snapped his eyes back open. He had no idea how she'd gotten here, but damn was he glad. He only hoped it wasn't an elaborate plan to kill them.
Duo showed Wufei his gift.
"I have no idea what game she's playing at," Duo said... "But that blonde bitch may have just saved our lives!"
#
Sei let her eyes drift once more to the child sitting in the co-pilot's seat. She still had no idea how she got tangled up into this. Damn. Couldn't anything ever be simple?
"Where did a ten year old get so... brave?" She wondered aloud.
Sapphire eyes looked over at her as her voice transmitted through the headset they'd all donned.
"It's not bravery to protect those you love," the girl replied. "And I'm almost thirteen, thank you very much."
"Those you love? And what does a *almost* thirteen year old know about love?"
Vanessa Maxwell looked at the woman with something almost like pity. "Alot," she said softly. "My family *is* love. That's what our roots are. That's what family means. There's no way to explain it. It just *is*."
Sei blinked. Of all people, why did she have to end up with a pre-teen philosopher in her helicopter. She smiled lightly. Well... it could be worse. At least the child wasn't emo.
"We're almost there," she said, feeling a bit lighter than she did hours ago. "When we're down on the ground, I'll find you your brother, kid. But after that... all bets are off. I've still got a duty to do. And... that *does* include taking out Quatre Winner. No offense, kid," she glanced back at Maia. "But I might have to add that Trowa you're so fond of to that list."
Maia simply glared. Sei chuckled, dubbing that the girl's 'you-can-just-try-and-see' look. Somehow, Sei got the feeling these girls were not to be underestimated.
#
Quatre placed a comforting hand on Heero's shoulder as the half-Japanese man stared at his sister. There were various machines hooked to her, monitoring her heart-rate and other statistics. A pulse-ox hooked to her finger, an IV into her arm. She just lay there, barely breathing.
"... my fault..." Heero whispered.
"Not your fault," Quatre said. "If anything... it's mine. I never should have invented that stupid machine. She destroyed it.. and it almost killed her."
"Mister Yuy?"
Heero blinked at the doctor. It was Dr. Riley again. She smiled at him softly and held up a small ziplock bag. "Most of her clothing wasn't salvageable. We did find these, though. And we figured you would like to hold onto it."
Heero took the ziplock bag and tilted it's contents out into his palm. A long silver chain, with two tags and a small round charm. "My dog tags," he said, rubbing a ashy smudge from the front of one tag to read the name on it. Indeed, it was his name. Heero Yuy.
Dr. Riley smiled again, and let herself back out of the room, leaving Heero and Quatre alone with the sleeping girl.
"I gave these to her years and years ago, when I first resigned from active duty and started working with Allelujah. I gave her the tags with my name on them and started wearing my father's." He pushed the tag aside to regard the small circular charm. "I don't know this, though."
"I gave that to her," Quatre said softly. "It's very important and she agreed to safeguard it with her life. I thought it was gone when she passed away. But as long as she has it... it's safe."
"What is it?"
Quatre shook his head. "It's best if it's completely forgotten, Heero."
Heero nodded, thinking he didn't *want* to know.
"This is all my fault, Heero. And I promise you. I'm going to fix it."
"Ninette," Sayid murmured, ensconcing his daughter in his arms.
"I miss her so, Daddy," the woman cried. They stood in the center of Sayid's study. The other girls had already left, but Ninette had stayed.
"We all do, daughter. We all do." Indeed... one never knew until they were gone how much one loved them. He'd had cross words with Iria. He'd yelled and screamed. He'd disowned her, dis-inherited her... he'd even gone as far as black-listing her. His own flesh and blood. All it had done was loose him a child and gain him and enemy. And now... oh, no. Now he'd done the same to Quatre. And all over that petty disagreement. All because Quatre had different values, beliefs than he. No.
That couldn't happen. He wasn't going to loose another child that way.
He pulled away from his brown haired daughter, who blinked owlishly at him through her glasses. "Daddy?" She questioned.
"I have to call your brother. This feud is silly. I can't believe I had to loose a child to realize that. Quatre is my son. Even if we don't see eye to eye, he's the best businessman I know, and a hell of an engineer." He shook his head. "I'm so stupid, Nette. Even if we're not on the same page... he's still the best person to run WEI after me. I have to call him... and I need to call the lawyers, too. And I... Nette?"
The unmistakeable click of a gun's safety being turned off caused him to turn back and look at his daughter. Her brown eyes glared at him, her slim arms holding the gun perfectly steady.
"Nette? What...?"
"I can't let you call him, Daddy," she said. "I'm sorry... but I'm pretty sure Quatre won't be alive long enough to inherit WEI. Well... he just may live longer than you, though that's neither here nor there, really."
"Ninette... what kind of game are you playing?" He demanded, eyes cautiously kept on the gun.
The woman smirked.
"No, Daddy. I'm not playing. How do they say it? Oh... yeah. Game Over."