AN: Special dedication to Kira'sTastefulTradgedy for some of the most amazing reviews ever! And as usual, this chapter is ALWAYS dedicated to Kimi-chan, Emily-chan, and Meg-chan!
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Waking Up In Vegas
Chapter Fifty Two
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"At the risk of sounding cliché," Wufei whispered, "This seems easy."
"Too easy," Duo nodded. "But it's either this or staying in that damn room... and I'd rather go out fighting."
"I'd rather not go at all," Wufei grumbled as he followed behind Duo. For fifteen minutes, they'd been walking. Well, walking quickly. Wufei followed and let his braided lover lead, seeing as Duo was the architect and actually understood the blueprints that that bitch had given them. So far, they'd proven correct. And so far, the tips on avoiding the people here were proven correct, too.
Apparently, they were being held in an office building. Probably somewhere not far from where they'd been captured at. Slipping down halls, through rooms. Duo was having the time of his life, just about. Wufei knew his husband liked adrenaline rushes... but really. He could have at least acted a bit more scared.
So lost in his thoughts, Wufei jerked, surprised when he and Duo rounded a corner... and plowed straight into somebody.
It was a struggle of limbs, a flash of light glinting off of a gun. Wufei saw the barrel of the gun lift up... and Duo was in it's path. With an angered growl, Wufei launched himself at whomever had the audacity to point a gun at his lover. Feet kicked, arms lashed out... Wufei heard a grunt as a foot caught Duo, who disengaged himself from the fight. The gun went off, Duo let out a cry... panicked, Wufei increased his efforts to gain the upper-hand.
But it didn't last long. Wufei shoved at the woman... it was clearly a woman if the chest under him was any clue... and grabbed the gun in a swift move. He scrambled back even as she rose to her feet.
"Don't shoot," she said, hands raised slightly.
Wufei stood, unmoved, the gun still pointed at her chest. Her golden hair fell in a cascade around her, her slate gray eyes observing them cooly. She was a far cry from the little waitress back in Tennessee. She'd always seemed sort of out-of-place down there. Here... she fit in perfectly. From the black headband in her hair, to the sleeveless black dress she wore that fit like a second skin.
"Bitch," Wufei growled, his hand never wavering as he held the gun steady.
"I never wanted to hurt you," Dorothy Catalonia said softly. "My boss- Duke Dermail- had mad schemes. Twisted and sick visions of ruling the world through war." She lifted a shoudler in an elegant shrug. "I thought it was quite visionary at first, but he became even more demented. I was sent to Tennessee to keep watch, because we found out that there were two Serpents in the town."
"Emily," Duo said, clutching his bleeding arm. Wufei cast a worried glance at him. Had Duo been hit? Or merely grazed by the bullet? "You were sent to keep an eye on Emily."
"Find out *why* the town was so important that Louisa Lovecraft would send her own family out there," Dorothy corrected. Wufei's gun never wavered. "And when we realized the connection between your Trowa and Dekim Barton... it just added to the mystery. I've been *raised* in this life. The deceit, the turmoil. But I didn't want you to get hurt," she said. "That's the funny thing about killing people. It never hurts when they're nameless, faceless. But once you know someone, once they have a name, a face... then it's near impossible to face the guilt. I don't want to face that quilt."
"So you helped us," Wufei observed. "You left the door unlocked. You gave Duo that map..."
She nodded. "I fooled security, down-staffed the guards. I did my best to save you. Damnit, but you weren't supposed to be here anyway. You should have stayed home with your daughter!"
"We would have if someone hadn't of tried to kill my sister," Duo hissed. "I protect my family. I *avenge* them."
"Duke Dermail is dead... the Wing Zero is apparently destroyed. But this isn't over. There are still people out there that will kill for the knowledge of Wing. You can't just waltz in and attack Quinze or Barton. They're both smarter than anyone gives them credit for. They're not mad like Dermail. And there's still someone else out there. I don't know who tried to burn down the Barton's house. I don't know who killed Quatre Winner's sister, but it wasn't one of our people. I would have known."
"Is there a way for you to help us?" Duo asked, struggling to his feet.
Dorothy nodded. "I'm tired of fighting. I just... I just wanna go back to being just a simple, bored waitress. No more of this death and destruction... I don't want any more innocent people to die. Not by my hands. You will have me... and this organization at your disposal."
Wufei nodded, and finally, the gun lowered just a fraction. With Dorothy's help... they could put an end to this once and for all.
"Okay," Wufei agreed.
Duo grinned. "Time to rock and roll, baby."
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Wide aqua eyes glanced around the bottom floor.
"Daddy?"
Her brown hair was curled to perfection, her skin fair and glowing.
"Mina? Where are you?"
Willamina Winner turned to look at the door as her sister came in. Brown eyes, blond hair that was arrow straight and fell only to her shoulders. Beside her stood five others, all with some combination of either brown or aqua blue eyes and brown or pale blond hair.
"Marina," Mina said with a frown. "Where's father? I just remembered something I was going to ask him, but he's not down here. Wasn't he going to follow us down?"
"Probably still with Ninny," one of the girls- with blond curls and blue eyes- sneered. Maureen Winner-O'Neal tossed her curls. "Ninny's always trying to get him to herself."
"She's never gotten over not being the baby," Thalia replied. "It's kind of pathetic."
"Well, I for one am sick and tired of her trying to monopolize his time," Rebekah growled. "There are nine children in this family and not just one."
"Eight," Mina corrected softly, and the light in some of the other girls' eyes faded a bit. The Winners were not the closest of siblings... but even if you weren't on the best of terms with your sister... she was still your sister.
"It was really all Ninny's fault," Thalia said. "Ninny was the one who goaded Daddy into disowning Iria. And then, she kept instigating things between him and Quatre. Sisters... this is sad. Are we really going to just forget about Quatre? He's our brother. For better or worse. I don't... I don't want us to all end up separated."
A round of nods went around the room as each woman realized that Thalia spoke the truth.
"Let's go talk to father," Mina walked towards the stairs. "Ninny's still our sister, too. We should all talk about this."
Five women nodded and followed her in a single-file procession up the stairs toward their father's study.
Mina paused... hand near the door.
"Mina?" Thalia asked, stepping forward. The curly-brown haired woman held up a hand for silence... then nodded to the door.
Thalia frowned, and placed her ear to the door.
"... can't let you call him, Daddy. I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure Quatre won't be alive lone enough to inherit WEI..."
Thalia gasped and stumbled back from the door, face pale and ashen.
Mina and Thalia shared a horrified look... then herded the rest of the confused group back down the stairs.
"Marina," Thalia said. "On the phone! You have to call Quatre!"
"What?" Marina said, although she was already pulling out her phone. "Why am I doing this?"
"Because," Mina hissed. "Ninette's planning to kill him!"