Waking Up In Vegas

Chapter Fifty Four

#

"Is this the place, pal?"

Treize looked out the window of the cab and at the rather dinky looking place. It was on the seedier, less populated part of town. The people around here were bums and druggies, he figured. A kind of place where no one payed any attention to what anyone else did... because the didn't want people looking closely at them.

The perfect place to have a top secret laboratory, he thought. The kind of place Dr. G and Dr. M would think of to hid their lab.

It had been years and years since he'd had reason to deal with Dr. G, or any of the crazy man's even crazier cronies... but he still recalled a thing or two. And so... Dr. G, who had once worked closely with Treize... was now working for Quatre Winner. Who was married to Treize's ex-wife's nephew, Trowa. Treize frowned. With every single breath... the tangled web was growing more intricate.

What kind of spider wove such a web?

Treize didn't know if he wanted an answer.

"Yo, Treize-my-man!"

Treize blinked as he stepped out of the cab, Lady Une close behind him.

"Duo Maxwell?" Surely that couldn't be right. His nephew's best friend... at Dr. G's lab? Something was up...

Duo smiled. "Small world, buddy. Let me guess... are you here to destroy the bad thing, too?"

Treize blinked again. "Bad thing?" he parroted. "I'm here to talk to Dr. G. I have an issue he should be able to help me with. Finding out who is trying to black-mail my family, for starters," the man growled. "And WHO the hell has kidnapped my daughter."

Duo's eyes dimmed for a moment. "Now, don't forget. It's the same person that kidnapped my sister. So... this G dude knows about who did it?"

"If he doesn't, I'm betting M does," Treize nodded.

Duo tilted his head forward, and lifted the small backpack over his shoulder, wincing a little.

"Are you hurt?" Lady asked in a soft voice.

Duo made a unintelligible sound, and lifted his other shoulder in a shrug. "Nah. It's just a nick. Damn trigger happy blond." He cast a glance over his shoulder at his husband and the 'damn' blond, walking up behind them.

"... you... married to a psychotic pyromaniac!"

"...strangle...decapitate... stupid, moronic woman!"

"He's just a silly ADD architect! How was I supposed to know he's a demolitions expert?"

"Because it's common sense that if you know how to put something up, you should know how to take it down as well!"

"Well, I'm sorry! It never crossed my mind that people would let a manic-depressive lunatic like him anywhere NEAR high explosives."

"Damn moronic blond."

Duo just smiled at Treize, then started humming 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' by Elton John. Lady Une broke out laughing.

#

Sei Lovecraft flicked open her phone while Vanessa Maxwell and Marimaia Kushrenada looked on with curious eyes.

"Yes?"

The woman nodded to whomever was on the other line, closed her eyes and spoke for a few moments before flicking the phone closed again.

"Change of plans, pip-squeaks. I have to head to a lab. Apparently someone blew the crap out of one thing, but have forgotten to blow the crap out of the second thing."

Vanny looked at the woman, and shouldered her bow, looking expectantly at the woman.

"Well then. The quicker you blow the crap out of it, the quicker you can help me find my brothers. So let's go."

Sei chuckled as she took off walking through the streets, towards where she could get a cab. She really liked these kids. It would be very... sad... if they died. Steeling herself, she resolved that she would do anything in her power to protect them. They reminded her so much of her cousin when she was little. The same strength and courage; the same naivety, the same love and devotion. Briefly, Sei wondered what Emily was up to now.

#

Trowa was unprepared for the sheer size of the home they arrived at. He was unprepared for the wave of women that crashed on them, too.

"Quatre!" They all shouted. Some were crying, some were cold eyed... but they all fell on his husband, hugging and kissing him.

"Alright... someone please tell me what's going on here, please," Quatre said, trying to calm the mass of females.

All at once, all six women began speaking. Quatre held up a hand and made a 'hush' noise.

"Mina? You go first."

The curly brunette haired woman nodded, then spoke.

"We went up the stairs to talk with Daddy. Ninny was in there, Quatre. She was saying something about... about hurting you."

Rebekah wrapped her arm around Quatre. "We're not the closest of families, Quatre. But we do love you. We don't want anything to happen to you. It's bad enough that..."

"We lost Iria," Thalia finished. "We don't want to loose you, too."

Quatre turned wide aqua eyes to Trowa. "Do you think... she wouldn't, would she? Could she be involved in all of this?"

"All of what?" Maureen asked, her blue eyes wide beneath her mass of gold curls.

"Iria had information..." Quatre admitted. "Information about... something... I designed and built. We think that's why she died. They wanted that information... and they got it. My friend Heero... his sister is in a coma because she demolished the building that something was in- while she was still in it. She almost died... may still die... in order to correct my mistake. There's still another one of those things out there, though. I only hope... Oh, God above... I hope Ninnette didn't have anything to do with all of this."

"I'm right behind you, Quatre," Trowa vowed. "All the way, love."

Maureen looked at Trowa, then at her brother.

"Who is this?"

"My husband," Quatre waved off her question. "I'll explain later. Right now... we have to see what Ninnette is up to."

#

"I can't do it," she wailed, silver-gray eyes blinking up at him, shimmering with unshed tears.

Cold Sapphires warmed just barely as they stared down at the girl, struggling, clinging to the wet wall. They warmed... but they didn't give in.

She was feet off the ground, more than half-way, but still feet away from the top. The rain had created a slippery course... and he knew here fingers had to be raw from trying to find purchase on the wet wood.

"You can," he encouraged. "You can do it."

"I can't," she sobbed, the rain trickling down her face, plastering her pale hair around her. "I can't hold on. Heero... help me!"

She inched her hand up, towards him... but he didn't reach out for her.

"You wanted to be here, Jezzy. You wanted to stay. If you want to stay... you have to be strong. You have to keep up. I can't always be there to help you. Sometimes you have to help yourself."

"Heero!" she cried.

"Keep trying. You can make it, I know you can. Lieutenant Moores said if you can't make the obstacle course, then you can't keep up with the boys. Do you want to prove him right? Do you want to show him that he's right and you can't take it? That you're not fit to be here?"

Unbidden, the tears fell, mixing with the rain until only taste would be able to tell the droplets apart. She wanted to be here, she told herself. She wanted to be with him. Screw what that mean Lt. Moores said about her, about a girl never being able to make it through the same rigors and trials as the boys of the Academy. Stupid military boot camp, she growled. Stupid sexist views and piggish instructors. Stupid rain. Stupid obstacle course.

She looked up, catching sight of Prussian blue eyes in the dark, dreary world around her.

Stupid know-it-all brothers, she chuckled... then began to climb.

She could be strong. She could keep up. She could make it.

Years and years later... in a small, quiet hospital room in New York... a heart-beat stayed steady.

It stayed strong. It kept up.

She would make it.