"Maybe she's in the kitchen.... The other servants might be taking care of her..."

He glanced at his watch, "Maybe..." Something wasn't assured in the way he said it. The girl closed her eyes, bowing her head before running ahead, motioning him to do the same.

"What's wrong?"

She shuddered a little, "I can't sense Danny. It's...not right."

"Do you think something's happened?"

"Yes...Samantha isn't here either." His eyes narrowed considerably as he followed her in through the servant's enterance, climbing the dark and twisted stair case to a floor. She pushed on the wall, jumping through the gap slowly. Trowa waited a moment until his own form could slide through the wall and then did the same.

Karin opened the door to the nursery slowly, flicking the light on, "She's not in here."

Trowa looked down at the empty crib, lifting the phone and dialing the kitchen, "Is Estelle in there with you?"

"No, Master Trowa. The baby should be up in her room sleeping. Miss Victoria insisted that she take care of her while you and Master Quatre were at the hospital."

"What happened to your eyes?"

She brushed past him, "No time...Are Danny or Estelle in here with you? They're not in their rooms..."

His heart stopped for a second, "They're...not?"

"No. And Samantha's gone too." Karin shook her head, "Duo, she has them. I know she does."

"Who's Samantha?"

She looked at him, "She's...a theif, a spy, a slut. Take your pick. She came into this household, pretending to be your sister Vicki, and now.... She's the one who poisoned Hirde. And tried to kill Estelle. And shot Quatre."

Her tone was soft, but it hurt him worse as he slumped down onto his bed, "Vicki did this?"

"NO! Vicki would never do something like this. It was Samantha, who only pretended to be Victoria to get close to you. She's evil, Duo. Your sister was kind to Hirde, and she loved Danny. She would never hurt them, the baby, or Quatre." Karin sat beside him, squeezing his hand in her own.

He sighed, "How do you know that she wasn't Vicki? Her hair was the exact damn shade--"

"Bleach. That's how Vicki got her hair to be white in the first damn place, not the chestnut shade that she shared with you."

"But her eyes. They--"

"Contacts."

"The scar..."

At that, Karin laughed, shaking her head as she pulled a small envelope from her pocket, "Isn't it funny how that scar would change sides of her face?" Three black and white photos spilled out, and Duo's blood ran cold as he looked at them, noticing little things like the change of shape, texture...

"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice was hard and cold, eyes flickering in anger.

"Duo, I... I needed enough proof." She stood, glaring at him, anger matched with anger. His eyes narrowed as she continued, "You wouldn't have believed me if I told you that Samantha was only pretending to be Victoria. You would have fired me...And I didn't want Danny to get hurt."

He laughed low, looming over her, "You did this for Danny?"

"She was after him. And she would have tried to kill him too, if I had not always been there."

"So, you clinging to him was to protect him?"

"Hai."

Duo looked at her for a long moment, her eyes calm and gentle as she watched him, "And Samantha has Danny?"

"He's not here. Trowa and I have looked all over. We didn't find him."

"Go look again, all right?" He grabbed his coat, putting it over his hands so that Karin wouldn't be able to see them shaking. He didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to strangle Karin, make her tell him that it was all a lie. Danny was fine, sleeping in the next room. And another part of him wanted to break down and cry. His mind was a jumble.

Karin stroked his face with the back of her hand, comforting, "All right, Duo-sama. I will." There was pity in her voice as she left, but he shrugged it off. All a lie. None of it was real.

It used to be long and soft, like Kari's almost--when she was brushing it--, but now it was short and spiky, and yellow. Her eyes were different too. They weren't pretty purple like his Daddy's and his own. They were brown, but not brown like Uncle Kat's doggies eyes. They were a mean brown, colder than the floor he was sitting on.

She turned around, kicking the metal box she'd locked him in, "What are you staring at!?"

He jumped, shaking his head, "N-n-nothing. I sorry."

"You'd better be, brat." She turned away, and he bit his lip. Daddy said that she was his aunt, but he didn't feel that safe around her. She was definetly not a nice lady. His Mommy or Daddy would never buy a cage from the animal store and then lock him into it. And they fed him when he was hungry. The Vicki lady just screamed at him to be quiet.

She was on the phone again, trying to talk to her Daidai. He did not like Daidai either. He sounded mean, and he had baby Estelle. If he was as mean to her as the Vicki Lady was to him, he was scared. Estelle was very little. She needed her Daddies.

His eyes narrowed, looking at the keys for his cage as the Vicki Lady went back into the bathroom, probably to make herself more scary looking, or, as she put it, beautiful. He narrowed his eyes on the keys, trying to concentrate. Kari had told him how to do this. Why didn't he listen to her?

Oh...yeah. There was a truck there, and it was all shiny and red and new. He wanted to play with it. The little boy sighed as he slumped down against the bars of his cage. He wanted to play with his truck again, and he wanted to go home where he had a nice and warm bed...

"Mama..." His eyes fluttered shut as the keys fell onto the floor.

Nothing hurt worse than looking up at that moment, as his lover approached him, shaking a little in her footsteps. Tears burned in his eyes as he saw her, so determined to move and walk, like she was normal again. Like nothing bad had ever happened.

She stopped when she came within five feet of him, until he stood and put his arms around her, holding her tightly. She returned the embrace, her head resting against his chest as a few droplets of moisture made their way into her spiky bangs.

"Come, let's go down to the car...." His voice was rough in his throat.

Hirde looked up at him, pulling away as her coat was placed on her shoulders by the nurse, ushering them both to leave. He forced a smile to the woman, letting them out and walking in silence down to the car.

"Duo..." The woman next to him's voice was halting, unsure of what to do or make of this silence settling down between them.

He shook his head, "Not here. Wait until we get into the car."

She bit her lip, and worry lined her pale face. She still looked so sick, so frail. He'd been the cause of all of this. Him and his damned 'legacy'. If he'd been a normal little bastard, borne of a mother who couldn't give a flying fuck either way what happened to him as she tossed him out into the cold of the world, then Hirde wouldn't have been tortured those long days. She wouldn't have been a target for poisoning... And her son would be waiting for him when they got home.

Trowa didn't have to say it when he walked past him, green eyes always unreadable. This was his fault. Why else would some one poison his lover...other than the fact that he'd been a Gundam pilot. Duo snorted a little to himself. How long had it been since he'd even thought of himself that way. As one of the illustrius Gundams that had been all the military could think about only...six years before.

He helped her into the car, squeezing her hand tightly in his own before shutting the door. He looked at her one more moment as she cast her eyes down to the floor, arms wrapping around herself tightly. He sighed, forcing himself to turn away.

"I'm so sorry, Hirde..." he murmured before climbing into his own side of the car.

Duo set her down on the bed, and she noticed then the nanny and Trowa curled up on the window seat. The girl hung upside down, her legs dangling outside the window as Trowa sat stiff and rigid, looking at them with an intent look to his eye.

"Where's Danny?" A chill settled in the room, and Karin looked at the man next to her, eyes communicating a message that Hirde didn't think she wanted to know.

"Danny. . ." Duo sat down next to her, his strong arms wrapping around her waist, "Danny isn't here right now, babe."

She froze for a moment, "Then...where is he?"

Karin fidgeted with the cuff of her shirt, "Samantha took him, Hirde."

The simpleness in the way she said it through the black haired woman for a loop. No "Hirde-san", no wavering tone, "Who's Samantha?"

She felt Duo shift uncomfortable behind her, "She's...She was pretending to be Vicki. She took Danny and Estelle, and no one knows where she might have gone. We're doing the best we can, babe... But..." His voice cut off a little, and Trowa nodded to them.

"I've spoken to Victoria--the real, true Victoria--and she seems to be convinced that Samantha has travelled to Earth. She can't tell why, or when, but Estelle and Danny are both still alive." He looked away then.

"Danny is scared, Hirde-san. Very scared..." Karen's voice was quiet as she said it, her eyes distant. Trowa looked at her as Hirde felt her heart sinking deeper. Duo's arms weren't enough to support her. Not anymore. She felt the beginnings of tears, doing nothing to wipe them away as she slumped, shoulders caving inwards.

Duo's lips were by her ear, murmuring soft words of comfort. She couldn't hear them, make any sense of them. All that she could hear was Danny's footsteps down the hall, his laugh, even the way his hand hit a bowl of cereal when he didn't want it. The tears turned into a river, rushing down her face, and then she felt the dizziness in her head, the utter abdonment.

Her eyes closed, and her body felt numb. Some one started yelling, and there was a pressure on her arms. But it didn't matter....

Nothing mattered any more....

"About the baby?" The man at her side laughed a little.

"Who else?"

"I'm not worried. She's well cared for, and the likelihood of them *ever* getting the first clue of where to look is beyond the measure of known statistics. I would have a better chance growing a third arm in the middle of my forehead than she does ever being found."

"What about Maxwell's little boy?"

He looked at her, quirking a brow, "What about him?"

"I took him from the household."

A flash of anger entered his violet eyes and a hand encompassed her throat, "You did *what*? Why on Earth would you take Daniel? He's too used to the care of his parents, too used to being a normal child. Estelle is younger. She barely toddles around. She won't ever remember her parents. Don't you see? Maxwell's left his mark."

Her mouth twisted in a cruel smile, "Duo Maxwell doesn't know the first thing about raising his son. Only Danny's precious "Kari" cared for the child...."

"Kari? Tell me more about Kari."

"Basic nanny. Plain looking and very timid. Wonderful with children. Better mother and father than the Maxwells could dream of being."

"I see..." He smiled. "Let me think on this Kari for a while. Watch Daniel, and make sure that you stay hidden. I will be in touch." He shook her hand briefly and was gone.

She watched as the man turned heel and disappeared into the darkness before she did the same, smiling at the credit slip in her hand. Just what she needed....

"We're looking for her..." He licked his lips, taking the other man's hand in his own. "Rashid or Iria told you...about Estelle, right?"

There was no response, but a quick glance of the room left him with the hollow feeling that no one had bothered. He sighed, knowing that they had not meant to be careless, merely wishing for him to be well enough before he heard the noise.

If you could even hear anything in a coma.

He shook his head again, "Guess not....The woman who shot you, Samantha... She ruined all of our lives, Quatre. She took our daughter, and she's still trying to take you." He looked away from his lover's placid face, feeling his throat constrict painfully.

There was a knock at the door, Vicki standing there, "You have to go, Trowa... They have to change the sheets or something..."

He nodded, kissing the other man chastely before getting up and standing next to her, "How are things at the house?"

She shook her head, "Iria's on her way over..."

Trowa winced, feeling terrible for not having thought of Hirde all this time. She'd fainted during the discussion, barely coming too. The look in Duo's eyes at that moment was one he himself was keeping hidden more and more. Both of their worlds were crumbling apart.

Victoria nudged her elbow into his side, smiling at him. Funny how that trait, that smile to make everything seem so all right and normal was hereditary. And it almost worked.

Almost.

He looked over at the picture sitting on their bedside table. It had been taken at Danny's first birthday party. They were all so happy then, smiling and laughing like no one could ever do anything to them again. The horrors of the weapons incident was gone, the pain felt in the war was obsolete. They were just so... happy. Carefree.

Hirde moaned a little, and he wrapped his arms around her, as she began to sob in her sleep, shaking again. Fear had transfigured her face. His heart felt like lead as he rocked her back and forth. He felt guilty. He should be out there instead of Karin and Trowa. They weren't Danny's parents.

But he couldn't leave Hirde when she was like this. She was clinging to him so tightly his arms began to hurt. Duo sighed, kissing the side of her face and closed his eyes, "I'm not going any where, Hirde-babe. I'm not going to leave you. I promise."

The typing wouldn't have been so bad, had it not been the only sound in the room. Karin was sitting in the corner, eyes closed and mouth set in a determined line as if she was trying to meditate. He could only roll his eyes. He wasn't going to even touch that psychic shit. Not with a ten foot poll.

"There were three shuttles to Earth about the time that it is assumed Samantha left with Daniel and Estelle." Heero looked to him, nodding slightly. "The final destinations are not specified, and all three stopped off at L3 and/or L2, which doesn't mean that they landed on the shuttles that came from this colony. The odds of us finding these three children is....1 in 12,398,236,199. Perhaps you should alert Duo to this."

Trowa shook his head, "Can you get into the security files of that day? So we can take the odds down to the ten millions? Maybe get visual communication?"

Heero stopped for a long moment, then nodded, "Hai."

He slumped back into a chair. It didn't seem like he'd slept in a week, the strain on his body terrible. Trowa dug into his pockets, pulling out a coin. The coin had no meaning, but it gave him something to do. He could have gone onto another computer, but the wonderful Samantha had encrypted them all with some sort of virus that didn't seem at all likely to come out of the system at any time. A new computer had been brought in for Heero, hooked up to a different line.

"Maybe Estelle isn't with Danny..." Karin murmured from the corner, her eyes opening. The contacts were gone again, eyes a dull violet. "Maybe they aren't together. I don't see Estelle in his mind. He's worried about her, but she's not there with him phsychically."

Heero raised a brow and looked at Trowa, "It's a long story... Karin, what about Estelle? Can you get a reading on her?"

A negative shake of the head, "She's much too young, Trowa. Too young and too...unaware. I sense that she's unsure of what's happening, and that she misses her caregivers, but nothing more. I couldn't tell you where she was if I sat here for hours."

He nodded, "Heero... Investigate what she's telling you. Don't look for children, look for a young woman about the age Vicki would have been with white hair. Hopefully she didn't change it by then."

Karin stood after a moment, dusting herself off, "I think I should go see how Duo and Hirde are holding up. And then I'm going to bed. I'm of no use if I can't concentrate. Trowa-sama, take my advice and go to sleep as well."

He nodded, "I will."

"Good. Goodnight, Yuy-san." She bowed, then left.

"How much longer will Vicki parade as this "Karin?"" Heero asked the moment she'd gone.

Trowa blinked, "How did you..."

"The scar on her cheek. It's well hidden, but its there if you study it carefully enough. And her voice tone matches with the tone sample taken from Preventer headquaters. So, how long is she?"

He shrugged, "She doesn't want to upset Duo any more. He'd be livid if he knew his sister wasn't going to tell him that she knew from moment one that Samantha was a fake." Trowa sighed, walking to the door. "I'll see you in a couple of hours, Heero."

"Hello, Miss Schbeiker."

She swallowed, "Vicki?"

"Of course, Hirde. I'm so glad to have one last moment to talk to you." A cruel smile split her face, crumbling the beauty into a terrible visage of malice.

"What do you mean, one last moment?"

A laugh that chilled Hirde more. Vicki stood, waving her hands. Danny appeared at her side, clinging to her legs, "I hate you Mommy. I'm glad this lady took me away."

Duo wrapped an arm around Victoria's thin shoulders, "What do I need you for anymore? You're nothing. I got my son, and she has him now. Hell, she's a better lay than you, so no biggie."

She felt her heart twist in her chest, looking at the girl with wild abandonment, "Why? Why are you doing this!?"

Victoria said nothing, leaning forward, "You have only one last thing to give to me." The thin white hand plundged down into Hirde's chest, through her skin and bone, nails digging into her heart and wrenching it violently from her body. "Have a nice life, Hirde!"

All she could do was scream.

"I'm cold."

"So what?! Just go the fuck to sleep!" The cage was lifted up by a burly man that the Mean Lady had brought home with her that night and tossed across the room. He cried out as it hit the wall, blood filling his mouth. His eyes filled with tears as his little arms wrapped around his body for warmth.

But he went to sleep.

"Hirde-san, calm down..." Gentle hands smoothed her hair as a towel was placed on her flushed forehead.

"Come on, babe. It's okay. Don't scream. It's okay. We're here."

"Onegai, Hirde-san... Wake up."

Her eyes slid open, the light of the room spilling into her eyes. Duo and Karin looked down at her, concern so damned visible in both their faces. Karin's hands left her hair as Duo picked her up from the bed, wrapping her in his embrace. The sound of the door

"You didn't leave me..." She whispered, huddling close to her lover, burying her face into his chest.

He stroked the soft hair on the back of her head, "I won't ever leave you. You're stuck with me, babe. You stole the Shinigami's heart, and don't you ever forget that. Things are going to turn out all right. I promise...."

She nodded, staying still in his arms for a moment, then leaping up and kissing him intensely, all of her fear and sorrow showing forth on the kiss. He fell back, surprised as she pulled on his shirt, trying to pull it over his shirt.

He pushed her back, "Hirde, we should--"

She silenced him with another kiss, "Duo, I need you....Please..." Tears formed in her eyes. He sighed, kissing her forehead softly, nodding as he pushed her down against the bed gently, pushing her pants down away from her hips.

He smiled, coming out of the shadows, "Didn't think you heard me?"

She tapped her head, shaking her head, "I can pick up your thoughts a mile away by now." She was quiet a moment, pouring the alcohol until the glass was nearly full. "To happier times."

Trowa raised his own full glass, "What ever those might be. May they find us sooner or later."

He gingerly touched his hair which was in a haphazard mess about his face, sticking every which way and slightly damp to the touch. He remembered vaguely something about Karin and the rum that Rashid had carefully hidden away for the occasional nip.

"Trowa, you all right?" Karin's voice floated up from the corner of his room and he tensed, suddenly unsure that he wished to know what had happened last night, "Trowa?"

He blinked, squinting. She was at the door, her hair hanging loose around her as she put her hands on her slim hips. An oversized button down shirt hung on her form as some form of nightgown. He thought for a moment, "Where did you come from?"

"My bedroom. I just woke up and I wanted to make sure that you were all right."

He sighed a little in relief, "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

She smirked a little, "Because you got so slammed last night that you decided to go and take a dip in Quatre-sama's heated indoor pool. Sans a bathing suit, might I add. I thought you were going to drown when I found you, so I brought you up here, after some very odd convincing, and tucked you in. You fell asleep in .5 seconds."

"Oh..." A twidge of embarassment hit him before he shrugged it off. Karin didn't seem too fazed by it, though she was Duo's little sister... No one could ever be quite sure they were thinking. "Thanks."

"No problem." She laughed, stepping out, "I'm just going to have to remember that next time you insist that you can handle a third glass, Trowa. See you later...."

He nodded, getting out of bed and stumbling into the bathroom and turning on the shower on. His eyes focused on a clock, shaking his head. Hopefully Heero wouldn't be too angry.

His hand made its way to her shoulder, forcing her down to her chair, "Babe, I want you to take it easy for the next couple of days. You're still pretty weak from the treatments."

Her crystal-blue eyes clouded for a moment, "I know."

"I'm going to go out for a bit. Yuy's got me on a mission to retrieve some computer supplies from Quatre's offices..." He looked at her expression and sighed, rubbing the back of his head, "If you promise not to over use it, I guess I could pick you up a laptop. So you can do work *in bed*."

She smiled a little as he dipped his head down, kissing her quickly as he grabbed his coat, "Are you going to help me doing any of this bed work?" For a moment, the old Hirde flashed in her eyes, and he felt himself smiling the first true smile in ages.

"I don't do cyber sex."

She shook her head as she looked at the shirt, taking it into the bathroom. Maybe she was the only one that saw the little bit of shell-pink lip-gloss on the collar, but the staff talks. She didn't want to ruin Quatre's life if he ever woke up.

She scrubbed for a moment, then pulled it away, once more thanking the stars that Trowa hadn't noticed that her "night-shirt" was mysterious identical to the shirt he'd been wearing last night.

She shook her head, not knowing how to respond to her inner critic. She wanted to scream at it, the dream she'd had only days later. She knew Duo wouldn't leave her...but the feelings just wouldn't go away. Her entire body called out to know where he was, how close he would be to her.

Hirde looked over at the clock. Ten minutes had passed since Duo'd left and she was already losing her senses, her security. Was this what it was like to go insane?

A smile twisted his lips. Her eyes were green, as opposed to the violet of her cousin's. As opposed to the violet of her uncles. As opposed to her mothers....And to his. She wasn't a weapon. She was normal. His mouth contorted once more into a sneer as he realized the wasted time.

She was a human.

She wiped her eyes before she could realize that there were no tears there, "I'm fine..."

The girl shook her head, "You were shaking. Is there anything I can do?"

"I'm fine. I just need to sleep..."

"That's the *last* thing I think you need right now. First, you need to tell me what's on your mind, and then you tell me why you're looking around the room like it's going to reach out and kill you. Then we'll touch on this sleep thing of yours." She smiled, stroking some of Hirde's bangs from her eyes as she sat down on the bed across from her.

Hirde blinked, "Um...okay."

"So, start talking, Hirde. I can't help you if you don't spill."

"I think I'm going crazy."

Karin didn't laugh, just nodded. "Why?"

"I can't think about anything but Danny. I lost him, and I think I'm losing Duo. I can feel myself clinging to him, trying to keep him with me all the time...and I..." She flushed.

"Are using sex to keep him with you."

Her flush deepened and she nodded, "I can't keep him with me all the time though, and that scares me. I had a dream... He left me. He left me and Danny left. Karin, am I going crazy?"

"Nah. You're just scared because of Danny. You lost control of your life when you were poisoned, and it's even more out of control now. Make sense?" She looked at her, then shook her head. There was a sigh as Karin crossed her legs, "You used to have control of the way you lived, and then the weapons blew up your house. Then Vicky took you under her wing, took care of you, brought you back to Duo, all that good stuff. You came here, and you had Danny. Then a whole buncha shit happened, and you lost total control. You lost your son, your identity, the feeling of safety... You're just trying to keep your constant there with you."

"Oh....Karin, how did you know....All that stuff. Duo, he didn't tell you, did he?"

The girl blinked, jumping to her feet, "I....have to go and help Heero do that computer thing!!"

She was gone before Hirde could reply.

"I want my mommy."

The man smiled at him, "I killed your mommy."

Fear filled his eyes, and he fell back. Why would some one kill his mommy? She was the sweetest, kindest person. She took care of him and Daddy. She was a good mommy. Tears filled his eyes, "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"

"Like I care you little runt. I'm only watching you because it makes Samantha happy because she can go shopping. She's not exactly an ease lay when she's pissy, you get me?"

Danny blinked, "Lay?"

The man rolled his eyes, "I forget that you're such an innocent little boy. That makes me mad..." He lifted the cage, hurling it against the wall once more. Danny slumped over in the awkward position that it had forced him into.

"Mommy....come get me." His eyes closed.

He blinked, looking at her. She was about his age, and he himself was taller. Her green eyes sparkled as she smiled at him, long chesnut locks moving about her face, Who are you?

She laughed again, You know who I am. You know!

He ran after her as she skipped over the grass, her long cotton jumper turning into a sheer gown of glitter. Danny blinked as she entered a dark cove, looking about, Where are you?

She pointed to two forms just starting to take shape, twisting in and out of existance. His hand reached out to touch one of them as it rooted to the ground, kindly violet eyes looking at him. A long band of plaited hair struck his hand away as the being stood, a suit of black glitter covering its body.

Danny fell back against the grass, shaking as the other one began to take form. This didn't grow as tall as the other, its hair loose and flowing like silk behind it. It was feminine in it's form, eyes flashing the same kind violet as before.

What the FUCK!? the taller one screamed before it had fully taken shape. The female dropped to her knees as a long glitter robe encased her body.

It's okay! the little girl rushed to them, hugging them quickly. I brought you here

Why? The female, calmer than the male, pulled the child into her lap. What is it?

She was trembling, the little girl was, as she looked at the man, then at Danny, Keep me safe, Mommy. Keep me and Danny safe. You and Uncle 5.5... Don't let me die!

Sh, sh. We won't... There was nothing more the two adults could say before the little girl smiled, then faded slowly. Danny blinked as he watched the man do the same, and finally the woman.

A heaviness filled him, and the light vanished.

"Duo, what's happened?" She tried calming him, but he didn't stop. Tears were in his eyes, so distant and cold but scared all at once.

"There were... Voices...the children, and the little girl...." He rambled on, clinging to her as if she were his only means of life. His arms held too tightly almost, her bones crunching beneath his grasp.

She moved a little, and he released her, backing into the wall, "Duo, what happened..."

"I don't know. I was in the truck, and then there was this little girl. Vicki was there. She was right there, right next to me... But she wasn't Vicki. She was too......."

Hirde sighed, getting off the bed and sitting down next to him. Sweat had plastered his long bangs to his forehead. He just wouldn't stop shaking. She'd never seen him this frightened in so long....

"Duo, come on. Let's go lay down..."

He shook his head, trying to stand on weak legs, "Heero needs that shit. And so do you."

"I need you to lay down and rest, Duo Maxwell. I'll get it to Heero and Trowa." Hirde kissed him gently and steered him toward the bed. He protested a little more, but was good in the end. She smiled, turning the light down to a low glow.

She'd done that since they were both fifteen, when his nightmares came. He hated being in the dark, even when she was at his side. She remembered how she laughed at it then, the God of Death was afraid of the dark... But after everything that had happened, the warm glow of artificial lighting made them seem less alone and less vulnerable.

Instead, she handed the little thing her keys and flipped open her phone. Daidai was going to be so thrilled when he heard the news.

He shook his head, but to no avial as the door was ripped off and the boy was lifted up to face him, his beady black eyes staring down into the frightened violet ones, "Don't lie to me boy.... I saw you use them."

He shook his head again, "Na-uh!"

The thick, olive-skinned hand came down to make contact with the fragile face a blue flash surrounded the man. Danny fell to the floor slowly, watching in horror as the man started screaming, convulising.

His body was stretching, like two people were pulling on bubble gum as crimson blood ran down from his ears, and then his eyes. Long, jagged scratch marks played over his body, blood splattering everywhere.

Then his arms were torn off, then the legs. Little pieces of tissue splattered onto Daniel, then onto the floor. So much blood. He started to cry, tears washing off some of the red that covered his body.

She pushed open the door slowly. Heero and Trowa were leaning over the computer, softly dicussing something. They didn't look up as she set the box down, brushing off her hands on her pants before turning to leave. Karin, sitting off to the corner, waved slightly, but her eyes remained closed.

She didn't say anything the first time as she turned to leave, but she glanced back as Karin began to float off of the floor, her body taking on a light sheen. Then she started screaming.

Heero brushed past him and lifted Hirde into his arms. They looked at each other for a long period of silence before Trowa nodded, plucking Karin out of the air easily and walking with Heero to the room where Duo was sleeping, twisting and turning in his own bed.

The minute they brightened the light, Duo sat up in bed. There were times when the man was a lighter sleeper than Heero, and sometimes that got them in trouble, like now as he stared with large violet eyes as the woman hanging in the Japanese man's arms.

"What happened to her? Hirde?" He lept over to Heero, taking Hirde tenderly, face so frantic.

"She was just a little scared, nothing major. She'll be fine."

Duo nodded, then looked at Trowa, "Anything yet? About the kids, I mean?"

"We're narrowing it down to a few continents. Hopefully they haven't moved much in the past few days."

"Which continents?"

"Eurasia, Africa, and America."

He snorted a little, "So, basically, Danny and Estelle ain't in Antartica or Australia?"

Trowa nodded, sighing for a long moment, "Earth's a big place, and there are a ton of places where they can hide. Heero's pulling strings with Relena's help to get this publicized...But there's a draw back."

"Drawback?" Duo blinked.

"The government laws against the weapons still stand. They haven't revoked them, and its unlikely that they will." Heero sat down across from the pair on the bed, crossing his arms across his chest.

"What laws?"

"That any genetically altered human in the way or motive of causing war or a coup must be destroyed. No exceptions." Heero stared into Duo's eyes, voice cold as it had been when they were kids, running around in mobile suits.

"So...if they find Danny..."

"They don't know he's the child of a weapon. But chances are, the captor does. And he'll use that against you."

Trowa nodded, setting Karin down on the bed and pressing a cloth to her face, "You, Vicki, Daniel, and Estelle are in danger if this becomes too publicized. Even if the government decides that you can live, you'll become the lab rats that you were when you were born."

The door opened and a tall man entered, dressed primly. His hair was a flaming orange color, combed to perfection as he looked around, pulling his dark sunglasses down from his eyes. His eyes fell on Danny, and instantly he breathed a little easier.

He looked like Daddy! Only, Daddy had long brown hair and he didn't have so many lines on his face. This man had many, many lines, but his eyes were purple. Purple! Like Daddy's and Kari's before she put those little blue thingies in her eyes. His face even looked a little like Kari's, in the delicate nose, though it made the man look silly when it made Kari look pretty.

"Hello, Daniel." He stopped down low, pulling out a damp cloth from a little package and wiping off the blood, "Did you do this?"

"I don't...I didn't! He was a bad man!" Danny suddenly felt scared. Was he in trouble?

"I know he was, little boy. But, did you do this?"

"I don't...t'ink so."

"Okay. That's all I wanted to know." He stood and offered Danny a white gloved hand, "Are you ready to go?"

"Home? To Mommy and Daddy?"

The man sighed, "I'm sorry, Daniel, but that bad man...He made Mommy and Daddy go to heaven. You need to come with me now."

"Did he take Kari too?"

"No," there was a smile on his face that made Danny's stomach feel funny. "You'll see Kari soon enough. I promise. My name is Daiden."

Trowa nodded, "Even if we could avoid the lab testing, Danny and Estelle would never be able to lead the normal lives of a child, if you and Vicki came forward as the two surviving weapons."

"Vicki?" The man's expression changed, a thundercloud transfiguring his face, "Vicki might as well be turned into some kind of lab rat for all she's done to us."

"Victoria is not what you're thinking. The Victoria you met up with once more was an imposter, as I'm sure you were told." Heero stood, walking towards the door. "I'm going to continue with the search."

The former acrobat shifted on the bed and wiped the blood from Karin's face again, hands tender. Duo raised a brow, "What about Quatre?"

That threw Trowa visibly and Karin's form slumped against the bed, "What about him? Karin's bleeding...And she needs help, so I just...was helping her."

His other brow arched a little, but he didn't say anything else on the subject, pulling Hirde close to his body as Trowa took the fallen girl out.

"Soon enough, Daniel." The man helped him into the back of his nice and shiny car. So far, he'd been to the toy store, which was fun, and a clothes store. Boring. But Daiden let him pick his clothes from what the Lady selling had picked out.

"Did they hurt Kari?" His questions seemed to make Daiden mad, and that confused him. Mommy had always answered his questions patiently. His eyes bruned when he though about Mommy, and his heart felt heavy.

"Why do you ask?"

Danny rubbed his eyes, a little wet from thinking about Mommy, "'Cuz when Mama went to the ho'pital, she was hurt *real* bad, and she didn't come back for a long, long time. An' I haven't seen Kari in a long, long time."

He was a little frightened by the look in Daiden's eyes as the man nodded, "Perhaps Kari is very hurt... Very, very hurt."

He didn't want to address how close he and Karin had gotten, and that mysterious night with the whiskey. Quatre would accept that he and Karin would always be close because of Estelle; that was certain. That was in his nature.... But even Quatre wouldn't accept the true bond that they had formed. He knew that he cared too much for her, and he suspected that she did the same.

She knew though, about him and Quatre. Maybe in her mind and heart, she'd written him off as gay. Even if Quatre..., Trowa would always be out of her reach. She'd already begun to distance herself from him. She didn't like him standing too close or even helping her up when she fell any more.

He sighed, locking the door and walking away from the car. He wished things would just become simple again.

She nodded a little, "Is Karin all right?"

"She's fine. Trowa took her to get the cut looked at...And then he's going to take her to the spa so she can unwind a bit. You can go too...if you want."

Hirde blinked, then pressed her hand against Duo's chest, "Karin...She was floating when I came into that room. She was floating, and bleeding...What happened to her?"

His eyes held hers for a moment as he realized how shook up this left her, "I'll find out."

Quatre didn't respond, as usual, but it did feel like his hand tightened ever so lightly. That was enough for him. Quatre was getting more responsive, and damn those doctors for saying that in all likelihood he'd never wake from this again. He would. The man was too strong to let something like a bullet ruin his life.

"Won't you just smile at me once, little one? Just once so I know that you hear what I'm saying?" Trowa felt the wetness in his eyes as the door behind him opened.

"Mr. Barton?" A nurse. Damn nurses who didn't believe in Quatre. "There's some one here to see you. A Mr. Maxwell, I believe."

He rose, kissing Quatre's chapped lips before turning heel and walking into the main room, "What is it, Duo?"

The man glared at him with seething violet eyes, "What is Karin?"

"Karin's a girl..."

"Hirde saw her floating."

"She was seeing things. She hasn't been resting enough lately."

"How did Karin get hurt?"

"I don't know."

"Why was she hurt along one of the places that Vicki had a scar?"

"I don't know!" Trowa backed up a bit, having an idea of where this was going.

"Is Karin Vicki?"

He turned his back on Duo, "That's not my question to answer. Ask her yourself if it means anything to you. You know where the spa is."

"Fine. I will." He turned heel and left. Trowa slumped down into a chair in the waiting room. Hopefully Karin was ready to deal with him.

Vicki....She sighed a little. A part of her though back to the time on L2, when they didn't know anything about the Weapons. Hirde had been on her way back from the store, and Victoria had followed her home....

"You need to come with me."

"What!? Why!?"

"You and your child are in danger." The pale hand of the then-white haired girl reached out and pulled Hirde towards the door. "You must leave now."

Her calm voice chilled Hirde, "But what about Duo?"

"He'll be fine. He won't be back in time to be injured."

"How do you know?"

"I just do." Her eyes were flat green as she looked at her. Kindness was beyond them, and her face was a frozen mask of calmness. "Come now."

The explosion that followed still haunted her, but she tried to forget about it as she opened the drawer in Karin's night stand. Empty. The drawer below it was just as barren. She bit into her lip, opening the closet door. Seven blue dresses in it, perfectly clean and pressed with one pair of khaki's next to them. In the bottom of the closet there was a pair of brown shoes, only slightly scuffed.

Hirde turned to the dresser. Things were in perfect order. She had a picture frame sitting there, an older man and woman smiling out at her. Karin's parent's....She had said that's who they were. . .But now... Hirde opened the back of the frame and the paper slid out. A carefully cut page from a magazine. Figures.

The rest of the room was set in perfect order. Her shampoo, toothbrush, and paste were arranged perfectly on the sink, a contact case and solution next to that. She looked around the room once more, getting down on her hands and knees and dragging a suitcase out from under the bed.

It was mostly empty, a envelope-operner and some pictures laying in the bottom. Real pictures of Estelle and Danny, one of Duo and herself sitting on the patio. Hirde smiled a little, touching that picture. She missed those days in the picture.

Her eyes burned a little as she stood, still holding Danny's picture. She missed those days, and she'd be damned if she was going to let any one take happiness away from her and Duo, and their son, any more. She'd been a victim in this shit for far too long, and now it was time to take it and shove it up their asses.

His violet eyes glittered a moment, "So, what you're saying is that you want out of this thing?"

"Of course that's what I'm saying, Daidai. I can't take this bullshit from these little brats."

He stood, glaring at her, "I still need you. I have yet to obtain Karin from the house. I will boost your salary to six if you help me apprehend her and keep her here."

"Nine and you've got a deal." She smiled a little, picking her suitcase up, "Nine and a better room to sleep if. Esther or whatever her name is has me up all night with those screams."

"All right, Samantha. I'll see to that, as soon as you have brought me Karin. Understood?"

She nodded, "I think I might need a little bit to change my appearance in that case. Can't let her think I'm the same person..."

"Of course." He slid a stack of credit cards over to her, turning back to his computer.

He shook his head, "That's not true. The one you and Duo welcomed into your house took the children. You know that. Karin lied to you, made herself to be something that she wasn't, but she did nothing to harm your son or Estelle."

Hirde slumped into her chair, "How's Relena doing?"

"All right."

Her brow arched, "Just 'all right'? Have you even seen her since she was brought out of that hell-hole? You haven't, have you?"

"I have." He glanced at her, "She's on L2 working on a peace summit or something."

She frowned, "When are we leaving for Earth?"

"Not until we know the exact region that Daniel and Estelle have been taken to. That will be the most logical plan."

"Logic?" She jumped up, glaring at him. "My son is missing, I'm sick, and Duo's going to kill our nanny. Where's the logic in that, Mr. Yuy? We don't have time for logic. We only have time to save them."

"Then it will take all of us to find them..." Trowa walked in calmly, looking at Hirde, "Yelling at Heero won't solve a thing. Ask Duo. He knows all about it."

Heero smirked a little and turned back to the computer.

He grabbed her towel, pulling it back from her head. Waves upon waves of chesnut hair cascaded down, and she jumped up, reaching for the other end of the pool and hauling herself out. He expected her to turn and face him. Instead, she ran.

He followed, using his height difference to almost catch her before she entered the women's dressing room. Violet eyes narrowed, looking around before going in.

The room was deserted. Only Karin was there, tying her hair back in a bun, "Vicki?" He called to her again. She didn't notice. "Karin?"

This time she looked up, eyes hidden by dark glasses, "Duo-sama, this is the ladies' room. You should not be here."

"Give up the act, Vic. I know it's you."

She went back to packing her things in a bag, "I'm Karin. Not Vic."

"Vicki--"

"NO! Karin. Victoria is dead, Duo." She looked up at him, her demeanor changed once more. Mouth set in a firm line, brows furrowed.

His hand reached for her sunglaasses, "Why won't you show me your eyes, Karin? Afraid I'll see the truth?"

A hand crashed down his face, "Leave me alone."

"Tell me who you are."

"She's Karin Nakiato..." A woman with cropped hair dyed a flaming red stepped out from the shadows, "I'm here to collect her."

"Collect....me?" Karin raised a brow, "Really, now...."

"Daniel's looking for you, and Daidai needs your help to--"

"Where's DANNY!?" Duo grabbed the woman roughly, hands clamped around her windpipe.

"If you kill me, you'll never know."

A cruel laughter floated from Karin, and Duo felt the woman being ripped from his hand, "Really now, Samantha? Do you ever look before you leap?"

"Samantha....Vicki...." Duo's eyes flashed angrily and the bench beside him began to rattle.

Karin removed her glasses, eyes a hard violet, and the woman flew into the lockers, "Finish her, brother." Her voice was a hiss of seething hatred.

Samantha began to scream as Duo glared at her, her body flying up to the cieling, neck snapping in a disgusting squish, blood splattering everywhere. Her body met the floor, then the cieling, then the floor once more until Duo fell to his knees in anguish.

He looked around. Karin was gone.

Hirde looked up, seeing Karin's triumphant face and grinned wildly, "Where!?"

"Former Canada. They're up in the mountains, tucked away." The girl came over to Heero's machine, pointing to a spot on the map. "Some where in that region. I can't exactly be sure where or how to get there. But I know that's where they are."

Heero nodded, looking at the place, "There's over five hundred miles of land to cover there, and we have no way to get in."

She frowned, "And it's an underground. Can we at least get the equipment? We can search them out with that."

There was a moment of silence, the Japanese man looking at her, "Insanity must run in the family. To search out Daniel and Estelle it could take years. We don't have that long."

Hirde bit her lip, "We have to do something, Heero! Looking for them for five fucking years is a better option than sitting in this nice cushy room and letting the computers turn our faces green. Sure, it isn't logical, but pardon me. My little baby boy is out there, god knows what is happening to him, and I'm supposed to be logical!" She shoved the man, crying out in frustration for a moment. He didn't budge, just looked at her with wide eyes.

"Look at what you have to look forward to, eh Heero?" The psychic girl grinned broadly for a moment, then went back to studying maps.

Finish her, brother... He could still hear Ka--Vicki's voice. The cold voice he'd heard back when they'd first met, face to face. The voice that told him ever so bluntly that Hirde was still alive. Same old Victoria...the only change was her hair.

Still, all that blood and not a single answer. Samantha might have been the key to finding the kids, and Vicki killed her. No hesitation. No stopping for a moment and going over the situation. She just killed her, like it was nothing. He shuddered a little, remembering the war. He'd been like that then to. He'd been just as calculating and eager to finish things, but that method of death was too personal.

He still felt the pulse in his blood, begging him to lose that last shred of control and tap into his powers, to rip the girl to shreds. Rip her until blood ran over the windows in long rivulets. He could do that all with a thoughts, a whim. It terrified him now that he actually sat down and thought this through.

Hirde had no protection against his anger. He could kill the mother of his son just as easily as some human might finish the life of a fly. He could just kill her, kill her without some little shred of realizing it. He could lose his temper in a lovers' spat, and then she'd be like Samantha, a bloody and limp rag doll. How could he explain that to...

Oh, god, Danny. The boy shared his curse, didn't he? He could kill Hirde too. How would the little boy handle that. "You killed Mommy" wasn't exactly what little children needed to hear. But Danny had the power to do it. All Duo had to use against him was the same power, but he could hurt his son...

He shivered a little, pulling into his spot by the house. The only light on was in the comp room, shadowed figures moving back and forth. They were fighting about something. Duo grinned a little, recognizing Hirde's shadow in an instant. She was screaming at another silhouette, male and on the short side. Heero.

"Poor Yuy..." He smirked a little before walking towards the front door.

"He's in there. Make sure that he likes it before you give it to him." A lady appeared in the doorway, her arms surrounding a wiggly ball of fluff.

"Hello, there." She smiled at him, her voice very kind and gentle. He watched her, unsure. She looked nice with her long black hair and her eyes so warm. And they were purple, like Daddy's. He liked purple eyes.

"Hi." He walked up to her, looking at the fluff in her arms.

"This is Octavian. He's a puppy. You like puppies?"

Danny nodded, "Oct..av..ian. Funny name."

The woman smiled, "My doggie Cleopatra had puppies. I name him that. You like him?"

"Yes! I keep puppy?"

The lady gave him the little doggie, the animal's rough tongue lapping at his skin immediately. He giggled as she walked toward the door, "Take good care of him, okay?"

He nodded a little, "I take real good care of him.

"You know where he is, babe?"

Hirde stopped, then nodded, smiling a little, "Karin's got an area."

The violet eyes froze for a moment, looking over at the other two in the room. Trowa and Karin seemed to be engaged in a deep conversation, their faces turned to one another's, "Karin?"

The girl looked up, "Nani?"

"How did you find this out? Or are you trying to give Hirde some false fucking hope?"He walked over to her, looking at her before gripping her shoulders. Her eyes bored holes into his, "What did you do?"

She pushed him away, "It was in her head, jackass. Same thing as always. If you weren't so fucking afraid of yourself, then maybe you could use the powers that we have both been so gifted with." Her hands were on her hips, glaring at him.

"Gifted?!" He snorted, shaking his head. "Tell me you're not serious. You think what you and I did to Samantha was...gifted?"

She shrugged, "We're weapons, Duo. Weapons need violence, and besides, Samantha deserved it. No big deal. Just more fitting that we kill her after all her time parading herself around with my name."

Hirde raised a brow, "What are you talkimg about?"

Duo looked at her, his demeanor changing, "She's Vicki."

"Vicki? But...I thought...I mean... Well that explains her floating..." Hirde was quiet a moment, "Okay, Heero, Vicki's got the tracking skills, so let's get this thing going. If she says that Danny's there, he has to be there. How certain are you, Vicki?"

"Perfectly. I can't see Danny there though. Some one's jamming the wave." Funny how when it came to kids, women were all business or all goo. There was no middle ground.

Heero snorted, "You make it sound like a radio."

Karin raised a brow, "It is, Yuy-san. Everyone emits their own brand of "radio" station, but not everyone has the radio components to recieve it." She tapped the side of her head. "And some signals are much stronger than others."

He merely shook his head, "We can't cover that ground. There are simply too many places to look."

"Employ a guide." Trowa came up from the wall he'd been standing on. "They'd know something suspicious if it was there, right?"

Duo nodded a little, looking at Hirde's hopeful face, "I think I might just know one."

"Of course." He smiled at her, that creepy smile as she tapped her fingers off his desk, "The dog was what 1500 credits?"

Violet eyes rolled, "Well, of course. The puppy is a prime racer candiate. Racing dogs don't sell cheap." He nodded, stacking the money on the desk slowly. "Why did you buy it anyway? That kid's too young to be much good racing. Dog's too little too. I could--"

"No, Daniel needs a companion. This place is very lonely, as I'm sure you're aware. You live alone, correct?" He folded his hand as she shoved the cash into her pouch, hand lingering on her knife.

"Just me and the dogs. Been that way since my mom and dad disappeared and Grams died." She shrugged. "Why?"

"No reason." Again with that creepy smile. She really wanted to go home. Really just NEEDED to get out of here. The place was like a war base. No place for that little boy or Octavian. Still, the smile on his face when she'd given him that puppy... A smile that she just couldn't place her finger on.

"Okay, then... I'll be going, Mr. Daiden, if that's all." He nodded and she turned heel, following a soldier out to her truck.

Daiden smiled as he turned, looking towards his second-in-command, "She knows nothing about her parents. If she had, I would have kept her."

"So, she is not a weapon?"

"No. Don't be riduculous. She's an Inuit. All the weapons were manufactured to have to nationality predominate. Besides, only 5.75 was female." There was a moment. "Of course, violet eyes are native to the Inuits...are they?"

"No sir."

He nodded, smiling at the file picture of the woman. "We'll just have to watch her then."

"But she's from Earth, and she lives in the snow most of the year. She'd be perfect for this assignment." Duo countered Heero for a moment, narrowing his eyes. "What do you have in mind if we don't use her?"

"We wait until we have a positive lock on the place in question." He turned away, typing a few more commands into the computer. "We have an entire section to search. The heat seekers can find the place in a matter of weeks. You know that. Stop being as irrational as Hirde."

Violet eyes narrowed into slits, "Heero, you and Relena don't have any kids, do you?"

There was an uncomfortable shift in the chair, "No...not at the moment."

"Oh? She pregnant or something that you neglected to tell your very best friends?" He loomed over Heero, using the hieght advantage that he held to full extent.

Again Heero dodged his eyes, "Hai...She's four months along."

Duo grinned for a moment, "Daddy Yuy...what would you do if this was different? Your Relena and your unborn Yuy were stuck in some snow covered land from hell. Would you let me sit by calmly and tell you that you had to wait for the heat-seekers?"

Heero shook his head, sighing, "Omae o korosu.... Let's get the gear."

Duo grinned again, his eyes sparkling triumphant. He won. Yay.

The german woman smirked, "If he ever wants sex again, he'll take me there. I'm sick of this whole 'little woman' bull shit he tries to play against me. I'm a former member of OZ. Graduated top honors in my group from their school. I am a soldier. I fought against him, and then two mobile dolls with Trowa and Heero inside of them. I think I'm more than qualified for this thing, don't you?" There was a glare, as if inferiority complexes ran in the family.

The girl just stuck up her hands as a sign of defeat, "Anything I can do, you can do. You're the one with military training, not me. I'm stuck on this joy ride because my idiot of a brother and yours of a fuck toy can't seem to get the idea that being a weapon of mass destruction isn't a bad thing."

Hirde raised a brow, "Um..."

There was a beat, then a grin, "Okay, so maybe that wasn't the best way to phrase it, but still. He needs to get with things before Danny gets powerful or you're both going to be in some mighty deep shit. I killed my adoptive parents with my gift. No reason why he won't do the same to you without meaning."

Her face went pale, "You're kidding..."

"No, I'm not. Good side of that is, though, that I meant to end their lives. They beat me up a lot when their business was failing. You would never do that to Danny. You're a good person,even if you want to hide it behind that tough and bad street girl talk you use." She grinned, boosting herself up on the table.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Hirde batted at the girl, shaking her head.

A snort escaped her, "So, any way, whose this girl Duo wants us to take out on the trail? An old girlfriend perhaps? A fling you both shared? Heero's old flame, to explain his objection?"

Hirde shook her head, "Nothing that complicated or kinky. Just a long story that I'm sure you'll hear on a rainy day."

"Trowa?" Iria stood in front of him, her hand pushing up beneath this bangs. "Are you feeling allright? I've been calling you for some time..."

He shrugged it off, "I haven't been sleeping well--"

"Of course not. You poor thing. That big bed must be pretty lonely, huh, with out my little brother to snuggle with..." She was busy checking other signs on his body, doing her usual "hm" and "huh" things as she did. Hard to tell if the woman had been sarcastic or not. If she was, he was pissed off at her. What happened at that lab between him and Vicki wasn't under their control. They didn't choose the right to be thrown on cold slabs of metal while his mind was filled with dreams of Quatre and all sorts of things until they obtained what they needed. She didn't choose to have her body violated by these weapons, the obtained samples from Trowa pumped into her body until the desired effect. Conception.

He shuddered a little, pushing Iria away while the memories surface. He pushed them away quickly, "What do you want?"

"I want to know if I can give the hospital the okay on pulling Quatre's life support."

His blood chilled, "No, Iria."

"I just thought...with everything that's happened...And your new friend. The nanny? How fitting..." Iria's eyes boiled for a moment. "Quatre willed you everything. You and your love child to another woman. Great day to be alive for you, eh?"

He shook his head, "There isn't anything between Karin and me. It's just complicated, beyond what you would understand. Keep Quatre on life support until he tells you to take him off, is that clear?" His green eyes burned into hers before she looked away, turning to the door.

"He deserves better than you."

"Maybe you're right. But you're not about Karin."

She snorted, "I saw you in the kitchen the other night, Trowa. Ripping the girl's shirt open hardly constitutes as a business relationship...Unless there's something you want to tell me."

He hurled a glass at the door after she'd slipped through it, then stood, pulling himself together and stomping to the door. Sweet little Karin had some definite explaining to do.

"Can it, Yuy." Hirde glared at the Japanese man, then went back to her laptop. Karin was sitting down at Heero's station, looking over maps and trying to place the few scattered images she'd been able to pick from Samantha's head.

"Hello?" The phone picked up after an eternity, the voice on the other end shock a little by the aspect. "This is the Gentlewind Dog Shelter. May I help you?"

"Gentlewind, eh?" Duo grinned. "Finally opted for a last name there? I'm surprised it wasn't Ocarina." Heero's brows quirked a moment.

The woman on the other end groaned, "That system is ancient. Why does every one still insist on reminding me of that game?"

"Because you're fun as hell to torture."

"What do you want, Maxwell? I'm in the middle of feeding the animals."

He raised a brow, "Pissy, aren't we? We're calling in that favor."

"We?" He heard the phone shifting, the whimper of a dog. "You and Pixie?"

"You got it, Z. Tommorrow good for you?" He looked at Heero.

"Sure, sure. I'll have my asistant take care of the animals."

"Moving up in the world? I thought you hated people."

She laughed, "I do. But, hey, she's only around when I call her. Hang on." There was a moment and the woman barked something out in a language that niether Heero or Duo spoke. A reply came in the same language before she was back. "See you tommorrow then? I'll be waiting, Maxwell."

Duo nodded, hanging up, "See? She'll be great."

Heero rolled his eyes, "Excuse me if I don't have faith in a person who doesn't own a computer."

Duo came back from helping Heero and Wufei with the take off, "The sky's clear after we get out of this country and into Alaska." He slid in next to Hirde, strapping himself in quickly as the plane rocked again.

"Why couldn't we just taken the shuttle into Alaska?" Karin glared at her brother, making a face.

He shrugged, "The Alaskan Prime Minister doesn't want space material in the region. He wants to keep it clean or something. Only strict Preventer missions can get shuttles in. We didn't have time to wait for clearance."

Hirde rested her head on his shoulder, "Did you tell Zelda what's going to happen when we get there?"

"Of course not, babe. We're going to pick her and Cleo up at the shelter then head up over into former Canada. Wufei and Heero have the plan ready from there, with a few additions by Sally of course."

She grinned a little, "Of course."

The woman smiled a little, shaking her head, "I'm using my belt to keep the ones on the bottom closed. I need the gauze and stuff, so just you hold that steady, all right?"

He didn't say anything, holding tight as they were jarred once more, crashing into each other while scrambling to grab a few random pieces of equipment here and there. He undid his own belt, using it on the offensive cupboard before beginning to clean the mess up.

"How short a leash did Quatre have you on?" Sally was shooting him a look. "I can do that."

Trowa shrugged, pushing his bangs back, "I wanted to help."

She laughed, trying to shoo him to the middle of the plane, "Why are all the good ones gay?"

"I don't know..." He looked back towards the opening in the curtain, a flash of guilt on his face, "Sally?"

Her demeanor changed immediatley, guiding him onto a small, plastic couch and studying his face carefully, "What's on your mind?" He stared as her sky blue eyes, trying to find some hint of...what? Concern, worry? They were there, along with curiousity. He frowned a little. Curiousity was not something he enjoyed, but to get this spoken, out in the open, he needed it.

"I am guessing about my devotion to Quatre..." Her eyes widened a little, and he regretted opening his mouth at all, hanging his head for a moment.

She touched his shoulder, "You realize that whatever you say to me in this room will just be between the two of us. I can't tell anyone about this..."

"I know." That comforted him a little. At least Duo wouldn't find out, not that Duo would do anything to him, besides annoy him to death and stand with that thinking expression of oh shit on his face.

"Tell me what's wrong..." Getting Trowa to open up hand gotten easier over the years, but it still took a hell of a lot of prodding. He shifted a little.

"It's Karin, or Vicki, or what ever the hell she's calling herself now..." He shrugged a little, looking down at the floor. There was a long moment of silence before he looked up, "She and I are very close...And I think we're too close now, especially since since Quatre's been in the hospital, she's always kind of been the one I leaned on or spent time with. And she's Estelle's mother."

Sally nodded a little, "This seems to happen a lot when people are in the hospital, actually, for extended periods of time... It's normal, Trowa, but you're not betraying Quatre. He might not wake up, and he would want you to move on with your life, right?"

He sighed, staring back to his hands, "I guess...But what if he gets better?"

Her hands rubbed together, "Chances are that he won't, Trowa. You have to live with that, and you have to accept that. All right?"

Trowa nodded a bit, eyes vacant. Sally sighed, standing after giving him a quick awkward hug, stepping through the curtains, "Watch the stuff, all right?" Again, just a silent nod. The woman frowned. Men were so annoying.

That had been the last real time they'd seen Zelda. She hadn't changed much, that coldness still frosting her violet eyes as she talked to Heero about the mission. She still had the pronounced violet eyes framed with thick eye lashes and an almost tenor voice. She dressed the same from what he could see, but something had definetly changed in her demeanor. She looked...happier for the company.

"This is it? I thought the Preventors travelled in limos complete with waiters and minibar." Zelda looked around as Heero loaded her two snow mobiles and a carrying case for the dog flanking her. Surprisingly, it wasn't Cleo.

Zelda sensed him looking and smiled, "This is Logan. He's a wolf through and through, but tame as anything. He'd the best tracker I have, and I thought we needed to pick up this scent. Can I have a map of the area please?"

Wufei handed one to her, glaring at her dog a little, "I trust it can be safe around humans."

"Oh, of course. Unless of course there is a bad smell associated with that human, which I hope will lead us to the kidnappers." She tied Logan to the chair and began reading over the map. Karin was still staring at her, brows furrowed in absolute concentration.

Hirde put a hand on the younger woman's arm, "She's all right. She is here to help, I promise."

A strange look crossed her face, "It's...something else..." Violet eyes blinked, the energy that had been straining through them fading to an extremely dull glow. "I guess I'm just tired..."

Duo looked at her, "Don't strain yourself...There's nothing in that head of hers that we need to worry about." He grinned, tweaking his little 'sister's' nose, "Go lay down in the medlab for now. Rest up that tracking beam you've got in there until we absolutely need it. And that's an order, young lady."

"You can't boss me around..."

He raised a brow, grabbing his jacket, "See this? This nice shiny badge that says "Preventer Death" on it? That says "Yes, I can force my pissy little sister to go lay down." Now, go...Or I'll arrest you and have Wufei tie you down."

"I would not disho--"

"Shove it, Wubbie." Her eyes twinkled a moment before she entered through the curtains to the darkened lab.

He was too busy watching the baby on his desk to reply, stroking her silken hair, "You know what makes us unique, soldier? What makes the Weapon race so different from you?"

"No, sir, I don't."

Hard eyes snapped up, "Eye color. We all have these damned violet eyes. These eyes give us away every damn time... But look at this child? This beautiful, innocent, yet powerful child... She always said that versions 5.5 and 5.75 were the perfect ones, that they had no flaws. This child is proof. Their bodies can manufacture children that can mask our only detectable difference. When they attack, be sure to bring them back here, to me. Alive, everything in tact. I'm placing my faith in you."

"And if we don't succeed?"

A chillingly calm, pleasant expression crossed his leader's face, "Young Daniel is quite powerful. If I tell him you destroyed his father, you personally, he won't take kindly to it...And he is much too young to know how to control his powers in anger. His very much deadly powers..."

The girl shrugged a little, pushing her hair back from her face as she yawned, "Trowa....I'm sorry. All right? I didn't think you'd want me to tell you."

"Not tell me?!" His normally placid voice hieghtened a tinge, "What do you take me for? I can't believe.... What the hell were you thinking?"

She sat up, crossing her arms over her chest, "I was thinking that if I didn't tell you, you would never need to find out. And if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't feel guilty. And you wouldn't have yet another thing to explain to Quatre when we got home."

"How far did it go?" He looked ahead, his face a stone mask once more. There was no sound in the room other than breathing for a long stretch of time.

"I...don't know. I woke in your bed, grabbed your shirt, and took all my clothes out of your room... I think we passed out before there was any...permanent damage." She wrung her wrists a little, smiling tensely. "I don't remember anything else, really. I'm sorry Trowa."

He sighed, "It's as much your fault as it is mine, Karin. You get off luckier than me though." He turned, smiling at her ruefully. "I have to answer to some one else...That is, if he wakes up any time soon."

Karin smiled, shaking her head, "Trowa... he's a very lucky guy. Anyone else would have deserted him."

"He did the same for me once, during the war. I can't just think of him as dead..." He crossed his arms around himself, shaking his head.

"Tell me about the war."

A small smile lit his face, "You were there. You remember."

"I worked in a bar on earth, Trowa. I don't have the memories you do."

She lay down and he pulled a blanket up over her, "All right...."

His lover's hand snaked into his clammy one, comforting him, as he closed his eyes. He could trust the two up front to land safely. Heero had to go home to Relena and their yet unborn child; Wufei would see no justice in killing civillians, Karin and Zelda, in a mission explosion. He had to trust them...

Blood seeped through his hair, falling down the side of his face, hitting his mouth, the metallic taste almost calming. His arm tightened around her tiny form, preparing himself for the impact. It came in a blinding flash, the base of the plane sliding over ice and snow and rock, hitting off trees as they went. He dared not open his eyes, concentrating on Danny and Danny only.

Someone took his other hand, peeling him away from Hirde. Soft warmth filled his viens, and a familiar tinge began in his brain. Slowly, cautiously, he opened his eyes. Instead of his fellow clone, he saw two transparent forms, both well under half his hieght. One was bathed in an enthereal green light,what appeared to be hair floating away from its scalp.

The taller of the two, violet blue and smiling, tightened its hand around his and smiled, a white crack appearing where its mouth would have been. He concentrated, giving himself over to the power. Letting it take him away from this terror.

And he saw the plane, the happenings. He saw Hirde shaking him, demanding that he open his eyes. But he could hear her....only feel her fear as she shook him over and over. He could feel Heero's grim determination to live. Wufei's panic as he glanced back at the ship, heart pounding. He saw Zelda, her arms around Logan's neck, violet eyes wide....wondering about what was happening. She wasn't scared anymore....did she feel this? He saw Karin and Trowa, hudled together beneath the bolted table, glass sprinkling their skin.

And he saw Sally. Limp and bleeding against the harness. From her, he felt nothing.

The light around everything grew more and more intense, a burn beginning inside his body. An evil hand, orange in aura, to take them so far away from all of this. To kill them. He gasped in pain, wanting nothing more to pull away from this. But a calming hand touched his, pale violet eyes watching him as a low voice began to chant...

And the whiteness over took all.

It took her a moment to realize that they were lopsided, the left side of the plane sticking up into the air. She shivered a little, the heater obviously broken and shook Duo a little harder, "Wake up."

He complied, wiping the dried blood from his forehead and groaning. He coughed one or twice before looking at her, "Are you all right?"

A nod. "I'm fine...Your head..."

"I'll be okay. Just a scratch." He undid their harnesses, trying to stand on the slanted floor. "Anyone else awake?"

A groan came from the cockpit that sounded remarkably like 'baka', and Hirde shook her head, holding to the side of the plane, "Trowa? Karin? You okay?"

Duo gripped her shoulder, "They're fine..." His eyes were straight ahead, looking at the other row of seats. She flickered her eyes back, then again. Sally was dangling in her harness, blood hair matted with thick crimson blood. A bitter taste hit her mouth, eyes burning. The woman wasn't moving.

"Sally...hey, Sall?" Hirde bit her lip. "Sally...wake up."

There was a sound in the cockpit, a harness flying to the ground. Wufei slid through the lopsided doorway, white, "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know." Duo attempted to crawl up towards her, but failed, sliding back to his original postition, "Can you get to her, Wu-man?"

The Chinese man shook his head, eyes afire as he clutched the sides of the plane. His pants were wet looking on one leg, clinging. Blood. "Kuso...."

They stared at her a moment, studying the cieling and walls. Heero came into view, his arm bleeding heavily. The Prussian eyes glanced at the situation for a long moment, "See if Trowa's all right. He can get to her."

Hirde nodded, managing her way into the medlab.

"Bring them to my office. I want to scan their minds." He lifted a finger off of the communicator, rubbing his forehead. He didn't have the power like those two. His power was stolen from the blond brothers, the living weapons that had escaped before the facility had gone under. A smile split his lips a moment before turning to his door, watching as a struggling pair of children was brought in.

Both jumped, pulling back from each other and he looked over first, a tinge of pink on his face, "Yes?"

"How badly are you hurt?"

He stood, holding to the table to steady himself, "Just some cuts and bruises. What do you need?"

"Sally...she's..." Hirde grabbed the curtain, pointing to the woman. He nodded, grabbing the piping above her head and swinging himself closer to the blonde, then grabbed another pipe. Karin didn't say anything, limping out of the medward, a bag of medical supplies in her hand.

The blonde was down from her harnesses in an instant, Trowa laying her out flat and feeling her neck. Duo grabbed Hirde's arm, pulling her back. There was silence as the tallest man shook his head, pulling his hand away. Wufei stood there for a moment, hands balled at his sides, black eyes flashing with rage.

They turned away, beginning with the bandaging, having to drag Wufei away. Karin's ankle was filled with glass. Heero's arm needed stitches. There was a need for a tetinus shot for Wufei's leg. Duo's head was cut a little, but it would heal. Trowa's main problem was the glass in his face. Hirde had some minor scrapes.

Then it came time to look over Zelda. She was kneeling over Sally's body, her hands on the woman's cheeks, a dull, rose colored glow emanating from them as her mouth moved in a slow, dark chant. Wufei gripped her shoulders, trying to pull her away, yelling at her. Zelda didn't move.

And then she fell, sliding down to the floor, unconcious. Duo shook his head, rolling his eyes, grabbing the dark woman's ankle and dragging her over.

Sally sat up, "Don't do that. You'll scatch her face."

Wufei wrapped his arms around her fiercely, rocking a little on his knees. Duo blinked, staring down at the woman on the floor, her brown sugar skin looking green under the lights, and felt Karin tug on his arm, holding up a blanket to toss over her, keep her warm. The wolf came and laid its head on the woman's leg as her breathing became less rapid, less uneven. Her head lolled to the side slowly.

"How did this happen?" Heero asked, applying another bandage to his arm.

"She's a Weapon! She has to be!" The braided man nodded his head, a little relieved that there was more than just the three of them, he, Karin, and that....guy. DaiDai-sama...Samantha's boss. He shuddered a little, remembering the easiness of her death.

But the girl next to him merely shook her head, "She's a weapon...and I'm a natural blonde."

"But she....Sally! Don't tell me a weapon couldn't do that. Maybe we can kill and she can bring people back from Death. Makes perfect sense to me, after all, she did stop Hirde from freezing to death four years ago." His violet eyes flashed a little, looking at his lover for backup.

Hirde complied, "Karin, I saw the weapons back in that warehouse. How do you know that they couldn't do that sort of thing?"

The girl laughed, pulling a piece of paper from her pocket that had been read over many times, "I don't know anything about biology. I don't pretend to. But I do know that this...This says everything about the weapons. It was a summary, her personal notes, from the files I gave you, Duo, back at Danny's first birthday party." His brows shot up, but she raised her hand for him to be quiet. "Red is future. Blond is telekinesis. Black is telepathy. Brown is a mixture of the three, with varying degrees amoung the five created."

"There were five of us....what happened to the others?" He looked at her, hands clenched to fists.

She shrugged, "They died in infancy. Many weapons did. May I continue?"

He nodded, "Sure."

"All weapons, save 5.75, are male. Originally, I engineered girls along with the redheads. Unforunately, it is on the X chromosome that the Weapons mutation must be added or forced to happen, and the two chromosomes, though one X is normal human, don't come together accurately and the child won't live to birth. The Y balances for some reason, and the weapon lives to be male. With 5.75, I experimented slightly, and gave her two mutated chromosomes. And she lived, powerful. Alive. Already I have begun work on new weapons, females that will eradicate the usage of the males I have now." Karin folded the paper, shoving it into her pocket. "Zelda is older than you, correct?"

Hirde nodded, sighing, "Did the papers say anything more about the rest of the weapons she was planning on creating?"

"There wasn't time. A month or so later, the plant was destroyed. I checked that. Whatever Zelda is, it is not a weapon." She smiled a little, shaking her head. "Kinda wish I had a sister though."

Duo ruffled her hair, "Hirde's your sister...Better than a weapon anyday."

Daniel frowned, "Kari was on the plane, and I saw Mama! I saw her...Her and Daddy. You lied to me! I want them! I want my MAMA!!!" The office flew into a whirlwind, papers swirling through the air, pens stabbing at the walls. Daiden flung himself under the desk, waiting for the boy's rage to calm.

Only it didn't. The desk moved away, "No seek ba man!" The little girl, Estelle squealed, and it splinted upon hitting the cieiling. He motioned to the gaurds. They grabbed the two children quickly and easily and ran for their padded room, tossing them in and slamming the door shut.

Mr.Remon, accompanied by Mr.Kogecha, only smiled before the gaurds dragged them off for their own cells.

"What are you?"

She blinked her purple eyes a little, "Sally, you were practically dead...I just...healed you. It's a little talent I have, nothing really that major. I mean, I use it on the dog's all the time. If the will to live is there, I can bring some one back from the deepest of comas...if I really want to...." Her voice trailed off before she lifted herself from the floor, grabbing Logan. "Are we going...or are you all going to stare at me?"

The group shifted in their spots before going back to the preparations at hand. The snow whistled outside as they slowly lowered the snow mobiles onto the swirling white. Supplies were placed into the packs, coats wrapped tightly around bodies after Sally gave the wounds a once over. Logan's eyes were covered by the same glasses they all wore as they slid onto the vechiles. Duo and Karin on one, Wufei and Sally on another. Heero, Zelda, and Logan were squeezed on behind them, with Hirde and Trowa in the rear.

She had to laugh at her lover for that one. Originally, Trowa and Karin were supposed to ride as a team, but in light of everything that he'd seen between the two of them, he demanded a chance to ride with his sister. He'd gotten his way, of course, with the insistance that between the two of them, they would be more than capable of contacting Daniel.

Her arms tightened around Trowa's muscled torso, still definable through his heavy parka. She trusted the former clown, obviously, but the snow mobiles were a dangerous thing. Duo and Heero had an accident years before when they were trying to save her. And they had experience on them from a previous trip to the mountains that Relena had organized. The four of them in the mountains, enjoying the snow and the wind. And the kisses in front of a warm fire. She smiled a little at the memory.

"You okay?" Trowa shouted over the wind.

She nodded against his back, biting her lip as they were suddenly air borne, then landing. The engines cut out quickly then, snow mobile on its side. She looked through her sapphire lenses at the others. Zelda was apologizing to the wolf, pulling their matching yellow goggles into her bag as supplies were unloaded. She launched herself at Duo, frowning.

"I'm riding back with you."

"But, babe...Karin and Trowa..."

"Duo, it's at most ten degrees out here, and the snow mobiles go thirty miles an hour. If they're going to have sex, they'd pick a slightly less hazardous place to do it."

"These tracks..."

Heero moved down beside her, nodding, "There was a truck that came by here, carrying a trailer...Pretty heavy if the tracks haven't been fill yet."

Trowa pulled his binoculars up, everything tinted green from his glasses, "There is a nothing but trees up ahead...and the storm's kicking up. Should we try and find some shelter?"

Duo turned on him, eyes glittering with rage, "My son is missing, and you want--"

"So is his daughter. And I believe that it the best option." Sally called, riding one of the snow mobiles, with another hitched behind her, alongside Wufei. There was a moment of grumbling before they switched course to a cave. Heero started the fire as they set up places to rest.

Trowa looked at Karin, watching her unroll her sleeping bag and lie on it, shivering slighty before her eyes closed. And he turned away from her, watching Zelda.

He had a mission now. And as unsure as he was, he had to go through with this.

"Thank you."

"May I ask though, how you got Mr. Barton to sign off on this?"

She shrugged, lips a tight line, "He finally succumbed to reason."

"Thank you."