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"Family Ties"Written By: ShenLong Disclaimer: I don't own the G Boys, I just borrow them from time to time and return them a whole lot happier. I do own the plot line and any other characters that appear here that are not in the Gundam Wing Universe; please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit. Warnings: Angst, sap, fluff, violence, Mpreg. Rating: NC 17 Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3, 5xS, HxOC Summary: Sequel to Chimaera. Life in the Maxwell -Yuy household has undergone some big changes when Duo brings Keitaro home from the hospital. Hilde's wedding is approaching and the guys find there's more to this baby business than they thought. Struggling to raise a child, work at Preventer and keep the home happy is certainly a trial for both guys. Add an assassin's threats to prominent government officials' lives and both men find their lives are suddenly changed. Just how far will one go to protect the ones he loves? Dedication: to all my lovely readers out there who enjoyed Chimaera and have since begged, threatened, pleaded, bribed and blackmailed me for a sequel. ^_^
"Family Ties" January. 2007 ShenLong
Another two hours of debating had passed and the group
were no closer to coming to a decision than when they had started.
Une was fed up of the constant arguing and bickering amongst the delegates
and decided that enough was enough. “Ladies and gentlemen, will you all just shut up
for a moment, please?” she barked when a moment of silence allowed
her to speak. All the delegates turned in her direction, wide eyed
and a little miffed that someone should have interrupted them and
in such a rude fashion. “Thank you. This constant back and forth arguing
isn't getting us anywhere. If what I have heard thus far is true,
then all the colonies were receiving the same amount of funding, correct?” “Yes, but...” Before the senator could say any more Une cut him off.
“This person is demanding funding for the L2 cluster, stating
that L2 is being left behind, not getting the same funding as the
other colonies. Have any of you thought why he would be saying this
and demanding more funds?” “Well...” “I thought not,” Une said sharply, cutting
off any chance of protest. “Wouldn't it make sense then to check
the funding portfolio? Surely you have a committee set up to monitor
and run this operation?” “Well, yes, we do...” “Then I suggest you contact the committee and take
a look at the portfolio, see what funding has been allocated and to
where. Who is in charge of this committee?” “Now look here, commander...” “I think the commander has a valid point,”
Relena interrupted. “There has to be some reason for this person
to think that L2 isn't getting the same funding. I'd suggest we take
the commander's advice and check the funding portfolio, see where
the funds are going and what has been spent on each colony and where.
Once we have that information and this person contacts us back, we
can then present all the facts and figures, proving that L2 is getting
just as much as the other colonies.” Une flashed the woman a grateful smile. Maybe now they
would start to get somewhere. There were a few muttered words amongst the remaining
senators but no one could come up with a valid argument not to do
as suggested. Grudgingly, they agreed. “Who is in charge of the rebuilding scheme?”
Une asked. Relena scanned through the files she'd brought with
her. “I believe it's Senator Wainright,” she announced after
locating what she wanted in the files. Despite a few mumbles, no one opposed the proposal. “Good.” Une turned her attention back to Relena.
“Would you mind asking the senator to bring the relevant files
to a meeting with us all where we can check them over, please?” “No problem. I'll see to it right away.” Relena
stood and exited the conference room to place a call. Une leaned back
in her seat, aware of the tension in the room and the cat she'd just
tossed in amongst the pigeons. * * * Wufei leaned a little closer to the screen as Heero
slipped the disc into the computer and brought up the contents. He'd
located the files Duo had stored his information on and currently
had them loading up. “Is this anything to do with the ESUN database?”
Wufei asked. “Not that I know of,” Heero replied. “Duo
did mention something to me about the lack of rebuilding currently
taking place on L2, he said he didn't think L2 was getting enough
funding and was going to look into it a bit further. He hadn't told
me if he'd found anything and the scanning programs we were using
hadn't come up with anything as yet that I know of, so I assumed he
was still investigating.” “He contacted me in regards to the funding,”
Quatre said. Heero frowned. “I don't recall him saying anything
about involving you specifically, Quatre.” “He probably didn't. Knowing Duo, he'd wait until
he felt he had something to work with before letting you know what
he was investigating,” Quatre stated. “What exactly did he say about the funding?”
Wufei asked, getting the topic back on track. “He said he'd been looking into some of the paperwork
Relena had managed to get for him and wanted to know if I could double
check on the invoices for Sandrock Construction. It's a company I
own and it's been a vital part of the rebuilding scheme in delivering
supplies and other necessities for the colonies to rebuild. I did
and I couldn't find anything amiss. Trowa looked into it too and all
the invoices matched with the outgoing supplies. I also mentioned
that Winner Enterprises, along with the Sanq Foundation was one of
the largest donors to the rebuilding fund. I sent through, at his
request, copies of all the donations Winner Enterprises had made.
I'm assuming from that disc, that Relena did the same.” “Hn,” Heero grunted and all eyes turned back
to him. He scanned over the information Duo had on the files, confirming
in his own mind what he thought Duo was on to before saying anything
to the others. “Duo was definitely looking into the funding,”
he stated. Wufei moved closer, Quatre and Trowa also coming to
stand directly behind and to the other side of Heero. All eyes were
trained on the computer screen and the information displayed. “This is a complete list of all funds allocated
and the purchases made for the scheme,” Heero said. “Where did he get that from?” Wufei inquired.
He had a pretty good idea, but wanted to see if Heero would confirm
his suspicions. “Remember when we went to the ESUN to investigate
the murder of the security guard and the infiltrator?” Wufei nodded. “Duo had asked Relena if she could possibly obtain
a copy of the colony rebuilding portfolio so he could check the inventories,
see where the funds were allocated, what was purchased and match it
against what was delivered to the colonies.” “I see.” “Whilst we were there, Relena gave him a copy of
the files.” “Ah.” “From what I can tell, the inventories all match
with the allocated funds, purchases and deliveries.” Quatre leaned a little closer and ran a skilled eye
over the figures on the screen. Both Trowa and himself had a basic
idea of what Duo suspected and was investigating, but they didn't
know the whole story. Seemed they were getting an information dump.
“I agree with you, Heero. All figures match.” “Hunch?” Wufei questioned. “Duo isn't one to investigate things if he's not
pretty sure there's something funny going on. I have a hunch he wasn't
convinced with the figures from the files, especially after seeing
first hand the slowness of the rebuilding on L2. Compared to the rate
of improvement on the other three colonies, L2 is quite a way behind,
even I could see that. I'm guessing he wanted to compare the donations
to the fund with the amounts spent thus far. I have a pretty good
idea he was thinking along the same track I am now; that the other
colonies are receiving more from the donations than what L2 is.”
Heero continued to type away as he spoke. “Sounds logical to me,” Quatre said. “Bingo,” Heero announced quietly. Immediately
the other three were hovering over his shoulder, eyes taking in the
information displayed. “Shit!” Wufei's eyes widened. “I think we have something here,” Heero said
softly. “If that is correct, then there's several thousand
credits unaccounted for,” Quatre commented as he did some fast,
mental calculations. “Hn.” Heero typed away again. “It seems,
no matter which way you add this up, the total amounts of the donations
do not equal the funds that appear in the files.” “Yet the allocated funds equal the purchases,”
Wufei said. “So somewhere between the donations and the allocations,
several thousand credits have disappeared,” Trowa finished off. “Yuy, did you manage to finish hacking into the
ESUN database?” Wufei questioned. “No, I haven't.” Wufei frowned a little as he thought. “Why would you want to hack the ESUN database?”
Quatre asked. Heero looked to Wufei, the unspoken request to let Trowa
and Quatre know what they were investigating written in his eyes.
Wufei nodded his consent. Whilst it wasn't allowable under the Preventer
rules and regulations for cases to be discussed with anyone other
than those agents assigned to the case, both Quatre and Trowa weren't
ordinary people. Neither man would breathe a word, besides, they just
might be able to give a fresh view on the case. With the permission granted, Heero informed the two
of their current investigation and their reasons for wanting to hack
the database. * * * “Yes?” Wainright spoke into the intercom system,
his voice a little irritated at being interrupted. The secretary ignored the tone and informed the senator
of the committee's request for the files on the colony rebuilding
scheme. “They want them now?” Wainright said, stalling
for time. “That was the request, sir.” “It will take me a short while to get it all together.
Please let the committee know I'll have the files to them as quickly
as I can.” “I'll pass that information on, sir.” The intercom went silent and Wainright sat back in his
chair, a worried frown on his face. He thought long and hard on the
situation and then, having made his decision, he picked up his 'phone
and called Richards. “Richards here.” “Richards, we have a slight problem.” Wainright
explained to Richards what the committee wanted. “What are you going to do?” “Give them the files, of course,” Wainright
stated. “But...” “Richards, the files I will be giving them are the
files we've been using all along. All the other files have been successfully
copied to disc and then deleted from my computer. I trust you have
completed the same task?” “Yes, I have. The computer is clean.” “Good. I intend to take my time over delivering
these files, by the time they have them, there won't be much of the
day left for them to look into them too deeply. They will have to
wait until tomorrow to go through them in depth. By the time they
do that, we will both be long gone.” Richards gave a smirk. “I like your thinking.” “Just sit tight, wait the rest of the day out and
I will see you this evening as arranged.” “Will do.” “If they should ask you for your copies of the
files, delay as much as possible.” “Understood.” “Until tonight.” Wainright cut the call and
sat back in his chair once more, this time there was a satisfied smirk
on his face. “Won't be long now and all you so called peacekeepers
will be exposed for the frauds that you really are,” he muttered
to the four walls. * * * Duo had managed to dig away a bit more of the mortar,
however he was still a long way from being able to remove the woodwork
and bars from the tiny window. Even if he was successful, he had yet
to figure out how he was going to get all three of them safely out
and away. If it had just been himself, he would have been long gone,
but he had his son and the nanny to think about and there was no way
Duo would endanger either of them if he could help it. Nurse Brown gave a groan and Duo immediately stopped
his assault on the masonry to see what was wrong. “Here, let me do that,” he said quietly to
the nurse who was trying to change Keitaro's diaper with only one
hand. “Thank you, Duo,” Margaret replied. “I'm
sorry I'm not much help.” Duo gave the woman a soft smile. “Not your fault.
Under the circumstances I think you're coping extremely well.”
He quickly changed his son and then set about getting a bottle for
the infant. Nurse Brown sat in the chair and watched. Her heart
was heavy, body tired, mind continuously running in circles and her
wrist was beginning to hurt a lot more than she was letting on. She
continued to think about their situation and the more she did, the
more convinced she became that the decision she had made was the right
one. “Duo?” “Yes?” Duo looked up from where he was feeding
Keitaro the cool formula; Keitaro had objected at first, but then
his hunger overcame the desire for warm food and he sucked greedily
at the bottle. It tore at Duo's heart that he couldn't give his son
what the child needed and added another mark to the mounting score
he had to settle with these idiots that dared to touch what was his. “Duo, as soon as you manage to get that hole or
window open enough for you to get through, I want you to go. Take
Keitaro with you and get out of here.” Duo's eyes widened and then narrowed. “No. I will
not leave you behind.” The nurse sighed. “Look, I'm a lot bigger than
you so it will take longer to get that hole big enough for me to get
through and I will only slow you down with this broken wrist. You
will stand a much better chance at escaping if you haven't got to
worry about an old biddy like me, I can't move as fast as you.”
It made perfect sense to the nurse that the young man should take
his son and make a break for it when the opportunity arose. “No. Either we all go, or none of us goes. I won't
leave you behind and have these assholes hurt you again.” He
didn't say 'kill', there was no need to. They both knew what the terrorists
would do, they'd already shown that they meant business by breaking
the nanny's wrist. Duo knew they wouldn't hesitate to kill nurse Brown,
they had made that painfully clear and Duo had enough blood on his
hands from the war. No way was he going to add another innocent to
that tally. “But, Duo, please try to see sense here. You can
get away a lot faster without me, get help and come back with re-enforcements.” Duo knew the nanny was putting on a brave face, but
there was no way he would leave her behind and she was just going
to have to accept that. “I will not leave you behind and that's
the end of the discussion,” he stated in a tone of finality.
“Besides, I'm pretty sure that Heero won't be too far off in
locating us. I did leave behind a couple of clues for him when I...”
Duo hesitated for a moment, then continued, “when I had to do
that job yesterday. I can only hope he has been involved in the case
and if he has, you can bet he's tearing apart this entire planet to
find us.” Nurse Brown smiled. The love the two men had for each
other was stronger than any love she'd seen in a while and she didn't
doubt for a second that Heero would locate them. But would he be in
time? She sighed in defeat. “Okay.” “Good.” Duo gave her what he hoped was a reassuring
grin. “Wrist hurting?” “A little,” the nurse lied. “Let me take a look at it and then I'll give you
some more panadol.” Duo set Keitaro down on the bed, the baby
more than happy to sit and watch what was going on around him. Taking
the nurse's wrist, he noted the attempt to disguise the flinch of
pain as he carefully unwrapped the makeshift bandage. Gritting her teeth, Margaret allowed the young man to
check out her injury. It throbbed and ached continuously and despite
the panadol, the pain really didn't ease much. Duo frowned as he took in the state of the nurse's wrist.
It was swollen a lot more than he would have liked to see. The surrounding
flesh was vivid shades of red, purple and blue, indicating how bad
the bruising was. It still sat at a slightly abnormal angle and Duo
knew it needed surgery to correct. All he could hope for was that
it didn't get the chance to heal too much in that position - which
meant getting out of here as soon as possible. Short of trying to
straighten the wrist himself, with nothing but brute force, and that
wasn't something he was willing to put the nurse through, the best
he could do for now was to bind the wrist as tightly as possible,
keep up with the panadol and hope for a miracle. “It's not looking good, is it?” the nurse
asked, even though she already knew the answer. “No, it isn't,” Duo replied honestly. “It's okay, Duo. Just strap it as tight as you
can.” “Okay. I'll be as gentle as I can.” Duo proceeded
to bind the wrist again, wrapping the cloth around as firmly as he
dared. The nurse gave a soft moan of pain and flinched a couple of
times, but otherwise remained still. “Thank you,” Margaret said as Duo placed the
bound wrist back into the sling he'd rigged up. Duo fetched another couple of the panadol pills and
handed them over, the nurse duly swallowing them and then settling
onto the bed next to the baby. She did her best to forget the pain
by concentrating on Keitaro and keeping the little one amused. Duo returned to the window and mortar with renewed vigor. * * * It was late afternoon by the time the ESUN delegates
received the files in the colony rebuilding portfolio - too late for
them to really consider what information they held. All the senators
had their minds on other things - such as going home to their respective
families and enjoying dinner. “Mind if I take this home and study it tonight
ready for tomorrow's meeting?” she asked the other woman. “Not at all,” Relena replied and then went
silent, deep in thought. Une raised an eyebrow. She could see there was something
on the woman's mind. “Relena? Is there something bothering you?
Anything you'd like to talk about? I can promise you that anything
you say to me will be kept in the strictest of confidence.” Relena sighed and her shoulders slumped a little. She
raised her blue eyes to meet with the commander's. “There's something
I think you should know, commander. I don't know if this is relevant
at all, or if you're already aware of it - if you are, please stop
me.” “Relena, just tell me what's on your mind,”
Une said in a soft tone. “Okay. A couple of weeks ago I had a call from
Agent Night - Duo. He was asking about the colony rebuilding scheme
and asked me if I could obtain a copy of the files for him. He didn't
say what he was looking for, sort of vaguely hinted that it was for
a case or something he was working on. I managed to get a copy and
handed it over to him. I don't know if he found what he was looking
for, I didn't say anything more about it and he hasn't either. I don't
know if it might be relevant to this or not, but I thought you should
know.” Une's mind was ticking over with the information. “Thank
you, Relena. No, I wasn't aware of Agent Night's request, or exactly
what he wanted the files for. I will look into this a little more
though.” “I hope I'm not getting him into any trouble.” “No, Relena. In fact, this information could help
a lot.” “Good. I’ll bid you good night then.” “Good night, Relena.” Une watched as the young
woman left, then she shook herself, checked she had all the files
and left to return to Preventer HQ. It was going to be a long night. * * * Agent Summer checked over all the reports again, making
certain he had all the facts there in front of him. He shook his head
in disbelief at the results. Taking the reports through to his office
he dumped them on the desk and went to fetch himself a coffee. Reading over the reports and findings again, he was
satisfied they had covered everything they possibly could. Reaching
for the 'phone, he placed a call to the commander. “Commander Une.” “Commander, it's Agent Summer here. I have the
results from the forensic testing we've done from the case involving
the vehicle and child's stroller.” “And?” “The only prints we can find are those belonging
to the people immediately involved; that is the child, nanny, council
workers and such. There are no prints unaccounted for. Also there
wasn't anything usable for DNA testing.” “I see.” “Commander?” “Yes?” “I also have the DNA results on the strands of
hair found in the hand of the deceased L1 ambassador.” Une swallowed. “Go on.” “Commander, the DNA testing shows that the hair
found matches the DNA profile of one of our Preventer agents. In fact
it is that of one Agent Night.” ~ * ~ tbc...
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