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"Crimson Bonds"Written By: SkyLark DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing, or its characters. I just love playing with them. Pairings: 1x2x1, 5xOC, 3xOC, 4xR, 6x9, 13xU Warnings for Overall Series: Angst, Violence, Sap, Lemons/Limes, AU Summary: Sequel to Vamp fic Crimson Ties Archives: http://www.gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com/gw/SkyLark/gwSkyLark.htm and http://www.mizunoamy.bravepages.com/skylark/skylarkfics.html Betaed by ShenLong *hugs* "Crimson Bonds" [Tell me it's nothing... Try to convince me that
I'm not drowning
It was a strange thing for her to suddenly go from being solely focused on the path towards her career to finding herself more worried about spending as much time as possible with someone who had awakened an infatuation in her. "But I didn't even think that it was possible for anyone to fall this fast," the blonde muttered to herself as she lowered her hands from her laptop keyboard to interrupt writing her report for the umpteenth time that afternoon. At the rate she was going, this would be the first time she wouldn't have a paper completed... on the same day she was given an assignment- even if it was not due for nearly a week out. Normally, not being able to impress her professors and intern bosses with such a fast turn around would have irked Angela enough that she would have lost sleep over it. But she already could tell that that wouldn't be the case this time around. The corners of her lips curling up in a wistful smile, she leaned back in her desk chair with her arms folded behind her head as her eyes drifted closed. She was not able to drift too far into her thoughts over John before her cell phone started ringing. All but jumping out of her skin at the shrill sound that pierced the serene quiet, the lawyer-in-the-make scrambled for the device to open it on the third ring. At a brief look to the caller ID screen, she noted 'Senator McAdams' and pressed the receiver to her ear, greeting, "Hi, Mom. How are you?" "Oh, just checking in on my sweet scholar," the woman on the other end smirked. Dressed in her professional business suit best, the brunette adjusted the rim of her glasses as she walked the halls of the Capital. "We are in the middle of a break in session and I realized that it has been almost a week since either of us had the time to talk." Pushing herself upright in her chair, Angela smirked, "Yea, that's partially my fault, too." A finger twirling the end of a long rope of yellow hair, she said cryptically, "I've been pretty... distracted these last few days." A proud grin spreading across her face, Nancy McAdams settled herself onto one of the plush couches in the nearest waiting area as she replied, "Ah, that's my girl. Busy with your studies and work, as always." Giggling, her daughter eyed the unfinished paper that she had been in the process of typing before she began daydreaming. Somehow managing to keep her guilt and nervousness from her voice, she chirped brightly, "Yep." The Senator crossed her exposed ankles together with a soft laugh. Peering out the window to watch a certain Clan gathered together at the bottom of the building's front steps, her grin spread at the sparkling silver that caught the sunlight. That was a picture more beautiful than any she had ever had the pleasure of taking in. "Oh, I cannot tell you the joy I get in seeing Treize Khushrenada and the Vampire Council walking around with their armband trackers," Nancy sighed. "I know that I must go on and on about it, but it really is an honor to have been the one leading the charge in the registration laws that is making sure those monsters do not overstep their bounds." Angela snickered, "It's good for you to take the credit you deserve there, Mom. What you did is an incredible achievement. Just think of the countless lives you saved thanks to it. I just wish that the media hadn't been so fickle as to let the story drop not long after the new upload was complete." Shrugging, the brunette on the other end chuckled, "Ah, well, such is the life of anyone in the spotlight. No worries, though. The history books will go down with my name as the instigator of the most important piece of legislation to the Human-Vampire Treaty. That is more than enough for me after all that I did to see it through." "But enough about me," McAdams huffed, waving her free hand in the air. "Tell me about your internship and every little thing that is going on in your world, dear." For the first time in her life, Angela felt a bit of hesitation in sharing something with her mother. The reason behind that pause was unknown, but it was very much there. Maybe it was just because she didn't want her guardian, her hero that she'd idolized since she was little, to frown upon her by being caught up in some guy. In the end, the young intern couldn't help but want to bring up the matter. "Well," she began slowly, stopping to chew on the inside of her cheek for a few seconds before announcing, "I met someone out here. His name's John Yang." Bolting upright with wide eyes, Nancy gasped. "Oh?" she managed in surprise. "And here I was worried that you had completely shut down any interest in boys, considering how focused you've been in school and work." Mentally melting in relief at the excitement coming over the phone, Angela let out the breath that she had been holding. Smiling from ear-to-ear, she nodded, "I was just as surprised, but there's something... different about this guy. And I have a feeling that he might like me, too. We're meeting up tonight for what I guess you could call a 'date.'" "Aw, sweetie, that's wonderful," the Senator responded genuinely. There was a bounce in her step when she rose to pace the empty waiting room as she urged, "You'll have to tell me everything as soon as you get the chance. Spare no details. I want to hear all about this John Yang." Hearing the joy in her mother's voice, the young scholar almost became emotional in thinking how just seconds ago she was worried about what reaction she would get to her news. "I'll be sure to do that," she promised, a small grin working its way over her features once again. "Thanks, Ma. I love you." McAdams sighed, "I love you too, Angela. I better get ready to head back into session, but call me tomorrow when you can." After a couple of pleasant salutations were exchanged, she closed her cell phone and stared off ahead of her. "Yet another reminder that my little girl is growing up," the politician breathed. "Well, it's all for the best." Clearing the lump that began to lodge in her throat, she fended off the onslaught of tears and headed out into the main corridor. Angela gently brushed away a stray tear and collected herself as she set her own cell phone down. Looking to the time and noting that she did not have long before night began to set in, she gasped sharply. "I still have no idea what I'm going to wear!" she cried, leaping from her chair to rush for the closet. * * * * "I have the pool narrowed down to three weapons designers," Catherine informed over the radio sitting in the middle of the table where she stood alongside Charles and John. Propping her hands on the edge of the chair before her, the redhead stated, "After looking at every possible angle, I know for certain that the blade those Hunters used came from one of them. I've forwarded the names to your secured email account, Wufei. Maybe a little research on your end might get you even closer to figuring out who is working with the bastards responsible for all of this." Chang's voice answered, "I have a couple of resources of my own that should take care of that. It won't take me long to access their accounts so that I can make a possible connection off of what I find. Thank you, Catherine." At that, Charles asked, "Would you keep me and John posted on whatever you, Uncle Heero and Uncle Trowa do from here, Dad?" Snickering, the scaly Infected's voice reassured, "Once we take care of the situation over here, you boys will be the first to know. We'll be sending you out wherever this lead goes." His sons shared relieved smiles that their roles in the search was far from over. "All three of these guys are some of the best in the world in their crafts, gang," Catherine warned. "I'm well acquainted with their talents and what you might be able to expect from each of them, so call me when you have your likely suspect. You'll need every edge you can when dealing with them." It was Heero's voice to respond, "Your help in this is most appreciated. We'll take it from here and contact you as soon as we have our person of interest. Charles and John, keep your receivers ready to accept our call once we've finished all that there is to do on our part." Both boys chorused as one, "Got it." Having said all that needed to be said, the connection was ended. Catherine clapped her hands together as she spun towards her guests, telling them, "Looks like you'll be making yourselves at home here for a little while." Winking, she added, "Knowing your father and uncles as I do, I wouldn't be surprised if they'll be paying the one they pin down a visit within the next twenty-four hours. They work fast when assigned on a case, and there's never been one more important to them than this mission." "What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall for when they meet with the man helping the bastards holding Mom and Uncle Duo," John growled under his breath, fists clenching at his sides as he glared at the receiver. Shaking her head, the weapons expert frowned, "Oh, there's a reason why you two weren't invited to that meeting. I've seen interrogations before. They're far from pretty. And depending on how cooperative the person questioned is, they can get downright ugly. Your Dad is only sparing you having to see any potential drastic measures. Of course, we can always hope that our guy is willing to talk easily." Charles swallowed roughly. He knew first-hand how much his parents worked to shield their children from the darker sides of the Preventers. Having once thought that there was nothing to bringing down a Rogue, the young Vampire had had his eyes opened to the startling reality of what could happen since joining his Mom and Uncle Duo on their last mission. "Yea, I wouldn't want to be there if he doesn't come around without some... persuasion," the redheaded immortal agreed aloud. "They can have this one." John watched him with wide, blue-and-gold eyes, but let the matter go since he knew his brother wouldn't say such a thing without reason. Focusing on their hostess, Charles announced, "We'll get settled in for the night, then." Her own mouth grinning back, Catherine nodded firmly and stepped from the room. Once the siblings were alone, the eldest of the two smirked to the younger, "And you need to get ready for your date." Unable to help the brilliant, splitting smile that spread across his face, John led the charge from the living room in a blur of himself. * * * * "There's no other way around it," Noin frowned deeply to the rest of her family, "nothing I've done to pry even the littlest of slips in thought out of Becky or Cassy is coming through. Whatever is being held over their heads is bad enough that they don't even want to think about it." Folding his hands together as he leaned back in his recliner, Treize muttered, "There's simply no way around it, then. We're going to have to confront them outright to get as much information on whoever is controlling them. But we need to do it in a way that they don't know we stumbled into knowing that their votes were compromised." Zechs looked back from the bay window that he had been staring through with a low whistle. "That won't be an easy feat," he commented. "I doubt that even Cassy and Becky are aware that they are both involved in this blackmailing scheme. We don't even know just how many others there are who are in the same position that they are." At the other end of the living area, Relena was taking up the loveseat along with Quatre when she stated, "Everyone has skeletons in their closets, so everyone is fair game at this point. By going into this, we'd be asking them to trust us enough that they are comfortable sharing what they've buried deep enough that they were willing to go against everything they believed in to vote against our kind." Raising her head from its dip, Lady Une proclaimed, "I'll be the one to talk to Becky and Cassy. There is enough history between the three of us that I'm pretty confident I can win back their confidence. Both women value their responsibility too greatly to let this go on any longer and I feel like I'm the right one to remind them of that." "You're sure?" Treize asked softly, a look of worry marring his face as he turned to his wife. Resting a hand on her lap where she sat on the edge of the recliner's arm rest, he said, "We'll only have one shot at this. If it fails, there would be nothing we could do to get them to help us." His co-Preventer-Commander nodded to him, "I'm sure. If I had any doubt, I wouldn't offer." Smirking, she shrugged, "You of all people should know how good I am in the art of persuasion. How else could I have possibly won you over?" Khushrenada snorted amidst their family's snickering as he reached over to squeeze her hand in his own. Quatre couldn't help throwing in, "Well, if you can't persuade them, you could always go into your Commander-mode and intimidate them the way you scare the existence out of any creatures related to Rogue dealings." Laughing along with the rest of their loved ones, Lady Une replied to her cousin-in-law, "Oh, I already had that in mind as a back-up plan, dear." And so it had been decided. * * * * Rina Kalish. Found strangled in her home in Warsaw , Poland . Broderick could only briefly take in the snapshot of the lovely young woman on his monitor that was forever archived along with the story of her brutal murder. The killer was still unknown to the investigators, but the Hunter was more than aware of who was responsible for taking the life of the innocent who happened upon the wrong place at the wrong time. Mark Barnett. Everything pointed to him from the convenience of the time at which the smug punk was stationed in Poland to the 'odd items' missing from the girl's loft if the crime had begun as a robbery attempt when nothing of monetary value was stolen. Dawson knew that what had been taken meant far more than any earthly possessions could amount to. It was just as Anna had feared, what she had been so certain must have happened for Halina's diary to fall into Septum's possession. Whether the Boss was aware of the murder or not, he did nothing to look into how Barnett had happened upon his find. No innocent livings were to be harmed during the investigation and if they were, he would get to the bottom of it so that the perpetrator involved would be handled accordingly... ... That was what had been promised by Millers. But he'd looked the other way in this situation, if he was not part of the cover-up all together. Now armed with a clarity that he'd never had, Broderick
was prepared to do whatever it took to right the wrongs that had transpired.
Along with the four prisoners, there were three new existences hanging
in the balance that he needed to defend while they could not look
out for themselves... just as the Yuy-Barton Clan had done for the
Holocaust victims that they saved. For the first time in his life, he truly felt like he was doing the right thing. Not even his years of hunting Vampires would amount to the satisfaction that he would no doubt feel by robbing Septum of what he had no right to in the first place. At last, for the time being, Dawson felt comfortable enough about his time line to have figured out an escape plan. Just under four months would give him what he needed to have freed the captives as well as himself long before the clock ran out. The situation couldn't possibly progress to becoming any worse than it already was. Except... he would come to regret underestimating just how low Septum was willing to crawl. * * * * Anxiously standing back, the two Originals watched
and waited for the scaly Infected to crack any codes that were likely
not staying in the way for long... not now that they were so close
to locking down a real lead in their search for Duo and Anna. As he cleared his throat, Trowa centered back on his
scaly cousin and smirked sheepishly, "I hope you don't take offense
to my asking, since I know how thorough you are in your research,
but how sure are you that this is our guy compared to the others?" Few creatures appreciated the gravity of an interrogation
the way Wufei did. His words only confirmed his resolve to the grim,
and potentially brutal, task. * * * * Hours later... Broderick began his shift with a lighter step than usual. Even having a bit of a smile for the unknowing staff spread throughout the entrance of the lab, he gave them firm nods and passing words. There were even a few blinks of surprise at his shift in demeanor, but that was soon replaced with grins and kind responses back. Then, rounding the corner, the tall living froze at the sight that he had not expected to see within Berg's lair. "You," he gritted through his teeth, unable to hide his distain for the smirking face staring back at him. "Hey, dickhead," Mark Barnett in all his smug glory greeted. Folding his arms across his chest, the leering smile spread further across his face as he informed, "Looks like we'll be seeing each other a lot from now on. I've just been promoted to guard in this joint."
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