"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"

[All I want is nothing more to hear you knocking at my door
'cause if I could see your face once more I could die as a happy man I'm sure...
'cause you brought out the best of me a part of me I'd never seen
You took my soul wiped it clean. Our love was made for movie screens
-Lyrics to 'All I Want' performed by Kodaline]

Chapter 68

Shaken for a brief eternity over the image of a bloodied Shinigami stooped over a long line of bodies, Wufei worked to sort out what was reality and what was not. All too vividly, he had just found himself in another world with the dangerous beast that had then set out to attack him next.

What had happened to overtake his mind with such a picture was beyond Chang. Pulling his senses back together, he took comfort in the thick forest and the stillness that wasn't broken by that horrific howl he had heard from his brother-in-law's dark half.

'Be careful of Uncle Duo,' Rosie's voice whispered in the scaly Infected's mind in memory of her warning. A chill running down his spine, he straightened up in a tight knot with wide eyes.

She knew. Beyond any doubt, his youngest was certain that something was very wrong with the braided Hybrid. But how did she-

'Monsters are coming. They keep coming,' the child's frightened voice had insisted on more than one occasion leading up to their capture. At the time, the bad dream had been passed off as just that.

Finally, the last time that the family had been together, Wufei recalled his tearful daughter walking out onto the back porch during their game of hide-and-seek. 'It's 'da monsters. They took Mommy 'n Uncle Duo,' she whimpered. With the discovery that his wife and brother were missing, that message had been forgotten all together.

The air in his lungs rushing out, Chang breathed, "My God. Rosie sees the future." And he had just experienced, to his knowledge, the gift through his Mimicking for the first time. He had completely missed the signs that were right in front of him all along.

All the more shocked by what had been revealed to him, the Chinese Vampire couldn't shake the picture of Shinigami's threatening smirk as he ran his eyes over his dead prey... nor the thirst for more blood when he raised his violet-and-silver eyes onto his next victim. There was no sign of Duo in that creature.

If there was any truth to that vision... if events were certain to unfold to such a gruesome fate...

Shaking his head, Wufei collected himself again with a cried out, "No!" He refused to believe that his brother could be overtaken by such hatred and lust for killing. Duo was the last being in existence to have that in him.

But that didn't mean Shinigami wasn't capable. The proof was in that foretelling.

Heero was already beside himself with worry over his lover, sister and unborn child. How was he going to be able to cope with this?

Deciding in that moment not to say anything until there was undeniable evidence that what he had seen would come to pass, Chang took a deep breath and released it slowly to settle himself.

Sure as he was that Rosie was gifted with sight into what was to pass, he needed to understand the gift more before he could come to any certain conclusions of what may or may not be beyond his or anyone's control.

Besides, there was still the more pressing problem of Yuy's emotional shutdown. If he were to learn of the potential vision, he would be devastated when he needed to think clearly and rationally if they were to reunite their family again.

Resolved in his choice, Wufei rolled his shoulders back and walked into the lodge without another thought to his dream. Set to course in what needed to be done right then and there, he headed for the living room where his brother and cousin were already sitting on the spread out furniture.

His cobalt-and-gold eyes falling onto the scaly Infected then back to the Latin Original, Heero took in Chang and Barton's sober expressions. Shoulders sagging, he slouched back in his seat and sighed, "Alright. I've been through enough interventions to know when one's coming."

Smirking, Trowa leaned forward in the recliner that he was occupying as he reassured, "Nothing to be upset about, cousin. We're just worried about you."

Wufei took the open end of the couch where his brother sat and went on, "It's been a long time since we've seen you this withdrawn. It's been some time since you've even mentioned Duo or Anna." Just hearing those names made Yuy flinch painfully, only confirming the toll that their separation had taken on him.

"I know you think shutting off your emotions is going to help you do what you have to in finding them," the tall Transporter frowned deeply, "but you can't hold them back forever. It's the last thing Duo and Anna would want for you, especially considering how hard they struggled to get you to open up to your feelings. And they're not the only ones that need you good on every level. Your little one on the way is going to be watching you for example from the very second you're together."

Staring out ahead at nothing in particular but his thoughts, the Japanese Original swallowed roughly and nodded.

Little by little, he began to open the door that he had closed off to himself. Allowing himself to be less of a machine and more of the being that he was, he could feel a lump forming in his throat when he whispered, "All... all I want is to be back home and to have them walk up like none of this had happened."

"Me too," Wufei breathed, a sad smile on his face as he watched his brother closely. "There have been a lot of times that I imagined that... like all of this was just some long nightmare we're going to wake up from. And it doesn't make us any less capable to find them if we admit that we're scared or hurting right now."

With a snort, Heero roughly brushed away a stray tear. His first to fall in many weeks. It had been too much all at once- Duo. Anna. The baby.

All such important beings in his existence gone in the blink of an eye with still nothing solid leading to them. Sealing off his emotions seemed the best way to press on... but his family was right. Even he could recognize how cold he had been without anyone's convincing.

Shaking his head, his hand draped over the armrest squeezed so tight with his growing anger that his enhanced strength cracked the handle from the sofa. The loud, cracking pop of the wooden frame was enough to make Trowa and Wufei jump a bit.

"I've been robbed of a lot of things in this," the former merchant gritted through his teeth. "The worst of those was having the chance to watch my child grow. I'm going to personally see to it that everyone responsible for that knows exactly how much I appreciate that."

"Anger. Good," Barton snickered. "At least we know you're feeling something. Just harness that into seeing this search through and you'll have your shot at those bastards."

Turning on a more serious note, he appraised both of his cousins and told them, "As for Duo and Anna, they're easily two of the strongest beings that I've ever known in my long existence. I don't have a single doubt that they're holding their own better than we ever could have if we were in their shoes."

He was rewarded with small, grateful smiles for the sentiment.

Dropping the armrest that his hand was still gripping, Heero rose to his feet and announced, "In the meantime, I'm going to pick up on Instructor H's files so that I feel like I'm doing more than just sitting around."

Chang replied, "Right behind you." Waiting for his brother to have enough of a head start from the room that he was out of earshot, the former warrior crossed the room in a blur of himself to squat beside his surprised cousin.

Slowly leaning in towards Barton's ear, he informed softly, "When we finally move in to take the base, we may have a lot more trouble on our hands to worry about than just the Hunters."

Blinking widely, Trowa snapped his head and wide eyes toward the scaly Vampire in a silent request for an explanation.

* * * *

Three days later...

"Amazing," Gloria murmured in awe as she stared at the ultrasound screen, inspecting the triplets squirming and kicking as best they could in their tight quarters. Removing the sound head from her patient's ever growing abdomen so that she could clean it, she grinned, "Your body was made for making babies, Anna."

Her lips curling up, the redheaded Vampire giggled and pulled her arms out from under her head and sat up on the table she lay upon. Staring down at her belly, she rubbed it gently.

Silently imagining what her nephews and niece might look like, she silently wondered if she would ever have the privilege of actually meeting them. Forcing herself from continuing down that train of thought, she focused on the doctor. "They're all doing okay in there?" she asked.

Nodding, the doctor replied, "Growing, active and healthy. The blood work tests I ran came back perfect." Stationed in the far corner of the examination room, Broderick looked on with a smirk at the news.

With a deep sigh of relief, Anna smiled and patted her stomach. "You just keep that up, gang. You'll be out of there and greeting the world before you know it," she told her little charges. She pushed herself to sit up and covered her abdomen with the violet sundress she was wearing. "How far along am I now?"

There was a brief hesitation from Adodera before she swallowed roughly and answered, "Thirty-nine weeks, given the babies' measurements along with the circumference of your cervix."

Gasping, the Siren's gold-ringed eyes blinked as she breathed, "Thirty-nine weeks." A wide smile spreading across her face, she said softly, "They're past the viable stage... so they could survive if anything happened to me."

Caught by surprise by the way her friend had worded that, Broderick and Gloria exchanged deep frowns. "Well, yes. With medical intervention, they would make it on their own," the medical examiner responded.

Shaking his head, the Hunter stated, "But I wouldn't worry about anything happening to you for that to be a thought, Anna." In a couple of steps, he closed the distance between him and the Infected.

"We'll be away from this place in only a few more days with the Senator leaving after the start of the new year," Dawson promised softly. "You'll be safely home with your family and you'll be able to carry those babies to the full term of your pregnancy."

Mouth turning up in a sheepish grin, Anna laughed quietly, "Ah. Right. It just doesn't hurt to know that if anything goes wrong-"

Broderick cut her off, urging softly, "Hey." Sitting on the edge of the table beside her, he gently nudged her side and smirked, "When did you start talking like that? I've never known you to assume the worst in any situation. You should be ecstatic that we're so close to getting you back to your family."

Anna bit her lip and met his gaze, murmuring, "What if I slow the rest of you down? I might be able to do a hell of a lot more than most pregnant women, but I still get winded if I overdo it."

Not missing a beat, Dawson shrugged, "Then I'll carry you if I have to. And if I can't, Duo or Solo will. Whatever it takes, we'll work together so no one gets left behind." Hugging her clipboard to her chest, Gloria smiled warmly and nodded in agreement.

Unable to help the small grin curling her lips, the Vampire shook her head in amusement and laid the side of her head on the Hunter's shoulder. "Alright," she snickered, "you win. No more moping around." Raising her eyes so that they took in the haunting, ice-blue pair watching her, she said sincerely, "Thank you."

Gently resting an arm around her shoulders, Broderick's smirk grew as he hugged her close to his side. Rubbing her arm, he silently considered how badly she must have needed that simplest of contact. Embraces were a commodity not afforded to her in the confines of her cell. And he was surprised by how natural it felt for him to hold a Vampire in such a way. Unconsciously, he rested his head against hers.

Clearing her throat after allowing the pair a moment, Gloria announced, "We best close up shop. Septum and our guest of honor are anxiously awaiting the results of the examination and they'll be storming in if we're holed up in here for too long."

Dawson was on his feet in the next second, not wanting to press their luck in blowing their cover. Automatically holding out his hand to his charge, he helped her ease into standing up when the door examination room's slid open without warning.

Quickly recovering from their start at nearly being discovered, the trio fell back into their performances of disinterest when Septum, Eric and Lucie entered and their focus fell onto the redheaded Infected.

"Ah. I simply couldn't wait to check and see how our little mother is holding up," the scientist smiled. Turning towards the doctor, he inquired, "All is well with the babies, I assume?"

Her head bowing, Adodera held out her clipboard. "Clean bill of health for all," she informed. "In a little over a month, they'll be full-term. At the rate the pregnancy is progressing, I'm convinced that they'll get to that point." At that conclusion of her duty, she moved for the long counter to begin the process of packing away her medical equipment.

Glaring at the Infected, Lucie snorted under her breath, "Blood-sucking freak. Just what the world needs, more of her disgusting kind." Anna remained unflinching as ever under her scrutiny and harsh words... something that irritated the blonde to no end.

It took all of Broderick's concentration to not fire a heated stare of his own back at the other Hunter. Hands subtly trembling, he wanted nothing more that to ball them into fists and strike her down. For one who made it a point throughout his life to never strike a woman, that said a great deal about his lack of patience for Aisley and her attitude. In the end, he followed the Vampire's example by not reacting.

As he took hold of Gloria's report, Millers chided with a chuckle, "Now, now, my dear. That blood-sucking freak is going to make us all the richer once those babies come. We'd only be right to serve her with a little respect."

Centered on the Siren, Dodson laughed to the Infected's caretaker, "You ought to get her back to her cell before she has to suffer any more insults before she's worn out her usefulness." Smirking, he joked cruelly, "See that she's good and comfortable. Only the best for the sake of our growing meal tickets."

If it was a response they wanted from the Irish Vampire, they were all sorely disappointed when she did not so much as blink.

There was no curl of her lip. Not a shift of her eyes to betray whatever she was feeling under their scrutiny. However, Septum and Lucie were very clear by their expressions that they were frustrated by the return of her defiance.

"Let's go," Broderick commanded as he led the way for the door. Adding insult to the injury of her captors, Anna gave them a smug smile before following the living from the room.

Growling deeply, Aisley moved to follow the Infected when Millers shot a hand out to grip her arm. "Let her go," he insisted. "You'll only be giving her all the more satisfaction if you go after her."

Shoulders sagging with a sigh, the Hunter gritted through her teeth, "That little bitch just got away with a lot more than I've ever given anyone who challenges me." Rolling her head to ease the tension in her shoulders, she took a couple of calming breaths. "But you're right," she relented as she faced her lover, "the last thing I would want to do is give her any gratification."

Eric snickered, "I like your fire, Aisley. Maybe arrangements can be made to give you some personal time with that Infected once she's delivered those babies before her organs are harvested out for research."

Holding in the sharp gasp that nearly broke from her, Gloria fumbled with the portable sound head that she was in the process of sealing into her bag. Blinking her enlarged eyes, she thanked her fortune that her back was to her company so that they missed her stricken state.

All along, the doctor had assumed a grim fate for Anna if she remained in Septum's clutches by the time the babies arrived... but to actually hear what was intended for her friend... it made Adodera's stomach churn and her skin pale.

By the time she closed her bag and adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose, she faced the trio behind her. Smiling, she politely stepped out of the room with a firm nod of her head and trained herself to casually walk out of the room rather than run, as she wished she could.

A hand coming up to cover her mouth, Gloria quickened her pace towards her quarters. Heart racing, she fought back the bile that shot into the back of her throat. The severity of what was on the line for the success of the escape mission had just become all the more real.

Whatever it took, she and Broderick would have to see to it that the prisoners were well out of harm's way by the time the new arrivals came to term.

* * * *

Heero stared at the laptop screen before him and blinked. He blinked again and the words displayed hadn't changed. Never breaking his fixed gaze, he all but cheered, "I think I finally have something here!" Trowa and Wufei were fast to flank either side if him to lean in and read the transcript over his shoulders.

"Son of a bitch," Barton laughed after a scan of the restored data. "H's personal records with his full name and all. Hemingway Millers."

At the same time, all three Vampires straightened upright. "Mister M," Chang hissed. "He's using his family name to pay homage to the man who started it all." Writing down the name, on a scratch pad sitting on the table, he said, "I'll hack into every system I can to track down H's family lineage up to now. Someone in his bloodline is going to be our man."

Barton slapped the Japanese Original's back, smiling, "Nice job, cousin. This is the best lead we've had throughout the course of this whole search."

For the first time in months, Yuy had a real grin on his face. "Charles and John deserve just as much credit in this," he replied. "They were the one to clean this chunk of memory from the damaged drives they were repairing together."

Holding up his cell phone, Wufei told his teammates, "I'm going to give Crystal a call with this to help me narrow the hunt down. Between the access to public records that we both have, we should have M picked out in no time." He turned and stepped from the living room.

Briefly watching the scaly Infected disappear, Trowa bit his lip. Patting Heero's arm as the former merchant resumed typing through the report, he slipped out without a sound.

Just as Chang was about to press the dial button on his phone out in the hallway, Barton called softly, "Wufei." Their gold-ringed eyes meeting, the taller Vampire frowned deeply, "I've been waiting for a chance to speak with you alone ever since our last discussion."

Lowering his phone, the Chinese warrior nodded. Through his mimicked mind-reading and warping skills, he was able to push the images of the vision he had of Shinigami into his cousin's mind. That had been their last bit of contact before Yuy interrupted them for assistance on an encryption.

Hours later, there was a tormented pain displayed in Latin immortal's expression at this brief break away. "I can't get the picture of what you showed me out of my head," he commented. "If it really is a look into the future..." He paused to swallow roughly.

There was a long silence between the cousins. Swallowing roughly, Barton struggled to get past his hesitation to get the burning question that he had on his mind out and in the open. But Chang's small nod of encouragement was enough to get him ask, "In that vision... did you see any sign of Anna?"

Closing his eyes with a deep breath, Wufei dealt with his own concerns that were already stirring within him. That all important detail was something that he had paid close attention to every time he recalled that terrible nightmare.

When he peered back into the emerald-and-gold eyes on him, he answered in little more than an whisper.

"No."

TBC

Chapter 69

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