October 26, 2000
Rating: Mature audience only, please...
Pairings: 1+2+5, 4x3, 6+9, S+11
Warnings: Yaoi Lemon. Sappy in some parts. Angst in other areas. Strong language at unexpected turns. A pregnant Wufei & Noin. Major confusion! Out of control characters... I think that pretty much covers it! ^_^;;
Feedback: C&C is always welcomed and adored.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters belong to Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agency and are only being used for non-profit entertainment purposes. References to printed texts, films, sitcoms, musical pieces, and/or other fanfictions don't belong to me either.
Notes: "Oh Baby, Baby" is in approximately 203 AC, placing the boys at ~23-24 years of age.
Well... after a three-week interruption, it's nice to have this baby back on the posting board! Hopefully everyone has a slight clue of where we left off, ne?
L-4 was rocked Thursday morning with the news that Quatraina Raberba, wife of Master Winner of Winner Enterprises Incorporated, died Wednesday night giving birth to the Winner heir. This was her first successful pregnancy and unfortunately, her last. Quatraina Raberba died at age 45. Representatives for WEI were on hand to deliver statements early this morning and we are told that the mother was able to hold her son before she died. Doctors report that the baby is healthy and is doing fine. Services for Mistress Winner will be held on Saturday......
~ News Report
The Hiroshima Files
March 19th, 180AC
To say dinner had been stressed would be putting it mildly. *Very* mildly.
To begin with, Duo was still in one of his "moods"--which was enough to make things... stressed. Add to this the fact that Heero was frowning and *radiating* repressed anger (mostly directed towards the braided man). Add to that the fact that Wufei was in no condition to mediate between the two forceful men. Add to *that* the fact that they had guests--which was probably the only thing that prevented a shouting match from issuing right then and there over the four-course meal that Maria had prepared especially for Wufei and the fathers-to-be...
Add to that an annoyingly amused Dorothy--who couldn't decide who was cuter: the two blushing young men who had been more than just ten minutes late in coming down or the two men who were blushing with repressed anger. It was really a tough choice. Add to that a squirming young man who--after a forty-five minute search of the house involving ten Maganacs--had been found, locked inside the North-wing attic and had to be 'rescued'. Add to that a melancholy one-time-ruler-of-the-world-if-only-for-one-night. Add to that a blissfully unaware two-year-old---
And, well, the equation added up to one *very* stressful hour.
Dorothy was the first to push away from the table saying, "That was delicious, Quatre, thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I must call Milliardo and let him and Noin know that we wont be returning tonight."
"Oh?" Wufei had spoken up for the first time the entire evening. "And why is that?"
"Why, Wufei! It's *dark* outside! Surely you wouldn't want me to drive all the way home in the *dark*," Dorothy replied.
Wufei thought about Dorothy driving anywhere during *any* light--and cringed.
"No, of course not," Quatre was saying. "I believe your room has already been prepared." The blond looked exhausted as he waved his hand towards one of the doors. "You remember where the phone is, I'm sure."
Dorothy smiled. "Of course, Quatre, thank you," she was saying as the door closed behind her.
"I better call home, too," Mariemeia said, folding her napkin beside her desert plate. "Mom's probably flipping personalities a mile-a-minute by now." She pushed up from her chair, pausing when someone cleared his throat.
She caught Trowa's look... and his motion towards the other teenager in the room. Her look of puzzlement crashed into one of horror. "You gotta--"
"Please," he cut her off gently.
The redhead let out a very-put-out sigh. "Fine. C'mon, Jack, you're with me."
Jake started, looking from one man to another and quickly decided that anywhere away from this room was probably preferable at that moment. "Jake," he said, getting up. "My name's 'Jake', not 'Jack'."
"Jake, Jake, whatever," the redhead was saying as she walked out, leaving him little choice but to follow.
Five men and a two-year-old remained in the dining room. Quatre picked up his glass of white wine, taking the time to study each of the men still sitting at the table before taking a sip before speaking.
"Trowa and I will be leaving early tomorrow morning," he said calmly, breaking into the silence.
Duo looked up sharply, spearing them both with a look. "You're leaving? Already? Why so soon?"
"I still have business up in the colonies, Duo," Quatre returned, frowning. "I wouldn't have left in the first place if it hadn't of been so important, but now--"
"And just what was so important?" Duo snapped. He shot a glare towards Heero, but the Japanese man was scrowling into his folded arms now. "Dammit! Why wont--"
"Duo," Wufei said softly, reaching out an arm to place a calming hand on the other's arm. Duo gave a frustrated growl, throwing his napkin down and scraping away from the table.
"No, dammit! I wanna know!"
Wufei paused--and then nodded. "I agree. We should talk before you leave," he continued, turning back towards Quatre and Trowa.
Quatre, in turn, looked to Heero with a hopeless statement.
"Yes," Trowa said, pulling Quatre's attention away from Heero. "And I believe you wish to be the first." Trowa was also sitting with arms folded, though he was looking out across the table to Wufei.
Heero looked up in time to see Wufei nod. "About what?" he asked, his voice gruff, but gentle.
"Hiroshima Jackson."
The name hung on the air between them like a poisoned gas and no one spoke for several minutes.
"How long were you awake, Wufei?" Duo asked softly.
They all turned to look at him, all except Wufei, who was now, like the other two, sitting with his arms folded across his chest. A small smile teased the Chinese man's lips.
"I thought so," Duo growled. "Didn't she even give you enough--"
"For someone with normal tolerance, I'm sure," Wufei cut off quietly.
"And I'm sure she wasn't expecting to have to deal with someone who can practically stop breathing and still stay alive, huh?" Duo snapped.
Wufei just continued to smile lightly. Quatre turned worried eyes from first Duo to Wufei, back to Duo, before turning back to Wufei. "I don't understand," he said slowly, frowning. "You were awake throughout the entire surgery and didn't *say* anything?"
Wufei nodded in answer. Quatre was about to continue when Trowa spoke first.
"What happened?"
Wufei was silent for a moment, frowning in thought, and then...
"They were arguing," he told them.
"Fatina and Hiroshima?" Quatre asked, leaning forward.
Again, Wufei nodded.
"Whada'bout?" Duo turned back towards the room, leaning back against the doorframe. Unconsciously, his arms crossed over his chest, mimicking the other three men.
Wufei continued to frown. "She was against it, against the experiment. She said it was too dangerous. That it was too soon..."
"Who?" Quatre asked quietly, eyes staring intently at the Chinese man.
"Fatina. Fatina was against the surgery. She said there had been too many deaths..."
They fell silent. A shared 'look' passed between the four men.
"And what did Hiroshima Jackson say?" Heero asked.
Wufei was silent. And then he looked up, looking at them for the first time in five minutes. "She said it was her chance to fix past mistakes. That, the original ten hadn't betrayed her after all... that this was her opportunity to 'get it right'."
"'Fix past mistakes'?"
"'The original ten'?"
"'Get it right'?"
Duo studied them for a minute, and then, "Care to add something here?"
Quatre and Trowa both looked to Heero this time. The Japanese man sat motionless...
And then he lifted a shoulder, splayed a hand, and grumbled, "It's your satellite."
Quatre closed his eyes and sighed with relief--Heero was going to let them talk about this. And then the same nervousness and regret that had consumed him early that day swelled. When he opened his eyes again it was to look into Wufei's and Duo's faces.
"For as long as I've been aware of the Behenna Satellite," he began, leaning back and templing his hands, "I was under the impression in was a facility for simple genetic research."
Duo snorted at the 'simple' but otherwise didn't interrupt.
"As you already know, one of the projects dealt with cell manipulation," Quatre continued. "The idea was for same-sex couples to be able to have a biological child."
"Yeah, and another one was the male-pregnancy-thingy. Okay, gotcha," Duo snapped. "Get on with it."
Quatre frowned, but complied. "It appears that there is more going on than I was aware of."
"Someone sent Anne some inside info," Heero spoke up, drawing both Duo's and Wufei's attention. "Which is why she called me."
Duo's eyes narrowed upon the Japanese man, but Wufei continued to sit calmly.
"She wanted me to acquire some files for her," Heero continued.
"Is that way we had to leave last night?" Duo asked suspiciously. Heero nodded. The braided man's jaw clenched. "Don't you think it would've been smarter to have waited until Wufei was in a better condition to--"
"I didn't want to stay there longer than necessary," Wufei spoke up, dousing Duo's arguments. "Had it been left to my decision, we would have left sooner rather than later."
Duo turned on him, his eyes reflecting more emotion than his lips could ever tell. "Wufei... You're... You and..." he licked his suddenly dry lips.
Wufei held out a hand to the braided-man and Duo quietly took it, sinking to his knees beside him. "I am fine, Duo," Wufei said soothingly, petting his love's braid. "I heal quickly, you know tha--"
"Even if you Reiki-ed 24/7, you still wouldn't've been in any condition to've moved," Duo mumbled against the white cloth-clad leg.
"Duo..." Heero had gotten up and now was sinking down beside his koi. "Duo," he whispered hoarsely again, reaching out to touch the other man's shoulder. "I wouldn't have let him leave if I thought--"
"I know..." Duo answered. "I know..." He turned his head, peeking at the other man from the corner of his eye. "I know you wouldn't do anything that would... hurt us. Not intentionally."
"No... I wouldn't," the Japanese man agreed.
Duo sighed and pulled back. "Okay, so you recovered some files. What's on them? And who was it that leaked the 411? Are they reliable?"
Heero rocked back on his heels, staring at Duo a moment longer before standing up and walking a distance away. "Doce Behr was working on the Behenna Satellite. She is the one who sent the information to Anne."
"'Behr'?" Duo was sitting up now, too, searing Heero with a look.
"Yes, I was able to talk to her and she--"
"Wait-a-minute. You 'talked' with one of the Behr Sisters?" Duo's look dropped several degrees.
Heero sighed and turned back around, meeting and delivering a glare of his own. "Doce Behr is not like her other sisters, Duo," he informed the young man. "She can be trusted."
"Yes," Trowa spoke up, reminding the other three that he and Quatre were still there, too. "I also met with her. Arrangements will be made to bring her here within the week."
"What?" Quatre asked even as Duo's eyes bugged out with disbelief.
"I asked Doce to act as Wufei's Primary Care Physician during his pregnancy," Heero answered.
"You gotta be kiddin'--"
"He needs somebody," Heero interjected.
"Yeah, but she's a Behr!" Duo shot back.
"She is also a doctor who is already aware of the situation," Heero returned.
"I agree," Wufei added. "Doce Behr was a colleague of Sally Po's and is unlike her sisters. She can be trusted." He looked to Heero. "Thank you for making the arrangements."
Heero nodded but before he could say anything, attention was drawn back to the braid-man.
"Okay, fine, so we're gonna have a Behr living with us," Duo quipped. "What was in those files Lady Une wanted you to hack into, huh?"
Heero rubbed his eyes. "I don't know yet," he answered honestly.
"But you have a copy?"
He nodded, sinking back into his seat at the table. "And I made an extra one for Quatre and Trowa to take with them."
Duo climbed into his own seat as well. "Okay, so, what do we know?"
"Whatever Hiroshima Jackson told us wasn't the truth, or, at least, not the whole truth," Quatre spoke up first.
They were silent, staring off into space, lost in their own thoughts.
"So... where does that leave us?" Duo asked.
"On Earth, pregnant, with a good deal of reading ahead of us," Trowa answered before anyone else could.
"Hn. Accurate assumption." Heero looked up from his thoughts. "Those files were big--whatever's in them better be damn-well informative."
It was a family portrait: mother, father, and daughter. The middle-aged woman with the golden dark skin and bright blue eyes highlighted by make-up, stylish messy-looking sable bangs falling into those eyes, red-rose colored lips curved in a perfect smile stood to the left. Beside her stood another woman, years younger--in her mid-teens, perhaps--her dark features enhanced into an earthly beauty as well. The middle-aged man to her right stood tall and proud, back straight, chest out, wire-rim glasses perched smartly on his nose. The younger woman favored him in coloring--dark hair and eyes--though her warm skin color hinted more to the golden color of the woman's than the paler pallor of the man.
The caption read: The Jackson Family, New Year's 171AC.
~ The Hiroshima Files
********** End of "Oh Baby, Baby" Part Twenty Three**********
Andrea Readwolf
Please send comments to: andrea_readwolf@hotmail.com