November 1, 2000
Rating: Mature audience only, please...
Pairings: 1+2+5, 3+4, 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.
Hiroshima's been busy tying up some lose ends to her past. Meanwhile, the boys have agreed to meet back at the Behenna Satellite, minus Wufei, who will remain home.
She was a nervous wreck. Granted, she had good reason to be, having spent the past four weeks under terrible stress until, finally, last week, she broke. Then she locked herself in her apartment and refused to come out. No one could coax the satellite director from her quarters. The small blonde woman even refused to answer her phone. Some members of the staff wondered if the woman was still alive.
The only thing that reassured them was the occasional shout of "Go away!" whenever someone would try and knock on her door--which she responded with now when someone began pounding at the portal.
"Fatina, I'm sorry, but I will not go away," Quatre called, his voice sounding soft and gentle despite his yelling through the door.
There was silence for a moment, followed by the racket of papers falling, boxes tumbling over, before the whoosh of the door sliding open. The four young men stood outside the entrance, shocked.
The place was a mess. The papers and boxes they'd heard from outside were only a few out of many--all of which cluttered the apartment. The room they stepped into was dark, except for the eerie glow of the vidscreen. Old videos that looked like amateur home movies played across the screen. The people on the vidscreen looked a lot like the people in some of the pictures from the files.
As cluttered as the room was, it wasn't what held their attention. Their blazing focus fell upon the small blonde woman balled up on the couch in a disheveled state: Her normally teal eyes, red-rimmed and puffy; her hair drab and unwashed; her skin pale and oily; and all around her were crumbled pieces of tissue.
"Fatina..." Quatre whispered, genuinely concerned for his sister.
"Stay away!" the middle-aged woman cried, fresh tears springing to her eyes. "Please, just... don't come any closer."
The young blonde man looked hurt, but held his place. His three companions fanned out into the room without making a sound. The door slid shut behind them, engulfing them all in the eerie semi-darkness created by the dancing illumination of the vidscreen. She looked at them, her eyes shifting from one boy to another... and then she laughed.
"Ne? Where's Wufei? Surely he isn't dead yet," Fatina asked, her voice hoarse from lack of any recent use.
Heero and Duo almost pounced on the woman, but Quatre and Trowa stilled their friends with a gentle touch, silently reminding them that Wufei was home, safe... at least for now.
"No, no, that's right," Fatina was continuing to herself, completely forgetting the others' presence. "We fixed that... finally..."
"Fatina," Quatre tried, his voice gentle and soothing. Despite his efforts, the older woman looked up startled, shaking, her eyes widening with a choking fear when she saw the four men standing inside her home.
"How did you get in here?" she whimpered, eyes flying from one face to another.
"You let us in, Fatina," Quatre reminded her, now very worried for his sister. "Fatina, do you know why we're here?"
She continued to look at their faces, but her eyes saw different faces... faces that belonged in the past... faces of people who no longer existed. "Y-yes..." she whispered... "You've read... you've seen... you know..."
Suddenly the small woman launched off the couch, her hands reaching and grasping the small vial of pills on the coffee table. She'd thrown her head back, swallowing a handful of the pills before the others could stop her.
Quatre caught his sister before she could fall completely off the couch. The middle-aged woman buried her ashen face into her little brother's shirt, her hands clenching the material mercilessly.
"I'm sorry, Quatre, I'm so sorry," she gasped, her shoulders jerking with dry sobs. They slumped, slack, before the last word left her lips.
The room was lit with afternoon sunshine pouring in from the large bay windows. Music drifted through the room from unseen speakers, creating a calming atmosphere. The handsome young man reclining in the large armchair, lazily stroking a purring black feline in his lap added to the scene, making it look complete.
"What have they done now?" he asked, not bothering to look at the newcomer.
"It would depend on who you are talking about," the woman replied, closing the door behind her with a soft click before walking fully into the room. She almost laughed at the surprise on the young man's face when her voice registered. As it is, she couldn't prevent her smile.
"If you mean the scientists," she continued when he did nothing but stare at her, "then, they are doing good. Staying out of trouble. No more building weapons of mass destruction." By this time she was at one of the sofas. The young man was making to stand, but she motioned for him to remain seated.
"No, don't get up," she said as she waved her hand at him to sit. "You're still healing, don't think I don't know that." She smiled. "Indra asked after you; I told him you were fine and that if he wanted to know more, he should have kept better tabs on you."
The young man frowned, but remained seated. "I'm sorry, but I do not know anyone named 'Indra'."
She did laugh then, leaning one hip up against the sofa edge, crossing her arms, and laughing. "Oh, come now, Wufei. Do you mean to tell me you didn't read the files Heero hacked into?"
He had the graciousness to at least color at her comment--but whether with anger or embarrassment, she neither knew nor cared. "Yes, Indra Osiris, or Master O, as you prefer to call him." She rolled her eyes. "What a ridiculous name. I don't know what ever possessed them to start calling each other by their initials. Men!"
Wufei hmphf-ed, but a smile threatened his lips. And then he seemed to remember who he was with. The frown replaced his smile with an ease the bespoke many years' practice. "Why are you here?"
Hiroshima Jackson hummed to herself, shifting around the sofa to sit, facing him, on the arm. "Tying up some lose ends I guess you could say," she said after another moment. She looked outside one of the large bay windows. "Where are the others?"
He hesitated only a moment before answering truthfully. "Away."
"Behenna?" she asked, looking back at him in time to see the dark head bob in affirmation. She smiled and sounded a tiny laugh. "It figures. Here I've come to confess my soul..." She shook her head, bowing it to her chest as she heaved a laugh-sigh. "Always did have crummy timing..."
"Then confess," Wufei said calmly, continuing to stroke the black cat in his lap. "And I will listen."
Her head snapped back up, her eyes searching and finding the dark pools of the man, half her age. She smiled, and then nodded. "Hai," she replied on a whisper. "Hai..." Her eyes took on a far-away look, but then she snapped out of it.
"Tell me," she said, her voice suddenly strong and demanding. "You have read my life's history, the truth as I have seen it, what do you think?"
Wufei was silent for a moment, considering his words carefully. "I think--"
"COME BACK HERE YOU PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR A Y-CHROMOSOME!!!!"
The door to the study burst open before the Chinese man could finish his response, admitting a frantic looking dark-haired teenager and--right on his heels--a sword-wielding redhead.
"KISIMA! Mariemeia! Put that sword down!" Wufei shouted, pushing from his chair, unsettling an unhappy feline that howled with the abuse.
The girl cried out with surprise and pain before she could comply. The sword dropped from her numb hand, clamoring to the floor. Her wrist was twisted; her arm wrenched up behind her back. Jake, from his hiding spot behind Wufei, peeked out, eyes wide as he stared at the older woman who had disarmed his would-be attacker.
"Whoa! Cool move!" he called out, coming out of hiding.
"Hn." The woman yanked on the teenager's arm, forcing the girl onto the sofa. "Basic move," she corrected, sitting back down beside the girl.
"What is the problem now?" Wufei questioned, eyeing first one teenager and then the other.
"A simple disagreement," Mariemeia offered, folding her hands primly in her lap.
"Hn. If that was simple," Hiroshima replied, "then I would hate to see complex." Her eyes sought Wufei's, dancing with merriment. It had been years since she'd dealt with teenagers.
"Quite simple," Mariemeia assured her. "He's simple-minded and I am merely disagreeing with his right to continue breathing."
Hiroshima did laugh out loud then, though Wufei clearly didn't look at pleased. "Oh, my... you have your mother looks and your father's spirit," she said, a hand reaching out to brush sweaty bangs away from the flushed face.
Mariemeia turned to face the woman, then, seeing her really for the first time since she entered the room. The redhead frowned. "I... know you..." she said softly, almost to herself.
Hiroshima continued to smile, but she looked more saddened now. "Hai, but that was a very long time ago, little one, and best left in the past."
Blue eyes narrowed, but what ever the girl might have said was silenced when Wufei spoke. "If you think you can control yourselves, Dr. Jackson and I were in the middle of a discussion."
"'Dr. Jackson'?" Mariemeia turned away from the woman, her blue eyes filling with concern as she turned to Wufei, standing in the process. "Wufei, are you ill?"
"Hn! I do not get sick, child!"
"And guys don't get pregnant," Jake quipped, taking up position beside Marie to stare down the man. "I promised Duo I would keep an eye on you. I don't want to go back on my promise now."
Wufei smirked. "And did you also promise to behave?" The telltale blushed that flushed both teens' faces was enough to send the smirk into a full smile. "Go, get out of here you two. I am fine."
The teenagers hesitated for a moment, a quick look passing between the two before they both turned to leave.
"And don't forget to play nice!" Hiro called after them before the door shut, sealing Wufei and herself alone once more in the study.
"Well?" he asked hoarsely, not bother to look at the person who had entered the small bedroom. His focus remained on the pale woman lying on the single bed. "Have you discovered what it is?"
"The staff said it was her medicine," Trowa replied, taking a place beside Quatre on the bed. "I had them run an analysis on the ingredients."
"And...?"
"Mostly sedative, though harmful if taken in large quantities."
The blonde man swallowed, worming his hand into his sister's and squeezing it. They had bathed the blonde woman and put her to bed hours earlier. Duo and Heero had helped straighten up the apartment while Trowa chased after answers. Quatre had refused to leave his sister's side.
Trowa leaned against him, pulling the blonde back against his warmth and strength. Quatre leaned back, grateful for any relief of the burning within him.
"Why?" he whispered. Trowa's arms wrapped around him and he welcomed them.
"I don't know, love," the other man replied. "We shall have to wait for her to wake up before we can get our answers."
"Or not," a voice said from the doorway.
They looked up as Heero pushed away from the doorframe. "Here," he said, holding out a sheaf of paper to Trowa.
"What is this?" the unibanged man asked, taking it.
"A letter, from Galeno Bloom to Fatina Winner, dated November 180AC," the Japanese man answered, stepping back again. Emerald eyes met and held with Prussian. Heero nodded.
Carefully, Trowa flipped the piece of paper open, his eyes skimming over the words that had been written 23 years prior.
"What does it say?" Quatre asked, leaning closer.
"It announces the birth of his son," Trowa said softly. "Triton..."
"There are a lot more out there," Heero put in calmly. "Duo and I have sorted them into chronological order." He looked at Quatre, fixing the blonde with a *look*. "Some of them are from your mother."
"My... mother...?" Quatre looked to Heero, his statement unreadable to the Japanese boy. "Mother..." the blonde whispered...
"Oiya! Anyone here hungry?" Duo asked, popping his head in. "I just ordered up some cheese steaks; they'll be here in about ten minutes!" he announced before popping back out.
"You should eat," Trowa said gently, tugging on Quatre's hand as he stood.
"No, I need to stay here," Quatre began, but Trowa shook his hand.
"You need to eat and rest," the unibanged man admonished.
"Trowa's right," Heero said, coming up beside the two again and reaching out for Quatre's other hand. "Your sister is not going anywhere soon, and neither are we."
Quatre's resistance held out only for a moment longer. "You're right," he said finally, his shoulders slumping with defeat. Impulsively, he turned back towards the bed, depositing a kiss on the sleeping woman's forehead before leading the other two out of the room. Quatre had never been one to hesitate on the execution once the decision had been made.
********** End of "Oh Baby, Baby" Part Twenty Seven **********
Andrea Readwolf
Please send comments to: andrea_readwolf@hotmail.com