28-May-2001
Pairing: Overall 1x2, Oc + Oc, 5XOC
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. So there!
Warnings: Angst. Potty-mouth teenager. *stuffs bar of Safeguard in Jazz's mouth*
I'd like to thank the little voices in my head.
I dedicate this chapter to Punky Brewster.
"What are you reading?" Duo peered over Linra's shoulder.
"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Killing Your Boyfriend and Hiding His Body."
Duo snickered. "It's gotten that bad, huh?"
"Your son seems to think that kidnappers are hiding in the refrigerator, under my bed, and for reasons unknown to me in the toilet. I told him that anyone desperate enough to crawl through raw sewage after me could have me just on general principle. He got mad. He's still off sulking somewhere."
"Well, you'll be back home by tomorrow evening so maybe he'll chill out then. But really, can you blame him? All the girls that have vanished have been pretty close to your age."
"And I've been careful since it happened." The girl sighed. "It's that whole Sem and Sashi thing with him. He seems convinced history is going to repeat itself and there's nothing I can say to change his mind."
"Do you want me to talk to him?"
"Nah, like you said we'll be home tomorrow. The little ones took ending the vacation early pretty well."
"Even Luke is old enough to understand that your safety comes first."
Linra squeezed his hand. "It's going to feel weird being home without you guys."
"I promise we'll be back as soon as we can. But we want to stay and help out with the investigation a little while longer, and we just don't feel safe keeping you kids here with us. At least, I'll sleep better knowing you're driving Wufei bonkers rather than being stalked by some sicko."
Linra yawned and he hugged her. "Go get some sleep. You'll need your energy on the shuttle ride back if the last ride was any indication."
Rosemary was dreaming that she was back on the farm. The sun was shining warm on her head, and she could see Jazz in the distance, barechested, swinging a hoe at the ground. It was peaceful, untainted, and she wanted to stay here forever.
Someone was walking toward her, and she let out a squeal of delight to see her mother, although she knew it meant this had to be a dream. But her mother was frowning and shaking her head.
"Wake up, Rosie." she said sharply. "Wake up now."
"Mother?"
"Please, baby. Wake up. You have to wake up!"
"Mother, wait.." Rosie sat up in her bed, sucking in her breath.
Weird. Maybe she should tell Linra. Linra loved it when they dreamed about their parents. She wrote each one down in a notebook.
She hopped out of bed and padded over to Linra's side of the room.
"Linra, I had.."
The bed was empty.
A cold feeling washed over the girl. Linra could have been up getting a drink of water or using the bathroom but Rosie KNEW that she wasn't. Whether it was her mother's urgency in the dream, or the bond that only siblings shared, she knew that her sister was in trouble.
She ran down the hall toward Heero and Duo's room. The door was locked and she pounded frantically until they opened it, seeing Jazz appear from his own room from the corner of her eye.
"Linra's gone!" the girl blurted out as the door opened. "She's gone. She's gone!" She was nearly hysterical.
Suddenly she jerked, her eyes wide, and took off, her nightgown waving around her.
The front door was open and she ran through before they could stop her. In the distance she could see a figure heading toward the ocean, and she ran faster, screaming for her sister, knowing she had to reach her.
The gown tangled under her bare feet and she fell in the sand, still calling for Linra.
Jazz was already halfway down the beach toward the other girl.
"LINRA STOP!"
She had to have heard him but she did not turn around. She kept going, the surf closing around her feet. In her own white gown, with her long black curls, she looked like a wraith in the starlight.
Jazz grabbed her from behind, yanking her backwards out of the water.
She came alive then, snarling and thrashing at him, fighting his hold. One bare heel connected with his knee and he stumbled, but did not release her. Then his father and Ojisan where there, helping him hold her back.
With a shudder, she went limp in his arms. Heero tried to take her but Jazz gave him such a look that he backed away. The boy carried Linra all the way back to the house himself, tears glittering on his cheeks.
Linra opened her eyes, blinking, looking around the living room.
"Why am I out here?"
The family was around her, and she was in Jazz's arms. The fact that his father wasn't protesting this baffled her. She twisted to look at his face and noticed tear-stains. Rosemary, who was sitting on the floor near the couch, had them as well.
"What happened?" She could feel something clinging to her feet. Sand?
Jazz didn't answer, just buried his face in her hair and hugged her tightly.
"If it's not too much trouble to find out?" she pressed.
"They tried to get you, Linra." Rosie blurted out. "They tried, but Mother woke me up in a dream and I noticed you were gone."
"Mother...?" Linra's eyes were confused.
"You left the house." Heero said gently. "You were walking toward the ocean. We yelled for you to stop but you didn't. When Jazz reached you, you attacked him. Then you passed out."
Linra shook her head. "I don't remember any of that. Are you okay?" she asked Jazz tenderly.
He was still unable to answer her.
"Maybe I was just sleep-walking."
"Derans don't sleep-walk." Rosie protested. "No Deran ever sleep-walks."
"She's right, babe." Heero told the teenager. "It can't have been that. I think it's safe to assume that whoever took the other girls made an attempt to grab you as well. Don't ask me how, but it has to be related."
"Jeez." The girl tried to calm her racing heart."Could someone do something about him? It's getting hard to breath."
"Jazz, it didn't do you any good to save her if you're going to suffocate her."
The boy slowly relaxed his stranglehold and Linra slipped off his lap, stretching.
"I'll kill them!" Jazz slammed his fist into the couch. "I'll rip their fucking balls off and stuff them down their fucking throats!"
"Stand in line." Heero replied. "But try and calm down. She's safe. We're not going to let her out of our sight until you leave for Dera tomorrow."
Jazz shook his head. "I'm not leaving. I'm going to stay here and find these bastards."
"Yes you are too leaving." Duo folded his arms. "Heero and I are staying, now more than ever, but you and Luke and Linra and Rosemary are on the next shuttle back to Dera with the Changs."
"SCREW YOU!"
"Excuse me?" Duo raised an eyebrow.
"You can't make me do anything I don't want to!" Jazz was furious. "You almost let them take Linra tonight! I want revenge! You can't take that away from me!"
"We're not giving you a choice in this, Jazz." Heero said softly. Linra had taken Rosemary and a sleepy Luke in the other room.
"Shut up! You can't tell me what to do either! Who do you think YOU are? You're just some guy my father sleeps with!"
Heero flinched and Duo turned on his son. "You take that back!"
"Or what?" Jazz sneered, balling his fists. "How are you going to make me?"
He needs this, Heero thought. He can't fight back the people he's really angry with so he's using us. He doesn't really mean it.
Duo caught Heero's glance and read his thoughts, nodding slightly.
Duo's own fists clenched. "You think you're big enough? Man enough? Come on, then. Show me what you've got."
Jazz's fist flew toward Duo's head, but was caught neatly before it could connect. Inspite of his larger size, his arm was twisted around against his back and he found himself face down on the floor, his father straddling him.
"Come on, man. I'm the one who taught you how to fight, remember? Is that the best you can do?" Duo released his son and bounced back on the balls of his feet.
Jazz regained his own feet, warily circling his father. To his increasing rage, Duo was laughing at him. "Come on, big guy." Duo taunted. "Bring it on."
Jazz swung again, this time at his chest. One of Duo's legs snaked out and whipped Jazz's from underneath him, knocking him on his butt. Before the boy could move, a foot was against his throat.
"We could do this all night." Duo shrugged. "You're bigger, but I've got more experience, and I've spent a good part of my life taking down big guys. Now you have one more advantage. That's the fact that you can hit me all you want and I won't do anything in return except knock you down and embarrass you. Because I've never hit you and I'm not going to start now, no matter how much you want me to."
"Scared?" Jazz hissed from his place on the floor, not ready to admit defeat yet.
"No." Duo said with a little smile. "I made a promise to you before you were born that I'd never hurt you. I keep my promises."
"Let me up."
"Sure." Duo moved his foot and Jazz stood up, still tense.
"Now, go to bed. You're getting on the shuttle tomorrow if I have to hog-tie you." Duo pointed at the doorway.
Jazz did nothing but glare at him and then Heero as he stormed past them.
It was only their weariness that kept the adults from remembering the day so many years ago when Jazz had demanded to go to Earth with his father and been denied. And Jazz's response to that decision. If they had remembered, they might well have hog-tied him.
Jazz, however, had not forgotten. With the portable phone in his hand, he slipped into the bathroom and turned on the water. His voice masked, he dialed a number.
"Jaf? This is Jazz Maxwell. I know this is out of the blue, but I've got a HUGE favor to ask you..."
End Chapter 6
(:./lasha/dragons6)
