I wouldn't know just how capable I am to pull through
So I wanna say thank you, cause it...
Makes me that much stronger, Makes me work a little bit harder
It makes me that much wiser, So thanks for making me a fighter
-Lyrics to 'Fighter' performed by Christina Aguilera
Crimson Bonds Part 41
Duo was about out of his mind with panic when he saw how very obviously pregnant Anna now appeared.
"I didn't think that you would be showing like this so soon," he frowned deeply, both in awe at having a physical sign of his baby growing before his enlarged eyes and in terror for what might become of his sister and the tiny one now that there was no keeping it from Septum.
Shaking her head, the redhead replied, "Every pregnancy I would show a little earlier. Sally said it was my body 'assuming the position.'" The small smile her memory brought on slipped away when she bit her lip before locking gazes with her brother. Hesitantly, she added, "Especially when I was carrying twins."
Maxwell could feel the air rush out of his lungs and his knees buckle at the shocking revelation. "D-do you think...?" was as far as he could manage in questioning whether or not there was more than one baby on the way.
His sister grinned sadly, "I don't know for certain, obviously, but there is a good chance. Between the hormone shots and the fact that most of the times I was expecting I had babies in pairs..." She shrugged.
Taking everything in, Celeste stood in wide-eyed shock in the closest corner of her cell to Anna's. "My God," she whispered, a hand coming up to cover her mouth.
Slowly peering over to her lover's prison across from her, the Companion found even he had taken a keen interest in the Irish Vampire's state. Coming out of his crouch, Solo blinked in surprise at the swollen little paunch that was now impossible to miss.
In the stillness that had settled, the video cameras spread throughout the holding area came to life with the low grinding of their base wheels moving them until they all came to settle on the Infected.
With a low whimper, she backed away from the 'eyes' as best she could, only to have them follow her every step to confirm that her little secret had been discovered.
Now it was only a matter of time until she was taken away to see the Mad Doctor for her their first private meeting.
"Anna, listen to me," Solo called, startling her into spinning to face him.
Keeping calm and collected, the Hybrid told her, "They're not going to risk hurting that baby. When they come for you, go along with them as much as you're willing, but no further than that. You are going to need some kind of medical attention throughout the pregnancy that they'll have to oversee. Other than that, refuse any and everything that makes you uncomfortable."
No sooner had that advice been offered did the main doors to the prison cells slide open to four armed guards. Swallowing roughly, the redhead nodded shallowly to the blonde Hybrid. Terrified as she was of what was about to become of her and the baby, she could not deny the logic behind what he was suggesting.
With tears welling up in his eyes, Duo's bottom lip quivered as he watched the young men storm to his sister's glass cage. The first to reach the front wall punched in the code to open the door just wide enough for her to pass and brandished his rifle at her. "Step out," he ordered harshly. "Nice and slowly."
Rolling her shoulders back and lifting her head, Anna trained herself to be expressionless and cold.
Steps proud, she entered the walkway to be flanked before and behind by the Hunters. Locking onto her brother's worried gaze, she gave him a reassuring smile for only his eyes before she turned to face the doors. Not so much as a hand or a word needed to be used to urge her forward as she set the pace out of the room.
Content with the display of her stoic confidence that he had hoped to bring back to her, Solo breathed a quiet sigh, nodding to himself as the doors closed behind the team escorting her out. And for the first time in weeks, he found a proud smile directed at him from his Companion. 'Love you,' Celeste mouthed through the shimmer that threatened to spill beyond her eyes.
Awkwardly shifting the top of his foot into the floor at that, the Hybrid cleared his throat and provided a small smile. Slowly glancing over to his brother, he was not surprised to see his own violet-and-gold irises staring back. "I hope that you know what you're doing by telling her that," Duo all but whispered.
"I gave her and that baby a fighting shot," Solo retorted, a slight bite back in his voice. "A 'thank you' would be nice for the trouble." Throwing his hands in the air, he groaned, "I don't even know why the hell I bothered!" He moved back into his corner to sulk and wonder over his behavior.
Celeste smirked, glancing over to the braided half-breed beside her. "Patience," she murmured. "This was a bit step for him. And I agree with what he told our sister. She is in a far better position now that Septum and his staff know she's with child. All she has to do is hold onto what ground she has and not allow them to push her beyond it."
Relieved to hear that his fellow Companion believed in the advice his brother had offered up, Maxwell's tension eased... a bit.
And knowing his sister, he was able to say without any doubt, "Anna won't give them the satisfaction. She's far too strong. Not to mention that she's too protective of the baby to allow them any room."
"Then we trust in that and wait," Celeste grinned encouragingly.
Waiting was the very last thing Duo wanted to do. But in the end, he had very little choice in the matter.
Reluctantly resigning himself to not allowing his raging emotions to force himself into doing anything that would endanger Anna or his child, he gave his sister a small grin and stared off at the closed main doors in a silent vigil.
* * * * * *
Septum was especially excited about something when he ushered Broderick into a closed off medical room within the lab. Across the examination table, a pale green scrub gown was draped and a couple of stools were the only other furnishings in the white room that the Hunter carefully inspected upon his entrance.
"You are in for a treat, my friend," the Boss announced, rubbing his hands together in anticipation as he turned towards his associate. "A recent development has made one of our guests the new focus of attention for the time being. That being said, I am officially naming you in charge of guarding Anna Yuy-Chang."
Taken by surprise, Dawson blinked widely. "Me?" he asked in sincere confusion that he had misunderstood what he thought he heard.
'Her?' he thought to himself, thinking back to those gold-and-blue eyes that would watch him intently any time he was in the holding area as though she was studying him the same way he was mentally sizing her up. Only for the Infected, it was as though she could see right through him.
Nodding, Millers waved a hand in the air as he insisted distractedly, "Yes, yes. I have noted your interest in her given your intense research into the Barton-Yuy Clan. And you are one of my most trusted Hunters, so you are perfect for the role. It turns out she has a stay of execution for the next few months and will require much of Doctor Berg's focus. You will be catering to his wishes as to when she will need to be brought in to see him."
Quickly becoming a bundle of nerves, the scientist sighed, "Now, there is not much time. I have to get back to the old man and see that he has everything he needs for this first exam."
Gesturing to the robe on the table, he said, "Stay here in the room with her and see that she gets into that gown before we return. You have a remote to her collar if she gives you any trouble."
His mind spinning with his orders, Broderick was about to ask for a little more information to what was happening when Septum all but ran back out of the room. Shoulders slumping, the young man sighed deeply to himself and ran a hand over his thick hair. "Great," he muttered.
There was no time to digest what bit he could piece together before the doors opened once more to four of his fellow Hunters flanking his new charge. As soon as she came into view, Anna's piercing eyes settled on the tall man standing in the room so that their gazes could lock.
"Get in," one of the first guards bit out to the redhead as they stepped aside to give her a clear way through.
Now having a full view of the prisoner, Dawson heard himself gasp. No longer focused on keeping their gazes locked, his enlarged eyes fell onto the slight swell of her belly.
Lucie had gone on and on about her 'find of the century' that came as a bonus with the Hybrid that she had captured... a Vampire who could bear children. And so it appeared that she was with child again while successfully concealing it for the last three months.
Suddenly, Millers' anxiousness made sense.
Entering the room, Anna waited for the doors behind her to close off the other guards and greeted him for the first time in a flat, "Hello, Broderick."
Try as he might to appear unaffected by having the Infected address him, the Hunter's jaw fell open. Enraged that he had given her that much, he clenched his teeth as his face reddened. Pointing to the pale green gown, he snapped, "Get changed."
Shrugging without so much as a blink, the corner of the redhead's lips actually had the nerve to curl up into a lopsided smirk. An eyebrow raising, she gripped the hem of her tank top and lifted it overhead as easily as if there were no one watching her so that only her black, lace bra covered her breasts.
A startled cry erupting from him, Broderick turned himself on his heels as his eyes squeezed closed. "What are you doing?!" he yelled, feeling a deep blush burning his cheeks. "I didn't mean for you to undress in front of me!"
"Well, then you'll just have to be more specific the next time," Anna giggled. "I was just doing what you told me to do." The sentiment was followed by the soft thump of her bra hitting the floor and the lowering of the zipper to her jean shorts.
The mental images flying through Dawson's mind were making him cringe. "Look, we're going to be seeing a lot more of each other now that I've been assigned as your personal guard," he growled to the wall ahead of him. "You'd be a lot better off by not being difficult with me."
Huffing out a sharp laugh, the Infected replied coolly, "That would go both ways, dear. I might be the one with the collar around my neck, but I can still find ways of making your life miserable if you at all threaten this baby."
Disgusted, the living spat out, "You mean that monster you're carrying." There came the sound of a sharp hiss of air. 'That one stung,' he congratulated himself. And that glimmer of a victory was undone by the flop of jeans and whatever piece of undergarment came with it hit the floor. Throat constricting, he swallowed roughly.
Bare feet pattered quietly across the room at his back in their approach of the examination table. "Not that I really have to worry," Anna began, the smile back in her voice, "I get the feeling that your puppet master would have the hide of anyone who dared to hurt this child."
A short-lived victory, indeed. Cursing under his breath, Broderick had to give his charge that one. She would be the type to figure out the bit of leverage she had to her preservation for the time being. Clever little minx, just as he had always pinned her to be.
Over the sound of paper crunching beneath her, the Vampire broadcast listlessly, "My demonic body is decent."
Slightly amused by that, Dawson turned back around to find the captive sitting on the edge of the padded examination table in the green gown. For anyone who did not know what she was, they would not have thought that there was anything 'demonic' about her body.
In fact, against her guard's defenses, he was unable to think past the athletically lean form of her upper body when it had been exposed...
Frustrated, he shook himself from those thoughts and resumed his silent staring contest with Anna until the doors opened once more.
Beaming with excitement as he rolled in a portable ultrasound, Doctor Berg and one of his female attendants appeared. Focused on his patient, he said, "Let's just have a look at what you're harboring there, missy."
The edges of her lips twitching to peel back in a snarl, the Irish Vampire restrained herself and lowered herself to lie back against the table. Uneasy as it was to observe such an intimate thing, Broderick was not about to take his attention off of the captive when she could strike at any moment.
As the old man arranged his equipment with the aid of his assistant, Septum walked into the room for his own audience of the big reveal. Without so much as a look over to his friend, the researcher remained on pins and needles while his eyes bore down on the little bump the Infected was sporting.
Cringing over the seeming enthusiasm from the Mad Doctor as he lifted the gown so that her rounded stomach, Anna managed to not allow it to show on her face. Noting the bikini-style lilac underwear that she had refused to remove, Broderick found himself almost admiring her defiance to hold onto some of her pride. He had always imagined the redhead to be a fighter. Now he had a first-hand account to it.
Her arms folding behind her head as a pillow, Yuy-Chang did her best to appear disinterested as a familiar cool jelly was applied to her stomach just before the head of the ultrasound's scanner was pressed against it. Once the shifting images of her interior came into view, she revealed her only bit of interest by staring at the screen along with everyone else in the room.
Well aware of what she was looking at, Anna's squinting eyes grew as far as they could with a sharp gasp. Scanning over tiny figures that had just begun to sprout legs, feet, hands and arms, she counted aloud in a whisper, "One... two... three."
Broderick stood in stark amazement at the monitor. Septum looked every bit like the cat that got the cream.
"My, my, my," Berg snickered as his free hand adjusted the glasses on his long nose. Peering over his shoulder to his Boss, he stated, "I will need samples from her blood to determine how this is even possible... but the potential to what this could mean..." He shook his head, unable to find the right words to explain their fortune.
Nodding firmly, Millers demanded, "Get onto those samples right away. Whatever you need from her that can be provided without harming those fetuses, do it."
Anna closed her misting eyes, swallowing roughly. Her existence in Septum's clutches had officially become more precarious.
* * * * * *
"We need to move," Trowa advised as he stepped into the cave he and his cousins were currently staying in. His shirt tattered as though a wild animal had dragged a clawed paw across it, the scratches on his skin through the gaps were fading away while he hurried to pack up his backpack of weapons and meager necessities.
Frowning deeply, Wufei was quick to close his laptop and sprung to his feet. "What happened?" he insisted, hastily securing his own equipment.
Barton snorted bitterly, "Hunters closing in again. I managed to take out two that were dangerously close to the perimeter, but you know how that goes. Where there are one or two in this case, there's a hell of a lot more not far behind."
Gripping the straps of his duffle bag, Heero nodded to the Transporter, "Ready when you are." Chang was right behind in being set as he stood at Batron's other side and their arms were held onto as the world was surrounded by light.
Mere minutes later, two dark-clad Hunters stalked into the cavern with their guns raised and bodies in crouches for a careful inspection of the space. "Four steps just behind again," the female living of the pair grumbled under her breath as she and her partner righted themselves.
* * * * * *
Relena cringed inwardly as the thought of the looming return to Council sessions set in. "It just makes my skin crawl to think that we are going to be sharing the same room with the person who made Duo and Anna's captures possible," she frowned, shuddering at the idea.
Sitting at the family table across from her sister-in-law, Noin added, "Smoking them out is not going to be an easy task, considering how we don't even know the ones who voted for the new registrations laws against our kind in the first place. We can never get enough one-on-one time with any of the Representatives for me to get a good read on their thoughts."
"Well, we just have to do our best and get to the bottom of it somehow," Treize commented. "The search is going nowhere fast with three of our best agents in Heero, Trowa and Wufei constantly on the run from Hunters and no loose ends left behind by the organizers of the attack to lead us to them."
Lady Une rubbed her arms unconsciously as she breathed, "Not to mention we are now looking at six months at the most before Anna is due to deliver Heero and Duo's baby. By now, the people holding her could already know about the pregnancy."
After a brief moment to mull over his words, Zechs said quietly, "It could work to Anna's favor if they did. Duo was their primary target and she was a secondary bonus that they had no idea of the find they had in her. But once she is no longer needed beyond the birth..."
Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Quatre all but breathed, "Wufei wouldn't survive if Anna is killed while Heero and Duo would never forgive themselves."
Catherine slammed her fist into the edge of her spot at the table, shouting, "So quit dreading these next weeks of sessions and just get to finding out the son of a bitch Senator who's involved! You've been up against challenges like this before, so work this one out!"
There was a stunned silence as the Vampires stared in surprise at the normally calm and collected Companion. Clearing her throat with a blush brightening her cheeks at the sound of her husband's deep chuckle beside her, she ducked her head. "I mean, there's no point in talking when we could be acting, right? There has to be some sort of plan you could sort out between you to sniff out the target."
"You are right, dear," Khushrenada smirked as the rest of his family snickered at the release of the tension they had created up to their 'sister's' outburst. "Enough sulking." Looking over to his fellow Council members, he decreed, "From here out, we start creating our game plan to sift out our mole."
Every head around nodded in agreement.
Folding his hands atop the table, Treize opened, "Let's begin by naming every Representative and their affiliations, be they for or against our kind's causes."
* * * * * *
"Triplets," Duo breathed. "Really?"
Smiling warmly, Anna nodded, "Yea. Congratulations, little brother."
A soft whimper breaking, the braided Hybrid placed his hand against the glass wall holding him back as he grinned sadly, "God, what I wouldn't give to be able to hug you right now."
The Irish Infected wiped away a string of tears as she giggled brokenly, "Me, too." Recovering from her distress, she smirked, "But it'll happen soon enough when Heero and Wufei find us."
Even Solo had to eye her in surprise for her steadfast faith. For having had to sit for months without hide nor hair of the Clan she had been ripped from, the blonde half-breed was silently impressed that she refused to give up on them.
He caught Celeste watching him as their gazes met. Grinning knowingly, his lover tilted her head at his open respect that their cellmates had missed.
Far too emotional to think about his husband or how Heero had no idea of the babies, Duo focused on what he could worry over. "They didn't hurt you in any way?" he pressed, a bit of venom in his tone for any who may have dared such a thing. "No one got out line?"
"No,"" Anna replied honestly. "They only ran an ultrasound. It sounds like there are a few members of the Mad Doc's staff that have prenatal knowledge who will be overseeing the pregnancy, but I was able to insist that any... OB care be handled by a woman or they would find me most uncooperative."
Smirking, she glanced over at the Hybrid leaning against the furthest wall of his cell beside her. "I was able to be pretty bold with them thanks to some very helpful advice, of course," she stated.
His eyes growing, Solo quickly put his bored expression on as he waved, "Yea, well, don't get used to getting help like that from me. I don't even know why that much came out of me." That said, he moved back to his bed so that he could stare into the corner as he usually did to avoid any contact with the others around.
Duo couldn't help the small grin spreading across his face over the exchange. Maybe there was a way to get through to his brother after all.
"So were you and Heero able to discuss any names?" Celeste's voice broke through his musings. Gushing, his fellow Companion had her arms folded against her chest when he faced her. "This is so exciting," she giggled.
Finally able to take some joy in the news of the triplets, Maxwell got as close to his sister as he could. Smiling, he answered, "There were a few ideas we threw around..."
Giving the pair some time to carry on their talk, Anna was content to take up on some much needed rest that she had been careful to avoid since her capture. It had been a long and stressful day that caught up to her at last. Moving to her own bed, she pulled back the covers and slipped under them.
Before she lowered her head onto the pillows, she propped herself up and gazed at the blonde immortal's back. "Solo... for what it's worth... thank you," she told him with soft sincerity.
For a breath, there was no reaction. Then her brother peered over his shoulder just enough that his eyes locked onto her. "You're welcome," he muttered. And then he went back to staring at his corner.
Grinning to herself, the Irish Infected rested her head onto the surprisingly soft pillow and quickly fell into a restful slumber.
TBC...
Back to SkyLark's Fanfictions Page