The road now leads onward... As far as can be
Winding lanes... And hedgerows in threes
By purple mountains... And round every bend
All roads lead to you... There is no journey's end
Lyrics to Never Ending Road performed by Loreena McKennitt
Crimson Bonds Part 47
Broderick made his way through the security checks of Berg's laboratory. Nodding politely to the third-shift crew that was busy working over the data they had collected from the Hybrids over the last few days, he strolled casually into the holding area through an alternative route from the main drag to give himself some measure of privacy to carry out what he had built himself up to do.
The doors to his new entrance opened and closed silently, allowing him to weave silently through the maze of glass 'houses.'
When he neared the four cells in question, the Hunter overheard his charge giggling, "These babies are pretty active, little brother. You and Heero are going to have your hands full when they're born."
Sitting on the floor of her prison with a hand draped over her swollen abdomen, Anna was all smiles as the part of her green maternity dress beneath her fingers began to shift.
His eyes growing, Dawson ducked behind between two columns of emptied cell blocks as he opened his ears for what the cameras were not picking up from their vantage points. Where he was, the living could see and hear everything perfectly well... and there was no mistaking the look of wonder on the braided Hybrid's face while he pressed a hand on the glass of his main wall.
Solo had his back to the rest of the lot, as was his usual position whenever the other prisoners were engaged in a lively discussion. The others, however, had placed themselves as close to each other's corners as they could.
"Do you have any idea what we're having yet?" Maxwell asked, a breath of real excitement and joy in his voice that had been missing for a long time.
Lifting her head to lock gazes with him, Anna replied, "Not yet, but if you'd like then I'd be happy to ask at the next ultrasound. I'm at the half-way point in the pregnancy, so there should be no problem in determining the genders." She snickered, "Truth be told, I've been anxious to find that out, myself."
Slowly lowering himself to the floor of his prison, Duo commented, "Heero and I never got to discuss whether or not we want to find out before the babies came what we were having. Hell, we hardly had time to register that the insemination process took before..." With a sigh, he rounded his arms in the air to the walls sealing them away.
Rolling back a bit for a more comfortable position, the Irish Vampire nodded shallowly in understanding. Her head tilting, she suggested, "Well, knowing the genders would help make it a little more real for you." She wiggled her eyebrows, adding, "And it would give you something to look forward to while mulling over possible names in your head to discuss with Heero once we're together again."
Unable to hold back her own awe over the whole situation, Celeste waved to Maxwell as she piped in, "And it would make the wait easier for the rest of us, too. I've been dying to know what you're having."
Maxwell's braided head fell back with his laughter, the sound brightening his sister all the more. "Alright, alright," he snickered once he was able to calm himself. Bowing his head to the Infected, he requested, "If you could please find out the genders, I'd appreciate that, Anna." Quietly cheering, his fellow Companion bounced on her heels as she clapped.
"You got it," the redhead promised, winking. Staring back down at her abdomen, she rubbed it. "Hear that?" she giggled, "We're going to figure out how much pink and or blue we'll be using for your nursery." From the corner of her eye, she noted Solo subtly shaking his head.
The remainder of the conversation faded into the background of Broderick's swirling thoughts over the revelation that he had happened upon. So the babies were not Wufei's... they were the first cross-bred offspring between one of the only two Hybrids in the world and a Vampire.
Suddenly, the stock in those growing creatures had risen astronomically.
And knowing his Boss, Broderick knew that Septum was going to be beside himself with excitement when he found out.
Quickly turning on his heels to rush from the holding area, the Hunter stopped himself short in the next blink. Frowning in thought, he weighed his options.
He had quite the gem of news to pass on... but then, it was not something that Gloria would not be able to find out on her own in the ongoing tests she would run over the course of the pregnancy. Medical advances had come quite a long way in determining DNA connections between a fetus and its father long before birth without needles.
However, Dawson could use the information to benefit his current situation. Opting for that of his two choices, he felt a smirk curling his lips as he stepped out into the open and approached the prisoners.
Instantly spotting him, Anna's eyes enlarged as she gasped sharply. Finally turning around to see what had caught the Vampire by surprise, Solo froze along with his brother and Companion when they all took in the tall Hunter that they now realized could have been listening to what they had believed was a private talk.
Just to confirm their fears, Broderick focused on Duo and told him flatly, "I suppose congratulations are in order."
Fangs growing in, the braided Hybrid snapped, "You son of a bitch-"
Cutting him off, Anna called to the two of them, "Stop!" Once she had their full attention squarely on her, she roller her shoulders back, and she centered on the Hunter, asking, "What do you want from us to keep you from talking to Septum about this, Broderick?"
Flabbergasted by the inquiry, the remaining prisoners' jaws dropped as they blinked widely at the unflinching redhead.
"I want to know why your family saved those Holocaust victims," Dawson ordered when he stepped into a point that he knew the cameras could not catch his face enough so that his lips could be read when he neared his charge's cell. At the tension that had coursed through her, he informed, "I've already read most of the diary that Septum's been holding onto, I just need to hear the 'why' behind your actions from you."
Whatever protest Anna seemed to have been mounting before that sentiment quickly evaporated as it was her turn to look surprised. Shaking her head, she folded her arms across her chest and stated firmly, "You have a lot of information on us now. Before I agree, I want you to give me the name of who wrote the diary."
Not pausing in the answer, Broderick replied, "Halina Behr."
As though she had been struck across the face, the Irish Vampire let out a ragged rush of air as her arms fell to her sides.
"Oh God," she breathed, her face turning a couple of shades fairer than it already was as she physically reeled at the name of the child that she instantly recognized. Biting her lip as tears misted over her vision, she nodded shallowly with a soft, "Well, I know you're speaking the truth about her journal."
Slowly sinking back to the floor, she bent her legs beneath her while turning her back to the Hunter to block her own camera from catching her words. "You want to know why, then?" she murmured as she peered over her shoulder enough to catch Dawson from her peripheral vision.
Duo whispered frantically, "Anna... none of you talk about those days... you're going to share something that private with him?" He got his response in the form of a glance from his sister that silently requested his trust.
Swallowing roughly, the half-breed conceded and retracted back to sit on the edge of his bed so that he could listen in to the memories of a time that even he knew so little of. Their own eyes locking, Solo and Celeste backed into their furthest corners. A gesture announcing that they had no intentions of not stepping in.
Beside himself with anticipation, the Hunter took a step towards his prisoner as he sighed, "Yes, I want to know why. There had to be some kind of motivation-"
"Have you ever smelled burning flesh, Broderick?" Anna questioned back abruptly, before he could finish his thought. "Burning flesh from livings," she clarified.
Falling back the step that he had gained, Dawson frowned, "I-I can't say that I have."
Blue-and-gold eyes staring off into her darkest of memories, the redhead muttered, "Well, it's very potent.... especially for my kind thanks to our enhanced sense of smell. We could pick it up for over fifteen miles before we closed in on Auschwitz."
She took a moment to catch her breath, sharing quietly, "Up until then, my family and I had been hearing whispers that reached Switzerland of a round up of the Jews in the countries occupied by Germany. News of the ghettos and so-called labor camps soon followed... but like so many others, we didn't want to believe that such a terrible thing could really be happening..." Intrigued, her guard moved towards her once more, unblinking as he took every word in.
Anna snorted bitterly, still lost to the world as she shrugged, "Heero and I just didn't want to believe it. Wufei, Trowa and Midi slowly but surely started wondering if there was any weight to what had been spreading for weeks, but my brother and I couldn't let the possibility in... not because of the Vampire Council's order that our kind were under no condition allowed to become involved in any aspect of the mortal war... but we couldn't see humans attacking their own in such vile way."
Hugging his legs to his chest, Duo bit his lip as he listened in with his heat breaking at how he could see his husband and sister desperately holding onto hope that such an evil couldn't possibly exist. Persecuted as they had been, they never lost their longing to only see the good in all creatures.
"Wufei was the one on pins and needles to act before anyone else. Before long, Trowa and Midi were on his side. Finally, they suggested that we at least head into Poland to confirm that there was nothing to the rumors," the Celtic immortal went on. "Heero and I went along, convinced that the trip out would prove that there was nothing to be worried about..."
A piercing silence fell over the holding area when Anna came to a stop. Drawing another deep breath as a tear rolled down her cheek, she whispered, "...at least that was until we smelled that burning flesh."
Shaking her head, she had to wait before she could find her voice again and managed, "At night, my family and I worked in teams to scope out the camp. We looked for points of entry that we could use to get in and out fast with as many prisoners as we could managed to take with us. Our plan was finalized with contact made to our living friends in Switzerland who were willing and able to find safe havens for whoever we brought in."
Her stare lifting up to the ceiling, the Vampire continued, "Two nights after we arrived at Auschwitz, everything was in place and we moved in." Locked into the sights and smells that she had taken in, she commented, "The worst part was the selection process. With limited time to act, we had to make split-second decisions to who we thought would be able to make the journey out of Poland. Going only on appearance, we had to choose who was strong enough... healthy enough... young enough... fast enough to go with us..."
Throat drying, she paused to swallow before she could speak again. "There were so many... too many that we had to leave behind, knowing the terrible fate that awaited them, but we could only take a number that would be easy to transport. We wanted to take them all... but..." Clearing out the lump that hitched her voice, she frowned deeply, "...that was the toughest part of the whole experience. Having to choose who lived and who would likely die."
Celeste leaned back against the wall behind her, eyes damp as she wrapped her arms around her torso against the pain that had set in there over such a terrible prospect. Just marveling over the family that she had inherited, she cried silently for their brave, selfless rescue of complete strangers.
Lowering his head a bit, Solo stared at the floor as he mentally put himself in such a position. And he just couldn't do it. For all of his bitterness that he had for humans, he could not be asked to make such a difficult call on the fates of such innocent victims.
Anna unconsciously played with the hem of her maternity dress as she said, "Once we had our group, we traveled on foot as much as we could day and night until we came upon faster transportation. All the while, we had to steal the supplies we needed to keep the refugees alive. Despite out best efforts in the selection, we still lost two along the way of the journey that never seemed to end."
"Finally," she sighed, "we were out of Poland and able to make use of trains and buses when it was safe enough. Days later, we were back in Switzerland where our friends waiting back had made good on their promise to see the prisoners wherever they desired to go... away from the nightmare that they had survived. Hugs and kisses were exchanged and we saw every last one of them off."
A hand reaching up to rub the back of her neck, the redhead shrugged, "From there, my family and I returned home to shower, gathered up more supplies since we understood then what we were up against... and we moved back out that same evening for the next site that we knew to be amongst those rumored to harbor a labor camp."
Broderick's shoulders slouched all the more, his widened eyes never leaving the back of his charge. "Saving as many as you could... and you kept doing that until they no longer existed," he barely spoke, the sentiment came out so softly. "Just like you promised Halina."
Nodding at that familiar swear she had made to the sweet little girl who had won her heart like so many others, Anna replied, "It was the same promise we made to all of them... including the people we couldn't rescue. Every time, it was the same.. round up as many as we could, take them on that damned long journey until they were safely off and head out for the next group we could get out."
With another deep breath, Anna became lost to everything else around her again. "For three whole years, that was all we did," she stated, adding with a sad smile, "they were the best of times and the worst of times. But we never stopped. Never once was it even a suggestion."
"Even when we learned that the Russians were closing in on the camp Majdanek. There were still those deeper in the German controlled areas that were months away from being liberated. There were still people starving, dying who didn't have that kind of time," she recited as though it were a conversation from that moment in time.
"So, we set out for them until every camp had been seized. In the end, we had two hundred and twenty-nine trips in and out of occupied German territory, saving over nine hundred men, women and children... a drop in the bucket compared to how many we couldn't reach."
Then, the Vampire came back from her daze to shift herself enough that she was face-to-face with her guard. "You want to know why we helped them," she repeated from the start of the story.
More tears filled her gold-ringed eyes as she whimpered, "How could we not? After seeing humanity at its absolute lowest, how could we possibly sit back on our hands while those poor prisoners suffered?"
Anna roughly brushed her cheeks dry and concluded, "There was never any doubt that we had to step in. We just did what was right. Nothing more, nothing less. If you'll think back to when we first came upon Auschwitz, you'll remember there was never a talk amongst us to whether or not we should help. That's because there was no other option as far as we were concerned. I'd like to hope that anyone else in our position would have done the same."
Well aware that his sister had refrained from the worst of details in their ordeal, Duo was not at all shocked that she had kept that to herself out of respect for those victims' honor. That, along with the sheer emotional toll that those experiences had caused were why the Hybrid gladly kept out of that bit of his beloved family's history.
Now that he had a better idea to some bit of that time, Maxwell was only all the more grateful for the wonderful beings that he would remain tied to for the remainder of his existence. And he was proud to make that known when Anna gazed back at him when he mouthed, 'Love you so damned much, sister.' She sucked in her bottom lip with a small nod.
Through it all, Broderick stood stiff as stone, unable to react in any fathomable way right then and there.
"Over the years, almost everyone we saved kept in touch with us. Their next generations kept up the tradition of spending some time out of the year visiting with us when they could," the Irish Infected revealed to the still Hunter.
Particularly caught up in her emotions, she confided, "Halina has three great-great-great granddaughters living in Warsaw, Poland... Miriam Aarons, Dalia Galitz, and Rina Kalish. One of them would have had her diary and is likely dead now. Look into those names to find the truth behind how it was your Boss came to get his hands on it for the sake of his researching my family."
Not only was the quick recollection of those names a startle to Dawson, but her mention of Warsaw caused a chill to run down his spine. That was where Mark Barnett had been stationed. The only way Anna would have been able to pinpoint the city only stood as more evidence to the sincerity behind what the Yuy-Barton Clan had done.
Straightening himself, Broderick promised, "I'll check into that. If I find anything, I'll let you know." He began to turn on his heels towards the side entrance he had used, coming to a halt in mid-step and gazed onto his charge.
"Thank you," he murmured, a profound earnestness in his tone. At the shallow nod the redhead offered, he found his strength to walk quickly from the room.
A long silence hung in the air until Solo pushed himself from his bed. "You still think it was the right thing too trust him like that?" he inquired. "He has a lot that he can pass onto Septum to be used against you now."
Wiping the last of her tears Anna peered up at him as she answered, "I have to trust him. The fact that he didn't run to that bastard after what he overheard and his questioning the validity of the diary tells me that Broderick might actually be a glimmer of hope for us. What the hell can we really lose now?"
Celeste supported, "I agree. We don't have a lot of options right now. Maybe this may start cracking away at his resolve that we're the enemy."
Snorting, the blonde Hybrid grumbled, "I wouldn't hold my breath for that to happen." He returned to his corner at that, keeping his back to the rest of the group while he warned, "I just hope that it doesn't come back to bite anyone in the end."
To the tussling in her abdomen, Anna ran a hand over the little ones as she sighed, "Yea. Me, too." Finding the solace that she needed in her brother's violet-and-silver eyes when she looked across the way to Maxwell, she was able to smile again. "You get why those memories are still hard for us to think back on let alone talk about?"
"I get it," Duo reassured her without hesitation. "I just wish to hell that I could give you a huge hug and kiss right now."
The redhead giggled, "Yea. We'll definitely have a lot catching up to do with that once we're out of here." Stretching her arms over her head for a wide yawn, she shrugged, "I suppose that I better get some rest after that." On her way to curl up under the covers of her bed, she saluted, "Good night, loves."
Spent as she was, the Vampire was out like a light as soon as her head touched her pillow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In the next room, Broderick was leaning heavily back against the side entrance door with a hand covering his mouth. He not only had what he wanted, but got a great deal more than what he had bargained for when meeting with Anna.
"She's telling the truth," he whispered.
Few were better at seeing through lies than he was... and there was nothing to tear apart as lies in his captive's recanting of the events that now served to paint her family in a new light to the Hunter.
More than any other associate of Septum's, Dawson believed that there was not one redeemable quality in Vampires. Only now he had so much revealed into the natural longing to defend those who could not defend themselves that literally everything that he had known was crumbling apart at their foundation...
...which only made him question what it was he was doing working for Millers, allowing the torment being issued to the prisoners for the no better reason than to benefit by means of fame and money. Perhaps there would be medical advances made thanks to the Hybrids and Anna, but at what cost on their ends?
Broderick was well aware that there was not a lot of time for him to choose what side he stood behind. With the triplets due to make their debut in less than five months, what window would be open for him to use to his advantage would be closing for good in a matter of weeks.
So much needed to be contemplated... but he had a funny feeling that he already knew where he would lean when all was said and done.
Both heavy-hearted by the shift in his views and lighter in the weight coming off his shoulders, the Hunter walked off for his quarters to sleep better than he had in months.
TBC...
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