We're always provin' who we are Always reachin' for the risin' star
To guide me far And shine me home Out here on my own...
Until the morning sun appears Making light of all my fears
I dry the tears I've never shown Out here on my own
Lyrics to 'Out Here On My Own performed by Irene Cara

Crimson Bonds Part 72

"If you can be seen, you can trust. Avoid anyone who doesn't even know you're there," Solo had whispered into her ear. "Find a way to a city and try to find a Vampire. Tell them you need to talk to the Preventers."

Hugging her legs to her chest as she stayed in the opened back hatch of the jeep driven by the 'Mean Lady,' as she had come to know her, Emma bit her lip anxiously as she stared out to the seemingly endless span of dirt and rock. She didn't know exactly how long the Hunter had been searching the Outback for her, but the sun was hanging lower in the sky than it had been when they left the hidden landing pad.

Weaving and waving along the reddish-brown earth, the blonde at the wheel made sure to cover every inch she could. Occasionally lifting her sunglasses to scan the horizon closely, she kept radio contact with the rest of her team to keep tabs on the status of their hunt.

Off to her left and right of them, the kicked up dust from other jeeps could be made out snaking behind them. They all kept within a half mile of each other, narrowing the space in between so that nothing was missed.

Then.... finally, Lucie brought the vehicle to a stop by switching the gear to park and allowing it to idle for a moment. Throwing the driver door open, she growled deeply and stepped out to stretch her legs.

Hands on her hips, she slowly turned her head from left-to-right for a scan of the area. "This is getting absurd," she grumbled under her breath. Hanging back inside the jeep, she reached for the radio transmitter and held it to her mouth, calling, "We've been at this for hours now. Any sign of her yet?"

By the fifth 'No' or 'Negative' response, Aisley tossed the com and her shades back against the dashboard with a string of yelled swear words.

"It's just impossible!" she shrieked to herself, hands thrown into the air. "How the hell did that little brat manage to sneak past a whole herd of Hunters?!" Covering her face, she muttered behind her palms, "Not now. We're so damned close to closing this whole mission up."

Furious beyond reason, Lucie fought to keep herself from unraveling. In her mind, it was bad enough to have the light at the end of the tunnel at risk of being snuffed out by a mere girl. But there was the added insult to injury brought on by Broderick's decision to side with a Vampire.

Her hands tensing into fists, she screamed, "A fucking Vampire!" Kicking the nearest tire to her, she panted through her furry. In that brief moment Dawson had with that redheaded freak, he showed her more compassion than he had ever shown Aisley when she had been the one throwing herself at him to win his favor.

"To Hell with him!" she fumed to the heavens. "If he cares so much for that damned Infected, he deserves what he gets!"

While the Mean Lady continued to storm on, Emma stood up in the back hatch to eye her surroundings. There was no sign of a city or residence anywhere near by. There were only patches of brushes and rises of stone. As far as any shelter, there was only one of stretch of rock that stood high enough to make a series of cliffs. It was within walking distance, but it would take a couple of hours to make it on foot...

.. And she had a bad feeling that she had been taken as far as she would go.

Eyeing the large, black packs that lined the floor beneath her, the child made a risky call. As the Hunter turned away from her, she gathered up the biggest carrier she could handle and climbed down to the ground silently. Once her feet touched the dirt, she curled her whole body around her loot in hopes that it would disappear from her company's sight along with her.

Aisley leaned back over her seat to check her fuel gage. "Damn it," she hissed. Collecting the com again, she announced into it, "We're going to be running on fumes if we keep up without refueling."

Quickly assessing the sun's position, she huffed, "It's going to take us the rest of our daylight hours to head back. I'll go over the footage of the breakout when we return. There has to be something we've missed when it comes to where that little shit is. For all we know, she could be back at the base or hiding right under our noses."

"But what if she really is out here?" a male voice argued. "The Boss doesn't want us back until the girl's found... wherever she is."

Rolling her eyes, the lovely young woman snapped, "If by some miracle she is out here, she won't make the night on her own. I'll handle Septum." Affirmatives from the team came back as she climbed back into the jeep.

Shades falling onto the bridge of her nose, Aisley closed the driver's door and peeled out to make a wide U-turn and drove right past the coiled girl that she had been searching for. Leaving a trail of red clouds behind her as she put on the gas, the Hunter faded from sight in a matter of minutes.

Blinking widely, Emma lifted her head and watched the Mean Lady disappear before she felt safe enough to get to her feet. When she opened the pack, she found five full canteens of water, a small ration of food, a blanket, matches and a flashlight.

She had survived on far less than that in her young life. It was more than enough to see her through the next couple of days until she could find help on a road or happened upon a cattle station.

The girl sealed the pack up and threw its straps over her shoulders. Focused on the cliffs, she was more than aware that she needed to reach the higher ground by nightfall. Picking up her feet, she weaved between the patchy brown spinifex bushes that came no higher than her knees and kept a steady pace for her destination.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Broderick looked over to the door of his private cell of thick steel as it slid open for Septum to step inside. Pushing himself up to sit on the edge of the cot that he had been lying on, the Hunter matched the icy glare that was fixed on him from of his former Boss.

Sitting on the thin bench lining the opposite wall, Septum began, "I hope you like your new accommodations. I thought it only fitting for you to have the same, quaint surroundings as the charge that I had entrusted you to."

Determined to not show any reaction, Dawson held his tongue and remained unmoved. His fate was already sealed. At the very least he could have the satisfaction of denying Millers further reason to gloat...

...however, he couldn't help the deep sting at the mention of Anna. What she was enduring was far worse than anything Septum could put him through.

"You know you almost got away with your plan," the older man informed, wiggling a finger in the air for a further taunt. "For a while, I'd had my suspicions of you but there was no proof to back up my concerns."

With a shrug, he propped his hands at either of his sides and went on, "After a while, I simply considered myself to be paranoid because how could one of my best allies, my friend, betray me for a Vampire of all creatures?" He laughed, "I mean a Hunter looking out for an Infected? For God's sake! It was ridiculous!"

His threatening glare returning, Millers said, "But then you slipped up by going to the surface to look into some of your old friends who'd abandoned the mission. You see I have eyes everywhere. You happened to catch the attention of one of my most trusted associates. He spotted you in Darwin. With his tip, I did my search into what you had been up to and had your computer confiscated and researched without your knowing."

Arms folding across his chest, he shook his head. Speaking with bitterness dripping from his voice, he continued, "Now imagine my surprise when it was discovered that you had scanned images of the pages to Halina Behr's diary saved on your hard drive. It would have taken quite the bit of planning and execution to manage copying something locked away in my office."

"If you had hidden that from me, I had to wonder what else you may have been hiding up your sleeves," Septum sighed. "From there, it was a matter of keeping close tabs on you and Doctor Adodera, since the two of you were almost always working in closed off rooms during Anna's examinations. When certain supplies stared disappearing, it was obvious that you were about to hatch something soon."

Swallowing roughly, Broderick struggled to keep his breath even through his nose. He had been the one to make the costly errors that destroyed any chance of an escape plan working. The mission was a failure before it ever began.

That was how the Boss knew to set up cameras that could capture Shinigami and Solo's darker half. It was how Gloria was intercepted before she could reach the landing pad and why an army of Hunters was waiting on the surface for whoever may have made it to the elevator...

Which meant that they never had a chance in the first place. And it was all Dawson's fault. Even if Shinigami hadn't intervened, they wouldn't have made it out.

All his fault.

Standing up, Septum concluded, "I hope that you enjoyed your read through that diary. It cost you your life as well as the existences of your newfound friends." An eyebrow lifting, he asked, "Was it worth it? Were they worth it?"

Not hesitating for a moment, Dawson peered up at the smug researcher to answer with a clear and sincere, "Yes. And I'd risk it again if I could for their sakes."

Instantly losing his grin, Millers huffed. "Then you deserve what's coming," he growled. Turning away, he stepped through the door that opened to him.

Sealed away once more, the Hunter let out a deep breath as his whole body sagged heavily. There was never a doubt in his mind that he had done the right thing in aiding the prisoners. Even if things hadn't turned out as he'd hoped, there was still that little glimmer of hope lingering out in the world with the known disappearance of Emma.

Now the only question that remained was whether or not she would be able to find help... and if she did... would it come in time?

*   *   *   *   *   *

Treize Khushrenada sighed as pressed the last key on his laptop to save the document that he had been typing ever since receiving a most welcome call from Sally Po hours before. Folding his hands flat together and propping his elbows on the edge of his desk, he began to read over his work when his wife entered his office.

Leaning against him from behind, Lady Une wrapped her arms around his neck as she asked, "How is your opening argument coming along, my love?"

"It's a work in progress," the Vampire Council head replied. Casting his gold-ringed eyes to his Chosen, he shrugged, "More of an outline, really. I am not a fan of reading from scripts as it seems cold and planned out to me. We're only a day away from resuming session and with so much riding on our getting this right the first time, I don't want to make any missteps in what is covered and what is not."

The biggest challenge was the security of the entire Barton-Yuy Clan since their family was about to be pushed into the public limelight once again.

How much could be revealed over their situation was a delicate balance that could tip the scales of a revote hard one way or the other. However, the Khushrenadas and Merquises did not want their friends to spend the rest of their existences under a microscope brought on by whatever was discussed with the Senate.

Shaking his head, Treize faced his monitor. "I can't afford to make any mistakes," he frowned deeply. "Even with the allies that we've won back over to our side, there's no guarantee that they'll feel compelled enough to change their original votes."

He held his hands out to shift them like balancing scales as he weighed aloud, "If our mole managed to hang enough over their heads... if Nancy McAdams makes enough of an argument against us... a whole new series of changes to the Human-Vampire Treaty will be opened to possible change and our kind could wind up in a worse disposition than we are now."

The right hand was considerable higher than the left, physically displaying just how delicate the challenging process was going to be along with the dramatic tipping for one side in the litigation verses the other.

Straightening herself, Lady Une reassured, "Midi and Trowa knew what they were getting into when they agreed to have their pregnancy announced. As for how you handle the details beyond that, I'm more than confident that you'll do the right thing." Her mouth curling in a lop-sided smirk, she stated, "This is far from your first Congressional dealing."

"Very far from that," Treize snickered, peering back at his bride. Smirking, he added, "Don't make me remember how old I am now."

His soul mate giggled, "Wouldn't dream of it, dear." Bending at the waist for a sound kiss, she told him, "I'll leave you to your work. Just try to not worry yourself too much. The whole family's here for you if you need us."

Flashing her a grateful smile, Khushrenada responded softly, "Thank you, my lady."

As the lovely Vampire left him to his devices, the Councilman returned his attention to his monitor and did his best to not put any more pressure on himself than he already had.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Shinigami was restless.

Duo could feel him pacing the edges of his mind, occasionally knocking at their barriers to try and unleash himself. When there was a little give, that demonic snicker resonated through his conscious. Gripping the sides of his head, the braided Hybrid huddled all the further into himself as he trembled in the corner of his cell.

Biting her lip, Celeste approached their separating wall with a soft, "You okay, little brother?" She tilted her head, commenting, "You're awfully pale."

There was no immediate response from Maxwell, not even a glance at her, to confirm that he heard her. Gulping, the Latin Companion peered over at her lover to wordlessly express her growing worry. For his part, Solo remained silent but attentive with a concerned focus set on his twin.

Centered back on her cellmate, Celeste stretched a hand up to type in the command that would open a hole wide enough for her arm to slip through as she said, "Maybe a drink will make you feel better-"

"Don't."

At that whispered plea, the lovely immortal stopped herself short just a few keystrokes from finishing the access code. Hand in mid-air, her enlarged eyes set on the violet irises that had homed in on her.

"He's too hungry," Duo murmured in warning, the fear on his own face appearing to be something more akin to acceptance. "I won't be able to hold him back once he starts."

Gasping, Solo's growing eyes took in his soul mate as he breathed, "Celeste... back away from that wall."

Her head shaking, his Companion frowned to him, "What? Why are you-"

A flash of movement from the corner of her vision caught her attention, bringing her to face the separating glass again. Breath hitching in her throat, she gawked at the smiling face that was just on the other side of the wall that she had nearly opened.

"What's the matter, sis?" Duo asked, the wide grin never slipping. No longer the shaking bundle of nerves just seconds before, he stood calm and confident with an eerie playfulness behind his violet-and-gold eyes. "How about that drink?" he purred. "I'm parched."

Stumbling back a couple of steps from the thin glass that was keeping her safe, Celeste reeled over the abrupt change. Normally, it would have been his dark 'entity' that would take on such a presence...

...but she knew not to address the beast watching her as Shinigami.

That being was gone forever now. All that remained was Duo.

And he was hungry to finish what he had started.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Stretching her arms overhead, Angela let out a long yawn. "Another dead end," she sighed, tossing another manila folder aside.

There was no point in even showing that report to Wufei and Heero for deeper research. Once she came across the marriage license involving this potential person of interest and came to find that their spouse was a Vampire, that instantly cleared their name from the long list of suspects.

John smiled sadly as he patted his Chosen's leg. "You've been at this for hours, love," he murmured. "Try and get some sleep. If we're still going at this when you wake up, you can join back in."

"And I'll have a fresh, hot meal waiting for your breakfast by the time you're awake," Midi offered as she lifted her head from the file that she was looking into. "That way you'll be well rested and nourished to focus better."

Giggling, the living replied, "After the meals you cooked for me earlier, I'm convinced that you're going to fatten me up before John and I are made official. I'd like to be able to fit into a wedding dress some day." Her family snickered throughout the room. John looked particularly thrilled by the mention of their eventual marriage. A warm smile across his face, he took hold of her hand to squeeze it.

Wistfully returning the grin, Angela leaned against his side. Another yawn breaking from her, she resigned, "I guess I should get some sleep." For her own sake, she reasoned aloud, "I won't be much help if I can't even keep my eyes open."

Staring at the pile of folders still waiting for her at her feet, she let out a long sigh. She reached out as she bent at the waist for the next report, commenting, "Maybe I can managed through a couple more of these-"

"No, you don't," her Vampire chided, a cold hand holding onto her wrist to stop her short. Smirking, he reassured her, "They're not going anywhere." As her head turned to face him, he brushed back her loose hair and kissed her pouting lips. "Now, off to bed with you."

The law student snorted. "Alright. Alright," she agreed at last. Quickly claiming another kiss from her soul mate, she smiled, "Good night." With John replying the same, she climbed to her feet and shuffled across the floor on her way to the bedrooms down the hallway.

Her heavy feet swayed ever so slightly, tipping her stack of folders so that the top few fanned out across the ornate rug. The third folder in displayed the name Septum James Millers.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Darkness had already fallen by the time Emma reached the tall formation of rocks. Using the flashlight in her pack as well as the nearly full moon that pierced the clear skies, she navigated through the crevices and found strong enough footholds to climb up to one of the large holes in its side.

Since it was still too dark for her to make out any landmarks beyond her resting point, the child decided to set up camp for the evening. Unrolling the thick blanket and using a few thick branches from the shrubs that she had gathered along the way, she made a small fire to warm a container of soup.

Thoughts of her new Mom, Anna, crept into Emma's mind and her heart broke all over again. Wiping away tears, she sniffled and thought of Solo's last words to her. Along with trusting her with a wonderful power, he believed in her... and Solo didn't believe in a lot from what she knew of him.

It was a compliment. And she wasn't about to let him, her Mom or any of the others down. Even if she had to walk the whole Outback on her own, she was going to stay brave and find the help she needed.

Emma blew out the small flames and kicked the embers of her campfire until they were nothing but untraceable dust. Pulling the blanket around herself, she lay down on her side with her head pillowed on the backpack. Determined to get the rest she needed for the next day, she forced her worries aside to drift off easily.

A tall, shadowy figure landed just within the cave's opening. Eyes narrowed as they gazed into the empty space.

He was certain that he had seen a fire in that hollowed room. The girl must have picked up and left before he got there. Annoyed by his near miss, he turned and disappeared in a dark blur of himself.

Deep in a peaceful slumber, Emma remained completely unaware of the danger that she had narrowly avoided as she dreamed happy dreams of being surrounded by her new family.

TBC...

 

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