I could be free more then, I could pretend more then
That this life could only show me good times
Once when I was little...
So here comes the next one, next in line
Stay as young you can, for the longest time
'Cause those days flew by like a breeze just passing through
Once when I was little
-Lyrics to 'Once When I Was Little' performed by James Morrison
Crimson Bonds Part 88
Lowering her medical chart against the side of the bed that Anna had been moved into, Sally sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes.
"She's going to have an uphill battle recovering from this. Normally, I would only make this sort of announcement to the patient's family, but Anna's going to need everyone's help through this," she informed the lot standing by that included her husband, all of the Khushrenadas, Charles, John, Isabel, Carol and their Companions.
Not liking at all how the meeting was starting, Wufei swallowed roughly. Staying seated at his wife's side, he squeezed her hand that he had been holding in wait for her to regain consciousness. "What is it, Sally?" he asked.
Her head shaking, she focused primarily on the Barton-Yuy Clan members. "An extensive hysterectomy was performed on her, so even her ovaries had been taken." Gasps and wide eyes spread throughout the room.
Drawing a deep breath, the doctor went on, "I did everything I could to work with what little I had, but there was nothing of her reproductive organs that could be salvaged. I want to believe that in time her body will be able to repair what it's lost since she was already turned and whole before this... but there has never been a case like hers to know if that's at all possible."
His onyx-and-black gold closing, Chang lowered his head. Heartbroken that his sister's most precious gift in bearing children had literally been ripped away from her, Heero let out a sharp huff and air that rushed from his lungs. Unable to catch his breath, Duo's mouth opened and closed before could only manage what his husband was also thinking in a faint, "My God... this is call our fau-"
Midi cut him off, insisting, "Don't either of you dare even think it." Her tearful eyes settling on them in a stern stare, she lifted her head from Trowa's shoulder and shook it as she stated, "Anna would never hold either of you responsible for this. The last thing she should ever feel is any guilt from you after everything she faced to protect your children."
"She's right, brothers," Wufei concurred quietly, his gaze opening to fixate on the troubled pair. "Neither one of us could ever blame you for this. For all intents and purposes, your little ones kept Anna safe long enough for us to find her since they gave Septum a reason to keep her in his captivity all this time." Biting his lip, he admitted in little more than a whisper, "This hurts... a lot. But it's not your fault."
Gulping, the pair eyed each other in bittersweet relief. Accepting to take themselves off the hook, they still ached for their siblings no longer being able to conceive and bring more of their own children into the world.
Sally commented, "This is going to hit pretty hard when I sit and talk to her. Between what she experienced before she was rescued, this upsetting news and the tremendous hormonal shifts that her body is going to face from her surgery, Anna's going to have really good days and very bad days until her system sorts itself out." Scanning the group, she informed, "That's why I wanted all of you here, to be whatever support she needs until that happens."
At that, Treize took a step forward, vowing, "I know I speak on behalf of my entire family in saying that we'll be available in any and every way we can to help." The rest of his clan nodded vehemently to back his sentiment.
The Barton-Yuy family smiled warmly in appreciation to all of them.
Clapping her hands, Po smirked, "Wonderful. Now, unless you're Wufei, get out. I don't want Anna overwhelmed when she wake up to so many faces around." Her friends righted themselves and climbed to their feet as they snickered and filtered from the room. Most on the way out squeezed Chang's arm or in the case of the women, kissed his cheek.
Heero and Duo lingered back while their scaly brother stood to approach the doctor with them. Clearing his throat, Yuy began, "Sally, we just wanted to thank you for everything you did to bring Anna back."
If he was looking to say more, the physician wouldn't allow it but smiled sincerely, "It was my pleasure, guys. No thanks needed. However, I will be happy to take hugs." Giggling, she was pulled into three firm embraces and waved the Vampires off in good humor. "Wufei, I have a few other patients to check in on, but page me the moment Anna wakes up." The Chinese Infected nodded and returned to the chair at his wife's bedside.
Facing the Original and the Hybrid, Sally grinned, "As for you, there are three adorable babies that I'm sure you're anxious to meet. I was able to give them a thorough check up and they're adjusting beautifully, so feel free to stay with them as long as you want before I have to move them to the nursery."
Unable to contain their elation, the beaming couple glanced to each other.
* * * * * *
Nancy McAdams turned off the digital pad that she had been glued to for the last eight hours.
Septum was a thorough one in making sure that there were security cameras stationed everywhere throughout his lair while the recordings were uploaded and saved into his prime database. Problem for him was that it made building an investigation against him that much easier once that data had been hacked into.
For hours, the Senator watched capture after capture of 'highlights' from the time of Duo, Solo, Anna and Celeste's imprisonment. She observed a handful of painful experiments and treatments that were performed on the Hybrids. McAdams took in Barnett's attempted rape of Chang as well as the introduction of Emma by risking her life in throwing her into the cell of a pregnant, hungry Infected...
...And finally, she began to witness the horrendous surgery that Millers forced Adodera to deliver. Hearing the Siren's piercing and spine tingling scream as she was sliced open, Nancy nearly dropped her tablet in her haste to turn it off to end the feed.
Her free hand flying to cover her mouth against the wave of nausea that came over her, the living whimpered and squeezed her eyes closed as she gulped down the bile that rose in the back of her throat.
Vampire or not... Hybrids or not... even McAdams had to admit that no creature deserved how they had been treated at the hands of a mad man.
Treize was right, much as she hated to admit it. Humans really were capable of unimaginable cruelty the like of which she now wished she remained blissfully ignorant to.
Once she had her bearings again, Nancy ran a trembling hand over her head to brush back her loose hair and crawled out of her bed. Padding through the patient room that she had been assigned for the night, she tied the rope of the robe that she had been provided tighter around her donated nightgown and dipped her socked feet into a pair of slippers at the door.
Numb from head-to-toe, the politician weaved her way through the hallway to the first waiting room and ordered a tea from the vending machine.
Falling into a chair by the bay window, she stared through it... not that she would have been able to make out the darkened valley even if she were attempting to take it in. Lost to her dark and confused thoughts, she automatically drank from her plastic cup.
Soft footsteps coming near were the only thing to draw McAdams' attention in time for her to observe Zechs Merquise sitting several chairs away. His presence brought on that bitterness that she continued to harbor over the startling reality of the situation at hand and she bit out, "Go ahead. Laugh over having a damn good argument when your cousin makes his presentation before Council."
Turning his head to meet her gaze, there was a genuine surprise in the Vampire's gold-ringed eyes. "I'm not here to gloat, Nancy," he replied quietly. "It's just been... a hell of a day and I'm trying to shake it off. The appeal couldn't be further from my mind right now and until you spoke up, I hadn't even noticed you."
At that, the former attorney searched for any sign that he was lying only to find him sincere. For the first time since she had known Merquise, she had to admit that he looked tired... physically and emotionally. Gulping down her pride, she muttered an apology under her breath and quickly looked away to peer through the window again. Only then did she notice how pitch black the night was outside.
"How is Anna?" McAdams heard herself ask despite herself. Whatever she may have thought of Vampires, that agonized scream from the redheaded immortal still haunted her. And she actually felt for the mother of the Infected who was tied to her daughter.
Still in a bit of a daze, Zechs answered listlessly, "She'll recover, albeit not entirely. Doctor Berg had removed her uterus and ovaries. Sally will have to deliver the news to her when she wakes up." Nancy swallowed roughly and lowered her head.
A profound silence fell over the waiting room. Then, Merquise asked in little more than a breath, "How do you do it? Raise children in a world like this?"
Blinking widely at the question, the Senator's head snapped back to the Vampire Council Speaker as he shook his head, "I still vividly remember my childhood in England. My family and I weren't rich, but with my father serving on the King's council, we were better off than most. I remember thinking that anything was possible... that I didn't have a care or fear to my name and the world was a wonderful place... what I wouldn't give at times like this to be able to go back to those simpler, happier days when I was little."
Caught off guard by the candid sharing of the Infected's past, McAdams' eyes stung at the threat of tears over her own memories of her youth.
They had much in common, even with their differences in the eras that they grew up in. She too had always believed that the sky was the limit to her dreams, that everyone had the potential of being a friend and life was hers for the taking.
"I would never want my child to realize the reality that the world can be cold and cruel," Zechs went on softly, his eyes staring at the floor below his feet. "They'd be protected from all of the Millers, Hunters and Rogues so that they never knew the things that livings and Vampires are capable of."
Taking a deep breath, he frowned deeply, "Wufei and Anna are so much stronger than I am, for still wanting to have a family of their own even after they had endured so much. I wouldn't even know where to begin... how to prepare for the loss of innocence when a little one makes the hard transition into adulthood when they see life or existence for what it really is."
Nancy stared down into the cup that she was gripping in both of her hands. "You just love them," she murmured. "There are always going to be mistakes made in raising children, but you love them and you do the best you can."
'She's dead to us,' Cynthia's voice returned to the Senator's mind in reference to Angela for her connection to an Infected. Shivering, she bit her lip and ducked her head in shame for ever having believed such a bitter notion enough that she'd passed it onto her children.
That was one of her more serious missteps in parenting.
Unaware of her inner turmoil, Zechs craned his head to watch her and offered a small grin. "I guess that's all we can do in every aspect of existing... the best we can."
Rising up slowly, he gazed out the window and commented, "John's a great kid." McAdams' eyes grew on him as he faced her once more, smirking, "He has his father's deep-set morals and the fearless spirit of his mother. Between the both of them, he has a fierce and selfless loyalty for his family and loved ones. If I ever had a daughter, I'd be honored to have him bonded to her. In the end, you would only be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't give him a chance."
Could she ever accept that? the living wondered to herself. When it came down to it, the last thing she could ever do was detach herself from Angela... no matter what the circumstances of whom she was connected to. Finally, she nodded, "I'll keep that in mind." She was rewarded with a kind smile.
Then she said the last words she ever thought that she would speak, let alone mean, to a Vampire. "Thank you."
Bowing his head respectfully, Merquise responded, "It was nice talking to you, Nancy." With that, he took his quiet leave.
McAdams returned to staring out the window again, her head swimming even more than it had been before she arrived at the waiting room. And yet... her heart was slightly lighter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"They're so cute," Duo gushed as he kept shifting his head to take in the three babies lined up in their protective incubators.
Currently sleeping, the tiny ones had been changed into their gender appropriate blue or pink one-piece outfits and sported striped caps on their heads.
The Hybrid mused in awe, "Two sons and a daughter. We're going to be a lot busier than we were first planning. Think we can handle it."
A wide smile on his own face, Heero nodded and wrapped his arms around his husband's waist from behind. "Of course we can," he answered, resting his chin on a shoulder so he could continue to take in their babies.
Just as Sally had theorized, the trio were a perfect blend of both their fathers. With Maxwell's DNA bringing out Yuy's in the conception process, there were already clear trait similarities that could be made out in each of the younglings... along with a tiny hint of their Aunt Anna in the form of wisps of red mixed in their fine mouse brown or dark hair.
Dorothy giggled, "They really are beautiful. And the way they're adapting, it won't be long before they can be taken out of their incubators and moved into their home."
Holding up a few forms, she smirked, "Which brings us to the next order of business. Any idea what their names will be?"
The pair blinked widely as they met each other's gazes. "We never had a chance to discuss that before," Duo muttered. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."
Snickering, Heero shrugged, "Well, no time like the present to work that detail out before they wake up. But I might have an idea for one of their names..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A soft sigh was Chang's signal that his Chosen was climbing back into consciousness. Righting himself from lying his head beside hers, he kept his arm draped around her middle as her gold-and-blue eyes slowly blinked open until they grew widely when they focused on her Other.
"Wufei?" Anna breathed, her voice a bit strained from her screams, but thick with her tentative surprise.
Gold-and-onyx eyes misting ever so slightly, the Chinese Infected smiled lovingly and whispered, "Hey, Anna." Leaning in, he offered a chaste kiss in a showing of great restraint so as to not overwhelm her before she could get her bearings.
Reassured by the familiar feeling of her husband's scaly lips, the redhead's eyes blinked as she frowned in confusion, "But... how..." Her hands were moving on her subconscious command to run over what should have been a bulge in her abdomen.
In feeling her flat stomach instead, a wave of terror came over Anna as those last moments when the world went black returned to her. Gasping sharply, she pushed herself upright in her bed and stared down at her healing body. "Oh God," she groaned, "the babies-"
"Our niece and nephews are just fine," Chang was quick to soothe, perching himself on the side of the mattress so that he could cup her face in his hands and locked their gazes. "And they have you to thank for it, Celtic Rose," he praised.
All sorts of thoughts and concerns swirling through her head, the Siren asked in a rush, "The kids? Ian? That Hunter, Lucie, used him as bait to lure me and Duo away. Oh, God. How are Duo? Solo? Celeste? Gloria? Or-"
Laughing through his relieved tears, Wufei shook his head, "Everyone's safe and sound." He pressed a finger against the mouth that was about to open to get out more names, adding, "That includes Heero, Emma and Broderick, too." He paused to clear his throat, adding quietly, "You were the one who gave us the biggest scare." Shuddering, he managed, "We were all pretty sure that we had lost you, love."
Once she heard that her family and friends were well, Anna finally relaxed and allowed that last bit of information to set in. She had put everyone else first before she even thought of her own situation... and the frightening sights, sounds and the pain of Berg cutting into her rushed back.
Her body trembling, the Irish Vampire really took her Other in. Biting her shaking lip, she threw herself into his arms just as they opened to her in time and gripped onto Chang with all of her strength. "I love you so damned much," she sobbed into his shoulder as he held on just as tightly.
Smiling, the scaly Infected kissed the side of her head and murmured, "I love you, too. You couldn't even imagine how beside myself I've been these last few months worrying about you." As Anna pulled her head back, they moved in for a much more passionate, desperate kiss that they both needed right then.
When they broke apart after a long exchange, the Siren sighed deeply in content and remained curled up against her soul mate. "I don't know about you, but after everything that's happened, I'm thinking about taking a little time off from having our next wave of kids. Of course, I'm looking forward to when we do start trying again, but-" She stopped herself when the warrior's smile faded.
Tilting her head of red hair, she braced herself prior to pressing, "What's wrong, Wufei?"
"About that," Chang half-groaned. Wrapping his scaly hands around his wife's as he stared down at them, he squeezed them and chewed on the inside of his cheek. Slowly meeting her eyes with a salty burn in his own, he began softly, "There's something that I have to tell you..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Eric Dobson was pacing the floor of his Washington estate's living room. "Why the hell hasn't he gotten back to me?" he growled under his breath.
It was nearly twenty-four hours since the Vampire registration appeal had been postponed and the Senate was dismissed without explanation. And that left the hefty politician a little more than frazzled as to what compelling bit of news Treize must have presented to the Moderator to convince him to stall the process.
At the ringing of his cell phone, the perspiring Senator nearly jumped out of his skin. Practically running for the device, he read its caller ID to reveal that the calling number was unknown. One of Millers' many secured lines that left no trace.
Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Dobson opened the receiver and pressed it to his ear with a curt, "It's about damned time. I must have left a dozen messages for you by now."
Septum's voice snapped, "I've been a little busy. What is this news about the appeal being cancelled?"
"That's what I'm trying to tell you," Eric sighed in exasperation. Wiping his damp brow with a handkerchief in his free hand, he commented, "Khushrenada had a private meeting with the Moderator and no one knows what was said between them to delay the proceeding..."
Gulping, he asked in an urgent rush, "What if Treize knows about the vote that I swayed? I know I covered my tracks, but if any one of the representatives I blackmailed figured me out, I'm finished-"
An audible click over the other end of the call sent a chill down his spine.
Blinking widely, Dobson stammered, "H-hello? Millers?"
There was no answer. There would never be an answer.
Unbeknownst to him, Septum was awaiting his fate in a private cell of the Vampire holding station only a few blocks away.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Closing the cell phone to his own secured line, Zechs took on his true form and faced his cousin as she typed frantically at her laptop. "Did you get it?" he inquired.
Her head lifting, Catherine smirked, "Yea. I got it. The recording is on its way to the Moderator and Senator McAdams as we speak. I just heard from Crystal, too. The tracing agency found their mole thanks to her little slip during the attack on Septum's base."
More than pleased to hear that, Merquise and the rest of his family standing by grinned.
The gears had shifted against their enemies. Now all that remained was seeing that everyone tied to Millers was rounded up and handled properly, a delicate prospect in and of itself.
At least this time the clock was ticking in their favor.
TBC...
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