If you were in these arms tonight
I'd hold ya, I'd need ya
I'd get down on my knees for you
And make everything alright
-Lyrics to 'In These Arms' performed by Bon Jovi
Crimson Ties Part 89
"This is one of my favorite things about what I do," Catherine smiled as she handed over a new Companion band that she had recently crafted to its owner. Danielle, the lovely blonde that had been a part of Solo's team to apprehend Rosshe was practically vibrating as she handed the ring over to her Vampire, Andrew. The handsome immortal grateful accepted the trinket and locked it onto his Chosen's exposed left arm.
All throughout the basement, the Infected and their newly turned partners looked on to the glistening gold bands that would remain an outward symbol of their commitment to each other. Two of those grateful, grinning faces belonged to none other than Peter and Eduardo, the former Wilds. Like their fellow Others, their eyes were free of the silver rings around them that had marked their tie to their creator.
Standing close by their sides, Mimi and Gabre were now not only the images of perfect health but of elation as well. Practically aglow with adoration for their Companions, they spoke quietly as they became more acquainted with each other.
Further down the long hallway, Treize and Lady Une looked on with wide smiles. "We're going to need bigger mansions," Khushrenada snickered to his wife as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "If our numbers keep growing at this rate, all of our homes will be filled." Smirking, he shrugged, "Not that I am complaining at all about that, considering how it's only to our benefit in ridding ourselves of Solo's influence."
Une hummed an affirmative and leaned against her husband's side. "It would only be a matter of bringing all of our agents up to speed on these new developments that we would be able to bring the care to our own wherever they are," she commented. "Already, the word is spreading and I imagine it will not be long before every Preventer is aware to be on alert should they need to be called in." The other Original nodded.
Rubbing his head, Peter frowned deeply with a soft groan. A deep frown marring her beautiful face, Gabre bit her lip and rested a hand on her Companion's arm. Leaning her head close, she urged softly, "Are you alright, dear one?" Instantly, their friends standing around looked on in concern.
"I'm fine," the former Wild's smiled in reassurance to her, his clear blue eyes locking onto her golden gaze. Resting a hand over hers, he squeezed it for the sake of calming his Vampire further. That grin fading, he sighed deeply, "I just have these images that I can't shake. None of them make any sense, but they seem familiar and I'm wracking my brain trying to figure them out."
At that, Eduardo's brown eyes grew in surprise. "Water?" he asked in little more than a breath. "Are any of those pictures looking out at water through a great hole?" His own shoulders tightening rigidly, Peter shot him a shocked expression that answered the question as loudly as any response that he could have voiced.
With a firm nod, the Hispanic Companion stated softly, "I see those pictures as well, some with faces and other pieces of scenery from time to time. They come and go, but they are vivid when they come over me."
Having overheard the soft discussion, the Preventers' co-Commanders interest was piqued and they quickly joined the small group with wide eyes of their own. "How often would you say you have these flashes?" Lady Une inquired, working to keep her voice soothing as to not alarm her guests.
"Not often... I've noticed that since waking those flashes are becoming fewer and further between. Like they're fading away. It probably won't be long and they won't be with us anymore now that we've been turned," Peter replied, Eduardo nodding in agreement. At the growing eyes of their comrades in arms- Sharon, Danielle and Henry- the former Wilds both grew nervous.
Eduardo swallowed roughly to his fellow Others, "You mean... the rest of you don't have these visions?" They all shook their heads slowly. Shifting his gaze onto their hosts, the Companion rolled his shoulders back to straighten himself as he said, "We need to see the mind-reader, Noin. If these could help us find Solo in any way, we best hurry to take advantage of that."
Smirking, Treize chuckled deeply, "Great minds think alike, my friend." The Infected moved fast to scoop their Chosen onto their backs without another word and followed the Commanders from the basement in blurs of themselves.
* * * * * *
Some time had passed since Heero and Duo had seen or heard from their siblings. Once they were safe in assuming that they were not going to be interrupting anything... private, they entered Wufei and Anna's home to find them seated in the scaly Vampire's main office.
Chang's fingers were flying over the keyboard as he stared intently at his central monitor at the primary hub. His onyx-and-gold eyes were so set in unwavering focus that he did not so much as glance over at their visitors.
Glancing up from the screen that she had been peering at over her husband's shoulder, Anna smiled to their brothers, "Hey. How did everything go with the Wilds and their potential mates that were arranged?"
Throughout her whole greeting, the Chinese Infected continued on in his work, a clear tell-tale that he must have made a big breakthrough in retrieving Instructor H's data. Biting his lip, Duo tried not to let his anxiety get the better of him enough that he interrupt his brother-in-law's trained concentration.
Yuy held up his cell phone as he replied, "I got a call from Treize not along ago announcing that everything went smoothly. The blood was accepted and so all of the Others are now Companions."
Finally, there was some sign of life from Wufei besides his fast and fluid typing when he slowed a bit to release a deep sigh of relief along with his wife. Resuming his quick pace, he smirked, "We're going to need bigger mansions." His family snickered and shook their heads in amusement.
"Well, thank God for that stroke of luck," the redheaded Vampire grinned widely. Closing the distance between himself and the braided hybrid, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace.
His violet-and-silver eyes blinking in confusion, Maxwell returned the hug. Anna pulled back enough to meet his gaze as she acknowledged softly, "I can only imagine how emotional all of that must have been for you. Between your past and the fact that your own change is so new, you would be able to sympathize better than any of us with both the Others and the Infected. I've been worried to how you've been holding up."
A grateful, warm smile spreading across his face at that, Duo kissed the end of her nose and replied sincerely "Thank you, sis." Turning his head, he winked at his lover, "I've had a great rock to get me through." Heero's face lit up with the adoring grin that tugged his lips as he leaned in to lace an arm around his Companion's waist and press a kiss to a warm temple.
The Irish immortal inquired, "Is Midi running around like mad with all of our guests?"
Heero chuckled, "Actually, she and Trowa disappeared not long ago for some privacy. I get the feeling it may be some time before they'll be resurfacing."
Gesturing to the bite marks on the sides of her brothers' necks as she ran her fingers over her own, Anna smirked, "Well, aren't we the sated lot, seeing as how we all had the same idea? After all, we all have to make do with the time we are afforded now that things are happening as quickly as they are in getting to Solo." She glanced over her shoulder to her husband to smile in pride as she announced, "Wufei is just about finished decrypting the codes on the laptop we recovered."
"I've found both text and audio files here that were protected by security codes and work arounds in where they were saved," Chang spoke up, the tapping of his keyboard streaming on. "Considering the hoops that H jumped through to keep what he saved safe, I can't imagine the information being anything but helpful in telling us just what we're dealing with. I should have everything up and available in a short time."
Already well aware that he was not ready to leave before he was able to find out what was just within their reach, Duo shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he asked, "Would you mind if we hung around your house so we can find out what's there as soon as it's ready?"
Wufei paused to grin back to his braided brother, "We wouldn't mind that at all. You're always welcome in our home. Besides, I can only imagine how anxious you are to know what's on here." Still smiling, he resumed his typing as he said, "I am more than happy to make the discoveries with you."
Patting the scaly Infected on the shoulder as he and Heero made their way past him for the doorway, Duo smirked, "Thanks, Fei. We'll just hang out in your living room, then. Just holler when you have anything." An affirmative grunt rose from Chang and Anna nodded with a pat to her brothers' backs when they walked beyond her.
Just as he was about to follow his Vampire into the hallway, Duo turned back to wiggle his eyebrows as he smirked at the other couple, "By the way, I'm hope that you two kids were responsible young adults and practiced safe sex. Lord knows the last thing we need on top of everything else is to have a little one on the way." Laughing at his own comment, he disappeared so quickly that he never heard the sudden stop of the insistent clicking.
Frozen rigidly with wide eyes that were no longer actually seeing the screen before him, Wufei's scales paled a few shades. Instantly thinking back to the rounds of love making that he and his bride had engaged in, he wracked his brain to recall if they had even thought of that detail and came up with the frightening reality that there was no measure taken to prevent the possibility of pregnancy. "My God," he breathed.
Quickly spinning around, he looked on the stricken Irish Vampire. Her own eyes enlarged with panic and her skin nearly blinding white, she was still as a statue save for her trembling. A soft whimper escaping her, her gold-and-blue eyes began to water over.
Scrambling to his feet in a rush, Chang wrapped her in a tight embrace as he whispered, "Anna. It's going to be okay. Even if you are fertile, we have no idea how easy it may or may not be for you to become pregnant." True as his own reasoning may be, the scaly Infected was trying to reassure himself as much as he was his wife.
Anna swallowed roughly, willing herself to keep from falling apart. Holding her husband back, she nodded unsteadily, "You're right. It was a foolish slip on our parts, but that does not mean that we have anything to be worried about." To her own ears, the comment was more like a hopeful wish every bit as much as Wufei's.
Pulling back, Chang fought off his own shudder and cupped the sides of her face, wiping a stray tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "We take this one day at a time and see what happens," he suggested softly, resting their foreheads together.
As he shrugged, he went on, "Until we know for certain one way or the other that there is any news, we go on with our existences as usual. Whatever may or may not be, we'll face it together like everything else. Either nothing has changed and we make sure to be more careful until this war is over or-"
"Or?" the redhead half-asked-half-sobbed. Taking a shaky breath, she inquired, "What happens if it's the alternative?"
A glowing smile spread it's way across Wufei's face as he answered softly, "Then we have a little miracle to cherish." Pressing the tips of their noses together, he added in a breath, "And I will be the most elated father-to-be to ever exist... because that miracle was created by our love."
With a soft gasp that hitched in her throat, Anna's eyes filled with fresh tears once more. Only this time they came from her sheer joy over that sweet sentiment. "God, I love you," she whimpered when she could find her voice a moment before her husband leaned in to kiss her soundly.
Drawing a deep, steady breath when they separated, the Irish immortal smiled to her partner through the drops that he gently brushed away from her face. "One day at a time," she nodded firmly. Clearing away the last bit of the lump in her throat, she stepped back to scrub her golden eyes dry and clapped her hands together with an enthusiastic, "Okay. Let's finally find out what's on that laptop."
"That's my girl," Chang smirked, his voice thick with the emotions that he was struggling to keep in check. Giving her rump a playful slap, he quickly returned to his seat and forced back the sting in his own eyes. Hands raising to bring his fingers to hover over the keyboard, the stream of clicks from his typing once again filled the room.
* * * * * *
At that late hour, Quatre and Catherine had called an end to their efforts in dissecting the blood that they had been working on together so that they could get some recuperating sleep. However, before going to his room, the young genealogist was more concerned with checking in on a certain presence that had been missing for some time first.
Making his way into the Merquise estate, Winner took the main stairs up to the third floor, where Relena resided.
Since the Vampires had been disbursed to either deliver blood or to bring in those Infected that were fading quickly now that their intended Companions were deceased, the Seer had all but disappeared. Part of that may have been so that the transporters knew where to find her when they were ready for the next location that they needed to visit.
But Quatre had a feeling that there was more to the Councilwoman's absence than that simple explanation. And he was unsettled by that.
Try as he might to deny his feelings for Peacecraft, the living knew that he was losing the battle fast. The main thing holding him back was the sinking feeling that he would never be good enough for the prestigious Vampire. He had been teased and bullied for most of his early life for being awkward and off from most other mortals.
Bad as that was, Quatre dreaded even thinking about how unsuccessful he was in wooing any girl that he was attracted to.
How could he possibly win over a beautiful, confident, worldly creature like Relena? If he even tried to express how he had fallen for her, she was certain to laugh at him, rejecting him instantly and never noticing how shattered Quatre would be over that dismissal from her.
Such had been his potential love life up to that night. Why should it be any different now?
What more was the fact that the Vampire was only recently coping with the loss of her husband, Karl. Bringing up any interest for a relationship would likely cause her even more pain at having to remember the love that they'd shared. Worse than any rejection, Winner couldn't bear the thought of hurting her in any way.
No... It was best to go on remaining a close friend with Peacecraft while he could have that at the very least. That was certainly better than taking a risk on what his heart may have hoped for, no matter how badly he may want more to transpire between them.
Once he reached the nearly pitch top floor, the young scientist scanned the hallway to the left and to the right when he spotted one of the few opened doors down the west wing. Light poured from the room to spill across the floor to reveal the Councilwoman's location. Biting his lip, the living began to walk forward at a casual space when he froze at what sounded like soft sobs and sniffling.
His aquamarine eyes widening, Quatre hurried for the room and peered inside to find by the filled bookcases lining the walls that the space was a private study. Seated on the long, plush couch at the center of the warmly-decorated space was Peacecraft. Hunched forward with her hands covering her face, the Vampire was indeed crying. Every quiet sob that came on shook the whole of her slight frame.
"Relena?" the mortal breathed as his enlarged eyes blinked in surprise on her. Gasping sharply, the object of his affections shot upright while her hands fell away to reveal her wide, shimmering eyes and damp face.
A soft moan rising from her, the Seer came undone all over again. "Oh, Quatre," she whimpered. "I am so sorry you have to see me like this." Quickly, she reached up and roughly brushed away the tears that continued to run down her pale cheeks.
His heart both racing in panic and breaking at her distress, Winner rushed inside to sit beside her. Shaking his head when she tried to turn away from him out of embarrassment, he rested his hands on her shoulders. When she looked back into his eyes, he urged gently, "What's wrong?"
The Councilwoman's bottom lip quivered before her eyes narrowed in frustration. Gritting her teeth, she answered in a near growl, "It's this damned curse of a gift. Ever since I started looking for the dying Infected in the world, I should have stopped myself when I had the ones we could get to."
Her fists clenching in her lap, she snapped, "But of course I didn't and now I see all of them... I can feel their agony and desperation... and it's breaking my heart that we may never be able to find them Companions in the end. A lot of them are going to die even if Duo's blood might sustain them for a while."
Sniffling, her anger only grew as got to her feet and began pacing the floor. She folded her arms across her chest, she hissed, "The humans that monitor our kind, the ones that make sure that our numbers never increase won't care at all when their yearly registrations show that there are less Vampires in the world."
Voice shrill, Relena continued, "We can't turn another living, but we can fade away without a single consideration. They'll never know how those poor souls suffered. They will never have a clue to what good beings those Infected were." Fresh tears rolled down her face when she came to a stop in the middle of the study, shrieking, "It's just not fair!"
Quickly shooting to his feet, Winner closed the distance between them and pulled her into a tight embrace. Melting against him, Relena clung as tightly as her shaking body could manage as she buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed.
"Shhh," the mortal whispered shakily at the steady crumble of his own emotional walls. "I know it's unfair. And I know it hurts, because I'm every bit as worried for those Vampires as you are. The laws around the registration are callous and one-sided, but there are many livings like myself that will be crushed over any losses. But we're doing everything that we can to save them. Duo's blood is helping even the worst off to bide us the time we need."
With one last sniffle, Relena pulled back so that her drying, reddened eyes could meet his gaze. Sighing, she gave a small smile and replied, "Thank you, Quatre. You are right, it's just... hard now that I can actually see the ones suffering. It was so different when you knew of them, but to actually have them in front of me..." Shaking her head as she shivered, she couldn't continue on in that train of thought.
"You just want to help them all, take on their pain for them if you could," the scientist grinned sadly. Gently running a hand through her bangs in a bold move, he complimented, "The way you care for all creatures is one of the many reasons I lo-" His eyes widening at the near slip at the same time that Peacecraft stiffened in his arms, he cleared his throat and corrected, "I admire you." Ducking his flushed face, he silently hoped that he'd escaped his mistake unnoticed.
However, when Relena's enlarged eyes blinked and her frame remained tense, he knew that she had picked up on what his indented word had been. The shock fading, the Infected relaxed with wide smile. Now that the door she had been looking for had opened, she was confident and ready to take the opportunity it provided.
Leaning in, she closed her eyes and pressed their lips together in a sound kiss before either of them lost their nerve. Completely taken aback, Winner gasped and nearly pulled back in surprise when his senses kicked in to keep him in place. Arms shaking, he pulled the immortal close as his eyes drifted closed. Following Relena's lead, he kissed her back with the same tenderness.
* * * * * *
Meanwhile...
Slowly shifting himself close to his Companion as they sat on the long couch of their siblings' living room, Yuy reached over to rest his hand on his lover's leg and squeezed it in a silent but sure demonstration of comfort. Lowering his arms to lace their fingers together, the Companion lifted them up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on the back of his Vampire's hand in appreciation.
Their companionable silence was broken when their sensitive ears heard Anna call from the top of the stairs, "Wufei's in, guys!" Sitting upright, the pair exchanged wide-eyed glances and shot to their feet. Easily gathering his Chosen onto his back, the Original shot them from the room and up to where Anna was standing just outside of Chang's office within seconds.
A smile lighting her face at their arrival, the redhead waited for Duo to lower himself and led them into the room. Seated at his hub, the scaly Infected was leaning back with a pleased grin and his arms folded behind his head. Heero shook his head, smirking, "You never cease to amaze me with your skills, brother. How you managed to get anything from what was left on that laptop is most impressive."
Bowing his head humbly when he sat up, Wufei replied sincerely, "That coming from you means a lot, brother. Thank you." He watched his family pull some of the spare chairs close so that they could all see the three large monitors before him that revealed a variety of typed up documents on them.
"At this time, I have images that are being uploaded into my backup storage that will be viewable soon. These are only a few of the reports that Doctor H had saved to his hard drive," Chang explained to his audience, holding a hand out to the screens.
With a snort, he ran a hand over his dark hair, commenting, "Quatre will have fun going through most of them as they're mostly scientific jargon that I am pretty lost to. I have little doubt that he'll be able to figure out what some of the medicines and medical abbreviations that are in here. For the time being, there's little that I'm able to understand without that assistance."
Smirking, he held up a finger when the faces around bore expressions of disappointment and reassured, "However, I do have something that we should be able to understand and use to our benefit now."
Quickly spinning himself in his leather chair to face his computer, he typed a few commands in to bring up his audio player. Dragging his mouse over the 'Play' button and clicking on it, he leaned back once more.
"May eighteenth of the year two thousand and twenty-nine," a baritone voice that carried with it a bit of grit of an advanced age spoke through the speakers.
Recognizing that year he was born, Duo froze in his chair with a sharp gasp. "Two thousand twenty-nine? I-I was born that year," he whispered.
There was a level of clear excitement in the speaker's timbre as he announced, "My name is Instructor H and this is the first of my private journal that I will be updating regularly in following the most remarkable of developments- the pregnancy and natural birth of twins conceived by their Vampire mother and their Living father. This will be my opportunity to forever have my legacy in this remarkable, and possibly last instance, of such a wonder."
Feeling all of the air that had been stored in his lungs rush out of him as if he had been punched in the stomach, Maxwell fell against the tall back of his seat when Wufei stopped the recording. "My God," he breathed, "we really have a recorded journal chronicling everything from even before Solo and I were born?"
Chang folded his arms in his lap as he spun around to meet his little brother's gaze. The corner of his mouth curling up, he nodded firmly, "I have every entry that he ever made on my storage now. Every entry can be burned onto a disk that I'll go through to find the highlights. Between the documents, the images and this private telling, we should have everything that there is to know about your twin."
Laughing, the Companion sprang from his seat to give the scaly Infected a one-armed hug, praising him with an elated, "Awesome work, 'Fei! This is better than anything we could have hoped to find from that base!" Chuckling, his brother returned the quick embrace as Heero and Anna waited for Duo to pull back so that they could congratulate him for his efforts.
This was what they had been hoping for... clear information on Solo so that they would know exactly who they were dealing with. The knowledge that would come with it would be better than any blade or pistol.
Finally, the mystery surrounding the hybrid was peeling back. And it would only be a matter of time before the war would be brought to him.
TBC...
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