Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war, lord,
And when you ask them, how much should we give? Ooh, they only answer more! more! more!
It aint me, it aint me, I aint no military son
It aint me, it aint me; I aint no fortunate one, one
-Lyrics to 'Fortunate Son' performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Crimson Ties Part 91
The crackling sound of static coming from the speakers filled Wufei's office went on for several minutes before the recording finally came to a stop. And the grim silence that followed was every bit as deafening.
"My God," Anna breathed, her wide eyes on the monitor before her. Were her nerves functioning normally, the fine hairs on her arms would have been standing on their ends. Beside her, the scaly Infected was every bit as frozen in fear as she was. Their hands between them slid together to latch on tightly as their only movement.
Of course they had known that Instructor H had met a particularly nasty end. His separated bones were more than enough evidence of that. There was very little of him in tact when his remains were discovered in what had clearly been a brutal, personal assault. But to actually hear the man's last moments... those blood-curdling screams and the ferocious assault that befell him... there was no way of being prepared for that.
This was the creature that they were up against, Solo clearly being the one to actually hunt the scientist down to repay him for the years of torture that he had been responsible for delivering. H''s worst fears had come true- they had made Solo too strong. They had made him too aware. And he came back after them with a vengeance. Their own weapon had turned on them, wiped them and everyone associated with them from the face of existence.
But it was those horrifying, animalistic sounds that that the hybrid had made that were the most unsettling. They were only a glimpse at the being that the Vampires and Companions were up against.
Squeezing the hand in his own before he released it, Wufei's panic gave way to resolve as he quickly rose to his feet and met the redhead's gaze. "Treize and the others need to hear this right away," he announced.
Anna continued to stare at the monitor when she breathed, "You know what their concern will be when they hear this. Tell me you don't believe it." Slowly raising her hear, she begged in little more than a whisper, "Tell me you don't believe that Duo is capable of anything like..." Her voice trailing off, her eyes shimmered as she shook her head and cried desperately, "Even if he could do that, you have to know every bit as much as I do that he would never hurt another living creature like that!"
"I do know that, love," Chang soothed quietly with a firm nod. "Beyond any shadow of a doubt." Taking hold of her wrist, he gently pulled his Chosen to her feet so that he could wrap her in a tight embrace.
As she trembled and held him back, the immortal soldier turned his head to kiss her cheek and moved to hold her face in his scaly hands. Resting their foreheads together, he told her softly, "Right now, we have to stay as strong for our little brother as we can be. He's going to need us."
Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Anna sighed deeply, "Right." At that, she reached up to dry the tears from her face when her husband smiled sadly and did that for her with his thumbs that were resting against her cheeks. Rewarding him with a warm grin, she leaned in and pressed their lips together in a sound kiss to express her gratitude the best way she could at the moment. When they parted she righted herself and nodded, "Let's go."
Together, the pair soared from the room in search of their fellow Preventers.
* * * * * *
Raising his hands, Solo stared down at the hundreds of Others and Wilds that covered the floors of catwalks, room entryways and any flat surface that they could find beneath him. Over their murmurs, he called out with a wide and mischievous smile, "My friends! I come to tell you that the time is soon coming for you to prove yourselves against our enemies! We have lain in wait for the opportunity to repay the monsters known as the Vampires and all who side with them for too long!"
Fists rose along with deafening cries and cheers from his captivated audience. Those lost to the madness were already wet at the mouth in anticipation while their more sound counterparts exchanged one-armed embraces and pats to each others' backs.
"I would be lying to you if I said that there will not be losses and sacrifices made," the hybrid said as he lowered his arms to his sides, feigning concern and sadness in his timbre.
Shaking his head, he stated, "But I know the courage and dedication that every one of you has to our cause. If there are any amongst you that wish to go back to the world that you knew... to the world that had been born out of lies by the Infected and livings alike rather than risk your lives, then you are free to go now."
The masses turned to watch their fellow Others, silently daring their neighbor with their gazes to walk out. There was not even the slightest doubt or trepidation to be found in the creatures around, their fate chosen without a second thought, just as Solo had designed it when he'd turned them. Such was their hatred of the Vampires that they would gladly give up their lives if it meant bringing the immortals' race down.
Blood had already been spilt and they wanted more, even at the cost of their own.
A smug, knowing smirk curled the corner of the Reformer's lips. "Excellent," he praised. "Then we begin our preparations for the attack." Once more, shouts and hollers flooded the air in deafening volumes.
Pushing himself away from the balcony that he was standing behind, Solo's pleased smile slipped away when he disappeared from his minion's views around the corner. A hand shooting up to press itself against his chest, he gasped a sharp, raspy breath and bolted into the nearest room. Doubling forward, he gave into a series of violent coughs.
Once he was able to breathe again, he pulled away his hand that had shot up to cover his mouth. At the sight of the brilliant blood on his fingers and palm, his eyes widened. "W-what the hell...?" he whispered desperately to himself. Those crimson streaks shimmered in the dim light that it captured to sparkle in an array of colors.
Hearing footsteps approaching, the hybrid straightened himself, wiping away the blood just before Dorothy and Meiran entered the space. "I have to admit that I'm impressed," the vixen of a Vampire smirked in her rare compliment. "You have them all ready and willing to do whatever it takes to stop an army of Infected."
The far less amused or satisfied Seer shot her a tired glare of frustration. "Since that is exactly what will be storming our home once we have Duo, they'll need that motivation," she grumbled. Lowering her head, Catalonia frowned sadly, "And as our Master has said, there will be no victory here without losses on our side."
"All a sad reality of war, my dear," Solo smiled as he approached his prized Other. Resting his hands on her shoulders as their silvered eyes locked, he told her, "We all knew that this would eventually have to come to pass. Our time of sitting back and waiting had officially ended the night that we struck my brother's 'family.'" That last word was all but spat out in distaste.
Shaking his head, the hybrid vowed, "No sacrifice will be made in vain. We are all committed and we will come out of this ready to take on every challenge that may stand against us from this point forward. It will all be worth it in the end to know that the livings and Vampires that oppress the truth of their flawed existences will be set right."
Gently running a hand down the silky hair at the back of the Seer's head, he pressed their heads together, grinning, "No more worries." Leaning in, he pressed a quick kiss against her lips when his urge to indulge in her was too much to endure.
Her eyes growing with a soft gasp, Dorothy took an unsteady step back subconsciously. Clearing her throat, she bowed her head deeply with a quiet, "My apologies for thinking negatively, sire. I know that this is our only option and you are not going into this without your own struggles over what may happen."
Chewing on the inside of his cheek to keep in the scream of rage that threatened to rip from his lungs, Solo nodded firmly while maintaining a somber expression. It was that damned Rosshe. The fact that he still existed was the reason why Catalonia would never accept the advances of even her creator. What the Reformer wouldn't have given to be able to go back and have that Vampire removed from the picture when the opportunity was there.
It would only be a matter of time. There was little doubt that the Infected would be part of the storm that would rain down on the base to claim Dorothy as his Companion. Solo was counting on that... he wished and hoped for it so that he could personally end him.
* * * * * *
A certain young scientist was practically bouncing in the back seat of his friends' car as he cheered, "I can't wait to get my hands on those reports Wufei found! Now that my parents got me out of classes for the semester, I can focus on getting to the bottom of that blood!" Sitting beside him, Trent chuckled deeply and shook his head in amusement over Winner's enthusiasm. "The mixed samples in those vials has been a pretty challenging for Catherine and I to break down."
"Mixed samples? I didn't realize that you found more than one." Duo frowned, peering over his shoulder to look on his classmate. A sheepish grin tugging his lips, he subconsciously reached up for the teardrop-shaped pendant that hung around his neck as he shrugged, "Although I should have known that might happen considering how I know how Vampire blood reacts when it's combined."
Shifting his gold-and-cobalt eyes from the road to peer up at the rearview mirror, Heero inquired, "How many different bloods have you actually come across, Quatre?"
The Arabian chewed on the inside of his cheek before he answered, "Eight that we know of for certain. But I expect that there may be more than that. And they're a mix of both living and Vampire. It's really making our work difficult when you have to be able to separate that many gene mutations apart. Just when you think we get to the original strand, we come across another that's overlapping it."
Greyson whistled through his teeth and muttered, "Eight or more? I don't know a lot about a body's make up, but if that was Solo's blood that's in those vials, he should have died with that many transfusions from different sources." Duo swallowed roughly, already having had that thought as well. How anyone with any kind of humanity would risk the life of a child like that...
"Well, that's just the thing!" Winner exclaimed, the wonder clear in his voice as he opened his arms out, "Those doctors had no idea what they were dealing with when they had their first hybrid, so they took a huge gamble by doing that! The pain would have been excruciating for those experiments and I'm shocked that Solo had survived-" He quickly cut himself off when he saw Duo tense and felt Trent's nudge to the arm.
Rubbing the back of his neck Quatre cleared his throat and added, "But I can't help thinking that they were trying to see if they couldn't change him into either a pure living or a pure Vampire. Considering how he is of both breeds, they might have had a sound idea there. But when he did not change, they moved onto making him a weapon."
With a sigh, the scientist concluded, "That's all just a theory on my part based on the limited information that I have, of course. Once I get a chance to look at those reports, I'm hoping that they'll give me a clear picture to just what the intent was. There's still a chance that I'm completely wrong in what I'm thinking."
Maxwell let out a low grunt and looked ahead to the winding road leading to the estates. His Vampire reached over to rest a cold hand over his own between them to squeeze it, the gesture was as much a comforting thing as it was a declaration that Yuy was in silent agreement of what was going through his mind.
It was a rare thing when Quatre was wrong. Theory or not, he would never have voiced his belief if he wasn't pretty sure that he was on the right track for his answers. Instructor H's reports would no doubt confirm his hypothetical breakdown.
Already replaying his friend's slip of the painful experiences that his twin would have endured, Duo swallowed roughly. There was no question on his part that Solo had been tormented in a most gruesome way... it was the only explanation for what had become of everyone working in the base that held him.
Still, it was a most unsettling thing to try and imagine just what had happened to his sibling. He would have been in the same spot had it not been for John and Carla. In so many ways, the journal entries were revealing the other half of the life that Maxwell would have known if he hadn't been spared. Solo was his other half in more than just blood, but in experiences that would have been shared.
Pulling into the garage of their home, Heero parked the car and turned off the ignition. The livings in the back slipped from the vehicle and headed inside the estate when he looked over at his Companion who had yet to budge from his seat. He leaned in close to gently brush the backs of his fingers down the side of Maxwell's cheek, asking in little more than a soothing whisper, "Are you okay?"
"Yea," Duo sighed softly, turning his head so that their eyes could meet. A sad smile curling his mouth, he commented, "I owe Wufei and Anna for looking out for me by being the ones to listen to those journal entries. At first I thought that I would be able to handle it, but now I know that it would have probably been too much for me." The Original nodded without hesitation as his hand shifted to cup the side of his partner's face.
With a deep breath, the hybrid leaned into the touch and smiled warmly to his Vampire. Quickly turning his head to kiss the cool palm, he announced, "Might as well get inside and see what they were able to find. No sense in prolonging the inevitable by just sitting here in the garage." At his Chosen's lead, Heero stepped out of the car along with him. Rounding the front of the vehicle, their hands linked tightly once again and they stepped inside their home.
Much to the couple's surprise, not only were Wufei and Anna in their grand living room but all of their family and friends in the Preventers were present. And there was such a tension in the air when those eyes settled on them that it threatened to weigh them down. That alone would not have been enough to set them on edge...
...it was how there was a clear and literal line drawn between the Vampires in what was a standoff of sorts. On one half of the room, there was the Khushrenada clan led by the Councilman at the head and on the other half there were Barton and the Yuy's with Anna countering their Commander at the front of their line as their glaring eyes shifted away at the unexpected arrival of their hosts.
This was the first clear division in the ranks, a rift in the tight camaraderie that the families had forged between them over the centuries. And neither side was about to stand down in whatever it was they were arguing. The sight was a startling one for the pair that had stumbled upon it to freeze with wide eyes.
His mouth opening and closing when he could manage, Duo blinked his growing eyes as he stammered, "H-hey, everyone. What's going on?"
A sad smile gracing his handsome face, Treize moved forward to greet the braided Companion first. The second he took his first step towards her brother, Anna's heated glare return and a low snarl bubbled from her throat. Wufei and Trowa, neither any happier than she was, restrained her by each resting a hand on her shoulders.
Undeterred by the redhead's warning, Khushrenada closed the distance between himself and Maxwell. "Our deepest apologies for being here unannounced like this," he offered sincerely, patting Maxwell's shoulder before he gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Chang had finished going through the diary entries and called us here so that we may hear some of the recordings for ourselves. We had just finished up a moment ago."
"Oh," the Reformer managed. Scanning the faces around, he could see the mix of emotions that were surging in the creatures focused on him. His breath coming in a shaky pull, he whispered, "It was bad, huh?" The sentiment may have been phrased in a question, but the tone in which he spoke it was more of a statement than an inquiry.
No one would be able to misread the atmosphere to guess the interpretation of Instructor H's personal recantations of life in the base.
However, there was more to what was going on besides the reactions to that.
Slowly walking up to her husband's side, Lady Une took a deep breath and frowned to her long-haired friend, "After hearing the journal, we discussed the information that it provides and decided that you need to listen to it as well."
"You decided, not us," Anna snapped at the Commanders' backs, "and it's a bloody horrible idea!" the hands on her shoulders squeezed tightly. Though her husband and cousin were not in disagreement with her, they remained silent at the moment in light of their place.
Heero took a step before his Companion, flanking him as he leveled the Council members with a stern glare. Shoulders rigid, he declared clearly with a bit of a growl, "Duo requested to keep from hearing those entries. It is his choice and if he never wants anything to do with H's testimony, I will make sure that happens if I have to destroy what is left of the saved information myself."
Raising his hands in the air in a showing that no harm was intended, Zechs reassured calmly, "We are not going to force anyone to do anything. Yes, the recantations of what had happened to Solo are horrendous. They are heartbreaking."
His gaze specifically on Maxwell, the Speaker stated, "But listening to them first-hand would only be to your benefit. Hearing from us what we now know will only help you understand your brother better. You need to know what he is capable of because there may be more to you than what you already know."
Trowa could no longer hold his tongue as he hissed to the Representatives, "As we have been telling you time and time again now, Duo would never harm another creature like that! It simply is not in him!"
With gravel in his own voice, Wufei added, "You're acting as if we need to be protected from him when he needs us to keep him safe."
Noin replied, "I promise you that there is not even the slightest suggestion on our parts that he might be of any danger to us. This would just be a way of perhaps opening another door into who he is. I doubt that Solo was aware of his strength until he finally reached his breaking point and he felt he needed it."
Instead of anger, there was only understanding from the Khushrenadas for the other Vampires. Their protectiveness for Maxwell was only natural. In the end, they would have thought less of their friends if they hadn't intervened over this matter. That was why they accepted the challenge that they were posing to the suggestion.
Reluctantly, Treize peered back at the trio standing in the opposite half of the room. "Besides," he opened softly, "How can any one of us say that for certain he needs us at all?"
As though she had been slapped across the face by that remark, the redhead reeled back with a sharp gasp. Suddenly, one of the reasons behind her fight was made all too clear when her eyes began to shimmer over.
Bottom lip trembling, she composed herself enough to fix a fresh glare at her co-Commander. "I will have no part in this any longer." She kept her steps for the doorway clipped and swift when she paused only to look on her little brother.
Whimpering, she whispered, "I will stand by whatever you decide, even if you do not need my support either way." The tears rolled down her face as she spun on her heels just before the hybrid could take hold of her arm.
Violet-and-silver eyes misting over, Duo called after her, "Anna!" His cry came too late. The Irish Infected had shot from the house, the front door of the estate opening and slamming closed behind her as though the wind had carried it at the same moment that his voice rose. With a deep sigh, his shoulders plummeted along with his slowed heart.
Wufei had lost his own edge at his wife's flight. Gripping his cousin's arm, he whispered into Barton's ear and gestured with his head towards his laptop that was sitting on the coffee table at the center of the room in a way that had his brothers realizing he'd predicted what was coming next.
Lowering his head a bit, Trowa watched his scaly cousin and nodded. Chang would not cast so much as a glance over at the Council Representatives on his way to move between his concerned brothers. "I'll talk to her," he offered, sailing from the estate after the redhead.
In the stillness that followed, Maxwell swallowed down the thick lump in his throat and turned his gaze away from the door. Heero had returned to his defensive position just before him, a strong blockage between the Khushrenada clan and his Companion.
The fact that his family would risk so much to stand up for him in light of the position beneath the elite leaders was moving beyond any words that the Reformer could find.
But his decision had been made.
"It's okay, 'Ro," Duo grinned, a touch of his nervousness present but also his acceptance of his choice. Resting a hand on his lover's shoulder, he nodded to the cobalt-and-gold eyes that peered back at him. "I can handle this." Instantly deflating at that, Yuy bit his lip and nodded back shallowly as he shifted to his partner's side.
Glancing over his shoulder down the hallway and up the stairs, the hybrid asked, "Where are Quatre and Trent?"
Lady Une answered, "Relena was waiting by the garage door to intercept and take them to our home. They did not need to be here for this discussion as it is a private matter."
A quiet sigh of relief escaped Maxwell at that. The last of the tension in his body fading, he gave into the readiness of whatever lay ahead and straightened himself to announce to the group, "Alright... I want to hear those journal entries."
* * * * * *
Reunited with Rosshe the Khushrenada estate, Trent was preoccupied in catching up with his brother and fellow former Hunters.
Quatre, in the meantime, had yet to lose his anxiousness to reconnect with Catherine so that they could continue on in their work. Once he and Relena were alone on their way down the basement steps, the scientist exchanged a shy smile with her and the fingers of their hands laced together between them.
The screeching sounds of metal being carved filled the air when they reached the cellar floor. Eyes growing when they rounded the corner, they watched as a certain redhead took a torch laser to thick metal, warping it into a skeletal frame that they were able to make out where it was going. When she finished melding the two pieces that she was manipulating, Bloom turned the burner off and lowered it.
When she turned around to face her visitors, the weapons expert's green eyes widened behind the visor of her metal facemask and her muffled voice exclaimed, "Finally!" All but throwing her guard off, she tossed it to the side and rushed for Winner. "I have something that you need to see!" she exclaimed, taking her stunned classmate's free hand and pulling him with her back to her station, much to Relena's surprise.
Breathless along with her, Quatre shook his head, insisting, "What is it? Did you look through the reports that Wufei printed from H's laptop?"
"Not yet," Catherine admitted as she flipped through page after page of both their notebooks. "Before I got back to work on my pet project, I was looking through the layouts of the blood that we've been examining and came across something incredible that I want to confirm with you. At first I would have missed it entirely, but then it just jumped out at me."
Joining the scientists at the table, Relena listened in with keen interest. Rather than try and understand their terminology, she gave them the space that they needed to discuss this find that had Bloom so excited.
Finally finding the pages in both books that she was looking for, the redhead sighed, "Here." Setting the hand-drawn diagrams of DNA structures on the pages so that they were right-side-up to Quatre, she pointed to the numbers that were written at the different points of interest. "Look at the number of proteins and carbons here.
Winner leaned in close to study the pictures intently. When he saw what he was looking for, he nodded firmly. Furiously flipping ahead in their notes, Catherine came to a stop at two identical drawings made later. Pointing to them, she said, "Now look at those numbers here."
Gasping almost instantly, the blonde living's eyes widened with a sharp gasp. "By Allah," he whispered. In a rush, he yanked his notebook up and turned ahead several more pages. "It was such an insignificant thing to pay any attention to before," he muttered with a shake of his head, looking over leaf after leaf as his skin paled further. "If this really is Solo's blood..." His voice trailed off.
"What?" Relena all but shouted as she leaned towards him. "What does it mean if it is Solo's blood?"
Slowly lowering his book, Quatre exchanged a worried glance with Catherine before he looked back into the Councilwoman's golden eyes. Drawing a deep breath, he answered in a breath, "He's dying."
TBC...
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