**Mention of NCS in this part
Silence is the enemy
Against your urgency
So, rally up the demons of your soul
-Lyrics to 'Know Your Enemy' performed by Green Day
Crimson Ties Part 96
"Dorothy. Oh, thank God you're alright."
Those words... and that soft smile that curled the lips that had spoken them ran over and over again in Catalonia's mind. Now playing babysitter to TJ and Rachel in her Master's throne room as he was off working, the Seer sat on the edge of the massive hole in the wall. Deeply troubled, she had requested the time away from the drills and preparations so that she might pull herself together.
Behind her, the children were playing with their favorite toys and giggling in quite the contrast to the storm of emotions that were churning inside of her darkened thoughts. Silently watching the sun descend beneath the horizon, she bit her lip and recalled Duo's face once more when he saw her. It was a look of a warm familiarity... like they had been life-long friends that had been reunited for years.
And it felt nice.
That was when a realization struck her.
Blinking her wide eyes, Dorothy gripped the damaged brick perch at either side of her. She would be able to see the estates clearly now that the braided Companion was away as Solo's prisoner. Perhaps she would be able to see with her own eyes what it was that made her so endeared by the one creature who should surely despise her for serving his brother.
Her eyes drifting closed, the Seer opened the door to her gift. Already knowing where to look, she spanned the globe with her mind to 'travel' over the ocean until she reached Virginia. The rapid passing of images slowed considerably when she was there, seeing more of her surroundings with the change until she 'descended' upon what she now knew to be the Yuy and Barton cluster of mansions.
Focusing on glimpsing inside the center and darker-hued mansion of the three, Catalonia made her way through the massive gathering of beings that were huddled together. She spotted Sharon, weeping while being held in an Infected's arms. Pausing at the sight, the Seer looked to the thick gold band that was laced with red on her former ally's arm.
A Companion band.
Infuriated by the mere thought of her former fellow Other being bonded with a Vampire, Dorothy quickly moved on. But when she did, she was only taken aback yet again in finding Josh- a band on his own arm- as he spoke quietly with another Infected. They stood together, huddled close like lovers in facing each other.
Perplexed, the Seer pressed on. Every 'step' only served to reveal the remaining Others that had been captured. Except... they were clearly anything but unwilling captives. They all bore the Companion band and a Vampire stationed close by, mostly offering what could easily be assumed as comfort and maybe even love. It was only natural for anyone unawares of what they really were to fall ploy to their seemingly sincere displays.
But such things were nothing more than trickery. Infected were selfish and cruel by nature, covering their true selves with lies of affection and a wish for acceptance. And the very beings that had sworn to destroy them- show them for their true selves to the world- had become part of the mindless majority that fell for those falsehoods.
Dorothy's skin crawled at the very thought. She knew better. She would always be sure to know better. It was not respect that had attacked her from behind that fateful day. It was not caring that had laughed in merriment at her screams and pleas for her life as she was brutally assaulted. It was not love that had held her underwater until she nearly drowned.
All were accounted for now. Eduardo. Peter. Danielle... they all had been turned into Companions to be the mindless slaves of their oppressors. It only made sense. There was no other option to make them fall away from their Master and his insight to the truth. Just as she would have been claimed by that... that...
Rosshe.
Eyes growing in disbelief, Catalonia had spun to suddenly take in the very Vampire that had called to her with his spell of influence. This time, he was nothing like the frail, broken being that she had seen in that dark cave. Now, he stood tall with a light in his gold-and-dark eyes that had been gone only weeks before.
He was strikingly handsome. Remarkably so, no matter how Dorothy tried to deny it.
Then she saw it... she saw him... the one who would have made her known to Duo. And he was speaking to that Egyptian Vampire. It was a face that she swore she would never see again. Hell, a part of her hoped for the sake of what she had to do she wouldn't see him again. And yet, there he stood.
Looking incredibly comfortable in the midst of the Seer's would-be captor was none other than Trent. At the first glimpse of him, a startled and heart-broken wail rose from her. Despite her best efforts to denounce that her gift was portraying what was right before her, she couldn't. What was unfolding before her was true. There was no question of it.
Dorothy's own brother was working with the enemy. They had weathered so much together... always together. From their parents' deaths to growing and fending for themselves on their own, they'd remained a team... each other's best friend and confidant through more trials than even most adults would see in their lifetime. There was seemingly nothing that they wouldn't face without the other.
Until now.
When the world before her began to shimmer even through her gift, Catalonia closed the door to her ability to return to her body. "Oh God," she breathed, shaking her head, "It can't come to this." Moaning in agony, she wrapped her arms around herself and lurched forward as though she had received a devastating physical blow. Tears running down her cheeks while her eyes squeezed shut, she sobbed.
A small hand rested on the small of her back as a small voice called, "Dorothy?" Gasping, the young woman turned her head back to see her young charges standing by to watch her worriedly. TJ lowered his hand, tilting his head as he frowned, "You've never been this sad before. What's wrong?"
Quickly straightening herself and spinning on her perch to face the little ones, the Seer roughly wiped away the wet trails that drenched her cheeks. Careful to not tell a lie that Rachel's gift would pick up on no matter how convincing she tried to be, she sniffled and gathered herself to answer calmly, "It's something that I'll be working out soon, loves. I'm so sorry for startling you."
Taking in the pair, keeping their abilities in mind, an idea took shape. Bringing the sweet innocents into such a plan was the last thing that Dorothy would have ever dreamed of doing. But this was the best and only way that she would ever get the answers, the real answers, that she wanted. Swallowing roughly, she opened her arms and the children all but ran into them to melt against her protective embrace.
"Now... I am going to ask a big favor of you both," she sighed, resting her chin atop their heads. "I know that it is not in our nature to deceive our Master, but maybe we can just keep this one thing from him..."
* * * * * *
Duo lay on his back on the floor in the middle of his cell. Arms folded behind his braided head, he allowed a stray tear to roll from the corner of his right eye as he stared up at the ceiling. It had only been hours since his capture, but every fiber of his being was aching for Heero. He missed all that there was about his Vampire from his cool touch to the subtle way that he smelled.
Recalling that look of sheer pain that had overwhelmed the Original, the Companion fought a soft sob. How he hated to see his lover suffer like that... how he hated to be away from him when they should always be together. More and more, they had become one and the same. Two halves of a whole. One truly needed the other to survive.
It was a daunting task for Maxwell not to worry over what was sure to be the final battle to the war that was coming. No doubt everyone that he'd left behind who could fight would to end the threat that Solo posed against the world... every bit as much as they would be doing so to save Duo.
How many would fall? Vampire or Other, they were all already the victims in this. But who wouldn't last the fight to see the remainder of their extended existences shared with their Chosen when it was all said and done? God, if it was Heero... Or Anna. Or Wufei. Or Trowa. Or any of the Khushrenadas...
Shifting his head to free an arm, Duo reached beneath the collar of his turtleneck to remove the three trinkets that hung from his gold chain. The darkness of the room made no difference on his new vision as a Companion, he could see as plainly as if he were seeing in daylight. His fingers grasped first onto the intricate locket that held the images of his three sets of parents.
Carefully lowering that keepsake onto his chest, the Reformer held the remaining two charms. The first was Heero's gold coin and the other was the bulb-shaped glass that contained the drops of blood from his family. Biting his lip, he called a bit of his gift forth to make his violet irises glow. At the light they created, the dark red liquid turned clear and emulated a cascade of brilliant colors like a prism.
With a deep breath that he released in a sigh, Maxwell watched that beautiful display and took what comfort he could from those droplets from his loved ones. Silently, he prayed for qualities from every one of the Vampires that had made those offerings.
He prayed for Trowa's quiet patience and wisdom. He prayed for Midi's steadfast faith and optimism. He prayed for the Wufei's warrior determination in the heat of battle and serenity of acceptance. He prayed for Anna's courage and strength to face any and every obstacle that should stand in the way head on. And from Heero... he simply prayed to some day be back in Heero's arms again, where he belonged.
At the sound of the cell door creaking open, Duo blinked away the glow in his irises and propped his top half up on his arms to watch his unexpected visitor enter the room. His eyes widening briefly at the sight of the being that closed the door behind themselves, they narrowed heatedly as he hissed darkly, "You."
"Well, well, well," Meiran smiled in a most pleased fashion as she rubbed her hands together. Nothing had changed about her. She was still exquisitely beautiful and perfect on the surface, wearing a knee-length black velvet dress with short sleeves that fit to her body like a second skin. Even that arrogant grin on her pristine face was every bit the same as it had been the last time the Reformer looked on it.
Of course, the way that Maxwell looked on her now was far from the same. Where he had once both admired and been threatened by her presence, now he was disgusted and oddly enough pitied her... albeit only slightly. That God-fearing part of him couldn't help but feel a little bad knowing the horrible things that were coming her way. But then again, that was the bed she had made for herself and she certainly deserved it.
Pompous as ever, the Infected leaned against the wall beside her and hummed. "I simply had to see this for myself. Duo Maxwell locked away from the world and his dearly beloved Heero." Giggling, she shook her head, "Oh, this is simply too good to be true. And yet..." holding her arms out, she smirked, "Here you are."
Jumping to his feet, the hybrid no longer saw Meiran through the blinding red of his rage.
Instead, he saw Howard...
He saw Father Maxwell, Sister Helen, the staff and children of the orphanage...
He saw a terrorized Midi with nasty bruise to her face...
He saw Anna half-naked and nearly beaten to death as she hung lifelessly in her living room with a massive pool of her own blood spreading across the floor beneath her.
Without even knowing that he'd moved to speak, he heard himself snarl, "You have a lot of fucking nerve after what you've pulled... after what you did to MY FAMILY!" Those last words were shouted so loudly And so raw that it was more of a wild animal's howl than his own voice. and that unnatural tone echoed off the walls of the cell.
Shinigami was snarling away now, ripping away at his restraints to have his way with the vile Infected that had ruined so many lives out of spite. For just a moment, his wielder considered letting him loose but thought the better of it. Rashness was not going to keep him safe leading to the army's arrival.
At that abrupt change, the beauty retreated a few steps, blinking her wide and panicked eyes. But she quickly recovered, her fangs growing in as she matched his fiery glare. "None of this would have happened if you had stayed out of the picture," she snapped. "Heero was mine. MINE, YOU HEAR ME!? He deserved a Companion of power and merit, not some freak of nature like yourself!"
It was Duo's turn to laugh darkly. "Jesus, you're still so wrapped up in that thick, conceited head of yours to get it," he admonished, an amused smile on his lips. "You're by far the ugliest damn creature to disgrace the world by walking it." Dumbfounded by his bold comments, the dark-haired Vampire's jaw fell open.
"I've figured out that you had to be the one that sent me the article on the Harvest where my adoptive parents died," the half-breed went on, smirking. "Ever since then, you've tried every little underhanded trick you could to satisfy your sick obsession over Heero, only to find out that he would sooner accept death than be tied to such a revolting excuse of a being like you." Snickering, he shook his head, "That had to be a pretty hard blow even to that remarkable ego of yours."
Finally finding her voice, Meiran stammered, "H-how..." Glaring with her own seething rage, she shrieked, "How dare you!?"
It was both so strange and exhilarating for Duo at that very moment of realizing just how much power he had now thanks to his alter ego. Where only months before, he would have been too timid to be anything near confrontational towards the Infected before him, now knowing what she really was, he was all too happy to shift the tides of their relationship to make her crawl for a change.
He knew all that there was to know about Meiran. And she was about to have a rude awakening in that she had no idea to what he was capable of.
Waving his hand at her dismissively, Maxwell grinned, "You know what, you go on ahead and enjoy seeing me trapped like this. It's only a matter of time before Heero and the others come to rescue me and take care of Solo along with his operation here." He raised an eyebrow, adding, "And I know that at least Anna will be looking forward to seeing you again."
In hearing the redhead's name, the beauty froze as her skin paled several shades until she looked even more ghostly than her usual self. Wide, disbelieving eyes flashed a horror in them the likes of which Duo was certain she never knew before. Snickering, he leaned forward and whispered, "Oh, yea. Anna's still alive."
He straightened, shrugging, "Too bad Dorothy wouldn't have been able to tell you that before now since my sister and I were never far from each other since the attacks. But I can tell you that she's existing and well."
Biting his lip, he chuckled, "And you're not going to have a damn rock to hide under when she gets here." One by one, he began to remove the restraints that tied Shinigami down so that she could see a hint of what was inside of him. It didn't take long for his unwanted guest to find it either, judging by the sharp gasp she made and the new fear that filled her gold-ringed eyes.
Slowly stalking towards the terrified Vampire, he glowered and told her in a low voice, "I saw how Wufei, Heero and Trowa shredded Donnie into pieces while he was still alive. But he got off easy compared to what will happen to you. What my dear Anna does to you won't be anything nearly as pleasant."
When she was almost toe-to-toe with him, a startled Meiran stumbled back only for him to follow her every retreating step as he breathed slowly, "She is going to tear. You. Apart. Limb. From. Limb. And that's only after she's repaid you for Father Maxwell and Howard first. You'll be begging for her to finish you by then as opposed to still having the fight in you that bastard Donnie had. His end came quick. Yours... I wouldn't bank on turning out that way."
A shaky whimper broke from the Vampire when her back met the closed door. Smirking again, Duo leaned close so that their noses were nearly touching. "Then, when my big sister goes and burns whatever little of you is still left," he shared softly, "I'm going to dance around your flames with her."
Her whole body trembling, the beautiful Vampire cried out as her hands reached behind and scrambled to take hold of the door. Desperately pulling at the sliver of a crack to open the cell, she shot back out into the corridor while slamming the door closed behind her in the blink of an eye.
Panting heavily, Meiran raised a shaking hand and pressed it against her chest. That little bastard of a Vampire was still alive. And everything that Duo had just described was no doubt exactly what was going to happen whenever they should cross paths again.
There was no point in running. It was pointless with a Seer on Maxwell's side. Anna would just keep coming until either she or Meiran were the last one standing. Her hand rising to grip her neck, the raven-haired immortal willed herself back together.
What was the fear of their meeting when she knew she could take that lowly Celtic at any point and time? This would be better, to be the one to pluck that ever present thorn in her side for good.
Now that the Infected was getting her bearings once more, the rest of the world came into focus. To the wide-eyed Others that were now watching her, her eyes narrowed and she shrieked, "What are you looking at!?" Instantly, the guards looked forward with their backs to her once more. Growling under her breath, she stormed past the flanking lines of five soldiers at either side of her.
She needed something to guarantee her victory over Anna... something that would serve as a crutch to her foe. Not that Meiran doubted her skills to defend herself and then some, of course. But one was foolish if they did not use every possible angle of advantage that they had at their disposal when it came to survival and ending a nuisance.
Pausing in her rushed footsteps along the catwalks, the Vampire's eyes grew wide. "The children," she breathed as her smug smile returned to her lovely face.
Of course. Anna always had a soft spot for youngsters. TJ and Rachel would be the very thing that could be used against her. And if those little brats should somehow be harmed in the crossfire... "Collateral damage," she shrugged to herself. "Nothing more than that." What did it really matter to her if anything happen to either of those little pets. They had been nothing but a hindrance to her in trying to win Solo over.
Yes, this was going to be brilliant.
A plan forming in her mind, Meiran's smile darkened as she picked up her feet again. All that she needed was the perfect place to make her stand... a place that she knew like the back of her hand with endless impromptu weapons she could get her hands on. Once she had that and the those little monsters, she would be ready for whatever that redheaded bastard tried to throw at her.
Knowing that there was only so much time to work, she hurried off to have everything ready.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Back inside his cell, Duo snickered in two tones at the same time- one his own natural voice while the other was much deeper and more of an animal's contented purr. Shaking his head, he mentally ushered Shinigami back into his 'lair' as he stepped away from the closed door. Even Sister Helen would have laughed along with him for finally giving the Infected a small taste of her own medicine... if Sister Helen were there.
Whether or not it was a Catholic way of handling things no longer mattered. Sometimes forgiveness and turning the other cheek just didn't work... some creatures just didn't deserve that kindness. And if ever there was a perfect example of that, it was Meiran. There was nothing good or redeeming about her. And so there was no regret at all over those words nor the wishes for her to meet a particularly nasty end.
Left to his lonesome once again, Duo moved for the far wall and sat down to lean his back against it. Unconsciously, his right hand reached up to hold onto Heero's gold coin. Lightly rubbing it between his fingers, his thoughts drifted back to his lover. Silently wondering what his Vampire may have been doing at that moment, he sighed and closed his eyes to focus on happier times with the Original.
* * * * * *
Gently rubbing the gold cross that was hanging around his neck, Heero sat quietly only partially listening to the discussions taking place between the lot that filled his living room. Every hour that passed was only becoming all the more excruciating than the last for his growing fears over his Companion.
Between his first practices with his new weapon and his constant thoughts of Duo, the Vampire's mind was far too occupied to pay much more attention than catching a word here and there that passed between the soldiers of the Vampire army.
"We had such a clear shot of that girl," Perry sighed once again, that sentiment no doubt having gone through the whole of the allied army ever since their braided friend had been taken from them. "She would have been taken out so easily."
"It's a good thing that no one risked attempting that," Josh commented, meeting the Infected's gaze. On one side of the former Other, he had a hand wrapped around Sharon's shoulders to aid Jacob in consoling her while Anthony sat close to his other side. "Celeste has to hold onto her gift constantly... like keeping a thumb on a detonator. If she had been killed, her power would have been released and we would all be dead now along with the residents within a fifty-mile radius of here."
Perry, Terry and all of the faces around paled considerably.
After a long, stunned silence, Doctor J finally found his voice when he looked to the Preventer co-Commanders to ask, "Should we be bringing all of our forces together here so that we know we will all arrive where Duo is being held at the same time?"
Shaking his head vehemently, Treize answered, "Dorothy will be able to watch us at any time now. Relena may have found a side benefit to her gift that may repel gifted eyes from us, she is still working on that. Until then, we have to consider the very real possibility that we are being followed this very moment." A few of the Hunters and Infected around the room swallowed roughly while others blearily eyed all around them.
Lady Une folded her arms, informing, "Which is why these meetings much be kept brief and anything that may hurt our only advantage in the numbers that we actually have to ourselves. The Teleporters and Seers amidst our camps that are standing by to ensure that we meet up at the right place at the right time."
Heads nodded in understanding and acceptance of that. Best to have faith that all would proceed as planned rather than unknowingly supply their enemies with information.
With a deep breath, Khushrenada focused back on Anthony, Perry and Terry as he told them, "We requested your presences here for this meeting in particular because we now know where Duo was taken." Their backs straightening, everyone in the room spun their eyes to settle on the Japanese Original sitting hunched forward in the recliner at the far corner of the room with his family gathered around him.
Gripping the cross that he had been thumbing, Heero peered up to the anxious faces to advise as clearly as if he were sharing what the weather was doing outside at that moment, "We're looking for an isle off England's coast."
* * * * * *
"I don't want either of you doing this if you're uncomfortable," Dorothy insisted kindly. Kneading her hands together worriedly, she knelt before her young charges, frowning, "You know that I would never hold it against you if-"
Rachel cut her off by smiling sadly, "It's okay. We want to help." Her smile slipping, she shrugged, "Master already lied to us a few times now. We're stating to get scared." Nodding, TJ huddled close to the Seer when her arms opened to them.
Blinking in surprise at that comment, Catalonia swallowed past the nervous lump in her throat. "Okay," she all but whispered, pulling the little ones close and kissing their heads. When she rose once more, she held a hand out to either youngster and urged, "Then let's get to the bottom of this."
TBC...
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