What would you do if we woke up and the whole world was gone?
Well, would you believe with me is where you belong?
Well, there goes the world and we're right in the middle
I said Leave me here... I said leave me here... with you.
-Lyrics to 'In the Middle' performed by Theory of a Deadman
Crimson Ties Part 58
Very carefully drawing from the fresh bag of blood, Quatre kept his emotions at bay to keep his hand steady as he brought the end of the dropper to the Petrie dish of Wufei's blood. Releasing a couple drops of Duo's blood to have it mix with his specimen, the scientist worked quickly to replace the protective slide over the mixture and placed it under the microscope.
With one hand magnifying the image as he peered through the eyepiece, his free hand took up his pen to be ready to note down any changes that he might pick up with a naked eye scan. Even the slightest of differences in the strand needed to be recorded... if there were any. Biting his lip, Winner muttered under his breath, "Come on. Come on. There has to be something for you to show me."
Just beyond the living room of their cousins' home, Heero and Duo watched their friend between the balustrades of the stairway that they were perched on. Shifting on his step, the Companion looked to Midi as she entered the hall with a fresh, steaming mug of coffee in hand that had been made just the way Quatre liked it.
"Has he slept... at all these last couple of days since he got started on this research?" he asked quietly, voice dripping with worry for his roommate. In the times that Maxwell and his lover had come to the estate to check on the scientist, Winner was waist-deep in his work.
Pausing in her steps, the brunette Infected gave her braided cousin an undignified expression. An eyebrow lifting, she huffed, "What kind of mother would I be if I did not see that he stopped to eat a good meal and sleep when he should?" At the sheepish duck of the hybrid's head, she smiled with a wink at him before she hurried into the living room.
The strong smell of the coffee making its way towards Winner had him lifting his head and he grinned widely to his hostess. "You're an angel on Earth," he sighed in sincere appreciation. Accepting the mug that was handed to him, he pushed his chair away from his desk and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. Even behind his closed lids, he continued to see the same strands of DNA that he had uncovered over the last two days.
Gently rubbing his back, Midi informed, "Breakfast is just about finished, dear. You really should have at least a couple of hours away from this to relax and get around a bit." Her tone taking on a warning timber, she smirked, "Unless you want to want to challenge me on that suggestion like the last time."
Eyes widening, Quatre shook his head vehemently, "No, no! I'll take a break, promise!" Rising from the couch that she was sitting on across from him, Relena giggled and followed her long-time friend from the room to giver her a hand in the kitchen.
On her way past Heero and Duo, Midi gave them proud smile and held her nose in the air as if to dare them question her hosting skills ever again. Snickering, the lovers got to their own feet to join Winner in the living room as the scientist took a couple sips from his mug.
Lowering the rim from his mouth and setting the cup aside, the living frowned to his friends, "I was hoping that by now after all of the tests I've run I would have found some kind of change in the DNA structures I've been looking at." Frustrated, he threw his hands in the air with an exasperated, "But there's absolutely nothing for me to go on!"
Maxwell raised his hands, reassuring, "Hey, it's alright, Quat. The last thing that I want is for you to burn yourself out. You've been working your ass off with this and I can't tell you how much I appreciate your trying to help out like this, but maybe what we're looking for just isn't going to show in the genetics of my make-up."
Very adamantly, Winner shook his head, "No, everything in us comes down to our DNA. It's our foundation. If there is something in you that Vampires need, it would reflect in your chemistry." The efforts of the constant pressure that he was putting himself under was taking its toll on him to actually show in physical fatigue.
Sighing deeply once more, the scientist's shoulders slumped. "I think that I need to take more of a break than a few hours," he admitted reluctantly, staring at the slide beneath his microscope. "Maybe stepping away for a while and then getting back to this will give me a fresh way of looking at things."
Heero led the lot from the living room as he grinned over his shoulder, "You really need to not worry about us and think of yourself more. We have no expectations or demands for results like the ones that you put on your shoulders. Whatever is in Duo will always be there to be discovered, so take all the time you need in trying to find it." His lover nodded to their friend, seconding the sentiment.
"You're both taking parenting lessons from my mother, Midi and Relena," Quatre snorted. "I honestly don't know between the three of them which one is the worst." As displeased as he tried to look over all of the concern, he couldn't help the small grin on his face. Despite how agitating all of the mothering might be at times, it was nice to be so cared for.
In personally seeing that the living actually got to the kitchen table for his breakfast, Heero and Duo slipped from the residence to head out and check on Wufei at his estate for an inspecting of the progress of his own project. Once they stepped out onto the front porch of Midi's home, the Vampire took hold of his Companion's arm to stop him suddenly.
Blinking his silvered eyes in surprise, the hybrid met the gaze on him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Yuy became a bit anxious, very out of character for the usually sure and true Infected. Clearing his throat, he reached into the pocket of his jeans as he replied, "I was going to wait for later to give this to you. But in light of how rough the last couple of days have been for you, I don't want to wait on it any longer."
Slowly removing a familiar oval-shaped locket, he bit his lip at the confusion in his lover's eyes. Opening the ornate pendant, he held it out to reveal the additions that he had made.
Noticing the extra leaf that had been soldered in place, Duo gasped. Originally, the locket only held the picture of his birth mother and father. Now, there was also an image of Carla and John and another of Father Maxwell and Sister Helen that had been pictures from his personal collection so that all of his parents were represented.
"It only seemed right," Heero shrugged. "I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty to-" The remainder of his sentence was cut off by Maxwell's lips pressing against his own.
Cobalt-and-gold eyes widening in shock, it only took the Vampire a still heartbeat to respond. His eyelids drifting closed, he pulled his partner close as the kiss intensified and deepened at the braided immortal's devices.
Pulling away after a thorough exploration of his lover's mouth, Duo rested their foreheads together as he panted, "There's no possible way you could ever be more perfect." Were Yuy able, he would have blushed a deep hue of red to add to the pleased grin that spread across his handsome face.
With a wide smile, he took up the locket to admire the pictures in it. Fighting tears, he unhooked his necklace to add the oval charm with the gold pence and bulb of Vampire blood that he always kept on him. "I'm growing quite the collection here," he snickered as he replaced the chain around his neck.
"That's a lot of love in those keepsakes to always carry with you," Heero smirked, reaching out to carefully handle the three precious gems that his Other held so dear. "And there was no other being more deserving of it."
Moved by that, Maxwell swallowed past the lump in his throat and felt the sting of fresh tears that threatened to come on. Holding up the gold pence that fell in the middle of his collection, he breathed, "As wonderful as it is to have all of that, your love is the most important to me." Leaning in to express his gratitude with another kiss, this one gentle and sweet, Yuy let his actions convey how much the sentiment meant to him.
As he stepped back, the Vampire took hold of his lover's hand. "Come on," he grinned. "We better see if Wufei and Trowa need any help setting up Anna's surprise."
* * * * * *
Never before had Duo ever seen so many flowers. Everywhere he looked in every room of his siblings' mansion, there were walls of colorful buds and ribbons. The work and cost that had gone into the arrangement were nothing to Wufei since he knew how much his wife loved flowers. So to come home to a house filled with them in the middle of the winter, the Irish Infected was in for a shock.
"You're lucky that I love you and Anna, cousin," Trowa sighed as he descended the staircase with cascading lilies along the banister. Reaching the first floor, he shook his head in amusement at the scaly Vampire that was testing the white icicle lights that hung from the ceiling from room-to-room.
Try as he might to look put out, Barton still smiled, "You know how much I loathe decorating... even if it takes us no time at all to set something like this up." Chuckling, Chang rolled his golden eyes and finished the last of his inspections for the entry-way.
Still wide-eyed, Duo finally managed to take a step forward from the front door that he and Heero had just entered and closed behind themselves. "Damn, Fei," he breathed. "What did you do? Did you buy out every floral shop in the city?" Even his Vampire was in awe. And considering all of the things that he had seen his family accomplish over the centuries, that said a lot.
Approaching them, his brother-in-law laughed, "Pretty damn close. Needless to say the florists couldn't have been happier and they did more of the hard work. The setup was pretty easy for us, only taking a whole thirty minutes to have all of the rooms set up."
Yuy smirked, "Well, Midi will be most impressed when she stops over. You both certainly rival her decorating skills." When the scaly Infected neared, they exchanged a one-armed embrace that Chang and his braided sibling passed on as a greeting as well.
"Actually, Trowa and I used inspiration from her displays from the past when we arranged this. So, she still deserves some credit," Wufei grinned. Patting the pack pocket of his jeans, he announced, "I have the two roundtrip tickets to Ireland for our second honeymoon on me and..." he removed a small, white velvet box from his other pocket and opened it to the couple.
Duo was unable to help the quiet gasp as he took in the twin silver rings that took on the shape of thin vines with glistening diamonds on their leaves that wound the bands all the way around. "Very nice," he breathed with a wide smile. Already imagining how those bands would be perfect set against either side of his sister's gold, rose-shaped wedding ring, he assured, "She's going to love those." A pleased grin on his own face, Heero nodded in agreement.
Barton nudged the scaly Vampire, chuckling, "Yea, you didn't do too bad, cousin. And I'm all too happy to give whatever hand I could with this." Chang gave him an appreciative smile and lightly 'punched' his arm in response to the brush that had the Latin Infected laughing while Yuy knuckled his scaly counterpart's head with a smirk.
For Duo, seeing how Heero, Trowa and Wufei had grown so close following their shaky start was heartwarming. After all of the bitter feelings and senses of betrayal, they really had come to be a family that cared for and looked out for each other as brothers only would.
"Anna really is going to love all of this," the Japanese Original declared as he scanned the heavenly scene around them. "You did a really good thing here, Wufei."
Blinking his widened eyes as he smoothed the hair that had been rubbed out of his ponytail, Wufei replied sincerely, "Coming from you, that means a lot, Yuy." With a smile, he looked to the lit ceiling and walls of flowers, sighing, "She's definitely worth all of this and infinitely more."
He winked at the braided Companion, "But none of this would have been possible if you hadn't come to me the way that you did."
Maxwell raised his hands in the air, insisting, "Hey, I didn't do anything. Don't give me any credit I don't deserve." Based off the looks that the Vampires gave him, he knew that he wasn't going to be let off the hook that easily. Shaking his head, he relented, "Oh, alright. Maybe I helped a little. But really, any one of you would have done the same thing if you were in my shoes"
Snickering, Heero wrapped his arms around his Other's neck and kissed his cheek. "That's my little Cupid." Duo snorted and lightly pushed himself free, an embarrassed grin on his heart-shaped face.
The hybrid took a deep breath as he turned back to Wufei and Trowa to say, "Well, if there's not much left to do that 'Ro and I can help with before Anna gets home tonight, I think we're going to get ready to head out to the Maxwell Church. I figured it's about time I go to see them and build a bridge over the water between us."
Pleased to hear the news, Trowa smiled, "Very good to hear. And yea, we're just about finished here before Midi hurries over to put on the finishing touches." Chang nodded to back the request without hesitation.
"Cool," Duo sighed in relief, knowing that he was finally about to have one major hurdle behind him. Patting his brother and cousin on their backs, he headed to the front door with Heero. As he peered over his shoulder, he smirked playfully, "Have fun tonight, 'Fei."
Wufei snorted, "Why would we stop at tonight?" Laughing at the flushed expression he earned, he waved and offered a sincere, "Good luck with your visit." Trowa voiced the warm of luck in kind.
Passing along his 'thank you's,' the Companion stepped out onto the front porch with his Vampire. The moment Yuy closed the door behind them, he took hold of his lover to hold him up in a tight embrace. Chuckling softly, Maxwell closed his silvered eyes and wrapped his legs around the Original's waist as his arms looped around his partner's neck.
His head lifting to press their lips together in a soft kiss, Heero pulled back just enough that their mouths brushed together when he asked quietly, "I'm proud of you for doing this. It's very noble of you to let the past go since everyone who looked after you only had your best interest in mind with everything they did."
Just having the Infected's pride in him had Duo beaming. Crushing their lips back together, he soaked up the last of the courage that he needed in his decision from his partner. More than ready to move on, he lowered himself back to the ground and kissed the end of Yuy's nose and linked hands with him.
"Come on," the hybrid smirked. "We have some light packing to do." All too eager to please his soul mate, Heero smiled and squeezed his hand as they headed down the porch steps to move for their estate.
Life was definitely back to getting good. And it was only looking to get better with the healing that was setting in.
* * * * * *
Hours later...
Groaning, Quatre pulled away from the eyepiece that he had been staring through for the last fifteen minutes. Frustrated, he removed the dish that was marked as Anna's blood that he had combined with Duo's. Just like all of the other samples that he had used time and time again for the last few days, he couldn't see any difference in the Vampires' DNA to explain the mystery around his braided friend.
"I just don't have the right tools to incubate and dissect the blood the way I really need to," he sighed as he leaned back in his chair, throwing his arm over his eyes. "More than ever, I feel like I'm just about to crack this, but I'm realizing that I'm limited in what I need to piece together what I don't realize I'm seeing."
The Councilwoman frowned deeply from her place on the couch across from the scientist. Slowly rising, she approached him to rest a hand on his shoulder. "Is there anything that I could do to help?" she asked softly. "I do so hate to see you troubled like this."
Lowering his arm, the living gave her an appreciative smile as he replied, "Just having you around so I can vent is enough, Relena." He pushed himself upright in his chair and washed his face with his hands, mumbling, "I'm just bothered in knowing I'm so close to cracking this but I just don't have the equipment-" Eyes growing, Winner cut himself off.
With a gasp, he bolted from his seat and hurried for his backpack across the room and fell to his knees. Startled, the Infected stayed back as she blinked widely at her friend. Practically shaking as he removed his thick binder, Quatre muttered, "There may be a way I can get to the tools tonight if the school has..." His voice trailed off as he leafed through the pages in his campus information binder.
Finally coming to the paper he was looking for, the scientist ran a finger along the text as he mouthed the words to himself in his reading them. "Yes!" he exclaimed with a sharp laugh. Climbing to his feet, he turned towards the Vampire and held his binder up in triumph as he cried excitedly, "The science lab on campus has been open to students since yesterday! I already have my access card, so I just need to get there to finish my work!"
Walking up to him, Relena smiled widely, "I can get you there as soon as you're ready." Finally, there was a way that she could be of assistance to her dear friend... and nothing could make her happier than to be able to help him.
Quatre was so elated after all of his days of struggle that he forgot himself completely and leaned in to kiss he Infected on a cold cheek. When he pulled back, they both stiffened with wide eyes. Sputtering, the living smiled sheepishly, "I-I... uh... sorry. It's been a long few days." He was given a beautiful and almost shy grin from that which gave him pause.
Clearing his throat, the blonde scientist moved back to his table to begin gathering up his disks and equipment. "I just need help packing up the samples I've been using and then we can be off," he said as Relena hurried to round the station and carefully set the items passed to her in his large bag.
Their cleanup was fast and efficient. With a quick announcement to Midi to make there whereabouts known, the pair rushed for Peacecraft's car to head for the college moments after Heero's car had driven off in the opposite direction to head north for the Maxwell church.
* * * * * *
Dorothy's silvered eyes flew open in a gasp. "The veil from my eyes has been lifted. And two of the chess pieces just moved out of range," she whispered.
Sailing from his throne, Solo closed the distance between him and his Seer to take her hands. "Duo is on the move, then? And you have no idea who is with him or where he is heading?" The lovely girl bit her lip and shook her head with a deep frown. Already having expected that response, the hybrid nodded, "That's fine. What about the estates and the two that have headed away?"
"It's the Counsel Representative and the living," his pet replied. "They're moving on to a very crowded school ground. It would be too great a risk to have the teams break up to take care of them. There are too many eyes around everywhere for their disposal to be handled in a discrete manner."
While the situation was not ideal, it was what Solo had to work with. Though he wished all of his enemies could have been dealt with at the same time, those two would have to be dealt with another at time. And in reality, they were not of nearly as much interest as the remaining targets. "What of the others?" he pressed.
Quickly, Dorothy reassured, "With the exception of your brother's Chosen, who must be ever at his side, everyone else is still in place as we had planned. But, I would recommend that we tell the teams not to wait much longer. Nightfall is nearly upon us and so they will need to move in as they had been directed. We have no idea where Duo and his Vampire will be in the middle of the attacks to respond."
Nodding, the hybrid agreed aloud, "Yes, yes. Of course." At that, he spun to face his unchained guest standing beside Meiran. Stalking towards the brute, he raised his head and asked, "You know what you and the Others I am sending with you have to do?" His response came in the form of a fanged smirk that promised a thousand hells for his prey.
Shoulders rolling back, Solo ordered in a hiss, "Go." Not needing to be told twice, the Infected was off in a blur of himself through the throne room door.
Meiran smiled darkly to herself as she watched her new friend vanish. This was it... the plot of devastation that would fall on every one of the creatures that she hated more than anything in the world. Those beings had disrespected her for far too long and now they were going to pay the price by underestimating what she was capable of. While there was no going back for her, she was content in her role.
Her reign of terror had officially begun. And when it was over, the worlds of many would never be the same.
* * * * * *
"W-what do you want?" Father Maxwell groaned as he reached up to cover the bleeding gash that ran across his forehead. Sprawled out on the floor before the attacker that he had never seen come into his office before he felt the blow that knocked him from his chair, he stared up in fear into the silvered eyes watching him.
Smirking, the tall young man brushed back the ends of his trench coat as he bent at the waist to come more eye-to-eye with the priest. "We're going to have a little bonfire," he purred in a haunted whisper. "And you get to be part of the main attraction along with your kids and sisters."
As the handsome young man straightened himself, he turned to face his fellow dark-clad accomplices standing in the doorway. "Start the round up," he smirked.
* * * * * *
Whistling along with the song on the radio as he drove around the bend of hills leading to his base, Howard had a pleased smile on his face. His mind already churning with thoughts of new weapons that were in need of being fashioned, he was looking forward to getting a crack at engineering the unique designs.
The sky was changing its array of brilliant colors at the start of the sunset. Already the days were lasting a little longer than they had in the depth of winter. Before long, the snow would be melting and spring would be upon this corner of the world. It was yet another thing that brightened the pleased smile on the old man's lips.
As he rolled through the hidden doors that opened to him, Howard took the steep downward slope into his base's parking lot slowly. Bringing the vehicle to a stop, he parked and reached back to the passenger seat to remove the binder of notes that he had been jotting his new concepts into before he headed from his car.
Sighing as he reached his private office that was already lit and alive with activity from the machines around, the old man tossed his pad on the main desk and sat in his leather chair to lean back and made himself comfortable. Set to the task ahead, he cracked his knuckles and muttered to himself, "Alright. Time to work my magic."
His fingers wiggling, he smiled and reached for his keyboard when a security alarm sounded in pulsating, shrill buzzes as red lights flashed. Back straightening, Howard rolled his chair to the opposite desk to scan the monitors belonging to his security cameras. At first glance, there looked to be nothing out of the ordinary in the serene forest and whitened shrubbery surrounding the base.
But the moment he was about to pass the alarm as being false, that was when the old man saw it... a subtle flicker of a dark figure moving through the bushes. And there was no question that the lurking figure belonged to anything but a human... or Vampire.
Then there was another glimpse of a second figure at the opposite end of the base. And a third that yet another camera picked up before it vanished as quickly as it appeared just like the others. When they all came back into view, they each had not only doubled, but they were closing in very purposely on the base.
Wide-eyed, the engineer's shaking hand reached for his phone. Placing the receiver against his ear, he dialed one of the many numbers that he knew by heart. Unable to look away from the multiplying figures that flickered in and out of view on the lookout monitors, he swallowed roughly as sweat beaded on his brow.
In two rings, the familiar voice greeted, "Howard? Is everything alright?"
Snickering nervously, the old man replied, "Funny you should ask, Trowa. I could really use some help here at the base as it seems I have some unwanted guests and your clan is the closest to me." No sooner had he spoken the words than one of the larger of the hooded beings appeared at the front doors to slam its side against it in making itself a battering ram.
The blow was so strong that the rock walls within trembled from the vibrations that resonated through the air along with the metal crash that was nearly deafening. "Chang and I are on the way!" Barton's voice bellowed over the line, the distress in his tone making it known that he had heard the explosion.
"Yea. That would be most app-" the engineer's sentence was cut off, the connection ending abruptly to only sound static over the Vampire's end.
Frantic, Trowa pulled his ear away at the irritating sound. "Fuck!" he cried, eyes narrowed and fists clenching. Spinning on his heels, he called to his cousin, "Wufei, get every weapon you can! We need to get to Howard right now!" Not even bothering to ask what was wrong, the scaly Infected sailed down the stairs with a duffle bag in each hand that had already been packed with gear.
Midi hurried into the scene, her eyes growing in concern. "What's going on?" she frowned deeply, only to be pulled into her husband's arms for a fierce kiss and embrace.
Pulling back, Barton whispered in her ear, "Howard's under attack. You stay here where you'll be safe and wait for Anna to let her know what's going on. We'll be back as soon as we can, love."
Instantly, tears of concern filled the 'little mother's eyes as she kissed him back soundly and pulled her cousin into a tight hug. "Be careful," she begged before they vanished from the flowery wonderland that they had worked to create.
Biting her lip when the front door slammed closed and the sound of the sports car squealing from the lot filled the air, Midi worried her hands together and silently prayed that all would be well with her family.
Quickly reaching into the pocket of her apron to fish out her cell phone, he opened the flip and moved to dial Heero to tell him the news when she frowned at the flashing NO SIGNAL flashing on the screen.
If her heart were still beating, the brunette knew that it would have stopped short in that instant with the startling realization that she was anywhere but 'safe.' And it was too late for her to call for help.
At the sound windows breaking, Midi's shoulders slumped at her sides as they came for her from every direction. There was no where to run. She and her entire family had been set up in some terrible trap.
"Well now, ain't ye a pretty little thing?" a deep voice snickered sinisterly. Slowly turning, the family matriarch's mouth fell open when the blow came to plunge her into darkness.
* * * * * *
Free at last.
Humming to herself, Anna hopped the steps of the front porch of her mansion.
At an initial inspection of her family's homes, Heero and Duo's estate was completely dark and their BMW was missing from their driveway but that was to be expected since Wufei had told her on her last break that they were off to the Maxwell church. When they returned, the redhead would made good on letting her little brother know how proud she was of him for talking to his adoptive 'parents' again.
Trowa and Midi's estate was still lit up. No doubt Quatre was still working away in their living room-turned-science-lab. Once she had properly reunited with Wufei, the Irish Vampire planned on heading over and check on her friend to see that he was still holding up in his efforts and to offer whatever help she could.
But first and foremost, Anna was ready and anxious to be back in her husband's arms and their bed to thank him for his attentiveness in talking to her during every break. It was as if something had rekindled between them, only she hadn't noticed that the torch needed to be tended to. And now she was prepared to see that the little flame would explode into a fire that would never die out.
Stepping through the front door, the redhead called, "Wufei. I'm home!" The moment she set foot inside, her words came to an abrupt stop with a sharp gasp as she froze half-standing in the doorway with wide eyes. Taking in the cascading flowers and hanging, twinkling lights that flooded the entry-way through what looked to be the whole of the mansion, she slowly walked through the beautiful scene.
On her way down the long hallway towards the back deck, Anna's jaw fell in a brilliant smile. Covering her mouth, she giggled. Absolutely beaming, she threw her duffle bag from her shoulder and hurried for the back deck when she heard a subtle rustle. "Wufei!" she cheered as she ran for the enclosed patio. "I can't believe that you did this all for-"
Her words stuck in her throat when she took in the tall, muscular form that rose from the couch that it had been lounging in. Instantly recognizing the cruel smirk on the square face that greeted her with those leering green-and-gold eyes, the redhead's skin paled as she all but crumbled to the floor in terror. "You," she breathed in disbelief as she stumbled back a few shaky paces.
"Ah, my sweet lass," the stocky Vampire before her greeted. "Every bit as lovely as that night I took ye back on the good 'ol isle." Slowly stalking towards his stunned prey, his fangs grew in as he hissed, "Now it's time te finish what me friend and I started with ye."
TBC...
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