"Not the enemy," Duo insisted. Gin was right, he didn't have all the facts. She just killed his dad, and she was siding with Gin.
"Come on, One Song, let's go." Gin said. "No more killing. There's only one person we have to kill. Then we'll be safe."
Duo would have tried to take the gun, Gin didn't know a thing about guarding, but Middie Une clearly did. Trowa was right, she was definitely trained as a spy. "Can I say something?"
"No!" Another voice. Definitely an older woman. He recognized her too. Gin's mom. "Give me the gun Middie and you two get going."
Gin grabbed Middie Une's hand as she gave the gun to the woman.
Duo watched the woman carefully. She was good at her skills too. She wasn't even blinking, she'd shoot him dead. "Can we talk about this?"
"What's there to talk about?" she insisted.
"My name's Duo Maxwell." He had to find a way to bust through to her. "Don't I look even a little familiar? I'm half-brother to Gin and Finn." The woman was biting her bottom lip. "I only came in because I saw a young lady in here getting hurt. That's all."
"You sound just like him," she muttered. "I am not surprised there is a half-brother to my son. This was not a time to show up though, and I can't believe that is the only reason you are here."
"Please? Lady, I've got a kid on the way too," Duo said. "You're good at reading people, I can tell. Does it look like I'm lying? I'm not. I just wanted to help."
"Then leave them alone," she told him. "Go and forget you ever saw this place. They should be safely away now." She sniffed.
"I can't." No way. "She's pregnant."
"I know." The woman knew? "She is being used by RTL. She's not perfect. My sons weren't perfect." She shrugged. "RTL are monsters in the guise of pacifists. They do nothing but torture, and after burying my first, I may have to bury my second!"
"Let me help then." She didn't seem like she wanted to shoot anymore. There had been a time delay. Why was she here? Why was that so-called biological father here? Why did Middie Une run with Gin? "Ahhh, okay." Yeah. Duo was putting two and two together. "One of your sons. They are the dad you think?"
"Yes," she said. "Of course, but it's not fair. RTL can reach anywhere." She moved away from the center of the room.
"You got it backwards, your sons aren't the dad," Duo tried to tell her before she left. "Really. I wasn't lying when I said I had an unborn waiting on me. I was a gundam pilot, Lady. They want revenge on us, not your small-time boys. Think about it."
"Gundam pilots?" Ooh. She started to come back into the room. He was getting somewhere. "What are they up to then?"
"I don't know, but the mother of my future kid just survived sepsis, and my mom died of it," Duo admitted.
"They are killing the mother of your children, the same way your mothers died." She was almost ready to believe. "That is their fashion, I could see that. It makes more sense. Your father was absolute trash. Finn was . . . iffy? Gin never did anything, he was my good boy. He only puts on a show, he never does anything wrong. RTL was for revenge against children, it made no sense. None of them fought in the war."
"Yeah. He was a coward, evading all capture." Duo's father. "Can you tell me what was going on?" If she just believed him.
"I came over and I helped reason things out. We were getting her something cold to eat, packing up the car, and I was going to take her back to her home," she said. "Then he showed up. Courteousy of RTL releasing him. He came in, told us the deal. That Middie Une was pregnant with Finn's child, also thanks to RTL."
Yeah. Duo could see how this was going. "Who hurt her?"
"I told you. I reasoned things out with her," she repeated harder.
Duo stared at her. "You." He sneered. "Middie was ready to shoot your ex. Why not you?"
"I reasoned it out," she said again. "I didn't say anything about what he did or did not do. I won't get mixed up with his business again."
Frak! Be nice, get to the bottom of it. "Ah. So, I'll go explain what I know to your son before he ends up getting his butt in trouble. That's what's about to happen, right?"
"Nearest Space Shuttle, I used a favor to get tickets," she insisted. "RTL enjoys making people become what they don't want to become." She sighed. "He has to go kill the one who killed his brother, or she has to." She sniffed. "Then they will leave her alone."
Got it. Good. She could buzz off now. When he had nothing else to give her, she started to leave. "I better call Trowa."
"Trowa?!" She came right back, but this time Duo was out of the line of fire. He was running, her with that gun on him. "I will kill you before you reach Trowa Barton!"
Whoah! What the hell did they say about Trowa?
Duo had a few facts now. First, he had to call Trowa. He was going to be closer to the first shuttle area than he had been, and Middie Une was his responsibility. Two, that so-called 'mom' was part of the roughing up of Middie Une so she didn't get any sympathy from him. And three? That Middie Une was aiming heavily for his dad. That old ex-wife could call that guy trash but she didn't tell Duo what he did.
Blood relatives? "Who needs them," he said as he picked up his phone. He'd rather have reliable people he trusted any day.
"Duo," Trowa answered right away. "I'm sorry, Catherine is watching Hilde. I had to go, someone tripped my wire camera."
Uh. ///Duo: First sign right there. Think, Duo, think sometimes. /// "Yeah, that was me. I found Middie," he said as he moved to his car. Now he really needed to get home, what did Catherine know about defense? He didn't know and didn't want to find out. "Listen, Trowa. You've got a big problem. You need to get to the nearest space shuttle between us. You should actually be closer," he reasoned. "Oh and yeah, there's this old witch out here that started gunning for me when I said your name. I think RTL made up some kind of lie about you being the enemy." He jumped into his car, finally reaching it, still evading fire. "Second." He started it up and barely got out in time. That woman was a good shot, she was going for the kill too. He moved back to the phone. "Sorry, getting shot at and all that. Anyhow, Middie thinks someone else is the dad."
"What?"
"Yeah, and you are apparently part of Revenge of the Lost, trying to hunt her down so be careful. Call me back later." When he could talk better.