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Unknown Prison
Hilde came back to her cell. Duo looked miserable. "I'm okay." She wouldn't let him continue that. "There's no doctor yet, Duo. They just grabbed me and had me sit in a room doing nothing. They just wanted to get a reaction out of you."
Yeah, he looked more relieved now. "Cheap shot. It'll be okay, Hilde, we'll be out of here before you know it."
She really didn't know how to believe that. Apparently Duo noticed that disbelieving look.
"Oh, come on? It's a shoddy prison with rusted bars, holding back a gundam pilot?" he pointed out. "Plus, I mean, chances RTL kept all the info from all of us pilots? I bet at least one of us uncovered something."
Well, it did sort of make sense. It sounded nice. To believe that would be really good because . . . "Duo. I felt such relief, incredible relief, when I knew I was okay." She slouched on the side of the cell, matching him. "I don't . . . I don't want kids."
"Well yeah, we are pretty young right now," Duo agreed.
"I mean, not just that." She probably shouldn't say it. She didn't want to feel worse.
"You don't ever want kids?" Duo asked. "That's fine, me neither."
"Yeah, but most women want kids at some point."
"Yeah, but you aren't most women," Duo countered her. "I know that I probably don't want any, or I want lots."
Lots?
"Like ten or twenty, it'd be weird to just have one," Duo answered her.
Ten or twenty?! "That's a lot of kids, Duo."
"Yeah, so I'll probably stick with zero if I can. It feels like an all or nothing kind of thing." He winked at her. "So let's hope it stays zero."
"You better be kidding!" It took a second for her to register that wink. "Oh." She smiled. He was kidding."
"We'll figure things out," Duo promised. "If worse comes to worse? We can't just send a kid up. I know how that went. I know that really well."
Yeah. Hilde bit her lip. She was happy with her life the way it had been. She didn't need anything else. Duo was right though, if anything happened, they couldn't just send it off. They'd take care of it. Make sure it ate and it had shelter. But, Duo probably said it best in the beginning. "If you can be Uncle Duo, can I be Aunt Hilde?"
Duo held his eyes on hers for longer. "Hild, don't cry." He moved off the floor and stood up.
Hilde didn't move.
"Aunt Hilde's fine," Duo said to her. "It wouldn't even get it at first. We just don't want to raise it like ours, but as long as it's happy, it's not too bad?"
"So what, like a little brother or sister?"
"Heard of worse," he said. "If that's what you want. No one else is giving you a choice in any of this, so whatever you want. As long as we eventually tell it the truth when it's grown up. It'd hate us probably, but I can deal with that. If that's what you want?"
Hilde hid herself behind her knees. "I don't know what I want."
"Well, you'll get plenty of time to think about it, if anything happens, but nothing's happened yet," he reminded her. "You're born and raised from space, Hild, and the fact we've been on Earth for a little while too just makes it that much harder for them to get what they want. So, believe in me. We'll get out."
We'll get out. We'll get out. Remember that.
"So?"
"So." Hilde knew what he wanted. Why didn't she tell him a long time ago, when they first came to Earth because of it? "It was going to happen one way or another. There was so much going on, I didn't want to dwell on it yet." But. "I can't go through it keeping it all bottled up again."
Duo seemed to understand it. He dropped it. "Soon." She noticed he was already starting to examine the cell in places. Looking for weaknesses. "You gonna be ready to date somebody after all this is over?"
It sounded more like an innocent statement, a curious topic for conversation out of boredom. Those words meant neither one.
Duo and her had a bond, and the fact they ran a whole junkyard together without ever forming a relationship bewildered a lot of people. It really didn't them.
Duo's past, what she knew about it, it affected him to that day. Even though he was cheery and bright and could be so friendly? He'd lost too many people. Trusted the wrong people. Been hurt so many times. Though he'd tease when he saw someone he thought was 'cute', he never approached or dated anyone.
Hilde didn't even know if he actually liked her romantically or not, but he trusted her so much that her words 'there was no boyfriend' sent him straight to Earth. He believed and trusted her so much.
But that phrase from him. Had Duo kept her at arms length only because he didn't want to hold her back from marriage or family? "I don't think so, Duo." Still, just words. They would probably not change anything.
Because friendship was comfortable. It didn't involve war or lives lost or hearts broken. It was two people who could laugh, joke, enjoy movies and pizza and just life together.
"Yeah and boyfriends that don't break your heart usually end up wanting marriage and kids," he said casually. "Usually the kids after the marriage."
Oh. He was moving faster in his approach. What was he doing?
"So you either have to know you need a boyfriend who doesn't want kids, or just know that things won't work out for super long."
Getting really strange now. "Sounds like you know from experience, Duo. Have you proposed to a boyfriend before? Did he want kids?" She expected some kind of chuckle from him, he didn't even seriously date.
"I just meant to point out that you should probably just date for fun, so nobody screws up what you want in the future. That's all," he said as if that settled the whole thing.
"I don't want anything in the future."
"Exactly. So, don't get too serious."
Oh! Seriously, that took her a hot minute to figure out. "I don't ever want marriage either. Whether a guy I date want kids or not, I like my own freedom. Too many bad things happen when people connect like that. I never date real seriously, Duo."
"Yeah." He sounded off, but he looked happier. "Yeah, I do that too. I don't need serious people in my life. It's serious enough."
"Right."
"Right."
"Did you find a way out yet?" Topic change.
"Working on it."
In other words, no, but it ended their serious conversation.
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Heero didn't know who was calling him. No one should have his number, even spam wasn't able to get through. He answered it but didn't speak.
"Heero."
Trowa's voice? "This is stupid, Trowa," he warned him.
"Who did RTL just take?"
He knew? "Duo and Hilde Schbeiker."
"Where are you?"
Why did he want to know that?
"I know. Heero, Duo is probably in one of ten jail locations of RTL."
"Great job at finding information," Heero had to congratulate him. "Everything was buried that I could find."
"It's not mine. My mother visited Catherine," he said. "Apparently Crystalia Bloom didn't die. She was a founder of RTL but she turned against them."
Whoah. "Crystalia is your mother?" Heero never knew the name of Trowa's mother. If he did, maybe he could have made that connection himself. "That is the code name of the leader."
"No, it's her real name. She isn't the leader either. Middie Une and the others were impregnated because of her, but she wasn't doing it for her sake. In fact, it was supposed to be Catherine that ended up with Quatre or me."
Yeah, not pretty. "She's the enemy, Trowa, the data could be a trap."
"Middie Une is supposed to die the same way she does, Heero," he reminded him. "She hid facts from RTL, but she knows if they catch her, they won't just kill her. They'll get creative."
"Good point." He'd give Trowa that one. He looked to his side at Relena. He saw her serious, glassy-eyed stare. She wasn't exactly being diplomatic right now. In his rush, he didn't want to take anything. Which meant he missed some key things.
He ignored the issue, but it was getting pressing. "RTL could be tricking you, or your mother might still be in it somehow. That information could still be a trap." He moved the cell from his mouth. "Soon."
She glanced away, almost like a quick burn against him.
"Then we'll test it because she's got two safety locations. If this is legit, we'll need them."
Safety locations. Relena really wouldn't like where he had to drag her to next. He didn't like it either. If Crystalia is the enemy of RTL, then I could get Relena somewhere better. "I'll test it by finding and saving Duo and Hilde."
"Glad to hear you agree," Trowa said. "I'm leaving the circus with Middie Une. I don't know where to go yet. I know when you get Duo and his friend, they won't know where to go either. This could get tricky."
"Do you know where Quatre and Wufei are at?" Heero asked.
"Yes, if they stayed with Dorothy and Mae-Lin Wang. She has a microchip in the women so keep heading north for about two more towns. You'll be near Duo."
Microchipped? "Where at?"
"I don't know."
Damn. "Does RTL know about the microchips too?" He noticed Relena starting to lean more forward.
"I don't think so or they would have found Middie."
Good. Still, they would have to figure that out in the future. They microchipped her like a lost pet. "Call me when I'm two towns over." He hung up, knowing Trowa was following his every move now.
Which was good because he had something else to tackle. "I have to try and find Duo after a couple of towns. We'll stop briefly and get something."
Nothing.
"I promise," he added. "Relena." A head nod, but still a lot of unresolved anger.
Or maybe not anger. She was bending over too much, it was already beginning. Cravings. She craved crackers, tomatoes, and pickles.
He had waited too long to get crackers, which was why she ran out to the general kitchen for her cravings. Which was the reason Duo and Hilde got taken.
And she still didn't get her crackers, and he made her leave right away without taking anything.
He didn't know how much cravings affected her at first, he didn't have the encyclopedia on pregnancy. Everyone was different apparently, and each one was different.
The worst thing was, the cravings were a helper, because she didn't want to eat anything much at all. That surprised him. He thought she'd want to eat even more as the pregnancy moved forward. Instead, she would practically starve if he didn't watch her.
No meat, except in a meatball form with another meat and sauce. No chicken. No salad. No fish. Pasta, but only thick pasta. No spaghetti. She mainly ate veggies and pasta. Throw anything else in front of her and she'd vomit from the smell, or after she ate.
He should have took two seconds to grab at least some veggies but he wasn't thinking about that and neither was she. Now she had an upset stomach or cramps which would make it harder to eat when he did get her food.
The first town he found he stopped and brought her with him into the convenience store. They would have to settle for something quick they could microwave.
She immediately backed out of the store, held her hand over her mouth and that was that with her coming in.
"I'll get something basic, a basic pasta to warm up," he promised. "Follow safety procedure." Not easy. He searched but the basic things to microwave in a small convenience store was limited.
He found some crackers and he finally found something real she could eat, overpriced and small in the freezer section. Not exactly the standard food people would use the convenience store microwave for, but if he paid for it, it was free game to him.
He was on a countdown. He was already in a bad predicament but if Relena didn't eat, then she'd be weak. He paid for the frozen dinner, went over to the store's microwave and started to warm it up.
It wasn't many noodles, and hardly any sauce. It should work. He noticed looks from the person behind the counter, but they probably wouldn't say anything. "Fork."
"Um?" They looked around and gave out a plastic fork to him from the hotdog area. "This?"
He took it. He stirred it after the first beep and put it in longer. Once it was ready again, he took it out. Too hot to hold. He went and bought some small, overpriced paper plates to put it on. Once again, he was getting a funny look.
Once again, he didn't care. He grabbed it all and headed back out to her. "Simple pasta." He also handed her the crackers.
She took both but didn't look like she wanted to eat.
"You have to eat, Relena. You'll need energy for whatever is next," he reminded her.
"We don't know what's next." She took the plastic fork and tried to eat.
He got back in and watched her. She was trying. She was eating really slow so she didn't throw it back up. "I'll try to drive easy."
"Now isn't the time for this," she said like she was mad at herself. Her eyes started to shine. "We are in a real situation right now, and I can't even eat right now normally without wanting to throw up."
"Don't get stressed out," he insisted. "Your body has a foreign body in it, it acts differently." Now. Second emergency. Saving Duo. Heero's phone went off again. "Trowa."
"Heero, don't save Duo."
Um? "I'm heading there now, so why not?" he had to ask.
"This could be a trap. Crystalia doesn't have much on the main leader Superior, but it does point out that she is against you. You are the one she wants revenge against."
"Hm." He didn't want to leave Duo and his girlfriend to the whims of RTL. If they were getting mad at not even getting them, they might upright kill Hilde. "I have to take that chance, Trowa. Revenge of the Lost might be planning to kill them."
"Most likely, they don't want to deviate from the plan. They put a lot of work into this, it wasn't formed in a night, Heero. You have Relena with you too. Trust me, it's not smart."
Hn. Heero could see his point. "If anything happens to Duo, it's on your head."
"I will go after Duo with Middie after I get a hold of Quatre and Wufei."
"All of the pilots?"
"The main leader who upgraded and changed everything to create the way the group is led today has a bitter and crazy need for revenge for you. I know how your mother died, and how Relena is supposed to go. Trust me, Heero. Take Relena far away and let me handle this with the others."
Trowa was telling him to basically run and not get involved anymore? "What is it, Trowa?" He wanted to know.
"Just stay away."
"Unless you are super close, he or Hilde could be killed." That was a fact. Heero didn't want anymore needless death. If he could save him, he had to. "I'll leave Relena far away. If I don't come back, she knows what to do." He had trained her very well how long to wait and where to go. "I will leave the phone with her too."
"You are closer. If you accept the risk, Heero, I wish you luck. I'll get back to you soon. Trowa, out."