Phillip's Prisoners, Please?

On The Road With Trowa and Duo . . .

"Where do we go next?" Trowa asked Duo. He had explained about how Middie possibly might not be carrying his child. It made no difference, she was still someone caught in RTL's trap.

She was still a friend. He wanted to help all the same. Helping Duo figure out where they were wasn't as simple though. Wufei's mother had been with him and barely managed to scriblble a few things down.

Making sense of what she wrote, looked like a puzzle all it's own.

Duo looked out the window. It was all risky. "Actually, I think I know where we should go. You might not like it, so I can drop you off wherever you want if you don't. I am going to need some serious help with my Hilde hunt. This one man band is not enough."

"Where?" Trowa asked.

"To Gin Phillips. We look similar enough, he wants to try and switch places. That guy really doesn't have any business running what he's running," Duo said. "He wants me to take over. It's such a bad idea, that I really want to try it."

"Well, well." Trowa's voice lifted. "That works well for your current problem and afterwards."

"Yep, say hello to the Phillips power." Duo knew Gin didn't want that power, but he didn't have the stomach to risk turning on it. Duo would.

"What about Middie Une?" Trowa had to ask.

"Gin will probably try to track Quatre and leave with Middie Une," Duo told him.

Trowa shook his head. "Dorothy Catalonia cannot be put at risk, and I don't trust Gin Phillips to watch over her."

Hmm. Yeah, Trowa did believe she was his responsibility for a long time. Telling him his brother would do fine, wouldn't exactly . . . "I can't tell a lie, you're right, he'd probably suck. He's okay, but he wasn't even involved with the Phillips, he was working with Middie Une. A basic average guy." Must have been a nice life.

Trowa just shook his head again. "No. I'm watching Middie."

Geez. Duo looked out of the corner of his eye. "Trowa, the Phillips were looking for you to kill, I don't know if you forgot that?"

"They thought I was after Middie Une," Trowa corrected him. "I'm not anymore, I am now ordered to help Middie kill Dorothy Catalonia from Revenge of the Lost."

Uuh? "Well? I guess I will be running it." They did take on him and Heero with no problem. It was RTL that was the problem for them, not the Phillips. "Gin is going to want to be right beside her." Trowa didn't answer. "He's kind of in love with 'One Song', he's been crazy for her since I've known him."

"She goes by Middie Une, not One Song," Trowa corrected him. "He isn't skilled enough to handle this, he shouldn't try anything until Revenge of the Lost is out of the Phillips business."

Oh, Trowa. Duo didn't know what else to say. Trowa did his own thing, and he was going to do his own thing.

"You should jail Cathy and me as Gin Phillips."

Yeah, well, different. "Looking forward to being my prisoner?"

"Revenge of the Lost is after Cathy because of her relation to me and Crystalia. They won't bother with the circus if she is a prisoner of the Phillips. The Phillips were after me, but you understand the truth, and as the leader, would make sure she gets to the target without putting another Phillips at risk."

Oh, Man. "Seriously, I don't think Gin is going to go for that. He is obsessed with the Middie girl," Duo reminded him.

"I can be a second helping hand, to make sure your brother is alright. If you are in charge, Duo, no one can say anything about your orders," Trowa said.

Okay? "You might be missing the whole 'taking over the family' thing. I'm pulling a switcheroo so RTL can't mess with us anymore. I can't be Gin going around with Middie Une, and Gin that orders Gin to let Trowa come with them."

"I'm not letting Middie Une go out by herself and make an irrepairable mistake, nor am I letting her lay down and just accept the consequences. I will make sure RTL believes that we are hunting down Dorothy Catalonia, but I won't let her get hurt."

"You're taking Middie Une out to the desert to risk looking like she's off to kill Dorothy Catalonia." Duo tried to think about it. She did have a checkered past, but she wouldn't, right? "You really don't think she could get away and accidentally do it?" Whoah. Duo usually didn't see a whole lot of emotion in Trowa's eyes, he had one of the best poker faces around. Yet, he could have sworn he actually saw offense.

"Middie Une regrets a lot of things, she wouldn't be capable of killing another pregnant woman. I know if placed in that position? She will want to have her baby so it's safe, and then try to run away from this all. She won't get away, and she'll be killed." He said it like it was all a solid fact. "She can't run away or say no, RTL is calling the shots. If she says no, they will snag her and kill her like she is nothing. No revenge needed, not dying in a certain way, all it takes is a single bullet to the head."

Okay, and Trowa cared too much to let her end herself like that. "It's a dangerous game to play, staying close but not close enough to shoot. I hated when you played that game with Oz in the colonies that one time."

"I won't let her risk it," Trowa said simply. "Since the Phillips have Cathy, Trowa Barton will be cooperative. It'll fit, Duo."

Well? Trowa's sister Cathy being there should make it work. The Phillips did fall for family stuff.

Okay. Meet Gin. Talk about the new prisoners, Trowa's deal, and then do the switchover. Keep Gin way out of the business by agreeing to actually take it over after RTL's nonsense is over, that way he could hammer the business into the ground.

Gin would agree to everything, but the Trowa thing would still be a pain in the ass to get that guy to agree to. He could be hardheaded, and he could definitley hold a grudge. Maybe if he told him that he thought of 'One Song' like a sister? So he'd be more like a brother-in-law when they got married?

Oh yeah, Duo's step mom. That woman actually called a lot of the shots too, which was the whole reason a marriage was a thing. He'd have to figure out how to eventually pull her out of her seat of power. "I think I've got it figured out," Duo told Trowa. "Gin isn't fighting against marrying Middie Une, but his mom is the real reason he has to. If you want to go along with them, we can just say that you became sort of like a brother while you watched over her. You know, sort of like with your sister Cathy."

Oof. Duo definitely saw some emotion slip. "She isn't Cathy at all."

"It'll fit, Trowa. If Gin thinks you never thought of Middie as anything but a brother, I'm sure he'll use you to keep her extra safe," Duo pointed out.

Trowa took a deep breath. "I wouldn't think of someone I thought was carrying my child as a future sister, Duo, it won't work that way."

"Gin doesn't know the whole scoop. He knows that she knew you, but Heero and I never told him much except that you weren't a bad guy. I doubt she ever gave him details. If you had sisterly feelings beforehand, then maybe you were protecting her like a brother. Maybe you knew the truth already since Crystalia was your mom. We could say she just let that slip?" Duo was trying. "You've got to give me something to work with here. He's not gonna like another guy around his girl."

"She is not 'his girl'. If that is the way you see as best, you can describe it that way. I won't describe it that way. A sister is different and it isn't something I can just 'pick up'. I can be protecting just a friend. You had been protecting just a friend," Trowa pointed out.

"I think I failed miserably on the protection," Duo answered honestly. "She was caught twice. Once with me for a day, and once without for a whole month now. No one has lost twice like I did." Oh yeah, Trowa just did. "Nevermind. Look. When it comes to time away from safety . . ." No, that also wasn't it. "No, I gotta admit, I have to share the lousy spotlight with you. Sorry."

Phillip's Residence

Trowa wasn't treated the best at first when he first came, but Duo got Gin to loosen up. He didn't say anything as Duo told Gin about Trowa being a 'brother figure' to Middie, and wanting to help out with the target.

Gin wasn't buying it. There wasn't a choice. "I will not go against you. Duo already knows the location of my sister, and you now have her in your possession."

"I can handle One Song," Gin told him. "I don't need you, and I don't need to take any stupid prisoners."

Ugh, Trowa hated that ridiculous name. He respected names that someone chose, but Middie Une never respected or liked that name.

"Look, Duo, One Song has to kill someone. That isn't going to be easy for her," Gin tried to tell Duo. "Oh, I'm so lucky mom's not here today."

Not even a shot. Trowa had no choice, Gin didn't even want to keep him as a prisoner. He needed something strong. "In the past, I didn't know that Cathy was my own sister. I didn't know my own identity. Revenge of the Lost was twisting the knife again, that is why Crystalia stuck me with her in the first place."

"Um?" Gin looked like he was at least considering it. "You mean?"

"Yeah, he didn't want to tell Middie Une since it was their own family." Duo was helping him make the excuse even better. "He wanted to bring her into the actual family and get to know them before he told her the truth. He couldn't reveal the real connection since RTL made her confused about the baby."

"Oh, I get that." Yeah, Gin was going for it. "Oh yeah, even mom will go for that. Sorry, Trowa, for having the group kind of hunt you down like that."

Yeah, this guy didn't have what it would take to care for Middie being so close to Dorothy Catalonia. This was already going to be difficult, and just this excuse alone had Gin smiling. Gin trusted Duo. He was easy to manipulate. Completely gullible. His mother ran his life, even though he ran their family business.

This might work out real well.

---

"How are we going to do this?" Gin asked Duo after they were alone.

Duo touched his hair skeptically. "I grew this thing my whole life. I've put my life on the line plenty before, but my braid?" This sucked. "It feels like the worst part of the plan."

"Duo." Gin wasn't amused. "This is real risky, are you sure about this?"

"You are the leader," Duo reminded him. "What you say, goes. Right now, that is." Most of the men wouldn't know the difference between Gin and Duo, but the top ones did. Gin was even making a contract with Duo's name and identity documents to physically hand over being at the top. The top people wouldn't say anything because Duo was officially the leader, but he wasn't going to announce it until after RTL was brought down.

Right now, he was about to take 'second-in-command', so Gin could be out with his crush, and Duo could run the show there. Eventually when Middie's problem was solved, he'd have to lose his luscious locks.

"Are you sure we should be bringing One Song's brother?" Gin asked him again. "Last time we just grabbed a gun and took off. Hardly anything had been given to us," Gin said to Duo. "Sounded cut and dry, and considering what this . . ." He kind of faded away. "The press cleared her name, but she's still missing. It's a lot easier to plug someone when they deserve it for taking someone from you."

Yeah, but it didn't take away any of the pain. "Gin. I've been there in the past. I've lost too many to count anymore. Dorothy Catalonia isn't even responsible, the proof came out. Revenge of the Lost was messing around with you so you'd do their dirty work."

"I really hope this works," Gin said back. "Her and her kid already dying make it easier I guess."

"Well, it shouldn't." She wasn't responsible for anything. Duo watched as Gin gave him a printout. "What's this?"

"We didn't get this last time," Gin told Duo. "It looks like whoever was giving orders messed up on sending this part out. Sounded important."

Duo looked at it real close.

"It's that revenge thing, and I guess it makes some sense since the one in charge of this stuff is actually her real mom," Gin said. "This shit is psychological now."

"No kidding, this is a lot different."

Duo followed him through a set of doors, passing some of 'his best top men' now. First place they were going was scouting for Hilde. He had way better chances sending them each out instead of him individually hitting all these sketchy places Wufei's mother had put down. She was concentrating more on guessing how Revenge of the Lost was doing instead of lots of places.

Not only that, but she didn't exactly know addresses. He had some parts that were like 'Red house near bricks in around the 4th-6th block'. It wasn't going to be fun, and not something he wanted to do on his own.

He had known enough about the Phillips place when he stayed there, that it probably made sense to the top guys that Duo took over, so it made sense to send them too. They'd know to share the information where she was at and watch over the situation until he got there.

Duo looked at the two specialized guns. "One is gonna kill Dorothy Catalonia, and one is gonna help cure her." Which would be which was the question. Nature's death, up to chance? Middie Une had to shoot Dorothy Catalonia with one of two specialized dart guns. "Big difference in orders this time." Crystalia was just trying to get Dorothy Catalonia flat out killed last time. "Pretty colors. So how experimental?"

"This is apparently like a heavy concentration specifically of what works in some treatment flower a doctor successfully used to cure someone . . . super late in treatment? Weird statement," Gin said, "and the other is the same thing, but it also includes a dangerous poisonous amount of the flower that will just instantly kill. It'll be a 50/50 shot." Gin opened a suitcase that had more than one vial. "We are pretty sure they just added dye to make it more confusing."

Oh, Man. Every single tube was a different bright color, Duo couldn't just grab a couple and get them checked out. Short of getting the whole case analyzed, he wasn't going to get a lot of success. Still. He grabbed four of them. "You know, I got friends." He pocketed them.

"No guarantees they aren't all the same," Gin warned him, "but yeah, I get it. This Dorothy never did anything, and neither did her pilot."

"Sweetest one of us actually," Duo said. "Great guy. Don't cross him, he is real in touch with emotions."

"We are after the woman bearing his kid," Gin said. "At some point, we probably will cross."

"He really doesn't want to kill," Duo said. Gin didn't seem to pick it up. "He really, really doesn't want to kill anymore." Gin was just looking at the vials like there would be something in the design that might give away what was inside. "He really is going to try his best not to kill, I know he will, but make sure Trowa is in front as the leader of this thing." Yeah, that third mention seemed to catch his attention. "Don't mess with Quatre Raberba Winner. Follow Trowa's lead, Gin, don't confront Quatre. Middie Une shouldn't shoot until she knows what the heck she is shooting."

"Yeah, sorry. So, I'm going to be heading out soon with One Song and her brother so you can use the crew however you want to find Hilde. Top guys know it's you, so if any mid or bottom guards get suspicious, it'll take care of itself." Yeah, that's how things usually went. "I better learn to be nice to Trowa, he'll be my new brother soon. My mother already understands. I'll call if anything happens and if I have to come back around this area, okay?"

"Got it." Trowa would appreciate the speed, it was clear he already wanted to see Middie's injury for himself. "So where is your One Song?"

Middie stared at the bed she was supposed to be resting in. She touched her stomach. How was she going to do this?

"I'll be here, to make sure this goes off right, Middie Une."

Trowa?! She turned around so fast she almost stumbled. "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you don't make any grave error, just to save another person," he assured her. "I'm going to keep you near enough to the target that RTL will believe we are trying to take Dorothy out. That should keep you safe."

Oh Trowa. "You don't have to worry about me."

"I know. It's not mine, that's why you were set free," he said casually. "It doesn't matter, you are still part of this because of RTL, and you and that baby still need help."

How? How could anyone ever be as good as him? "Trowa."

"We will be traveling with Gin. Duo and I have him convinced that you were actually Crystalia's trick, and that I've known since the beginning the baby wasn't mine," he said. "Crystalia, for the foreseeable future is your mother, and I was your brother, trying to take care of you."

What? Brother? Mother?

"It was the only way Gin would give in and let me come. You can't take this on your own, this act is too tricky," Trowa insisted.

"It gets trickier." Gin showed up by the door. "So she's going to have to use a special gun with blowdarts. Half of them will probably kill Dorothy, while the other half have the possibility of curing or helping her."

Gin appeared again in the doorway now too? Gin and Gin? No, she noticed the braid on the other one. It was the guy who tried to save her once.

"We are shoving off now. The sooner we all go towards Dorothy Catalonia, the better for everybody." Oh, but that little flirtative grin, that was the one that was Gin. "I half-took your advice, One Song. Duo's got things he needs to do with the power of the family. It's part his now, so let's book it for awhile. With your brother, of course."

"Good. The sooner, the better." Trowa looked toward Duo. "Watch out for Catherine. Make sure she looks like she is your everyday prisoner."

"I'll do what I can. Count on it."