Do They All 'Fit'? (Part 1)

Heero's Apartment

Heero glanced from his computer down to his phone next to him. Seeing it was Duo's number, he went back to typing. He could deal with that later. Duo was probably looking for more information about what happened with his friend. Heero was busy trying to find out about another rebel group making the rounds on Earth. Even though the war had been over, the groups continued to pop up. So many still couldn't see that fighting was pointless. Even he had sent away his Gundam. Everyone had. He heard the low tone chirp again. A second ringing. Maybe it was important.

He picked it up with one hand but continued to have his eyes on his computer. He would invest in a hands free unit if he had people calling him all the time. Thankfully, he didn't. "Duo, what is it?"

"Whatever you're doing, set it aside, Heero. I got news."

Duo's news wasn't really going to throw Heero off his own goal of trying to track down the rebel group before their information disappeared. "Did you track down who hurt your friend?" Nothing so far. Damn. This group was good. Normally these new groups could be hacked in time before information went away.

"It's not about me. It's about you, Heero."

Hm. About him? "I am about to track down a leader to a rebel group I've been trying to find for two months. Is it important enough to stop that?"

"Yeah, but if you are doing that, I can call back I guess?"

"Do that." Heero hung up. Come on. "Crystalia." That code name. Did he finally find the leader?

---

Quatre Raberba Winner's Residence with the Maguanacs.

Quatre took a quick sip of tea as he continued to look at some information Noin was sharing with him. Since he was being cooperative with her, she was being cooperative back. It really wasn't anything big, but sometimes it was the little things that snuck by that were important. He heard his phone ring softly. He reached over to the side of his recliner he had been relaxing in as he studied the data. Glancing at the phone, he saw it was Duo's number. "Hello, Duo," he greeted him. "How are you doing?"

"Been better," he responded.

Ooh. That sound. "Did you find out who hurt your friend?" Quatre asked. Hopefully Duo kept it together and didn't go after them yet. The authorities could take care of it.

"Yeah, her name was Jewel," he answered. "Code name. Listen? I kind of need you to come meet me or at least get to a visual prompter. This should be done face to face, and I'll scan the letter to you too."

That sounded bad. "Okay." He wasn't near Duo at the moment at all, and without the use of a quick ride in a mobile suit, it would take time to reach him. "I'll contact you via a prompter in a few minutes." He hung up the phone and headed downstairs to the bigger computer base area. He was thinking about going back up to the colonies again soon since, whether he was on Earth or in the colonies, he was about the same amount of help. He reached a visual prompter, called up Duo on it and saw his face.

The cheery-eyed man didn't look so cheery eyed. "Quatre. I got some news for you. You better brace yourself. First of all? I've been sitting here, thinking about this whole thing," he said. "Did you give all kinds of things for samples to your doctor? You know, the one in charge of the Gundam?"

"Oh? Yes, he checked everything thoroughly," Quatre said.

"Yeah. Yeah." Duo was repeating himself. "Alright? Well, hard news is never easy to hear. I'm guessing since me and Hilde learned it this way, you probably should too. I'm scanning something to you."

Quatre looked at the scanner next to the visual prompter. It was getting something on it. He read on down the line of the letter as it was scanned, bit by bit, suddenly starting to feel . . . weak. "No. Oh, no, no, no, no!" He couldn't keep looking and looked back at the visual prompter. "Are you serious, Duo?"

"Dead serious. Got it in the mail today," Duo said.

"But, I mean? It can't be confirmed, it's just a letter." Quatre was trying to keep his senses together.

"Yeah? A letter that said how and what tech they used to get Hilde pregnant, Quatre," Duo said. "She even added the place it could be found in. She won't go any deeper than that. Only reason I know is 'cause she turned against her masters I guess. I'm not going after her, but I bet her teammates will when they find out about this. She better run for cover." Duo continued to stare at him through the visual prompter. "Hey? That scan is done by now. You can't ignore it forever, Quatre."

But? "That woman, Jewel?" Quatre tried to keep the tremble out of his voice, but he had no idea how to handle this. Not this. "She said they 'fit' in somehow with us? I? I-I don't know anyone really."

Duo stroked his hair on the visual prompter. "It means someone we connected with. Someone we helped, sort of. She doesn't know yet, Quat, it's okay. Give it a little while if you need to. It takes time for them to pick it up."

Quatre looked to the base of the visual prompter. Odd. He felt like he was about to see the dead body of someone he knew, even though this wasn't death. It was life. It was life created between him and a woman that he didn't know yet. Not until he turned his head.

Just a few more seconds. A few more seconds to live in the bliss of not knowing. Although, even that wasn't really bliss. He knew, he just didn't know who. Knowing he couldn't keep it away forever, he turned to look at the scan.

He looked back at Duo. "It was the shortest conversations!"

"Meaningful. They want it to be meaningful," Duo said on the visual prompter. "The short conversations must have been meaningful."

"To who?" Them? He stared at the scan again. "I don't know the other two names. Middie Une and Mei-Lin Wang?" The ones carrying Trowa and Wufei's unborn. "Duo? What do I?"

"I don't know," Duo said. "I'm calling up you guys, gonna go eat some pizza and chill with Hilde. I guess, just go on living?"

"Yeah, but I can't just go march over to Dorothy Catalonia's with pizza and watch something!" He flipped out a little, his hands tightening against the base of the visual prompter. "I'll call you later, Duo."

"Take your time, Quat-"

He shut it off. He hung there, leaning against the counter that held the prompter. He took his time with his breathing. He had grown used to war, and never knew when someone he loved would end up getting crushed by someone. But this? This was different. "I am responsible for a life." With a woman he barely even knew. "I have to pull it together." Quatre's responsibility lied on Dorothy Catalonia, and telling her.

For half an hour he leaned against that counter, thinking. Would he leave it with her? Would that be too dangerous? Wouldn't that be wrong? Didn't a child deserve it's father? Would she be able to have it safely with the Winner's space genes? "The reason all my sisters and I were artificially born." Ooh.

The Winner clan basically started in the colonies, and according to his father, they were all still genetically dispositioned not to . . . "Okay, but she's not in the colonies, she's on Earth. So that would?" If it were that simple, couldn't his mother have had him and his sisters naturally on Earth instead of artificially?

Duo was wrong. He didn't have much time to reveal what was going on. At this rate? There was a good chance. "Testing, we'll need testing, to figure it out." Should she have it and come live in the estate in the colonies with him? If she survived? Would she agree to that? Should they stay on Earth? Should they go to the colonies? Having this child could practically terminate her life, no one could do it that way with the Winner genes. Everything was artificial.

Was this their plan the whole time? Quatre just didn't know enough about his own families corrupted genes. The Winner family never talked about it much. ///Quatre: Wait, the baby has the genes, not her!/// He just put that together after this long? Oh. He really wasn't doing well.

"Master Quatre." Rasid came down. "You've been gone some time from your spot. I was worried."

Quatre didn't move much. Just gestured to the scan on screen.

"Master Quatre, is that true?!"

"According to the source." Quatre felt himself getting propped off the counter. That was probably a better idea. "Thanks, Rasid."

"Come. Come upstairs, you need to relax now, Master Quatre," Rasid said as they both slowly went back upstairs.