NEVER FEAR THE NIGHT
By Lady Snowblossom
AC 201, March
"Today, it was announced by Preventer Headquarters, that late
last night during a raid of the base of a gang of drug dealers, the
five former Gundam pilots, Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Chang Wufei, Trowa
Barton, and multi-billionaire Quatre Raberba Winner were injured.
Details of the injuries were not released."
Relena winced, as she listened to the news broadcast.
Injured, she thought, if only... If only that was the truth, but
that is one secret that must be KEPT. She struck the surface of her
desk with her fist, absolutely NO ONE must learn that the raid had
been to destroy a coven of vampires and that Heero and the rest had
been captured days before, and those...those creatures had turned her
friends into `Creatures of the Night."
Tears escaped her, as she mourned the boys, she had come to
love. Just that morning, Quatre in an experiment had stuck his
finger in a shaft of light that had crept into the crypt, they were
going to be. She paused, not quite able to bring herself to say,
`living in.' Her ears still reverberated to the sound of his scream
of pain. It was then, she knew, he realized that he'd never walk in
the sun again, and he had howled in absolute despair.
It had been a god sent mercy, when they fell into the stupor,
they were currently locked in. Hasty research said; they wouldn't
awaken until nightfall. Her gloomy thoughts were interrupted with
the discreet entrance of her major-domo, Pagan.
"Yes, Pagan?"
"You wanted to know, when his grace finally succumbed,
Princess. Two of our security people just took him to bed."
"Thank you, Pagan." she whispered. After they had closed the
crypt, Zechs had walked straight into the palace, went to the sitting
room of the royal family and proceeded to get drunk. She didn't say
anything, knowing that he needed the release, since he was blaming
himself for what had happened that night.
She sighed, and at the urging of her old friend, went to bed
herself.
AC 201, November
"You want to do WHAT?!" Une said, staring at the five women
sitting in her office. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
When Relena had requested the interview, she hadn't said anything
about what she had wanted. Une had been surprised, when Relena,
Dorothy, Hilde, Sally and Catherine had all trooped into her office.
Calmly, Sally repeated her request. "We want to use some of
the frozen sperm in the bank to have a child by each of the Gundam
pilot's." Une raised an eyebrow, as Sally continued. "We have it
all worked out. Relena has chosen Heero, Dorothy will be carrying
Trowa's. Catherine wants Quarte's, and Hilde, Duo. And Wufei's
mine."
Inwardly, part of Une wanted to scream, ARE YOU CRAZY!?!, and
part admired them for wanting to do this. Outwardly... she leaned
back in her chair, her face expressionless. Steepling her fingers,
she inquired softly.
"Have you discussed this with them?
Relena shook her head, "No, but I'm sure they can have no
objection, especially Quatre, his family has agreed to accept the
child as his heir, if it is a male."
Une spun her chair around to face the window overlooking
downtown. She sat deep in thought, the only sounds the soft breaths
of the six women. Without turning around, she renders her decision.
"I'll give the orders, if the pilots agree."
"Have you lost your MINDS!" Duo shouted, he waved his pale
arms, as he confronted Relena. The braided pilot paced the library.
His skin was glowing white, because neither he nor any of the others
had fed yet, and the combination of their hunger and the
outrageousness of the request had all five on edge.
Rashid had brought them straight to the library, when they
had awaken that night
"Duo, please." Quatre said, he turned to Relena and shook his
head. "Relena, what you're asking is impossible! Do you honestly
think we would allow you and the others to expose yourselves to
having our illegitimate children?"
Relena's heart sank; she had been so certain they would
agree. Well, she wasn't giving up without a fight. She glanced
around, Duo had stopped pacing, Wufei and Heero were standing side-by-
side, with their arms folded across their chests, and she had to
suppress a giggle, they had identical disapproving looks on their
faces, making them appear to be alabaster twins. Trowa was leaning
against a wall, his face expressionless, but she had the feeling he
was just as disapproving as the others.
"Quatre, we WANT to do this. There are good reasons for our
decision, the most telling for you is it would give you an heir for
your family."
The blonde vampire winced, that blow had hurt! He began to
waver at that moment. A familiar nasal voice came to his rescue.
Heero Yuy moved with unnatural grace to stand at the Arabian's
side. Relena had to look away from Heero's glowing Prussian eyes,
there was no way she could bear the shadows in them for long.
"Tell the girls, our answer is no. And that is final."
He motioned to Duo and Quatre to follow and the five young
vampires vanished without a sound through the French doors.
AC 205, September
But, it wasn't final, was it, Heero? Relena smirked as she sat
on a stone bench in the palace rose garden. She was enjoying the
early evening breeze waiting for the others to join her. As she
waited she had been remembering the past four years and the ongoing
arguments with the stubborn vamps. It had taken a long time, but in
the end, she and the others had worn the boys down and in January,
they had been artificial inseminated. The five babies were due any
day.
Hilde wiped her hands on the greasy rag she had pulled from her
overall's pocket. Peering around the raised hood, she smiled and
called, "Start `er up!"
"Right!" Zechs called, and turned the key. The motor roared
to life. Hilde crowed; the Camero's engine was in full song and
purring like a kitten.
Grinning like a boy with a new toy, the duke shut down the
engine and leapt from the car. He reached Hilde as she was reaching
up for the hood. He snatched her up and whirled her around, laughing
gleefully.
"Zechs!" she laughed. "Stop it!" He put her down. Still
grinning, the Lightening Count turned and reached up and shut the
hood.
"Hilde, thank you! That engine has never..." Zechs's voice
trailed off, as he turned to find Hilde bent over and holding her
belly, a pool of liquid around her feet.
"HILDE!" He sprang to her side. Looking up through her
black lashes, Hilde smiled wanly. She shuddered as another tremor
ran through her. "Is it the baby?"
"Yes... I... hoping... to... make... it... to... nightfall."
She bit her lip in pain. "Get... Sally... Zechs...now!" she panted.
Zechs hurried to call for help.
Rashid walked quickly to the Gundam's crypt, the sun was
sinking fast and he wanted to get the little master and his lover out
of their joint coffin, as quickly as he could. Trowa and Quatre were
known to linger, enjoying a bit of `fun' before feeding. Tonight the
five would have to hunt quickly, so they could proceed to the
hospital.
Opening the marble doors, the large man turned on the light,
then entered the inner room. Inside, a pair of large mahogany
coffins dominated the room. He went to the one on the right and
rapped sharply on the lid.
A muffled voice yelled something, and Rashid rapped again.
The lid cracked open and a violet eye glared out at the large man.
Rashid raised an eyebrow, obviously they had traded off.
"Rashid, would you please go away!" Duo demanded. Unruffled,
Rashid stuck the fingers of his right hand in the crack, knowing that
Duo wouldn't close the lid with his hand in the way.
"Young master," the big man addressed the glaring vampire,
"They took Hilde to the hospital an hour ago." Rashid had to jump
back to avoid being hit in the face by the flying lid. Duo shot out
of the coffin, as if jet propelled; Quatre right behind him. The
other coffin lid swung back and Heero, Wufei and Trowa sprang free of
the white silk lining.
"Come on! COME ON!" Duo shouted with impatience from the
doors of the crypt, the braided pilot jiggled from foot to foot,
still hyper as ever. Once Duo had fed off a man who had been a
chocoholic, the other pilots had spent the rest of the night chasing
Duo over half the city. They had leapt from rooftop to rooftop,
climbed trees, and scared the hell out of some late night revelers,
before subduing the sugar rushing vampire and dragging him back to
the crypt.
"Baka! Have a little patience." growled Wufei. "We must feed
before we go to the hospital. The mortals would be bound to notice,
if you go running in there glowing like a alabaster statue."
Duo growled something profane about Wufei's ancestors and
stormed outside.
"I'll talk to him." Quatre sighed.
"Please, Keddy! I'm sick and it's starting to rain! The johns
aren't interested!" The petite blond pleaded with the man standing
in the shadows. Keddy Koval raised his hand to slap the girl, when a
brown-haired boy got between them.
Trowa looked over his shoulder at the girl, "Leave. Now."
Cerise started to protest, but instinct born in an abusive
home, and nurtured on the streets, warned her to run. The little
blonde spun and fled.
The pimp snarled and advanced on the youth in front of him,
"Listen, you bastard! When I'm..." His voice trailed off, as Trowa
smiled and bared his fangs. Those sharp white teeth, was the last
thing the pimp saw in this life.
Heero trailed his target down a dark street leading to a
dockside warehouse on the south side of town. The man was a small
time drug dealer; who specialized in giving `free' samples to
schoolchildren. Every Saturday night, he met with his supplier.
Heero intended to see that he missed this appointment. Wufei, Duo
and Quatre were going to deal with the supplier and his bodyguards.
"Damn! Diamond is going to kill me, if I'm late!" Tyler
groaned, as he started past the mouth of a dark alley. All he saw
the streak of white that took him down was a blur. A panicked scream
was choked off in mid-stream.
Moments later, Heero stood and wiped his mouth on the back of
his hand, before dragging the body into the alley to lie with the
rest of the trash.
"You made it." Hilde cried, relief in her voice, as Duo
appeared in the doorway. A nurse moved to block the determined young
man, as he entered the room. "It's all right, he's the father!"
Hilde said, as Duo moved the woman from his path.
Duo brushed a lock of sweat dampened hair from Hilde's face
and smiled. "I'll be here until the baby comes." he promised.
"How much longer?" Quatre said, as he paced past the silent
group sitting in the waiting room. The blonde had one eye on the
delivery room door and another on the clock. They had less than two
hours to make it back to their crypt.
On the echo of the blonde's words, the door of the delivery
room flew open and Duo floated out, a silly grin plastered all over
his face, and red glistening tears standing on his cheeks.
"Duo!" Catherine cried, "Is anything wrong? How's Hilde?
Is the baby all right?" "Duo? DUO!"
The chestnut-mane young man shook himself, and blinked his
way out of his euphoric daze. "Hilde is fine. They'll be taking her
to recovery in a moment." His grin grew wider if that was possible,
"I have a daughter! She's beautiful!"
With those words, Duo swooped down on Noin, who had joined
the waiting group and waltzed the startled woman around the room.
Three days later, Dorothy delivered a fine healthy
girl. She was followed a week later, by Sally Po, who gave Wufei a
son. The Chinese pilot was insufferable, until Relena produced her
son, four days later. Catherine was the last to deliver, she gave
Quatre the son he needed two days after Relena.
Une stood smiling down at Sally's little boy and
chuckled as the tyke hit himself in the nose with a tiny fist.
"Well, little one," she whispered, "One thing I know, you'll never
fear the night, will you."