Chapter 86: Nephew or Brother?
Earth: Gin's Place
"Yo, Gin." Duo had his arms behind his head, his usual greeting. "Promised to stop by. Actually, kept it."
"Hi, Gin," Hilde greeted him.
"Hey there." Gin gestured for them to come in. "Nothing much. Basic place. Prefer it though, much more like a home. Never needed a whole mansion. Still fine. Ma still hasn't found me."
"Ah, she doesn't want to kill you. She wants to break a bone at least for leaving everything to me." He didn't have too much to worry about, Miss Phillips wasn't actively looking for him. He was still her kid. She had the slightest case of 'I care' that saved him, but not enough to keep him out of a hospital.
Middie came into the room with little Alec. "Hey."
"Hey there." Duo went over to see little Alec. "Hey Alec, how's it going? Growing? Did you miss your Uncle Duo?" Middie easily gave him over. Okay, let's see. Promises, promises.
Alec was delighted to see him. Probably didn't remember him, but people liked Duo. Also excitement and funny voices did tend to go over well with kids.
"Upsadaisy." He held him out further. Hair, brunette. Him and Gin had different brunette hair. Didn't mean much. Excited and not real quiet, babbling excitedly. Seemed fine. Then?
///"If it's Trowa's, you'll see something. Trowa is someone so special, you would definitely see it in his child."///
Oh, that shape. There was something screaming that that was kind of Trowa's eye shape. He wasn't an expert, but. "He's growing up, huh?" Did Middie see that in him too? Just a shape. It's just a shape, just a small look. Nothing concrete. Alec started to pull at his nose. "Hey, I never said you could grab that." He brought him closer. "So, how are things otherwise down here?"
"Okay." Middie didn't look too peppy. The kid probably wore her out. Maybe. She might be having some troubles again.
"Hey, any new art lately?" Duo knew that she made a lot of art.
"Nothing's really stuck to her mind," Gin answered him. "Can't rush things that don't come."
Yeah, but art helped her to cope. "You should probably pick up a brush and just splash some paint around."
"Too busy." She gestured for Alec back.
"More like too tired," Duo said instead. "Why don't you catch up on some rest? I'll just shoot the breeze with Gin for awhile. It'll give me time to spend with my nephew."
She looked toward Gin and he shook his head back at her. "Okay. Sorry." She went to her room.
"Postpartum?" Hilde asked Gin. "Is she really tired?"
"Why isn't she doing her art? How long has she not been doing her art?" Duo asked. Trowa would definitely want to do that.
"Started last monthish?" Gin answered. "Ugh, I hate it. She's always been one tough cookie to crack, but she's just not bouncing back. Like, it's been months since that hit, and . . ."
Killing someone didn't work like that. "Encourage her art. Maybe get Alec's Uncle Trowa to come see her too?" Gin really should have told Trowa she stopped doing art.
"He doesn't answer the phone a lot. I know he's family to her, but when I call, there's never an answer. Middie called him once and he picked up right away. I tried to get her to call her brother, but she isn't budging." Gin looked over toward Alec. "At least she's got me and her Smart Alec. Although?"
Gin didn't look too happy either. "Feeling defeated there, Buddy?" Duo asked.
"Maybe it's the family line. Maybe I was just too obsessed," he admitted to Duo. "I don't think I'll ever have a real chance with Middie. I think she's scared of me. I've never been nothing but nice. Okay, a little flirtatious here and there before, but after this whole thing with Dorothy Catalonia. I backed off a hundred percent. She still . . ."
Oh. "She doesn't have the best past. No telling all the details." Duo tried to cheer him up. "Maybe she had a bad run in with a Phillip before."
"I wouldn't know. She won't tell me." Gin groaned. "I can be the best friend ever, and she's going to be scared I'll turn on her until the day she dies. I would have really, really taken care of her."
Oooh. Duo was getting it now. Dang, dang, dang. "You don't want to live with her and Alec anymore, huh?"
"Yeah. I'm pretty awful," Gin said. "I haven't made a move. It is our brother's kid and she does need someone to watch over her. I'm scared what would happen if I left." He looked at Alec. "He's a good nephew too, so I can't just leave him with his mom like this. I mean, look at him. He's got Finn's hair. Our attitude. His Uncle Trowa's eyes. Middie's nose."
Okay. Two things popped out right away. Gin stopped calling Middie Une 'One Song'. He noticed the eye connection, but wouldn't think twice about it because of the family lie. It's not just me, he sees it too. He should give Trowa a warning, about Middie Une, and about Alec. "Maybe instead of sharing a house, we could all just live in the same apartment building for awhile?" That would take the stress off Gin with her, and give Duo more access to Alec, without Middie feeling like she was being abandoned.
"We do have to find a place. This is pretty small for five people, so it could work with her?" Hilde stated. "I mean? Duo's not brimming with money, that'd be a good excuse."
"Yeah, I've been taking the Phillips money and reputation down super fast," Duo agreed. "I am mainly just keeping enough aside to make sure everyone makes pay grade. Eventually, their salary is going to go down and . . ." He shrugged as he took a few pictures of Alec. He liked the camera, not making it so easy. "What was I saying? Oh yeah. No more family business soon. Only reminder left of the Phillips name will be just of an orphanage that renamed itself for some inexplicable reason."
"Yeah. Sounds good," Gin agreed. "I can totally help out with the rent there too. When Middie eventually gets better, I'm sure she'll get a job to help too."
---
Trowa was about to go on stage for rehearsal soon, but he saw Duo's number on the phone. Considering Duo warned him to go see Quatre soon, it would probably be a good idea to answer. "Trowa."
"Hey. So."
Two words, and neither one sounded like Duo was well. "Is everything okay?"
"I hate to say this. I really do. Let's start with the easy one. Middie Une hasn't been doing her art. She looked pretty downtrodden."
"No art is bad." Very bad, that was how she expressed herself. It helped her get through so much. "Are you sure she hasn't designed anything at all?"
"She said she's too busy with Alec. Alec's the name of the kid," Duo reminded him. "Didn't know if you knew that. You saw him once, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"He's a cute kid. Pretty cool."
Why was Duo talking about that? "I'm sure he's great. Is something wrong with him?" Did they actually do something to Middie while she was pregnant after all. "Is he acting strange? Is he well?"
"Oh. No worries, Trowa. He's fine. Great kid. Big smile."
Then why was he talking about him? Duo was usually more upfront than this. "Does it have to do with why Middie stopped doing art?" He specifically told her she needed to at least scribble once a day. This was weighing down on her too much. "Is that why Gin has tried calling me?"
"Uh huh, that and he's not going to be here alone with her anymore. He's realized where she really fits with him, and it's nowhere near his side. I needed to find a place to stay down here anyway, so I'm going to rent some apartments for us."
"He's leaving her." Oh no. "She won't have anyone to watch her."
"Well, Hilde and I will be here."
"Not for very long, a few months for training maybe." After that, Middie would be on her own. "She isn't healthy enough to be on her own."
"Look, Gin really gets it now. He's been charitable staying as long as he has. He even said that he thinks she's scared of him because of the whole family thing. It was the opposite of what he always wanted."
Shoot. Trowa heard his name being called. It was time to take the stage. "I'll be back, Duo, I have to go on stage."
"Go have fun, Trowa. Call me back when you are done."
Definitely. He was calling right afterward.
Oh. Great. Duo and Hilde just gave her the news, but she knew it was coming. She had felt the high energy change from Gin. He spent time with her less and less. He wasn't happy with her anymore.
She tried to play it off when he first told her he was picking something up from her, but that fake smile, and those fake emotions she used to use. She just couldn't . . . do it anymore. "Okay. How many apartments?" She already knew, but she wanted to hear it.
"Hilde and I take one. You and little Alec get another," Duo said. "We'll all be pretty close together though."
"Yep, I'll visit," Hilde promised her.
Yep. Middie tried so hard to put on a fake smile, but she couldn't do it. It failed. It always failed. "Great."
"It will be great." Gin came over by her. "It'll be no problem. We'll rent a couple of places. No real problem, nothing changes."
He was being nice. Maybe. Trying not to leave her alone. Or, maybe not. She was pretty vulnerable right now. She just didn't know. But? Once Hilde and Duo left, she'd be alone with Alec.
Middie knew that Gin would be taking care of her. She tried to involve him so he felt important. She even let him name the boy. It apparently didn't matter though. He was falling more and more distant. He hung around less and less. He helped with Alec less and less.
"Let's go outside." Duo strangely took her hand gently, opened the door and had her stand outside.
She didn't get it. She looked around in the sky.
"Do you know?" Duo asked her. "Or are you just falling?"
She looked toward the front door. Gin hadn't followed them. Yeah, she knew what he wanted to discuss. There would be no details. "Gin thinks so." Duo looked confused. at her. Wait. "Oh, it's something else?"
"What does Gin think?" Duo asked her.
"I? Gin wants to do a test on Alec."
Duo seemed a little surprised. "Do you think it's not Finn Phillips?"
This woman that used to be so good at smiling and faking it. Where was she? Middie missed her. Her head just sunk. "Drugs usually produce more than one, so Gin asked, and I . . . I don't know. I'm sorry, I don't know."
"Don't know what?" Duo asked.
"I don't know . . . whether he's your nephew or your brother." Oh, she hated going through this with him. Duo had actually been a good Uncle to Alec, she really didn't want to talk about this. He deserved to know though too.
"Nephew or brother?" It didn't click with him yet. "Whether it was Finn or my dad RTL hooked you up with, it would have been through drugs either way, so-o-whoah!" It clicked. He looked appauled, ashamed, and skittish for several seconds before snapping out of it. He just looked angry now. He bent his head away beneath his black cap he lowered over farther on his head.
"It's fine, I instigated it." She wished it had worked better to skip punishment. Yeah. She looked away for about a minute, just enjoying the view. It was a pretty view around there.
"Brother's too much for him." Duo finally spoke again. "Did you tell him you were being a bad girl?"
"Yes." It didn't make him feel any better.
"Well, nice way for you to let him sleep at night." Duo said the end of night with a harsh T on it. "I'm a little bit cleverer."
"Gin's been scooting the other way. He didn't mind nephew. I don't think he . . ." She shook her head. "He wanted some piece of Finn to take care of, that was nice to him. But, he hates raising some 'brother' that shouldn't exist because of me." Gin didn't want anything to do with his father. "So, he wants to leave me, doesn't he? I'm sure of it."
"You're right. Gin's ready to hop out, but it's more than just that." Duo brought his head up along with tucking his black cap up again. "I've got to go back in my mind to talk about something, way separate from that." He breathed gently. "Look. No one's perfect. Dorothy Catalonia was going to die, whether you shot her or not. That's what Revenge of the Lost wanted. You becoming all depressed like this, is exactly what they wanted. Do you get that?"
Hm. She looked around the neighborhood again.
"I'm asking you seriously, can you take care of Alec like this?" Duo asked. "I'm not saying how well you are, I'm not saying not knowing paternity is too hard for you, and I'm not making any judgments. I'm not. I'm just saying, you better think about the people around you before you try anything that'll jeopardize the basic life of that kid. Losing a mom isn't easy."
Ooh. "I don't. I wasn't." She tried to think about what he was saying. Survival. Her survival instinct. "I am still here because of him, and that won't change. I don't care whether it's Finn who was the dad, or your dad who was the dad. I don't even care about that. I don't see it in him. I see something else. I did lose something inside of me when I shot Dorothy Catalonia, but I know I need to be there for Alec. I won't leave him behind, ever."
"Glad to hear it." Duo finally smiled again. That wasn't a regular smile. She knew that kind of smile. It was a 'better smile for another person's benefit' smile. "Very good to hear that. You need to start getting back into your art. Trowa wasn't happy to hear you quit. He's coming for a visit."
Ugh. "You told on me?"
"Ooh, expression? Good to see." Duo shook Alec's hand. "Keep being cute, kid, you might be the only thing keeping her here right now. Let's head back inside." As they started to walk again, he stopped one more time. "Take some time, get to know Hilde. You two are probably going to be with us for awhile."
Was he sure? "Are you sure, Duo? Can you really handle-"
"-Brother, nephew, I don't care," Duo said quick. "Blood is nothing. Alec is just a good baby, and big brother or uncle is fine by me. I'll talk to Hilde more about it, but for now, we are doing some apartment staying. Okay?"
Middie nodded as she followed him back into the house. "Fresh air helps."
"Sure does," Duo instead. "Hilde, you want to start scouting out apartments with me? We've got some fun things to discuss. Possibly over ice cream?"
"Oh, you know it." Hilde moved right toward his side. "We'll see you again soon."
Colonies: Circus
After Trowa's last number, he went back to his tent to call back Duo. He really wanted to know more about what was going on. He had tried to be as clear as possible with her last time he saw Middie. To continue her art, and accept what happened. It wasn't her fault, it was a setup. She had already killed others, even recently, but Dorothy Catalonia's death was an anchor on her. "Duo?"
"Hey. Knew you'd call back."
"Yes, I did. I am done for the night." He was ready to hear what Duo had to say. "How is she acting? Is she sick or is it depression?"
"Depressed, but that wasn't what I needed to talk to you about now. How close of a view have you ever got of Alec?"
Alec. "Her son?"
"Yep, name of her kid. You made sure he was born safely I bet. You survey her with stalker tendencies like Heero is doing with his?" Duo asked.
"No. I just made sure the birth was okay. I haven't heard anything from anyone from Revenge of the Lost. Besides, they got what they wanted from her." To make her compromise herself. "Gin shouldn't leave her, or you need to figure out what to do about her baby. She can't handle all this weight and a baby on her own."
"Uh, yeah. Give me two seconds, I got a bunch of cool pictures with my little nephew. Give me one more second. Go ahead and check them out. What do you think?"
Trowa looked at the pictures. It was tough to see, the baby was covering the camera with it's hands and mouth. He moved back to the conversation. "I can't see much."
"Alec. He might be my new little nephew, or my new little brother. Either way, he's now my new little housemate. Hope he doesn't hog the remote."
Uh? "Little brother?"
"Gin pointed out that the drugs used would usually give doubles or something. It gave doubles to Heero. It's possible it didn't, but it made him ask her something. You probably already get that answer."
"Trowa, did you eat yet?"
Trowa actually jumped for half a second. Catherine. "I'm good for now. I'll join you later. I'm on an important call."
"Oh, okay." She walked away.
"Trowa?" Duo was trying to call him back. "That whole depressed thing might be a bigger problem. You should really come see her."
"I will. I'll come soon." Middie. "I'll be there tonight or early morning."
He got dressed and packed a small bag. He had to leave. He headed toward Catherine's room. "I'm sorry, Cathy. I have to miss dinner." She could easily tell something was wrong. "I have to get back to Earth right away. Duo sent me some pictures of Middie's baby. Things might be happening with her."
"Can I see them . . .?" She looked at the text pictures Duo sent. "Oh, oh, he's a cute boy," he teased. "He really likes the camera, can't get a good shot of him. Oh? This one. His eyes sort of look like . . . yours and moms." She fidgeted. "Trowa?"
Hm? Trowa looked at the image she was looking at. They . . . sort of. No, Crystalia didn't use Middie for him, that had already been established. "It's something else. I have to go down right away." Quickly.
"You know, um. I never told you, but you know how our entrances and eating times kind of got mixed around? I told you the circus was just trying new things, but it was actually the leader," she said. "He was fixing everything up a certain way because he's dealt with circus babies before. We don't get or rely on outside help. We're all one big team, no hired babysitters here, so there's always someone watching over the youngest. He was even incredibly happy at first. We haven't had really young performers for about a decade now."
Trowa took his phone back. Schedules were fixed that way for a reason. Leader was staying prepared. "I better get going. Don't worry, Cathy. I won't be gone long."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone