[Sequel to: "No Time For Secrets" Book 3 of the "Secrets" Arc]
Author: Enigma
Written: September, 2000
Rating: R
Pairings: (1+2) (3+4) (5+S)
Category: Angst, AU, yaoi/shonen ai
Warnings: Angst, mental illness, yaoi/shonen ai, language, AU, sap, OOC
Disclaimers: I don't own the Gundam Wing Universe or any other anime characters I use here, just the parts of this story and some characters that are new are truly mine [especially Laurel, she's *still* my daughter after all!]. Please don't sue me, all I've got is a broken down car that hates me.
Note: Timeframe---after the war has ended and the Gundams were destroyed.

FUN TIME! Play spot the guest stars! And watch for other popular culture references!


Racing With Secrets
Prologue



"Dadd~ddy!" a young girl's voice cried out urgently, shattering the contemplative mood of those gathered in the emergency room in the wake of Heero Yuy's insane decision, his outrageous actions, and violently disastrous disappearance.

Quatre Raberba Winner dashed to the room where the small child lay. Her right arm broken, her left thigh heavily bandaged after a gunshot wound. "Laurel! What are you doing awake, sweetie? You need to sleep to get better," he gently caressed her face, looking deeply into her ice-blue eyes. How had this child, whom he had met less than 12 hours before, suddenly become so very important to him? Even his uchuu no kokoro had begun to react to her; this was totally unprecedented and rather frightening to the young man as well.

She smiled wanly, then scrunched her face in pain.

"Do you need more medicine for the pain, honey? I'm sure it hurts really badly, I can go get some help if you want me to." He was very concerned, feeling an echo of that pain in himself; this was so strange to him, to sense the feelings of anyone other than one of the other pilots.

"Not right now, Quatre-daddy. I just had a dream that woke me up because I knew I needed to tell you right away!" The little clairvoyant was adamant about getting this latest piece of information to him. Trowa had followed his lover and entered the room smiling gently at the girl.

"Are you okay, Laurel?" Trowa didn't seem to be as ready to assume responsibility for this child as Quatre obviously was, but she had indeed filled his thoughts.

"No, Trowa-daddy! There's something that needs to be done right now! Quatre-daddy, you need to call the man with the dark hair in the yellow jacket about the airplane!" She stated firmly. "It's got to be *now*, please?"

Quatre would have been shocked that she could describe his personal pilot so easily, but little she did surprised him now. "Alright, darling. If you feel so strongly about it. I'll call Rex and then you tell me what needs to be done, okay?" Blind trust lead the Arab to pull out a small cell phone and dial his pilot at the airfield.

"Trixie, this is Quatre. Is Rex there? I need to speak to him immediately. Sure, I'll wait." He turned his attention back to Laurel. "What is it I need to tell him?"

"He needs to check how much fuel is in the airplane because there isn't enough. And it's very important that he stays out of Mr. Heero's way when he gets there!"

"Rex! Listen, I need you to take care of a couple of things on the jet immediately, it's quite urgent. First, double-check the fuel levels, there may be a problem with the diagnostics. Yes, I'm sure it indicates we're fully fueled just *do it*!" It was very unlike Quatre to get upset with any of his employees, especially his personal pilot, Rex. The man had been his father's driver, but now Racer was piloting the ultra-sonic Leer jet since he was an excellent pilot and he preferred the job, something that suited everyone.

"How low? Okay, just get the ground crew to top off all of the tanks to maximum by visual if necessary. Also, there's someone headed your way and you need to stay out of his way. Yes, I mean *completely* out of his way! I want you and the other flight crew to be off the jet when an ambulance shows up. I know it's weird, just listen, damnit! A guy my age is going to be there soon, and he's going to take the jet. It's okay, he's a pilot, too. Looks like? Oh, Japanese, intense cobalt-blue eyes, taller than I am, enough? Oh, hold on a second," he turned to Laurel. "Is there anything else I need to tell him, sweetheart?"

She thought for a moment, then her face lit up, "Yes! Daddy, Mr. Heero is going to be tired, hungry, and thirsty before he gets to Japan. Can they put some food and coffee on the airplane for him, please?"

How did she know about Tokyo? "Rex, there's something else. Could you get a couple thermos's of hot strong coffee, a bag of sandwiches or whatever they've got at the airfield, some fruit or something and put all of it in the cockpit of the jet? Write 'For Heero, Be Careful! Quatre' on the bag so he knows it's safe. Yeah, weird, but don't worry, I have it on good authority that it's necessary. Whose authority? My future daughter's, but never mind, I'll explain later."

Well, *that* little comment would give the crew something to talk about, now wouldn't it? Rex was the only one who had a child, but he was 30 when the baby was born. The very idea that a 17 year-old had a daughter telling him what to do did sound pretty crazy, he had to agree.

"They've topped off the fuel? Good thing it was checked! Great job, thanks! Listen, when this is over and the guy's taken off, call me, we need to keep track of the time on this. Yeah, he's secretly racing the clock here. Get a cab to take you and the rest of the crew to a hotel for the night, you'll probably need to be back at the airfield in the morning but probably not until after 9am or so. Just put all of this stuff on the corporate card, okay? Feel free to tack on some meals or whatever anyone needs. Call me after he's gone, right? Out."

Sighing, Quatre looked down into those beautiful ice-blue eyes and asked, "Well? Did I get everything right, honey?"

A wonderful smile was interrupted by a huge yawn before Laurel could answer. "Yes, Daddy. Thank you so much!" She yawned again and the pain was stronger in Quatre's chest, he knew she needed pain medicine and lots of sleep. He pushed the nurse call button and requested more painkillers for her.

He hated to keep her awake, but they needed to know more. "Laurel, before you go back to sleep, was there anything else you saw that we need to know about?"

"Not right now, Daddy. There's some stuff for later, but right now that's everything that needs doing. Poor Mr. Heero will really have to race to get everything done in time." She looked sad and worried. "Can I go back to sleep now? I'm really sleepy and my arm and leg kind of hurt right now." This was the closest she had come to complaining about her own suffering during the whole ordeal. She looked up at the two youths standing next to her and smiled.

A nurse came in and gave the girl a small white pill and some water, too. Laurel gratefully took her medicine. She looked up with large eyes and asked innocently, "Daddies? Can I have a kiss goodnight?"

Without even thinking, Quatre bent down and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek as if he had done it for years. He glanced at Trowa who obviously had no intention of kissing the child something which puzzled Quatre.

Trowa spoke before Quatre's confusion became too great. "Go ahead and sleep now, Laurel, you need it. Everything will be fine."

"Well, it is for now, but not later. But that's not for awhile and it can wait. Night-night, Daddies, I love you both!" She snuggled down with her plush kitten and immediately fell back asleep.

The men looked at each other more than slightly disturbed by her last statement. Then Quatre shrugged, "If she says it can wait, I'm sure it can."

"True. However, just how *bad* are things going to get, I wonder?" Trowa mused, wrapping an arm around the smaller boy's waist and edging him away from the bed and back to the others all of whom were obviously concerned about Laurel's call earlier.

on to part 1

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