Lies

Lies

"Papa Duo!" came a shrill cry as the front door slammed open.

Duo stepped out of the kitchen just in time to snag the little girl
running down the hall of their small house. Her chocolate hair was
beginning to come out of its braid and her pixie face was tearstained
around swollen violet eyes.

"What's wrong munch-kin?" asked Duo while helping her out of her coat
and taking her bag.

"Melody lied!" she cried unhappily.

Duo looked up to find his husband scowling in the doorway. Heero's
cerulean eyes were full of rarely seen anger.

"Mackenzie, start at the beginning," ordered Heero. He sat and pulled
the seven year old into his lap.

"Yes, daddy; Melody has bruises. Mrs. Meaker asked how she got them
and she lied," explained their daughter.

"How do you know she lied, Mackenzie?" asked Duo gently.

Mackenzie stared at the table and wouldn't look up as she answered. "I
saw her daddy hurt her."

"Heero?" questioned Duo.

"I saw her. She moves as though she has bruised ribs. Her arms are
mottled with old and new bruises. That's all I could see without
getting closer."

"I'm calling Sally and Une.

"Let's get your homework done," said Heero softly to his daughter.

* * *

Duo opened the door to let Sally and Une in. Both women looked grim
and carried file folders.

"What did you find?" asked Duo leading them into the living room.

"Aunt Sally!" cried Mackenzie running in.

"Hi there, Sweetie," said Sally pulling her into a hug.

Mackenzie pulled away and gave the two women a serious look. The look
was so similar to Heero's that it conflicted with her youth.

"Daddy says you're gonna try to help Melody," said Mackenzie while
Sally turned on the camcorder.

"Do you think Melody needs help?" asked Une.

"Melody always has hurts. Her daddy hurts her," answered Mackenzie.

"How do you know her daddy hurts her?" asked Sally.

"I saw."

"What did you see?" asked Une softly.

"Melody accidentally got muddy yesterday. Her daddy got mad and shook
her on the wall," replied Mackenzie. "Melody fell asleep and her daddy
took her in the house."

Sally frowned and produced a doll. "Mackenzie, can you show us what he
did?"

They watched in silent horror as she held the doll by the arms and
shook it, slamming it into the wall. Fury filled Duo's violet eyes as
he watched his daughter.

"Thank you Mackenzie," sighed Une.

"Come on Munch-kin," said Heero, "it's bed time."

Duo wrapped his daughter in a tight hug and kissed her forehead. "Love
you, Sweetie. I'll be in to tuck you in, just give me a moment okay."

"Okay, Papa," responded Mackenzie. "Night Aunt Sally."

"Good night, Mackenzie."

Duo waited until his daughter was out of hearing range before turning
towards the two women. "Well?"

"Do you know how long they've been living next door?" asked Sally.

"About three months," replied Duo. "I knew something was off, I just
didn't know how off." Duo looked over his shoulder and back. "Give me
a second to tuck her in then we'll finish this."

"Go head."

Duo hurried down the hall, making it just in time to hear the end of
her prayers. "… Take care of Melody, don't be mad cause she lied.
Please, don't let her daddy hurt her no more."

"All set?" asked Duo softly.

"Yes, Papa," replied Mackenzie with a yawn.

Duo helped her slide under the covers before pulling them up and
tucking her in. Heero sat on the other side and they each gave her a
goodnight kiss. They turned out the light and left the door cracked
open before returning to the living room.

"God, I can't believe she witnessed that!" cried Duo throwing himself
into the chair.

"She may have saved her friend though," replied Sally. She opened the
inch thick folder and spread the photos out on the coffee table.
"Eight hospitals and we don't know where they've been for the last ten
months."

"How could this go on and no one noticed?" questioned Heero softly as
he ran fingers across a picture.

"It's because people don't want to see," answered Duo as he moved away
from the photos, "It's easier to believe that it's a clumsy child or
that they like to fight." Duo turned to face the two women. "Can you
save her?"

"We're removing her from the situation tomorrow morning," replied Une.
* * *
They moved through their morning as usual. Heero took Mackenzie to
school while Duo cleaned up and prepared to get some work done for the
day. The routine changed with a single phone call.

"Missed me already?" asked Duo answering the phone.

"Look next door; is his car there?" demanded Heero, the fear and anger
in his voice driving a cold spike through Duo's heart.

As his cell phone rang across the room he snagged it and moved to look
out the window. The little red sports car usually seen in the
neighbors drive was gone. "It's gone, Sally's on my cell, how far away
are you?"

"Almost home, answer Sally," ordered Heero before hanging up.

"Heero just called me," said Duo answering the cell phone and rushing
towards the neighbor's house.

"We've got him, Duo," Sally said. "No one knows where Melody is at.
Get in that house. We already have the documentation. I'm on my way
and EMS is enroute."

"I'm working on it," snapped Duo.

He didn't bother with the lock picks he still carried in his braid. He
picked up a rock and shattered the window beside the door. The glass
clattered to the floor as he reached in and unlocked the door. He
didn't hesitate to begin his search of the small house. Everything in
the house was pristine, as though there had never been a child in
sight of it. He bypassed the first two rooms, the kitchen and living
room barely registering as he searched for Melody. The room he found
could have been from a doll house. Everything was perfectly in place,
in its entire pink and white ruffled splendor.

"Melody," called Duo while trying to force the fear out of his voice;
"Melody honey, do you remember me? I'm Mackenzie's Papa. Melody,
honey, I need you to come out or make a noise." He pulled pillows off
of the bed searching for her.

"Did you find her?" asked Heero running in.

"Not yet," answered Duo. "God, Heero, I hope she's okay."

"I'll check another room."

"Melody, sweetheart," Duo begged. "Come on honey; if you can't come to
me make a noise." Duo nearly fell over his own feet at the small
whimper. "Heero, I can hear her!" yelled Duo. "Again Melody," said Duo
trying to pinpoint where the noise was coming from. "Come on
sweetheart; make noise so I can find you." The second noise was a
little louder but still hard to pinpoint. He threw open the closet and
pushed the clothes aside but there was no sign of Melody. As he shut
the door, he noticed the long dark hair from under the bed.

Heero joined him just as he dropped to his stomach and shimmied under
the bed. "Did you find her?"

"Melody, this is a good hiding place," said Duo softly as he moved
closer to the tiny girl. He could see that her arm was bent at an
unnatural angle and blood was dried beside her mouth. One ebony eye
was swollen shut and the other was bright with fever. "I'm gonna take
you out of here, okay sweetie," warned Duo before gently pulling her
towards him.

He couldn't stop himself from flinching at her cries. He knew it would
hurt to move her. Carefully he scooted backwards pulling her along.
Once they were moving he didn't stop. Fueled by his anger and fear he
gathered her into his arms as carefully as he could and pushed himself
to his feet. He was up and running before Heero could return with help.

He met the paramedics at the door and placed her as gently as he could
on the gurney. "Broken arm and leg, possible ribs too," Duo said as he
stepped back.

"How could anyone do this to a child!" demanded the paramedic as she
started working to stabilize Melody.

Duo couldn't stop trembling as it overtook his thin form. He stepped
back into Heero and felt strong arms wrap around him. They echoed his
tremble on a smaller scale but he took comfort in the emotional
response of his partner. Duo turned, burying his face in Heero's neck.

"I wanna go get Kenzie," He sighed into Heero's neck. "I just want to
hold my daughter."

* * *
"Do you think Melody is gonna like our surprise Papa?" asked Mackenzie
as they made their way down the hospital hall.

"You tell me Munchkin," replied Duo as he glanced up at the teddy bear
and the card riding on Heero's head.

Mackenzie pushed down Heero's hair and turned violet eyes on her Papa.
"I think so. Melody always wanted a nice Daddy, I don't mind sharing."