The GW boys have their girlfriends over at one of Quatre's safe houses. It was about 3:30 in the morning and things were FINALLY wearing down...

Everyone was in the sunken den; Duo sat in front of Himaka, who was in the chair, having his hair re-braided. Trowa was hanging upside-down from a rafter with T.K. sitting beside him. Wufei was being anti-social as usual, and was leaning in the doorway. Aerie sitting next to him. Heero sat sleeping, his head laid on top of Shinira's. His arm wrapped protectively about the sleeping girl's shoulders. Ruh poked Quatre and pointed at the pair on the couch. He pulled out her digital camera and they smiled evilly. Ruh snuck up on the Perfect Solider. ::Click:: "Awright! It worked!" Ruh cried, "Aww man this one's goin' in the photo album!" "Not so loud, you'll wake them" Quatre murmured. "Too Late..." Heero growled, "Give me that camera..." "EEP! No you can't have it! It was a gift from Q-man!" "Give it here, you!" Heero said giving her his patented death glare. Ruh took a few steps back, looking for a place to hide. Heero stood and advanced. "Eep," she looked up desperately, "T-Chan! Help me up! I can't jump that high!" Trowa only smiled sympathetically and T.K. laughed. "Fight for yourself onna..." Ruh, now up against a wall, glared up at the Lone Dragon. "Nobody ASKED you China Boy!" Wufei narrowed his eyes and went into a fighting stance, as did Ruh. Quatre stood up and walked up to Ruh. He took the camera from her and smiled. "Not tonight little Gremlin..." She melted and slunk back to their little pillow nest on the floor. "Oh awright, but Hee-chan better not touch my camera!" Heero muttered something in Japanese and settled back down next to Shinira. "There we go, now let's all get some rest..." Duo snapped back awake as Himaka pulled back on his braid. "OOW! Huh, what?" his eyes drooped and he yawned again, "Oh, sleep...*Yawn* sounds good..."

"All done," Himaka murmured as she fell asleep on Duo's shoulder. "Oh how sweet," Quatre cooed. ::Click:: "Aww, Q-man! Why is it that you take pics and no one tries to kill you!!!" "Because he fights back when someone tries to hurt him... baka..." Ruh glared at Wufei. "SHUT UP!!!" "Please..." Quatre said curling up on the pillows, his eyes drooping. Ruh melted again and sat down next to him. "Whatever, go ta sleep China Boy..." "Hn, what a weak comeback..." Wufei turned the lights out and leaned his back against Aerie, who wrapped her arm around his stomach. Ruh shifted in the darkness. ::Click, Flash:: "DAMMIT, ONNA!!!" "Hehehehe..."

Oz base

"Lady Une, we've located the Gundam pilot's safe house. Shall we open fire?" Lady Une held a small bottle in her hand. She smiled as an idea came to mind, "No do not open fire. Pump this trough the air ducts instead. I want to observe the side effects." "Yes ma'am"

The next day

Something pulled Ruh's hair, she rolled over facing her 'assailant', but didn't open her eyes, and "Just a few more minutes Q-man..." Tiny fingers poked at her eyelids. "OWWW! Dammit, Q-man!" There was the sound of wailing that brought Ruh into conciseness. She looked to the place where Quatre's face was the night before, "Ohh, Q-Man, I'm sorr... Q-man?" She looked about for her Arab then looked down. There sat a little infant, about one year old, with platinum blonde hair bawling himself silly. "ACK!!! What the HELL!!" Ruh screamed, crab-walking backwards into the coffee table. The little kid stopped crying and looked at her with big blue eyes. "Guh...uhh...Q-man?" the miniature Quatre smiled and clapped his hands together, "Gremwin! Gremwin!!"

Ruh poked the baby in the chest and he giggled. "Oh man, oh man, this isn't real...this isn't real...but it is real! Oh man, Rashid is gonna kill me!!!!" Something behind her stirred, "Wah? Doh! Bwe qwiet! I twying tooo sweep!" Ruh froze, then turned slowly to meet chibi Himaka's hazel eyes. "AHHH!!!" "AWHHHH!!" Himaka echoed happily. "What the hell is goin' on!?!" She gazed over to the couch. Chibi Heero and Shinira dozed happily, little hands interlocked. "Awww, how.... WHAT THE HECK IS GOIN' ON HERE!!!!" "YAHH! Def is here!!" a little Duo cried bringing a stick down on Ruh's back. "AGH SHIT!!! DAMMIT YOU LITTLE BRAT!!" He ran about Quatre chanting " Def is back! Def is back!" and cackling insanely. This scared little Quatre, who again began to bawl. "Oh no..." Ruh cried banging her head against the table. "Keep it down Maxwell..." Wufei muttered, coming out of his trance. He leaned back to stretch against Aerie and fell backwards. "WAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" a baby Aerie cried as Wufei landed on her. Ruh gazed over at Wufei, "Why is it that YOOU are still normal?!" "Stupid Onna! What did you do to Aerie?!" "What did I do? What did YOU do!!" They narrowed their eyes and prepared to fight again. There was a brief silence and then from the rafters there came a tiny 'eep..' Ruh slapped her forehead angrily. "Oh shit!!! T.K., T-Chan!" A little face peered down at them. Ruh looked back up at T.K. "T.K.! Get down here now!!" "How?" The girl replied flatly. "Sheesh, your no help... Awright China Boy, you get up there and get them down..." She looked around, but Wufei was gone from his original spot. "Look down, onna" Ruh looked down, Wufei had his hand wrapped around her foot. "Are you ready woman?" "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!" The Lone Dragon smiled maniacally. Throwing all his weight into it he flung her up toward the ceiling. "DAMMIT WUFEIIII!!!" Ruh yelled, to the amusement of the youngsters on the ground. She clung to the rafters for dear life, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!!" She scrabbled up onto the top of the beam and stared about her. On a beam a few feet away T.K. sat with her feet dangling off the edge, and behind her Trowa sat clinging to the vertical timber digging his pudgy fingers into the wood. "Of course, the clown boy is afraid of heights..." She crawled over to them and picked up the bored looking T.K. She crawled over to Trowa and tried to pull him away, but it was like trying to push a cat into a bathtub. Just wasn't gonna happen. Meanwhile, T.K was discovering a new means of entertainment, Ruh's hair. "Come on *OW* T-chan *OWW damn you* It's not safe up here *OH WOULD YOU DESIST YOU LITTLE MONKEY!!!*" Trowa shook his head vigorously and tightened up his grasp. "Oi Vey...."

After nearly half an hour Trowa was still clinging madly onto the support. All the other babies had fallen asleep and Wufei was getting bored. "Haven't you gotten him down yet Onna?" "Hey I didn't ASK to be up here!!" Wufei laughed, and leaned into the doorway. He stretched over luxuriously just to make Ruh mad. "Boy it sure is comfy down here..." He walked over to Quatre's little pillow nest. "Move over weakling..." He pushed Quatre over and took over Ruh's spot. This invasion started to make Quatre cry. The sound of him crying made her shut her eyes in frustration; she could feel a migraine coming on. She sighed and looked at Trowa angrily "TROWA BARTON, DON'T MAKE ME GET THE LION!!!!" The unibanged pilot's eyes grew wide, "L...lion?" He squeaked. Ruh nodded. His little lower lip quivered, and in an instant he was clinging to Ruh's middle. "No please, don't feed me to the lion!!" The teen smiled wearily and said in a mock-disappointed tone, "Okay T-Chan, I guess I won't feed you to the lion..." He looked up at her with big eyes. The 'gremlin' sighed; who knew chibis could be so cute?

"DAMMIT! CHIBI'S ARE EEEVIL!!" Wufei called as Ruh came out of the shower. He came upstairs holding a very smelly Duo. "AGH! He reeks!" "Yes Onna, that's all babies do..." He dropped the messy child into her hands and headed for the door. "Wait a minute, where the hell are you going?" "To the store, no matter how weak the task may be, I don't want this place to smell like shit!" "Well what the heck do you want me to do with him?" Wufei shrugged, "Give him a bath" Ruh turned beet red, "WHOA!! Wait a minute China Boy! Incase you haven't noticed, Duo is a *guy*" "What is your point Onna?" "SO?!?! I'd never be able to look at Duo the same way again!!!" Wufei merely rolled his eyes and began to leave again. "Hey! At least take a couple of them with you!!!" Wufei sighed, picked up Aerie and Quatre and left. "That's MY Quatre! Agh! This is going to be a loong day...."

Ruh walked in and filled the bathtub with warm water. Duo took one look and began to kick and scream. "NO! NO! DEF NEEDFS NO BWAF!" "Oh shut up!" Ruh yelled back, "I'm the one who has to bathe you..." 'Oh whatever gods watch over me! Please don't make me do this!!' She smiled as she got an idea. "Ohh D-Chan..." Duo immediately stopped ranting and looked at her, "Whaa?" "How would you like a bubble bath?" His cobalt blue eyes lit up and he ran around screeching, "BWUBBLE BWAF! BWUBBLE BWAF!" Ruh held her forehead, "Gods, I hope China Boy brings me some advil...."

She had managed to place Duo into the bath water and was washing his hair with his shampoo. He cackled and splashed about madly. "HEY! Who's having the bath here me or you?" Shinigami smiled, "YOOOOOOO!" and threw water into her face. "DAMMIT YOU LITTLE MONKEY!!!" he giggled and dove underwater to avoid her wrath. She pulled the plug and went to get a towel. She bundled him up and placed him on her bed, "Well, since your old clothes are kinda big, and a little...er...soiled... what are we going to do with you?" He looked around then pointed up. "What's that?" Ruh looked to where his finger was pointing, "That my friend, is the attic, and if this house is as old as Quatre says it is, we may be in luck..."

Sure enough, Ruh pulled up a box neatly labeled "Master Quatre's Baby Clothes." and another that was one of his sister's. She pulled them down and opened them up. She spent nearly fifteen minutes going through Quatre's past. She finally managed to find a black jumper that would fit Duo. "See, it's even black..." "YEEEAH!!! DEF!!" She pulled out a yellow and green outfit with red dots. "Well T-Chan.. It kinda looks like your clown suit..." "Clown? Where?" Trowa cried latching on to her leg with fright. -_-; "He's afraid of clowns..." T.K. chanted in her little pale blue trench coat and bucket hat. "Big Baby, Big Baby, BIG BABY!!!" "Okkie...moving along now." She put Himaka into a matching Duo outfit. They blinked, shrugged and crawled off in separate directions; "Oh sure some love birds you are..." She walked over to Heero and Shinira, "Alright solider boy, your turn." He screeched and latched firmly onto Shinira, who latched onto him. Ruh sighed and grabbed Heero by the back of his shirt. "C'mon, I only need to change your clothes, then you can go back to sitting in your little corner." But they wouldn't let go so Ruh left them the way they were.

It had been two hours and Wufei had yet to return. She gazed nervously out the window. 'Why did Wufei have to take Quatre?' The thought of OZ capturing them was more than she could bear. Himaka tugged on Ruh's pant leg and pointed to her mouth. "Oh great food.... What do Chibis eat?" She opened the fridge and the pantry. "Hmm, lemme see where does China Boy keep his stash?" She moved a can of picante sauce and smiled. "And Bing-o was his name-o. Oreos anyone?" The chibis let out cries of delight. She gave all of them five Oreos and a little cup of milk. "Eat up y'all."

Wufei burst into the house with the sound of Quatre wailing. "ONNA! MAKE HIM STOP!!!" Ruh let out an exasperated sigh and ran to take the screaming child out of Wufei's arms. He immediately stopped crying and rubbed his watery eyes. Ruh glared at Wufei angrily, "What did you do China Boy?" "Hn, I did nothing, he just started crying." she rolled her eyes and took Aerie and Quatre from his arms. She placed Quatre in a little blue tank top with brown pants and Aerie in a white top with blue pants. Wufei pulled out some diapers and cans of Gerber food. He also pulled out a movie. "What's that?" Wufei looked off in another direction. "Its-a-smurf-movie" Wufei said quickly. Ruh fell over laughing, "A, a what?" "SHUT UP WOMAN! Aerie said that if I didn't rent it she'd scream." Ruh laughed even harder, "You think I'm weak!" Wufei blushed, but didn't say anything. When all the kids awoke they put on the movie. It worked like a charm; they all sat laughing at the little creatures running about the screen. Ruh sat with them, Quatre on her lap. She had a little brush and was taming his beautiful blonde hair. She smiled, 'Beautiful, that was Quatre's word.' She missed him; there were so few things you could do with a baby...

By the time the movie was over it was dinnertime, and the babies knew it. 'Let's make a deal, you feed 'em, and I'll Bathe and clothe them." The Lone Dragon didn't trust Ruh that much. It had only been a few months since she'd stolen parts from his precious Nataku. His head creased, debating the fact with himself. "Deal," he said reluctantly.

Things in the kitchen were too silent for Ruh's liking. She walked in and to her suprise all of them were eating happily, Wufei was handing a spoon to Quatre. Ruh went pale as she read the label on the can by Quatre's chair. "NO WUFEI!! NO!!" Ruh's sudden outburst caused Wufei to drop the spoon. Not understanding why this happened Quatre began to cry again. Ruh swept up Quatre and glared angrily at the Chinese boy. "The hell was that for stupid onna?!" She held up the can, "It says pork and beans. YOU DON'T FEED ARABS PORK!!!" While the two were arguing Duo took the opportunity to pour his food all over T.K.'s head. She screamed and flung her pea and carrot food back toward Duo. Her aim however, was not as good as when she was a teen and it landed square in Shinira's face. She wiped her face off with was a teen and it landed square in Shinira's face. She wiped her face off with her hands and rubbed her stained hands against Trowa's shirt. Heero, taking revenge for his girlfriend flung his hamburger stuff. It landed right on Aerie's lap. She giggled and poked Himaka with her now messy fingers. Soon all the babies were crying. "ALRIGHT! What's going on?!" Wufei yelled, he turned around and was nailed in the face by the flying goo. He narrowed his eyes; "I cannot take this much longer..."

Ruh managed to herd the little munchkins into the bedroom. "Lemme see... how am I gonna do this?" She decided that since it would be impossible to separate Heero and Shinira that she'd bathe them in their little pairs. The groups were very pleased with this, and things went by quickly. Wufei stood outside the door grumbling and wiping green muck from his face. "I don't know why I agreed to this...." Ruh simply stuck out her tongue and brought the little babies down into the living room. "Alright, time to sleep. Go to bed y'all." But the kids refused to sleep. Duo was running around screaming something about death and Himaka was in hot pursuit. T.K. was having fun scaring the wits out of Trowa, making him cling in fear to Ruh's leg. Quatre was always finding something to cry about and clinging to Ruh's other leg. Wufei sat in the corner with Aerie and Heero clinging protectively onto Shinira. He frowned, "Shame, we need some popcorn..." Ruh glared at him, "Things would be A LOT easier if you'd help!!!" Wufei laughed, "Where'd the fun in that be?" Ruh pulled the two boys off her legs and sat down with them in her lap. 'Man, where's Tono? He loves kids...'

Ruh woke up the next morning to a shocking scene. All of the kids had aged at least one year. Trowa and T.K, being the oldest, were now about 3 and every one else 2. Toddlers ran about everywhere, tearing things to pieces. Ruh and Wufei stood in the middle of the room dazed. "Well, if they age at this rate, it'll be a little more than a month 'til they're normal... Question is, will they keep aging?" Wufei shrugged, "I only know five men who can figure that out..." "Yeah but where do we find them?" Both of their stares went to Heero's laptop lying idle on the coffee table.

While Wufei amused the little tykes Ruh set out to hacking into the Perfect Soldier's computer. She plugged her headset into the back of the machine and pressed the power button- nothing happened. "WHAT THE?! AWWW COME ON!!" She pulled the plastic cover off the button and viewed the wiring inside. A wry smile covered her face. " I see what you've done Yuy..." "Whaa he dooo?" A little voice said from behind her. She turned and saw a little Quatre with big, inquisitive blue eyes. Ruh smiled and pulled him onto her lap. "Well, he rewired the power switch so now you have to press a different button, or buttons to get it to turn on. "Oh I see..." Quatre said, pretending it made sense. Ruh laughed and ruffled his blonde hair. "Sure you do..." After about five minutes Ruh decided that it was definitely multiple buttons. "Hmm... what could it be. Help me out here Q-man." Quatre squirmed happily at his nickname. He looked out side the window to the other chibis running about in the backyard. Heero and Shinira ran about hand in hand. Quatre pointed and Ruh smiled. "You are a smart boy Q-man." He giggled and squirmed again. S-H-I-N-I-R-A, the power kicked on. Ruh smiled yet again, Shinira sometimes doubted that Heero really liked her, this would help...

If just getting the laptop started was hard. The series of locks that followed would be deemed impossible. At around twelve in the morning Ruh sat asleep on the couch, Quatre in her lap and the laptop in his. He, unlike the others in the house was wide awake and pushing the enter button happily. Finally the screen opened up, the traditional Microsoft sound came onto the little speakers and woke Ruh with a start. "Huh? What? I'm in? Quatre, did you do that?" The little blonde giggled, nodded, the fell asleep on Ruh's lap. She kissed his fore head lightly. "My smart little Q-man... Yo China Boy, I'm in..." Wufei didn't answer. She pulled out a pillow and threw it at his face. "ACK! WHAT THE!! STUPID ONNA! INJUSTICE!!!" Ruh rolled her eyes, "I'm in ya moron..." " About time..." There were so many icons they didn't know where to begin. "Click on that one woman." "Hey lay off, besides I already clicked it." "No you didn't, now click it." "NO! I already clicked it!" "JUST CLICK IT!" "NO!" Fine then! I will!" "HEY!!! I'M THE ONE IN CONTROL OF THE COMPUTER! See I told you we've already been in here!" "Oh shut up..." A new icon flashed and Ruh clicked it. She turned pale. "What, what is it woman? YOUR HEAD IS BLOCKING THE SCREEN!!" She turned and looked at Wufei. "Your mission orders..."

"Five for Heero, two for Duo, three for Trowa, one for Quatre, and you have four." "So, those are normal numbers for us..." "SO?!? Gods you are SOOO dense! How are four babies gonna do their missions?" "Oh..." Wufei murmured, his already pale skin growing paler. "Well we can decline about four of them, but that still leaves eleven missions..." "I will take six of those, and you can take five." "Are you sure? Nataku may be able to take that amount of battering, but my Tiamat only has a half Gundainum, half neo-titanium hull..." "You'll have to manage it, we can't fall behind. Yeah, but wait a minute..." Ruh pulled out Himaka's laptop from it's hiding spot, and started it up. "Why is it that it takes you a whole day to get into Yuy's laptop, but only a few seconds to get into hers?" Wufei said, trying his best not to yawn. "I built this laptop myself, if one can't use their own materials then they've got no place in this world...:" Sure enough the little mission icon was flashing. "Two for Shinira, One for Himaka, seven for T.K., three for T.K. and Shinira, One for me, three for me and Himaka, and four for Aerie..." "Twenty-one missions?" "Yeah, they're mostly spying, I can cut those down to about nine..." "So we have twenty missions in total, two able people, and one has to watch the kids..." Ruh sighed. "We're gonna need some help..."

The toddlers were now three and four. And the worst thing that could've happened to Ruh and Wufei -the cootie epidemic...was coming true. "EWWW!! GIRLS HAVE COOTIES!" Duo cried running madly away from Himaka. "Boys have cooties too!" she called up to him. "Look at Heero and Shinira! They're holding hands!" T.K. Shouted. "Shut up..." Heero growled. If Shinira could only see how much he loved her! Wufei paced about, he was dressed up in his flight suit, ready for his next mission. Ruh was out filling out Quatre's mission. A burned and dented Tiamat landed slowly in the underground hangar. In a few moments, Ruh came out, nursing a small trickle of blood spilling from her forehead. Wufei handed her a bandage and headed down to the hangar. "It'll be a two hour mission. Good luck with the little brats, they keep screaming something about cooties..." "Oi Vey, Gods why are you doin' this to me?" She walked into the den and smiled as she saw Quatre sitting happily on the chair. She snuck up behind him and gave him a big hug. "Hey Q-Man. Did you miss me?" "EWWW! She's hugging him!" Duo screamed, "NOW he's gonna get Cooties!!" Quatre hesitated then broke away from her grasp. "DON'T HUG ME! AND DON'T USE THAT DUMB NICKNAME! IT'S DUMB!!!" The normally sweet boy's outburst shocked Ruh and she let go. Quatre stuck out his tongue and followed Duo and Trowa outside. Ruh's eyes watered. 'It's just a phase,' she told herself, 'just some stupid phase little kids go through... He'll be the same Quatre when he gets bigger...' She tried to convince herself, but his rejection hurt her so badly. The girls crowded around her and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about boys, they're icky and dirty," Aerie said crinkling up her nose. "Yeah, and they won't play house or dollies, or pet shop..." Himaka added. Tears trickled down Ruh's face, here her best friend sat, so small, talking about how much they childishly hated the boys they cared so much about....

When Wufei returned the sky was clouded. The children were sitting inside watching cartoons. "Where's Ruh?" "Upstairs." "What is she doing?" "I dunno..." Quatre walked up to Wufei, he beckoned to the older boy with a small hand and he whispered into Wufei's ear. "Does Ruh...love me?" Wufei's eyes widened and he looked into the Arab's big blue eyes. "Of course she does. What makes you think she doesn't?" "Well...she hugged me, and I yelled at her, 'cause I didn't wanna get cooties, and then she kinda got really quiet. I dunno why she got all quiet. Why'd she go all quiet?" "Well, you hurt her feelings. You usually give her lots of hugs when she comes back from one of her missions." Wufei replied. "What can I do to make her happy?" The Lone Dragon shrugged, "That is for you to decide..." Quatre frowned the went back to watching cartoons.

That night it rained. Ruh slept upstairs in her bed - alone. Lightning flashed and Thunder rumbled off in the distance. Her door opened and a little blonde head popped in. Lightning danced across the sky again, the Arab ran to the bed in fright. "R-ruh? A-a-are you a-asleep?" "Uh? Wha? Yeah I'm up. What's the matter?" "Uhhh...ummm. N-n-nothing. I was just makin' sure that you weren't uhhh... scared of the lightining..." the Gremlin smiled, even the normal Quatre was uneasy about thunderstorms. "But since you aren't I-I'll just go back..." "W...wait, Q-ma...er, Quatre, I might get scared. Why don't you stay up here, so if I do get scared you can protect me." Quatre thought a moment. 'It might make her happy...' "But what about cooties?" Ruh rolled her eyes. "C'mere you. Gimme your arm, I'll fix this..." He reluctantly allowed her to hold his forearm. "Now lemme see if I remember the chant... oh yeah, Circle, Circle, Dot, Dot, now you've got a Cootie shot!" "What's a Cootie shot?" "Well, it keeps other peoples Cooties from crawling onto you." "How long does it last?" "About oh, I dunno about three zillion years." Quatre narrowed his eyes. "Has anyone even LIVED that long?" "Only one." "Who's that?" "Doctor J!" They giggled and huddled down under the cover. "And Ruh?" "Hmmm?" "If you get scared, and accidentally call me Q-man, I won't be mad..." "*sniff* Thanks Q-man..."

Back In OZ

"Lady Une, I have the first report on the pilot safehouse." "Continue..." "Eight of the targets have reverted back to the age of one and have been rapidly aging again. We believe the aging process should slow down..." Lady Une had been counting people in her head. "Wait, eight of the targets? Aren't there ten targets?" "Y-yes ma'am, two of the targets remained normal. Pilot five, Chang Wufei and a Ruh Linder alias 'Gremlin'." "What is the reason for their resistance to the gas?" "Unknown..." Une thought a moment, "Bring pilot four and Ms. Linder in for testing. This is an interesting opportunity..." "Yes Ma'am."

The intruder alarm woke Ruh with a start. Her eyes wide with fear she ran downstairs to find Wufei herding the children down to the hangar. "Ruh, program the mobile suits to follow Nataku. We have to get out of here!" The Gremlin nodded and dashed past the group. Grabbing onto a chain connected to a track she swung over to Wing Zero. She swung back down and headed for Death-scythe Hell. She finished programming and checked up on Wufei's progress. He placed each of the kids in their Gundams or mobile suits, but he was out of children when he came to Sandrock. "Ruh! Where is Quatre?!" "HOLY SHIT!! HE'S UPSTAIRS!!!" She jumped down off of Tiamat and ran back into the safe house. "Quatre? Q-man! Where are you?!" a shell hit the house causing it to shake. Quatre came streaking down the stairs. "Ruh, we have to leave now. Take Quatre in Tiamat." Wufei's voice called from down in the hangar. "Right." She grabbed up her little boyfriend and carried him into Tiamat. "C'mon baby, I know that your still worn from our last mission, but you've gotta get up!" Engines kicked on, and the large serpent-like Mobile Suit stirred. "That's it baby, just get us outta here," Thrusters kicked on and they lifted off. "Hang on tight Q-man we're gonna be in for a wild ride!!"

Tiamat pulled out of the hangar and into a heavy barrage of bullets. "Agh! Dammit! I need one of those 'Baby on Board' signs." Aeries and Tarous mobile suits were everywhere. "Sheesh, they sure did go overboard..." A voice came over the speaker. "Ruh Linder, land your mobile suit and surrender peacefully. If you do not, then we will be forced to open fire." The Gremlin replied by machine gun. In an instant she was surrounded. "I'll give you one more chance. Surrender peacefully or we will open fire!" Ruh looked down at Quatre, who was clinging to her arm tightly. "I won't give up, I'm not gonna let them get their hands on Quatre." She lowered Tiamat until it was almost touching the ground. Then sped off into the nearby forest. "Ya know what I just noticed?" Ruh yelled as they hit a stump and barreled into a copse of oaks. The back of Ruh's head hit the back end of the cockpit. "There's too many damn trees..." Everything went black.

Wufei had managed to secure another safe house and counted the children. Ruh and Quatre were missing. He creased his forehead in thought, 'If she's not back by tomorrow, I'm in trouble.' The door opened and Wufei pulled out a gun. "Relax, I'm not the enemy...I think..." It was Doctor J. "Damn creepy old man," Wufei muttered under his breath. "Just because I'm old doesn't mean I'm deaf." J said flatly staring down at little Heero and Shinira. ~_0? "What's this?" he picked up Heero. Heero looked into J's artificial eyes this simply bit his hand. "AGH! It's Heero all right. What happened?" "They just shrank three nights ago. We don't know how it happened, but they've been growing." J thought, "I smell an OZ scheme..." Wufei nodded and picked up Aerie, "Do you think you can fix it?" J smiled evilly, "I'll have to do some research..." Wufei groaned. 'This IS NOT going to be fun.'

Ruh's brown eyes focused in on a plain white ceiling. She was bound down and there was a strange pain in her arm. What had occurred clicked into her head and she began looking around for Quatre. He wasn't there. The door opened and Lady Une walked in, a smug smile on her face. "Ruh Linder? Welcome to the OZ main base. I have a few questions for you." "Where the hell is Quatre?" "We need to continue research on him, and you. However, since you're the only one that can talk at the moment..." The sound of an infant crying was heard further down the hall. "I had a feeling OZ was behind this. What'd you do shrink him again?" Une nodded "What interests me is why you stayed the same." Ruh laughed slightly, becoming aware of her other injuries sustained while escaping. "That's an easy question. I've been working on Mobile Suits since I was four. Most fumes have no affect on me." Lady Une smiled again; most likely she already knew that. "Well then, how about injections?" She pulled out a syringe and walked toward the table. "Hey, I don't like needles, keep that damned thing away from me!" Ruh pulled at the bonds that held her down. Nothing scared her more than needles and hospitals. Une pushed on the end of the syringe and watched the clear liquid trickle down the steel point. 'Oh gods, don't let this happen PLEASE!!'

"LADY UNE!! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?!" a voice called from the door. Une winced and turned, the needle just inches from the vein in Ruh's wrist. "Testing a new serum on the prisoner Ms. Sakeru." She mumbled. "WHAT? Why would you do such a thing?" "For the sake of Science." Sakeru shook her head with disappointment, "Prisoners are prisoners, not guinea pigs." Une sighed, if Sakeru was not dating Lieutenant Zeches she'd probably be dead. Une sighed and walked out of the room. Sakeru smiled as she left , in that blank, air headed way then walked up to Ruh. "Here's a face I haven't seen in awhile." "Yeah, well... I'da visited, but ya know, your 'friends' mighta made me stay a little while..." Sakeru laughed, "Yeah sure, you say that, but in reality..." "That's my line." They both laughed slightly, the two had been friends for a long time. The crying continued down the hall, and Ruh looked up seriously at her friend. "What are they doing to my Q-man?" "He broke a bone, they're tryin' to set it. You've got a broken arm to, and your legs got pretty bloodied up." "I don't care, you've got to let me see him, he won't stop crying unless I'm there." "I've been trying, but they won't let me pass..." The cries turned into pained screams, and tears trickled down Ruh's face. "Be strong Q-man...."

J was having a hard time getting one of the youngsters, who were now about six, to hold still long enough. "Omae O Korosu!" Heero yelled, attacking the old man with a water gun. "Well at least your aim is still as good..." J muttered wiping off his face. He found Duo and Himaka sitting in the corner smiling evilly. J decided to leave them alone. T.K. had found a little kitten and was showing Trowa that it was NOT going to eat him. "Perhaps..." J started, "But was met by angry glares of T.K., Trowa, and the cat. It had been three days of this and there was no getting any of them to cooperate. An idea struck J and he scurried off to complete it.

Ruh was curled up in a tight ball in her cell, debating what had happened. After the doctors had set her arm she was sent here. From what Sakeru had told her Une was trying to get clearance from Trieze to continue her experiment. 'I'll be kinda like your lawyer!' the blonde had cried happily. This was NOT going to be fun for her. She had to figure out a way to get herself and Quatre out of this. But first she needed to know where Quatre and Tiamat were. She looked up to the ceiling, "You better get your butt over here China Boy..."

Wufei walked into the safe house to find Heero, with a dog collar on, tied to a chair by a leash. The others were tied down similarly in various areas. "What the HECK are you doing?" Doctor J looked up at the boy wearily, "I told them to settle down. This si the only way I can do my research..." "Last time I hire you as a baby sitter..." Wufei muttered. "I do believe I have it." J said holing up a syringe full of a purple liquid. "Now whom shall we try it on?" All fingers pointed at Duo. The braided boy looked around confused until it clicked into his head. "HEY!!!"

Une smiled as the image of General Treize disappeared from the video phone's screen. She turned to Sakeru who was standing beside her. "You make an excellent debater, unfortunately your friend's record did not work in your favor..." She turned to one of the scientists standing just inside the room. "We will continue the experiment tomorrow, get the supplies ready." "Yes ma'am."

Ruh sighed, "So it didn't work..." "Nope," Sakeru said, "But think of it this way, I'm sure you'd make an adorable baby..." Ruh looked at her spacey friend darkly. "You're not helping..." "So what do you want me to do?" Ruh got up and walked to the door staring at Sakeru through the bars, "You've gotta get me outta here." Sakeru shook her head, "I'm sorry, Zechs would never forgive me for helping you escape." Ruh sighed again, "At least lemme see Q-man."

Duo pulled on a pair of black pants, "So lemme get this straight... I was a little kid for like two weeks?" Wufei and Doctor J nodded. "Yeah right, where's the proof?" Wufei went into the kitchen and came back with the little Himaka in tow. "WHOA!! Hi-Himaka?!?" Himaka giggled and hugged Duo's waist. "Holy Crap! You- you weren't kidding!!" "Why would I 'Kid' Maxwell?" "Can you change her back?" Doctor J nodded and went back to his mini-lab.

Ruh woke up as the cell door slid open. Two men came in and out handcuffs on her, then proceeded to push her out the door. "Hey guys, can't we just settle this with a couple of drinks?" She pleaded in a semi-sarcastic tone, "I know how to mix up a mean Margarita..." The two seem unfazed "Psht, your loss." Lady Une stood at the end of the hallway smiling. 'Here goes nothing...' There was a tiny popping noise and a door burst open. The little Arab came running out and began pushing furiously on Lady Une's leg. He looked over his shoulder at Ruh. "Run Gwemwin! I'll cover you!!" The two men cracked up at the sight of a four-year-old trying to knock over Une. Ruh however, took it seriously, stamped one man's foot, and kicked the other in the shin. She ran toward Une with an evil gleam in her eyes. Ruh's head came in contact with the Lady's stomach and grabbed she Quatre around the middle. "I'd love to stay an' all, but I think it's Q-man's nap time." With that she dashed around the corner toward what she hoped was the hangar. Quatre looked up at her seriously and stated, "Gwemwin, I'm now four... I don't need a nap..." "Okay, whatever you want big guy." Somewhere down the hall she ran into Sakeru, "C-ya Sake girl! I'm blowin' this place!" Sakeru stared at her friend blankly as she whizzed around the corner. In a few seconds Ruh returned. "Hangar is that way..." Sakru said pointing to the opposite hallway. Ruh smiled then dashed down the right hallway. "Thanks Sake girl!"

Tiamat's new armor shined in the early morning light. "Awright! They fixed it!" She dashed into the cockpit as the alarm beacons finally sounded. "TOO LATE!" She yelled as Tiamat streamed through the hangar door. She was met by Deathscythe Hell and Wing. Duo's face appeared on the screen, "Weeell, looky what we've got here. We thought you might need a hand so we came to pick you up." Ruh looked at Duo's normal face and sighed in relief. "So you're normal now?" "When was he ever normal?" Heero said in his monotone voice. "Yeah right, let's get outta here before the Ozzies get geared up."

Ruh was met by heavy hugs from Himaka and Aerie, followed by a volley of questions. Ruh looked at J wearily and placed Quatre on the counter. "Can you fix him?" J smiled one of those genuinely creepy smiles, "I can fix just about anything..." He stuck the needle into Quatre's shoulder. "owww..." Quatre cried before he fell into a deep sleep. "You should get some rest too." Shinira said, ever concerned about the others health. Ruh nodded, "Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

Quatre poked his head into Ruh's room, she was sleeping soundly. He crept up and slipped in, she stirred but didn't wake up. 'Poor Gremlin, we must have really worn her out.' He smiled and ran his hand along her foot. She smiled and shifted again and Quatre again ran his finger down her foot again. She giggled and tried to move her foot away but the fingers followed. her giggled turned into laughing and she slowly came back from the dream world. He smiled, and hugged her happily. "Welcome back Q-man..." she said snuggling up to him, she yawned "You were such an adorable baby, oh I have to tell you about wha..." Quatre held his finger up to her lips, "Not tonight, you need plenty of rest." "Awright Q-man..." She curled up close and closed her eyes. The door opened in the darkness. ::Click, Flash:: "Huh? What the? DAMMIT WUFEI!!!" "Heh Heh, justice..."

~Fin~