Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Firefly Tides ❯ One Step Foreward, Two Steps Back ( Chapter 3 )

Title: Firefly Tides

Author name: CherryStain

Author email: CherryStain@hotmail.com

Category: Drama/Angst

Rating for this chapter: This chapter is probably pg-13. Nothing too heavy, just a lot of arguing.

Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA, Gundam Wing.

Summary: Harry, forever The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die meets familiar faces after thinking them dead for over Five-Hundred Years. Crossover with Gundam Wing, will have slash, though won't be centered on it. Our little group finally escape!

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Gundam Wing is the property of… someone, and that's not me, so… the uses of these characters are in no way profitable to me.

Authors Notes: Finally, something happens! Sort of. . . Anyways, this chapter is called what it's called because I get a few questions answered, but it just adds a whole lot more of them. :-) I'm rather cruel.

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Chapter Two- One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

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The response to his announcement was more or less what he expected.

Everyone just sort of blinked. And then blinked again. Wizards, being who they were, accepted the time change, more surprised that it had happened. Wufei looked like Duo had lost his mind, and Heero's posture barely changed.

Snape was the first to speak.

"But . . . a Time-Turner takes you to the past. We should have still been in Hogwarts, not on the top of some bloody concrete block!

Seamus added to Snape's exclamation, "And- what are you doing here and why do you look like that?"

Wufei spluttered, not even sure *what* to ask first. Heero just waited for Duo to continue, knowing that he eventually would.

"First of all, whatever brought you here could not have been a simple Time-Turner. You are five-hundred years in the future."

Now the four wizards looked truly surprised. Some spluttered, Snape and Draco more or less lost all of their decorum, Seamus cursed, and Hermione started asking half questions, looking as if she couldn't quite figure out what to ask first. Duo let them all let off a bit of steam before yelling over them.

"Quiet!" a bit shocked by the rather ear- numbing command, everyone fell silent.

"Now, we can't keep having this conversation. This is neither the time nor the place. Just- I don't know- save your questions till later. I'm going to deal with this lock," Duo indicated the control panel, "and the rest of you are going to deal with yourselves. No more questions about it until later. Got it?" It was not a question.

They all nodded and arranged themselves in different parts of the room. Hermione and Wufei came up to Duo as he lowered himself into a crouching position in front of the panel.

"Before you ask Wufei, no I did not say anything." Duo spoke over his shoulder. " They do know that we are the Gundam Pilots though, your face is rather hard to forget."

"Damn, that complicates things." Looking a bit uncomfortable, Wufei continued on, "you're okay, right? Something must be wrong with your ribs."

"Yeah, I'm more or less okay, perverted baka broke a rib, though." Duo carefully pried off the cover of the panel. Hermione, finding the idea that Harry of all people was dismantling an obviously complicated lock and alarm, watched.

"How did you learn all of this? I mean, I know, I'm not supposed to ask any questions, but since your Harry, you know me enough to know I have to have at least a little information to tide me over." She smiled and he laughed a bit.

"I learned it over the years." She frowned but stood quietly, getting the hint that he wasn't saying a word till he was ready. Wufei, meanwhile, had backed away, going over to Heero.

Snape, who had been watching the exchange from the other side of the room, also came over to look over Duo's shoulder. Both Snape and Hermione curiously watched him shuffle through the dozen or so multi-colored wires inside. Duo let a smirk cross his features as he mentally went through a checklist of the wire's input and output areas, and what the colors stood for.

"I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the brightly colored sheath's with its copper center, the delicate power of circuits that creep through the wires, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. . ."

Duo smiled in triumph as he finally chose the red wire.

Snape furrowed his brow. Where had he heard that? Oh, yes, now he remembered. A variation of his regular first-years speech . . .

"You actually remembered that?"

Duo chuckled, reaching for the back of his braid. "I've got a great memory. You'd be surprised at all of the things I remember." Duo pulled a small black slip out of his braid. Opening a flap on the side, he pulled out a razor blade.

"You keep tools in your braid?" Hermione asked, looking slightly perplexed at the thought. Duo smiled, "Hey, who would ever think of finding weapons or escape devises in a braid?" Duo leaned forward and, using the blade, took the sheath off the wire, exposing the copper underneath. Again, Duo shuffled through the wires before selecting a yellow wire and pealing away the plastic. Reaching back for his braid again, he pulled out a bobby pin. At Hermione and Snape's questioning look, he replied "Copper," before twisting the bit of copper around the two wires.

Duo stood up, using the wall for support. He looked back over at Heero and Wufei who were quietly discussing something.

"Hey you guys, I've re-routed the circuit. In another few minutes the door should open up." Snape and Hermione looked back just as the first number of the code showed up on the panel, leaving four more to go.

Duo glanced at Heero's arm. "Careful of your arm too, there are two abominably huge guards on the other side and-" Duo's eyes widened, "Don't you dare set that like you did your leg because if you are I don't want to-"

*CRACK*

Pretty much all of the occupants of the room cringed and looked away as Duo made gagging noises.

"That's really disgusting 01. Here," Duo went over to one of the metal pipes lining the walls, tapped it, most likely to check if there was anything inside, then reached up to tried to break it off. Wincing, he turned to the other occupants of the room. Wufei obligingly came up and pulled off about a foot of pipe.

Duo took it from him and came over to Heero. "Set your arm with this and- does anyone have a belt?"

Snape remembered that he'd put on a belt that morning- or, well, the morning in which he'd woken up- so he unbuttoned his robes, taking off his belt when it was open.

Duo blinked then laughed in spite of the situation. "Hermione, you owe me five Galleons."

Hermione frowned, than blushed. "Haaarrrrrryyyyy." Very un-Hermione like. Seamus joined in, "Damn, I owe you too."

Snape blinked, then scowled. "You were betting on whether I wore anything under my robes, weren't you?"

Hermione looked like she wanted to sink into the floor. The other Hogwarts alumni laughed harder. Wufei thought it odd that he was even *wearing* robes.

Wufei coughed. "This is all very interesting Maxwell, but we've got to go." He nodded towards the control panel, which only had one number to go.

Duo sobered, "Right, You lot," He pointed to the four wizards, " I trust you can run in robes? I don't think you'll really need to fight."

"You've got a broken rib Harry, and this guy," Hermione pointed towards Heero, "Has a broken arm. We'll *have* to fight." She reached into the pocket of her robe.

Duo, for that was who he truly was now, smiled none the less at the use of his real name. However, when he saw her reach for her pocket he shook his head.

"No."

"But Potter-" Draco had also been reaching for his wand.

"No. Believe me, it will all be explained later. Just trust me."

"If they have weapons-"

"No Wufei, I'm serious, they can't use the weapons they have." Wufei dearly wanted it all explained *now* but he knew when Duo was resolutely set on something, although nothing would stop him from prying the information from Duo when they were out of this base.

"Step back, the door is about to open." Snape and the three students stepped back as Heero, with his arm set, and Wufei came up to the door with Duo just as the door hissed open, sliding into the wall.

Heero pulled his gun out of previously mentioned Spandex Space [1] and aimed it with one hand. Duo hissed under his breath.

"Don't kill them. They aren't used to watching people die." Duo indicated with his eyes to the four behind them. Heero gave a sharp nod.

The first Guard practically leapt into the room, probably hoping to take them by surprise. Just as he aimed his gun, Heero fired a shot at his hand, gun falling when he cried out. A scream, probably from Hermione sounded behind them, but the three were already concentrated on the fight and barely registered it.

Wufei aimed a high kick to the huge guy's stomach. The other guard came in but Duo hit the back of his neck before he so much as raised his gun. Both collapsed and the three pilots stepped over them, Wufei and Duo reaching down to take both of their guns. Wufei and Heero went out into the hallway to check for more guards while Duo hung back. He looked into the barrel of his gun checking for bullets, before he looked over at the other occupants of the room. He smiled at the totally shocked expressions of the wizards.

"I've lived life like this for so long I've forgotten that it might shock some." Duo chuckled, "You haven't even seen Heero in full soldier mode either!"

"Bloody hell . . ." Duo smiled wider at Snape's cursing. It was fun watching his old professor totally unhinged. "You've seen nothing yet." He rocked his head to the side, indicating that they should follow.

Keeping to the wall, Duo led the way and Heero and Wufei brought up the rear, with the four wizards sandwiched between them.

After approximately five minutes of going down corridor after corridor and glancing around corners, they came upon a door leading to a staircase. Duo reached back and silently put his hand flat on Snape's chest, who had been directly behind him, as a signal for them to stay back. Duo slipped behind the door, then after a tense moment or two opened it up to let the others through.

"It's clear, we should be able to get to the first floor without incident."

Letting Wufei take the lead, Duo went to the back, deliberating quietly to Heero. Snape, curious, also lagged behind.

"The bathroom? Are you sure? I'm not sure that air vent is large enough."

"None of us are overly large 02, and it heads directly outside."

"But the closest bathroom is a lot further down the hallway and we'll have passed at least three vents before then. The first floor is most likely teaming with Oz minions too."

"We'll have to risk it. How many bullets do you have?"

Snape was completely bewildered with the conversation. What did Harry *do* exactly? He was obviously quite proficient in fighting and, as it looked, breaking and entering. What had happened to him- had he been sent through time also? If so, how did he know so much about everything? Was he sent earlier? His physical changes, however miniscule, screamed of Glamour magic. But that wasn't even *taught* at Hogwarts! Snape was completely overwhelmed and he didn't really have the time or the proper information to deal with all of it.

They came upon the doorway to the first floor. Again, Duo came up to the front, coming up level with Wufei. Wufei cracked the door open and Duo peaked through. He waved his arm to indicate that it was all clear. The group silently slipped through the door, keeping to the walls on either side. Coming to a bend in the corridor, they came up to their first problem.

"Shit, we've got about seven coming this way. Stay in the shadows." They obliged.

When the seven came around the corner, Duo shot the guns out of three of the soldier's hands while Heero and Wufei opted for the physical, kicking them away. With a right hook that most likely hurt like hell with his broken rib, Duo knocked one guy out cold, kicking out his leg to catch the second guy in the stomach. Duo spun around and brought his elbow down on the second guys' neck. Two down.

Heero meanwhile, had rendered one man unconscious with a well-placed kick to the man's knees and head. The last four were easily taken down by Heero and Wufei both.

Again, as Heero and Wufei went ahead, Duo looked back at the people who had only known him as Harry and smirked.

"Just wait till you see us in space."

As luck would have it, they encountered no one else until they reached the bathroom. All of them slipped in and Heero walked over to a toilet stall, indicating for the others to follow.

Wufei, mindful of Duo and Heero's injuries, walked over to the toilet and stood. Duo again reached for his braid, this time pulling out a small screwdriver and handed it over to Wufei. As Wufei worked on unscrewing the cover of the vent, Duo went over to the door and cracked it open; peering out to make sure that no one was coming.

Hermione, Seamus, Draco, and Heero stood at the foot of Wufei as Snape walked over to Duo, intensely curious as to how Harry had changed since he had last seen him in class a few short hours ago.

Duo offered a grin. "Surprised that James Potter's son is an international terrorist, eh?"

"Terrorist?!"

Duo laughed softly, again glancing out the door. "I might as well tell you a bit of my history. I'm part of a small group; we're a large part of the war going on right now. Actually, we're right in the middle of it."

Duo looked over to Wufei, who had taken off the screen on the vent and was in the process of lifting Heero through it so that he could lead the way.

"At least you have some experience with war. I'm not sure how Hermione, Malfoy, and Seamus will take to it. Not well, I'm guessing. I think the lot of you are stuck with me for a while, though."

"What exactly is this war all about?"

"That, I'll have to explain later. It's rather messy and spans two decades." Duo smiled, again looking over as Wufei, who had finished bringing up everyone, was now pulling himself up. He peaked his head down, meeting Duo's eyes and indicating that they should follow.

"Lift me up? Adrenaline is all but gone and I don't really have the will-power right now to deal with the pain."

Severus nodded, standing on the toilet and lifting Duo up and above him. Snape held onto Duo's waist, were his jacket rode up. He was surprised at the muscle beneath his fingers.

Snape blinked, then concentrated on lifting himself up and into the rather cramped vent. Snape could just make out the Chinese boy, Wufei, glancing back to make sure they had made it into the vent before turning the corner on hands and knees. "How long have you been here? Were you also given a strange transportation device by Dumbledore?" Duo let out a sharp bark of humorless laughter before quieting himself.

"No, baka, I'm over five hundred years old."

Snape's eyes practically bulged out. Five hundred years old?! That definitely wasn't normal, even by wizarding standards! Before he could say anything, Duo shushed him, pointing below.

Severus could just barely make out the sound of voices in the distance, coming towards the bathroom. Someone, most likely the Chinese boy who had been last coming up through the vent, had had the presence of mind to bring up the vent screen and Duo was now hastily replacing it. He picked up his screwdriver, which was lying next to the screen, and put it into his braid.

Snape was dying to ask questions, but knew that the soldiers that were now in the bathroom below them would hear him. Snape tilted his head to the side, wanting Duo to take the lead, as they were now far enough from the others that Snape could not follow them. Duo squeezed past him, and Snape caught a trace of his scent; vanilla and gunpowder. Snape was stunned that he really liked the way he smelled. Snape shook himself; the boy was only sixteen after all!

~' But he's really not, is he?'~ Snape frowned at the thought, silently following Duo through the vents.

After an unknown amount of time, they came to the others, who had been waiting for them. Duo, obviously realizing why, took the screwdriver out of his braid and passed it to Wufei, who in turn passed it along until it reached Heero at the front. Heero made short work of the vent, and in no time they where out in the fresh air, leaning against the wall as Heero replaced the vent.

It was in the twilight hours of the night, the waning moon barely enough light to illuminate the dark outline of trees. One especially gnarled tree caught all of their attention. Some branches seemed to be reaching for the air, while others twined around the trees nearby as if struggling. With a jolt, Snape, and most likely the other Hogwarts alumni recognized the trees for what they were.

"Is that the Womping Wi-" Duo covered Hermione's mouth. He whispered back for them to be silent.

"Yes, I'll explain later." With that, he sprinted across the field towards the trees. The others followed close behind. An alarm, obviously too late, had been sounded and there were soldiers everywhere, but luckily no spotlights had been brought out. All of them were dressed in dark colors, the wizards in their robes and the pilots in their jackets and dark bottoms, so they had blended with the darkness around them. They reached the trees without being spotted. Following the pilots silently, they reached a jeep in the clearly debilitating forest.

The wizards noticed that the surrounding forest, viewed from their previous location, had seamed a lot larger. Now they could tell that something had wiped out most of it. Duo silently pulled out the first aid kit, Wufei helping him bind his midsection tightly.

Getting all packed into the jeep was a whole other problem. Wufei, and Heero ended up seated up front. Seamus, Draco, and Hermione had ended up in the seats behind them. They had obviously packed sleeping bags, because Duo quickly unwrapped them and laid them out in the back. The braided pilot and Severus got in the back and closed the door just as Wufei started the engine. Within minutes, they were out of the forest and on a dirt road leading to Interstate 91.

Hermione turned in her seat, glancing back at Severus and Duo who were leaning on opposite sides of the trunk. "Good, now you can explain to the rest of us what exactly is going on."

"No, I'm going to sleep. Adrenaline is fading and my injuries are catching up with me. We'll talk at the manor." And with that, Duo turned on his side and was asleep in seconds.

::blink::blink:: "Manor?"

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Author's Notes: Hehe, thought I was actually going to get some stuff cleared out, eh? Why do Harry and Duo (the same person, by the way) look different from each other? Why is Duo/Harry the way he is now? What has become of the Wizarding world? Why can't Snape, Malfoy, Hermione, and Seamus use their wands? ::cackles:: you'll never find out, Never! Erm, okay, maybe not …

Side notes:

[1] Look at chapter two's notes.

Brimstone- hehe, yep, I like the sound of it also

~F~ Hehe, I'm glad you like this story. There aren't nearly enough gundamwing/Harry

Potter crossovers.

Shinegami- hi! Wow, lots of reviews from you, I don't mind though- makes me happy yeah, this will be slash, and Duo will be with a guy- but which one? Tell me if you find everyone's reactions satisfactory, because I'm not sure if I got it quite right. Oh yes, and there is a reason why Duo told the pilots he was 15. He wanted to get as many years as possible with the pilots because, I mean, after a while, the pilots are going to notice that he hasn't grown any. Also, he's small enough to pass for a fifteen year old. Oh yes, and on the subject of Relena . . . I still haven't decided on how to portray her. I mean, a lot of people write her as a bratty obsessive girl, but she's not all that bad, just really, really naïve. And well, she will probably still have a thing for Heero. I'm not exactly sure what to do with Heero but he needs more character depth. He's a bit too two-dimensional right now.

Tdei- well, the chaps out now

j. Lynn- thanks for pointing it out, I totally missed it.

gundamgirl_1321- thanks for the offer, but I have a great beta right now. If the story ever gets to be too complicated for the two of us, I'll definetly e mail you. Erm, my story might be 3x4 but I'm not sure yet. If it is though, it wont be established for another few chapters.

Review!