Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Outlaw Star Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Bounty Hunters, Outlaws, Pirates and Princesses ❯ Of Stais Tubes and Perfect Pairs ( Prologue )

Disclaimer: All rights and privileges to Gundam Wing and Outlaw Star are trademarks and property of Sunrise and Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit.

Author's Notes: The idea came to me a while back and I couldn't shake it off. This is for a fanfiction contest, a crossover contest to be exact. I dedicate this story to Lee, who got me watching Outlaw Star after I abandoned it. Sorry if some of the Outlaw Star details will be very vague or wrong.

Raiting: R

A Gundam Wing/ Outlaw Star Crossover Prologue: Of Stasis Tubes and Perfect Pairs

By: Elf

After Colony 197

"Get the brat!" Duo Maxwell ignored the shouts of profanity and such that were thrown at his way. He kept running down the spaceship corridor, having no idea where he was going. He just knew that these guys were playing for keeps. I'd give the moon to have Deathscythe HELL back, he thought fleetingly as he ran, his boots pounding on the titanium surface.

"Come back here, you little son of a bitch!" another voice shouted at him.

Duo didn't even turn around as he shouted, "Fuck you!" He gritted his teeth as he kept running.

"Duo!" a familiar monotone shouted at him. Duo smiled brightly as he saw Heero Yuy heading toward him, full tilt, his dark blue eyes narrowed in determination. Duo had never been more glad to see a dark-green tank top and an unruly head of dark brown hair. And the two machine guns that he held in his hand.

Within moments, Heero was at his side, throwing him one of the guns. Duo grinned broadly as he took the cold metal in his hand. He chirped, "Payback, you sons of bitches." He spun around and fired a few shots, the screams of a few of the terrorists sounding satisfying to his ears.

"Come on, Duo, we don't have time for this," Heero's monotone had a sharp edge to it. Duo chuckled and saluted him as they kept running back to their shuttle. This group of terrorists had been found by Lady Une and Heero had contacted Duo, needing someone who specialized in stealth. Duo, who was getting slightly board with salvaging, took up the chance immediately, despite his beloved Hilde's protests.

Despite the fact he was getting shot at, or because of it, he was having a lot of fun. An unfading smirk played across his face as he managed to keep pace with Heero. They turned into a corridor and Duo grinned. He chirped, "I guess this is where we get off, buddy."

They got back into their shuttle and Heero closed the airlock as Duo went to the controls. His nimble fingers pressed buttons and pulled levers, getting the ship ready. "Hey, Heero, get your ass up here!" he called out as his partner floated to the control panel.

Heero sat down and said, "Get us out of here, Duo."

"Got it," Duo said with a smile as he throttled the thrusters. He smiled to himself as he started to weave through an array of missile and buster fire. Heero typed something in his laptop, something to signal the detonation of all the explosives he planted.

Duo held the controls tight, putting the thrusters to the max. The ship behind them exploded, sending a shock wave coursing at the ship. It shook both of them violently, but Duo managed to keep control of the shuttle. After he managed to get away from the debree and recover from the shock wave, he turned to glare at Heero.

"Couldn't you wait till we got away from the ship to do that?" Duo snapped at him with a glare.

Heero's blue eyes glinted with amusement. He answered, "I knew you could handle it."

"You could have warned me," Duo snapped at him. Suddenly, the sensors started to blare. Duo looked around, punching up things on the screen. "Oh, fuck," he cursed as he saw about a hundred Leos and Tauruses in their direction.

******

Heero Yuy looked over at Duo Maxwell, the other teenager's head was bent forward, his long, chestnut bangs obscuring his features. They were being carried too somewhere. In the shuttle, weaponless, the DOLLs and the Leos still had trouble over powering them. Heero often wondered if Duo's piloting ability was something supernatural, but that wasn't logical, it didn't make sense, but there was so much to Duo that didn't make sense.

"Where are we being taken?" he asked in his coldest monotone, looking at one of their captors.

The guy, just a few years older than Heero, answered, "Don't mind that kid." Heero didn't say anything else as they were twisted along corridors and such. He kept giving worried looks to Duo though.

Suddenly, they were lead into some sort of lab. Heero looked around, his quick mind taking everything in extreme detail. There were five tubes big enough to hold a person stationed in the ground, hooked up with tubes leading to a chemical tank and a large computer. Life support, Heero realized with sudden dismay as he recognized the machines.

Duo was dropped to the ground. The other pilot moaned as he looked up, his violet eyes noticing his surroundings as well. "Fuck, stasis tubes," Duo cursed as he stood up, taking a step back, his normal jovial expression gone.

"I didn't know they had stasis tubes like this," Heero told Duo as the other boy looked around with something akin to hatred in his eyes.

"They do, I've seen em," Duo said with grim dismay.

Heero looked over at him and asked, "When? Dr. J made sure that I was abreast of all the medical technology."

"When I was seven, when I broke into the hospital," Duo said grimly as he looked around. I almost forgot about the plague on L2, Heero thought as he looked around. "Fuck, I wanna know who did this," Duo sneered as they looked around.

"I did boys," a familiar voice said to them. Heero's eyes narrowed as he recognized Professor G. The elderly scientist walked into the room, his dark grey hair covering half of his features and his nose twitching in anticipation.

"You fucking bastard! Haven't you learned anything yet?" Duo shouted as he looked at his former mentor. "I should of fucking killed you when I had the damned chance, you son of a bitch. You are responsible for the death of thousands, millions even. You said you were going to pay for your sins! How!? By this!" Duo sneered as he gestured to the equipment around him.

G looked at them and said, "Because you two were the best."

"Excuse me?" Duo snapped, crossing his arms.

Heero asked, "What do you mean?" He wanted to know what the scientist was planning. He was also forming a plan of escape.

G smiled softly and answered, "Wufei's unstable, Quatre's too gentle, Trowa's gone on with his life, you two are basically the best, the cream of the crop. The God of Death and the Perfect Soldier, a perfect combination."

"And you wanna keep it that way, by locking us in stasis like that!" Duo snarled at the scientist, his whole body tensing.

G answered, "Of course, Little Demon. You may be needed for another time. Both of you."

Heero looked around and G said, "Heero, I know what you're thinking. Dr. J told me all about you. You're planning every avenue of escape that you can. Heero, there's no escape, not even for you two."

"Wanna bet?" Duo said with a lazy smile. G gestured and one of the soldiers walked up with an air injection in his hand. Before Duo got a chance to react, the machine was pushed into Duo's throat, injecting the liquid. Duo's eyes glazed over before he crumpled to the ground.

Heero tensed up and sprung. He kicked one of the soldiers in the jaw, shattering it. He pivoted on his knees and swept another man's feet under him. He sprang back up and chopped a man's neck, shattering it with his heightened strength.

He felt something punch him in the arm, a sharp pain. Heero looked down to see one of the injectors pressed into his arm. His senses began to dull, his body felt heavy. He weaved on his feet before everything spun into darkness.

******

He was cold. His lungs burned. His body was wet. There was a metallic, yet sweet taste in his mouth. He gasped for air, his throat and lungs burning with a newness. He fell to the floor, long hair pooling around him, dripping fluid. He coughed, bringing up a cool, metallic tasting liquid from his lungs. It burned as he coughed it up and gasped for air.

His nude body shivered on the cold metal floor. His hands curled along the floor trying for purchase. His vision was blurred, everything coming in flashes of light and dark. He was distorted, not knowing who or what he was, except he had obscenely long hair, trailing to mid calf.

He managed to pull himself up, looking around. Things were starting to make more sense to him now. His eyes narrowed in hatred as he saw the empty tube, greenish fluid still dripping down its slick sides. His legs trembled slightly as he stood up, his body swaying with the weight of his hair.

"Heero?" Duo managed in a choked voice, turning around to look at the other tube. Heero was suspended in the other tube, his eyes closed, with the glowing green liquid flowing all around him. He looked older, was taller, and his dark hair had grown too, reaching his shoulders.

"We must have been in there for a long time," Duo said bitterly as he sat back down on the ground. The question was how the hell did he get out of that damned tube? "I don't know," he answered himself with a laugh, realizing that he was going insane.

"You were," a husky female voice said. Duo looked up to see a tall woman dressed all in black walk toward him. She had shoulder leanth black hair and dark eyes, one of them covered with an eyepatch. She was attractive, in a femme fatale sorta way.

Duo stood up, his legs wobbling. He manage to recover his balance as he hissed, "Who the hell are you?"

"Someone who needs help," she replied.

Duo smirked, getting more alert by the moment. He asked, "Doesn't everyone?"

She laughed and said, "Cute. You're a sharp kid, aren't you?"

"I'm the God of Death, lady," Duo said with a smile, crossing his arms and leaning on his empty tube, unashamed of his nudity.

She said, "I'm called Hilda. Now, I'm having some trouble and I need a good pilot. You were reputed to be the best."

"Well, I still am," Duo said with a smirk. He tilted his head to the dormant Heero's direction and said, "Why don't you let my partner out and we'll show you how good we are."

Hilda turned around, reminding him slightly of Hilde at that moment. She said, "I have this ship and these pirates are after me."

"Why should I care?" Duo asked with a smirk.

Hilda gestured to the tubes with a smile. She answered, "Because I got your asses out of there."

"Not Heero," he calmly pointed out with a smile. He tossed his wet hair off of his shoulder, realizing that he too had aged. He was taller, taller than Heero, and broader. Puberty was kind to me, Duo thought with a wiry amusement as he stared at Hilda.

Suddenly, the lab was flooded with light. Duo blinked and shielded his eyes. "Dammit, fucking dammit!" Hilda cried as she held a rifle in her hand. Duo could hear footsteps approaching.

He asked, "What the hell is going on?"

"That's the trouble I've mentioned. Fuck," she cursed as she ran out of the lab.

An explosion shook the ship. Duo blinked as the lights went out in the room. Red lights and an alarm started flashing. WARNING, WARNING, HOMOEOSTASIS WILL SHUT DOWN IN ONE MINUTE! WARNING! Duo looked over at the sleeping Heero, floating in the tube.

Heero started to convulse, his eyes still shut, his body jerking. Duo ran over to the computer and looked at it. It was dead. "Oh, fuck!" he snapped as he looked around, panicked. There was nothing to help him. He growled as he looked around, trying to think. "Oh, hell," he shouted as he ran to the tube.

He picked up a chair from the console and said, "Sorry Heero, but I've gotta get you out of here, somehow." He slammed the chair into the tube. The glass shattered, sending a rush of liquid and Heero crashing out of the tube. Duo dropped the chair and managed to catch Heero all in one movement. Duo grunted as he skirted away from pieces of broken glass.

He got Heero away from the glass and layed his best friend on the ground. Heero wasn't breathing. His fingers shaking, Duo felt the pulse line on Heero's throat. Nothing. Panic quickly rose in Duo as he looked around.

Fuckfuckfuckfuck. Heero! Dammit! No! Duo thought as he placed his hands under Heero's sternum. He said, "Don't take this personal buddy." He compressed five times before he held Heero's nose shut and breathed into his mouth. He repeated the motions. "Come on come on come on come on," the chant was like a mantra to Duo, who was repeating the chant while he administered CPR.

Heero coughed and jerked up, spewing liquid from his mouth. His dark blue eyes focused on Duo and he managed to sit up, with Duo's help. He asked, "How long?"

"A while. Look, we've aged at least two years," Duo said grimly. Heero looked around and Duo stood up at the sound of another explosion. He said, "Come on, we've gotta haul ass."

Heero said nothing as Duo managed to support him. The two of them limped out of the lab together. Duo couldn't help thinking that everything that he had in life had been lost. Again.

******

Duo gritted his teeth as another explosion rocked the ship. Heero had recovered even quicker than he did. Damn training, Duo thought with a twinge of jealousy as they ran down another corridor, becoming lost on the ship.

Suddenly, with a loud crash and a flash of fire, part of the wall exploded in a flying rush of shrapnel and fire. Duo and Heero automatically covered their heads and crouched down. Duo stood up to see Heero's left arm leaking blood. The flesh of his bicept was shredded and bleeding profusely down his arm. Duo swallowed, always a little squeamish around blood, and said, "Heero, you're kinda gushing. A lot."

Heero clamped down on his arm and stood up. He said, "I'll handle it."

"Not with that much blood loss, buddy. It's not like your leg that you can just snap back into place . . ." Duo froze when he saw the icy, deadly look come from his friend's eyes. Heero started running again and Duo followed him, looking at the blood trailing behind them.

More explosions followed, rocking the station or whatever it was that they were on. Duo kept sending Heero glances, checking on his arm. And Heero simply sent him the Death Glare right back. Duo was breathing hard now. His legs starting to ache. On top of all that, he realized that he was hungry. What a fucking stupid time to realize that I'm hungry, he realized to himself as another explosion rocked the whatever the hell it was.

Heero pushed him out of the way, sending him skidding on the cold surface. He heard a crash and he spun around to see a large, metal beam lying right on top of Heero. He glanced around, wide-eyed, as he approached the fallen Wing pilot.

Heero hissed, his voice thick with pain, "Get the hell out of here, now."

"Heero, just shut the hell up," Duo snapped as he went over to the beam. He placed his hands under it and began to lift. His muscles strained and got no action for his efforts. "Fuck," he hissed as he kicked the beam, stubbing his toes. He cursed again as his foot throbbed.

There was another explosion. Heero pushed him with his good hand. He hissed, "Go, now."

"Hell no, I'm not leaving you Mr. Perfect Soldier," Duo snapped at him, trying to grab Heero. He was alone now. He had to be. If he had aged this much, who knew how long he had been asleep.

There was another explosion, blowing another hole open in the corridor. Duo cursed as Heero looked at him with deterirmened dark eyes. He said, "Go, now."

"No," Duo replied, shaking his head, causing his long hair to fly around him.

"Now," Heero said, "This isn't an order, Duo, it's a request."

Duo blinked. He looked down at the pilot crushed under the beam. Duo stood up and took one last look at Heero. Feeling horrible with himself as another explosion and gun shots wracking the corridor, he ran.

******

Heero felt the warmness of his blood as it left his body. He could barely think, barely keep awake. His mind was starting to fog over. So this is what Death feels like, he thought whimsically.

I wonder if Relena will be the first person I see, he thought with a sudden spark of happiness. Suddenly, the pain numbed. He saw a tall woman dressed all in black standing over him. "Fuck," she cursed as she looked him over.

She bent down to his face and looked him over. She said, "There's gonna be a huge repair bill on you, kid." Heero ignored that as the world spun into darkness.

******

Duo had stolen a ship. He wasn't familiar with it, but he was a quick study. The technology was more advanced than what he had ever seen. He could barely comprehend it. He managed to get away.

He slumped over the controls and began to laugh. It was not a happy laugh, but a shaky, insane laugh. Again, everything he cared about had been taken away from him while he remained. He slammed his fist into the console as tears welled up into his eyes.

Sobs shook his weak body as he was carried out into space. He hoped to hell that he would die. After all, he had nothing to live for.

To Be Continued!