Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Above You ❯ Chapter 12

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Twelve

"I think it's someone coming after you lot," Jaden hissed, shoving Matty into another random room. They'd been ducking into them from time to time. Jaden was looking around as he did shoved the teen in, making sure it was safe...there'd been an explosion close-by, and Jaden wanted to be sure he wasn't taking one of the prisoners into a fire-fight. "I think they sent troops," he added tightly.

"How would they get in?" Matty asked blankly.

"I have no clue," Jaden returned. "Hush."

Matty licked his lips and shifted back, keeping as out of sight as he could, and quiet.

Jaden looked the hall over a moment, then moved back in and squatted down in front of the teen...then glanced down.

Matty was wearing a pair of cargo-jeans, and his phone was in the lower right pocket. He didn't understand why that was interesting, though.

Jaden's hand snaked into his pocket...and pulled out his phone.

"Hey!" Matty protested the violation of his personal space...then realized the phone was on.

"When did you turn this on?" Jaden hissed, his expression becoming angry.

"I didn..." Matty started, then realized that it meant Max was looking for him. They met eyes.

"You little bastard!" Jaden snarled...and backhanded him.

The pain was a shock, and the fact that it was Jaden was even more so.

Matty pressed a shaking hand to his face, then looked down at it as he saw blood again...his nose or his lip, he couldn't tell which.

"How could you do this to me?" Jaden snarled more, his tone low and intense. "I put my ass on the line for you and you do this?"

"I didn't do it," Matty muttered helplessly, tasting the blood and wiping at his face again.

Jaden glared down at him and threw the phone at his stomach. "You better stay right here, or so help me, I'll shoot you."

Matty blinked up at him in confusion.

Jaden turned on him toward the doors, then moved across the room to kick a metal table over. His expression was dark as he slid the table in front of Matty, then glared at the teen again.

"I didn't turn it on," Matty muttered again, leaning against that protection.

"Yeah, I believe you," Jaden snarled. "Pax-pro with the Chronus patch. Very clever," he shook his head in disgust.

"With what?" Matty asked blankly.

"Oh, don't play me anymore," Jaden snapped. "Who were you talking to? Who put that on your phone? Do we have a leak?"

"What?" Matty asked again, realizing his hand was covered in blood.

Jaden turned a severely cold glare on him.

"I told you...it's my boyfriend," Matty muttered, wiping the liquid onto his pants again as he swallowed. "I don't know about any leak or..."

"Ranger was right," Jaden noted, glaring down at Matty again. "You're just some little fuckin' pretty boy, bat your eyes to get your way..."

"What?" Matty protested, hurt by that. "I don't...I'm not..."

"Shut-up," Jaden snarled. "Or I'll hit you again."

- -

Ranger sneered slightly at his reflection in a passing window, listening intently as he moved. As soon as the first explosion had hit, his restrictions had been lifted. He, like many others, had ran directly for the explosions and fires...but unlike everyone else, he'd decided to take one of the paths that wasn't directly up the road.

He'd known something was up. That boy had something connected to him, but Ranger didn't know beyond that. He doubted the kid was a spy, but with the phone the way it had been, there wasn't much more that it could be.

If he did find out it was that damn brat, he was going to really hurt the kid...conventions or no.

- -

"Don't play hero!" Wufei snarled at Duo.

"Clear the damn path to the room," Duo snarled back at him.

They needed to alter their line of travel, or at least make it look altered. They'd managed to keep out of sight of the myriad soldiers running around, but that wasn't going to happen if they kept to the straight and narrow.

"Go," Trowa snapped, looking around. "While it's clear."

Duo nodded once at him as he also looked around, then darted across the way. He was going to shoot up a few more cars on the roadway. The full ones made lovely explodey-noises when the fire got to them, and that was a nice distraction—away from Quatre and Heero, wherever they were.

He darted across the street, noting men further down and raising his eyes to the other side of the ceiling.

It was harder to do the pray thing when not looking at an endless blue expanse. Almost made it silly to even think about...but then again, there was no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole.

He licked his lips, and took his aim.

- -

"I don't care! Just find them!" Rab snarled at the man who was reporting about the security not being breached anywhere at all. People were running all over as a few men on the computers ran scans on the positions of the radios. That would activate a signal that needed response before it'd turn back off. That would tell them which of their men were...dead.

That thought touched a nerve, and Rab started snarling as he looked around the walls at the useless equipment.

What was the point if it didn't warn of intruders?

- -

Heero snarled as he moved into a silent hall, stopping to look at the face of his phone again.

There...that room...

He looked up the hall at a cracked doorway. He couldn't see anyone in it, but that was where Matty's phone was, and it claimed to still be in Matty's possession.

He moved silently up the hall, listening as a man ran by on the road outside.

Duo and the others were doing a damn good job at making a lot of smoke. If he hadn't known it was just the four of them in the colony-proper, he'd probably have figured it was a large group of men anyway.

That didn't matter.

If Matty were dead...

Heero stopped by the door, listening intently.

"I didn't...I..." Matty was whispering.

"Shut the fuck up," someone snarled back.

Heero narrowed his eyes. From what he could tell, Matty was upset...very upset.

"Don't stand there!" Matty protested a little louder. "If they come in they could..."

"Why do you care if they shoot me!?" the man snarled back.

...that was a pessimistic view, wasn't it?

Heero nodded slightly to himself...and swung into the room, leveling his gun at the man's head.

The man's weapon was aimed directly back at him.

"Max!" Matty cried, jumping up from behind a large metal table.

There was blood on his face...it had dripped down his chin...and it was on his hand.

The heat came back...it had receded mostly, but he felt it burn along his nerve-endings again as he looked around to Timorre.

"Oh! Don't!" Matty stumbled over the top of the table to jump in front of Timorre. "Don't shoot him!"

"You think he wouldn't shoot you?" Heero demanded, looking him over again. The motion had started the blood flowing again, and Matty looked about ready to bawl as he pressed his hands to his face again.

"Matt, get out of the way," Jaden hissed.

"No!" Matty protested, turning back to look at him. "If I move he can shoot you...or you could shoot him!"

"That's the point, idiot," Jaden snapped back.

"I can't just grab you and leave him here," Heero noted pointedly. "I can't leave him behind me."

"You can't kill him!" Matty swung back to Heero in alarm, wiping his hands on his pants again. "Max..."

"You can drop the act, Matt," Jaden noted darkly. "I know who he is."

"What?" Matty asked, turning to look back at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

The man looked him over in confusion a moment before looking back to Heero.

"I haven't told him my name yet," Heero noted.

"You haven't?" the guy receded very slightly to blink at them.

"I didn't," Heero agreed. "He only knows me as Max."

The man receded a bit more, looking back to Matty.

"What are you talking about?" Matty demanded of him, wiping at his face again.

"What were you lying about? What have you lied about to me?" Jaden returned.

"What? Lied?" Matty wiped at his face again. "It was my friend War who bought me pax...and Max said they were coming for me."

"For you?" Jaden asked, looking back to Heero.

"The instant he was taken from that port," Heero said very quietly, "was the instant we decided to act."

"We?" Timorre repeated, licking his lips and looking back to Matty.

"And...and...I saw your name on my phone," Matty added quickly, looking apologetic. "And he talked to me last night before I went to bed."

"So you knew this was happening?" Jaden demanded of him.

"He knew that I could see who touched his phone, that I could turn it on no matter where I was, and that I had said I'd come for him," Heero noted, moving forward so he could close the door behind them.

He didn't think they needed anyone else in the room to liven things up.

"You're really his boyfriend?" Timorre demanded blankly, looking Heero over.

"We've only known each other a week or two," Heero noted, not moving his eyes away from the man at all. "But at this point, I figured that's a safe assessment."

Timorre looked to Matty again, then sighed and lowered his arm.

"I'm sorry I lied," Matty muttered sincerely.

"Clean yourself up," Jaden returned, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and tossing it to the teen.

"I can't leave you here," Heero noted as Matty started wiping at his face. "You know that, don't you?"

Timorre smiled slightly at him and raised his weapon again. "I can't let you go."

Matty froze, looking between them.

Heero moved forward slowly, realizing the man had given himself up as lost. He didn't so much as twitch at the motion.

Matty turned into Heero's arms, clinging to him as Heero wrapped his free arm around the other. He returned the kiss very briefly, looking up to Timorre again.

"I can't just let you go," Jaden muttered, though he still hadn't moved.

"You can't kill him," Matty whispered.

"I can wound him," Heero reassured his friend.

"Not the knees," the man looked alarmed at that thought.

"It'd be the extent of..." Heero started.

"Kid! Tell him not the knees!" Jaden protested, glancing at Matty.

Matty turned to give Heero another alarmed type of look.

Heero sighed in exasperation, pushing Matty aside. He moved across the room to stand at the end of the man's gun, staring into his eyes.

"We're fucked, aren't we?" Timorre muttered, studying Heero's face.

"I don't know, and I don't care," Heero returned, raising his weapon. "I'm here for one reason, and one reason only...and I just got it," he gestured at Matty.

Timorre's expression turned confused...as Heero swung.

"Max!" Matty protested...as Timorre's eyes glazed, and he slid to the floor.

"I didn't hurt him," Heero retorted, turning to give Matty a dirty look. "He might have a slight concussion, but he won't be conscious for a while."

"Are you sure?" Matty demanded, moving forward and reaching helplessly for the man, stopping before he actually touched him.

"Yes, I'm sure," Heero retorted, shifting the guy so he was laying properly on the floor and closing his eyes for him. "Fairly sure, anyway."

Matty gave him a look...then launched into his arms. Heero returned that kiss a little more eagerly, crushing the younger man to his chest as he listened intently.

"I was so scared," Matty whispered. "I had no idea what was going on at all and no idea why they were holding us..."

"Hostages," Heero returned, pulling away and moving quietly to the door. "It's a complicated situation."

"Are there...are there many of you?" Matty muttered, following closely.

"Many? No," Heero grinned at him. "It's just us five..."

"But all those explosions!" Matty protested.

"Yeah, War and Rige like making things go boom," Heero returned. "Jason's at the port, keeping the shuttle secure. If anything happens to me, you go there."

"Happens?" Matty demanded, his eyes rounding.

"Yes," Heero retorted, then moved back to the unconscious man on the floor. He took a moment to strip off his Kevlar jacket, tossing that to Matty. "Get that on," He suggested, fixing the man's shirt and patting him down for his radio. He wanted to see what sort it was, because that would give him a clue to the deeper security of the whole colony.

Matty pulled the Kevlar on uncertainly, shifting slightly as it hung loosely around his body...then noticed something. He plucked at the chain, pulling it out of the inside...and realized it was dog tags.

"Here," Heero muttered, moving up to him and starting to tighten the random straps. "I know it's not a great fit, but it should keep you safe...you need to stay with me the entire time. We have to get to the port...remember, even if I fall, you go. I can get out of this if I'm not dead...I want you safe."

Matty stopped, then raised his eyes to Heero's uncertainly.

"My name is Heero Yuy," Heero noted, touching his cheek. "I was one of the Gundam pilots during the wars."

Matty stared back at him.

"They called me zero-one," Heero added quickly, kissing the other briefly. "Ready?"

"I guess," Matty muttered, looking back to Jaden again uncertainly...and stopped.

"What?" Heero whispered, he'd almost opened the door.

"Jason," Matty returned, meeting his eyes. "He's Quatre Winner, isn't he?"

Heero flashed him a grin and nodded, focusing back on the door out.

They could have that full conversation later...this really wasn't the time for it.

- -

Quatre dropped the last man by the others, looking around. He'd set up a partition with a metal table so the wounded men at least had a chance of not getting hit by stray bullets. He'd also taken their weapons and had them sitting near the door to the shuttle. He had a feeling there were a few of those hostages who would know how to wield them...and want to.

The helpless thing didn't go over too great with any man he knew.

That seemed in order...

He turned and darted back toward the shuttle, noting that the air-tanks had filled. He shut that off and sealed it before disconnecting the machine from the port itself. There were safety seals enough that the men who would inevitably be chasing them shouldn't be in the lock-area. All he'd have to do was open the doors and hit the launch button and the port would do the human-safety precautions it was designed to accommodate.

There was a step behind him, light.

Quatre stopped, noting a few things all in the same moment.

That wasn't a familiar footstep, and the person himself wasn't someone Quatre knew. Also, he didn't think enough time had passed for the others to have gotten their hostages, and the only person it might be in that circumstance was Heero...or Matty himself.

Quatre turned slowly...and froze.

He was looking at the business end of an old-fashioned revolver.

- -

"Clear!" Wufei snarled as the last man who'd been shooting at them fell. He darted forward, watching up the hall intently as Trowa covered his retreat. They hadn't heard any explosions for a few minutes, and he was hoping against all hopes that this didn't mean Duo was dead or wounded.

"Hey!" Duo's voice came from behind, and Wufei turned to see that he was, in fact, alone.

"Hey, you really alive or is this your ghost?" Trowa demanded.

"Not entirely sure yet, that last explosion wasn't me, it was a shot aimed at me," he flashed them a grin. "No word from Heero?"

"Nope," Wufei agreed, moving carefully into the room with the hostages.

They were all in the far corner...with metal tables around them.

"They sure have a lot of those tables around," Trowa muttered, blinking at them. "You think it was on purpose?"

"Metal tables are so cliché for decorative purposes," Wufei muttered, putting on an almost British accent. He looked the room over speculatively. "It does nothing for the décor."

"You're an idiot," Trowa muttered, shoving him aside as he moved to look down at the terrified hostages. "Hello, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be your rescue-crew this fine bright morning...and as such we'll have to ask that you do as we say and not panic."

"I want to say we have donuts," Wufei added happily as he spotted a bar along the far wall, "but I see they provided better...and we don't have any anyway."

Duo snorted at them, looking the people over as they started standing slowly, uncertainly.

"Move people!" Wufei snapped. "We ain't exactly here for a leisurely stroll!"

"Ah, the soul of civilian conduct," Trowa purred to Duo.

"Let's go, people," Duo snapped, gesturing them up. "Stay in a group, stay at our backs...and save the questions for the ride back out!" He turned, starting for the door. "Rige, be so kind as to let Max'n Jase know we're coming?"

"Of course," Trowa purred sweetly, pulling his phone from his pocket as the people started moving around the tables almost uncertainly. "No time like the present to take your time escaping," he snapped.

None of them were going to earn their civilian-care merit badges this trip...they'd have to try for it another time.

- -

Ranger frowned as he saw a Kevlar vest disappear around the corner in front of him, but something about an open door in the middle of all the closed ones drew his immediate attention. He turned into the room carefully, looking around...before spotting Jaden laying on the floor.

He stared in horror before darting forward. The man's Kevlar vest was gone...and his dog tags...but...he was breathing.

"J?" Ranger demanded, touching his face, then feeling for a pulse. "J? Come on, wake up..."

He was quiet thoroughly knocked out, however, and didn't respond.

"Fuck," he hissed, staring at the man's communicator in disbelief before picking it up.

Why hadn't the enemy taken it? They'd found the boy...he could tell that they'd found that damn boy...

He hit the emergency button on the communicator, dropping it again and jumping to his feet.

He'd seen more of the vest than the person wearing it...which meant it was probably on that damn boy.

They were only just up the hallway.

He darted after.