Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Crimson Nights and Scarlet Dawns ❯ Chapter 8

No, I'm not dead. I'm not going to promise anything, but I'm going to TRY to update more often. Try.

Anyway. If you consider everything up until this point to be sort of introduction, then this is where the story actually starts. Chapter warnings for... meh, a bit of violence, maybe.

*emphasis*

[thoughts]

And, um... #radio transmissions#

Damn, but I wish italics worked reliably...

------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------

EIGHT:

#"Maxwell, are you in position?"#

Rolling his eyes, Duo pressed the tiny toggle on his headset. "Been there for ten minutes already. What's taking you guys so long?"

A faint growl came through the earpiece as reply. Duo grinned.

It faded after a few seconds, though, as he returned his attention to the task at hand. Scanning the grounds below, he shifted slightly as his left foot started to tingle a warning, heading off a potentially disastrous cramp before it even started. It was an instinctive motion, one that had been built up many years before and then left behind.

[But damn, isn't it as if I never left the army? All the old instincts, the reactions, the reflexes-- shake the dust off them and they're just as good as new.] He found his lips twisted in a humourless smirk and shook his head. [Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing-- well, I suppose only time will tell.]

There was a flicker of movement below, and Duo's attention snapped into focus. "Activity in the south," he murmured into the radio.

#"West as well,"# came the immediate response in Wufei's clipped tones.

#"Confirm,"# Heero ordered cooly.

Narrowing his eyes, Duo peered down into the shadows, eyes sharp for any further movement. After a moment he picked out more shifting in the shadows, followed it with his gaze, and assessed the situation. "Three confirmed. Possibly two more. Just passing the garden gate, heading towards the front entrance."

#"Six here, now heading to the north, presumably to the back door."#

#"I see them,"# Quatre's voice said quietly. #"Confirmed six targets, now at the rear entrance-- inside the house."#

The moving figures stepped out into the open area around the door. "Confirmed five," Duo immediately reported. "At the front entrance." He paused for the few seconds it took for the targets to open the door and slip through. "Inside."

#"No further movement to the west,"# Wufei added after a moment.

#"None here, either."#

#"No movement to the east,"# came Trowa's quiet voice, and Duo blinked. In the three weeks he'd been with the Dayhunters, he had of course heard the other speak-- but most of the time, the sound of the tall man's voice still managed to surprise him.

"Quiet to the south," Duo finally reported, realizing that the others were waiting for him. He did a final scan of the area around him, and nodded slightly in satisfaction.

#"Time?"#

#"Eighteen minutes to sunrise,"# Quatre immediately responded. #"They're cutting it close."#

#"Radio silence until then. Continue surveillance."#

Duo snapped a quick mental salute and a silent 'aye-aye, sir!', and settled in for the wait. Quite different from the first time he had done this-- [two whole weeks already], he mused absently, [since they finally took me off the training wheels. Time sure flies when you're kicking ass.] The first time, he had fidgeted and stewed in place, anxious to prove himself, excited to finally be doing something important, already high from adrenaline-- and he very nearly ruined the entire operation by giving away his position.

[And luckily, I'm the only one who knows that. Glad I got over that phase quickly.]

But that mission had been a turning point, of sorts. The next day, nearly all of the uneasy tension between him and his new teammates was gone, making him think that he'd finally been accepted on some level. They still weren't overly friendly, by any stretch-- he was still a virtual stranger in their midst, after all-- but he had reason to hope.

The sun broke over the horizon, sending little splashes of light to fall across the ground, and Duo finally got a good look at the building he'd been staked out beside for the last several hours. It still cut an impressive figure, with its stonework and balconies and steeply pointed roof-- a massive, sprawling old house in a neighbourhood full of equally historic structures. But without its protective shroud of shadow, it was easy to see the signs of neglect and decay-- the peeling paint and cracked woodwork, the one high window that showed planks instead of glass.

Duo shook his head and turned instead to look at the sky, watching the little shoots of colour light up the clouds. He couldn't help but smile. [I came so close to never seeing this again, and now I can't stop looking--]

The radio snapped faintly in his ear. # "Move in."#

On his feet before the words were fully out, already forgetting his previous thoughts, Duo started to approach the house. By habit, he checked his weapons as he moved-- the two unremarkable guns against his side, heavy and familiar, and the wickedly long knife pressing its hilt against the small of his back. That one had taken a while to get used to, and it still wouldn't be his weapon of choice in a pinch-- but from the moment Wufei had plucked it out of the armoury and handed it to him, he had recognized its usefulness.

Only an instantly fatal wound would kill a vampire without undue struggle. And guns could be notoriously hard to get that level of precision from, especially when their users might be distracted by such things as blood-hungry monsters lunging for their throats. A sharp blade, therefore, was a useful thing to have-- one good, deep cut across the throat was often enough to do the job.

As Duo neared the door, the dark, silent form of Wufei ghosted around the corner of the house, with the hilt of his own long, curving sword visible above his shoulder. They exchanged quick nods of acknowledgement and took up position at the door.

#"Go."#

One hard kick was enough to break the door off its hinges-- which was enough of itself to sound some warning bells in Duo's head, but he was quite suddenly too distracted to figure out why. A shrill scream echoed through the entryway as sunlight spilled weakly through it, and the thin figured huddled against the wall nearby scrabbled hastily backwards. The faint, sickly smell of scorched flesh filled the air.

Without thinking, Duo took careful aim at the cowering vampire and fired. The screams came to an abrupt stop.

Wufei was already gone, vanished somewhere deeper in the house. Slipping through the dusty shadows, Duo followed.

He found another of the targets slumped against a wall in what had once been the kitchen, surrounded by splintered shelving and staring blankly at the Hunter as he approached. A further search of a few more rooms revealed nothing but debris and empty space.

Heero's voice came thinly over the radio once more. #"I have three. Count?"#

#"Two."#

#"Three."#

#"Four in the basement,"# Quatre added quietly. #"They haven't been out of here in a while."#

Duo grimaced, knowing from personal experience what the other Hunter would be seeing. He'd been the one to find them last time, after all-- locked into a tiny room, mindless and helpless with hunger, unable to even recognize Duo's presence as he stepped close enough to shoot.

[Even though you know better, you want to feel sorry for them.]

"Two," Duo said, adding his own head-count to the tally. He frowned. "That leaves one."

#"Assuming there are none here we haven't accounted for,"# Wufei replied, faintly reproaching.

"Oh come on, Wuf," Duo snapped back irritably, moving to the door of another room and ducking his head through to scan. "If they're up and active, they've got to be eating, which means they were out tonight, which means we've got eleven plus whatever zombies are downst-- whoa!"

A flicker of movement in the corner of his eye was all the warning he had, before pale fingers bearing wickedly long nails were raking towards his face. A deep growl accompanied the next slash, and Duo danced back a few paces, reflexes keeping him clear of the attack. He lifted his gun, fired, and cursed as the vampire evaded the bullet's path.

#"Maxwell?"#

"Found number eleven," Duo answered, firing a few more shots which were alse dodged. "He's a little more lively than the rest, it seems. Don't worry, I've got it covered."

If there was a reply to that, he didn't hear it-- the vampire was suddenly inside his guard, grappling down the arm with the gun, reaching with obvious intent towards Duo's throat--

Something dark uncoiled in Duo's mind, and a cold sort of focus came over him. He looked up into the madly glazed eyes only inches away, and his own eyes narrowed dangerously.

[Fine.]

He pushed-- letting go of his control over his strength, letting it propel the attacking form across the room-- and reached back to pull the long knife from its sheath. The vampire twisted in the air, landed feet-first against the wall and pushed off, its movements blurring a bit as it darted back and forth. Duo tracked its movements with slitted eyes and waited.

It came at him in a rush, reaching wildly. Duo sidestepped smoothly and brought up the knife. The creature jerked once, its eyes glazing, then toppled to the ground.

Duo blinked, standing for a moment with the knife held loosely at his side. He cocked his head to the side and watched in distant fascination as the blood soaked into the rust-red carpet and disappeared.

He felt the presence of silent footsteps at his back, and turned to find Heero watching him intently. He gave his team leader a slod nod, which was returned after a moment's hesitation. Heero turned and left the room as silently as he'd arrived.

Resisting the faint, curious urge to look back, Duo followed.

They emerged from the building to find the other three Hunters waiting for them, and the bright glare of sunlight was jarring enough to make Duo pause and squint upwards. [It's like-- this sort of thing *should* be done at night, so when you come out into this it takes a minute to figure out what the hell's going on. Still--] Duo tipped his chin up and closed his eyes, trusting his feet for a few seconds while he watched the glow behind his eyelids and let the warmth soak under his skin. [It does help make things a little more normal again.]

Sighing, he waited a few more seconds while a faint sense of calm crept over him, dispelling the cold and banishing the memories of blood-- then opened his eyes just in time to keep from falling off the curb that had appeared in his path.

He met Wufei's derisive snort with an impish grin, which grew as he received a slight smirk in return.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the rusted grate that seved as their own private entrance to the underground world. This particular passage eventually opened right into their own apartments-- it hadn't really surprised Duo, once he found out, that the very independent Dayhunters would have their own access routes. It also didn't surprise him that it was booby-trapped six ways from Sunday, and equipped with about every alarm and lock on the market.

And was never, ever used after dark.

[Can't follow us if they're turning into crispy critters, now can they?]

Duo dropped his weapons inside the door with a sigh of relief. They would have to be cleaned and tended at some point, as always-- [but shower first. And nap. And snack. Maybe in that order--]

"Living room, five minutes," Heero said over his shoulder as he vanished down the stairs.

[Unless, of course, Fearless Leader has other plans.] Duo sent a dirty look towards Heero's back, then sighed. To his surprise, the sound was echoed behind him, in several voices. He turned and met the eyes of his other three teammates, none of whom looked any more enthusiastic than him.

Grinning lopsidedly, he gave a little half-bow and flourish, indicating for them to go ahead of him. "After you."

Wufei swept by him with a haughty sniff that was all show-- the smirk dancing at the corners of his eyes and mouth gave it all away. Quatre grinned widely at Duo as he passed, and even Trowa solemnly tipped an imaginary hat in his direction.

Chortling quietly to himself, Duo made his way down the stairs and to his own room, where he stopped only long enough to shuck the outer layers of his clothing before returning to the main room. He thumped down into the chair that had somehow become his-- it really was the most comfortable of the lot, having thickly padded armrests just as he preferred-- and waited only somewhat patiently for everyone to settle.

To his surprise, though, Heero didn't immediately begin a clipped evaluation of their performances on that morning's mission-- as he had, on more than one other occasion-- but instead looked around the circle at each man in turn. Duo's eyebrows went up, and he sat up a bit straighter in his chair, attention piqued.

"What are your opinions concerning our last few missions?" Heero finally asked.

"It's clean-up duty," Wufei was quick to reply, a thread of disgust in his voice. The swordsman shifted in place, fingers moving absently on the arm of the couch. "Servants and slaves, left behind when their masters move house. Creatures like that wouldn't last long anyway, even if we never bothered with them."

Duo found himself nodding. "The door wasn't barred," he said absently, remembering what had struck him as odd earlier and finally recognizing it. "It was day, and they didn't even bother to lock the door properly. None of the others we've come up against have been that far gone."

"And they were out very close to sunrise," Quatre added, nodding. "This was by far the most greatly deteriorated group we've seen, but it's still a trend. We haven't faced what I would consider a fully-functional vampire in weeks."

Duo forced a chuckle and a hopeful grin. "Maybe we've finally killed them all off?"

"Or maybe they've caught on to us, and are taking steps to hide themseles," Trowa said quietly.

Silence descended on the room, as each man considered their thoughts and the situation. Then Wufei shook his head sharply, shifting again and throwing his legs up on to the couch, heedless of the bits of Trowa that were in the way. "What's changed, then?" he asked, frowning. "We haven't been doing anything different lately. Why should they suddenly suspect our existence?"

"I doubt it's us, specifically." Quatre shrugged. "But we knew they had to clue in that someone was hunting them, eventually. We can be as circumspect as we like, but sooner or later it was going to add up."

Heero made a brief sound of assent, frowning, then nodded slightly and stood. "I'm meeting with Rashid this afternoon," he said. "We'll be discussing the matter-- I wanted to hear your thoughts before then." He turned towards his room. "I'll keep you informed."

"Hm, guess the meeting's over, then," Duo said to no one in particular, as the bedroom door closed. Quatre gave him a short, quiet laugh in reply, then stood and started towards the kitchen.

Duo started to say something else, but then stopped with the words stuck in his throat, his attention fixed on the couch. Wufei was sitting with his eyes closed, one hand rubbing at his forehead and one foot twitching an absent rhythm against the floor-- because he had apparently changed position yet again, and was now sitting slumped with his legs straight out in front of him.

As Duo watched, Trowa reached out after one narrow-eyed, assessing look and laid a hand on Wufei's arm. The swordsman actually jumped slightly, black eyes opening to meet Trowa's gaze. The green-eyed man tipped his head slightly but quite definitely in the direction of the stairwell. After a moment, Wufei gave a slight nod and stood, following Trowa's lead, and both men disappeared up the stairs.

Duo was left looking after them with his mouth hanging open. [Oh. Well. They're-- damn, I did *not* see that one coming . Well, I suppose it's not that surprising, with the whole couch thing, but--] He frowned. [No, it doesn't seem like that. Something-- there's something here that I'm not getting.]

A slight noise drew his attention, and he turned his head a fraction to see Quatre standing in the kitchen doorway, also staring up the stairs after his departed teammates. He turned briefly to give Duo an unreadable look before stepping back through the doorway and out of sight.

[Yep, definitely something I'm not getting.]

Taking one last look around the empty room, as if something in it would offer a clue to the truth

of the situation, Duo stood and started towards his bedroom.

Then, he stopped, eyes narrowing consideringly. [Quatre is in the kitchen. Heero is in his room. Trowa and Wufei are-- um, occupied, I assume. That means--]

[The shower is *mine*.]

Darting into his room, he grabbed his towel and a change of clothes, then ran to the stairs, all other thoughts forgotten.