Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Half Cocked ❯ Seven ( Chapter 7 )

Seven

"Oh good god," Jaden muttered in disbelief as he stared at Duo Maxwell...but then realized the state the man was in.

His arms and hands were covered in blood—the brown of dried blood had a layer of red running through it. It was a sickening contrast against human skin, and the pair of cuffs around his wrists were obviously the cause of his troubles there...but that wasn't all. He was wearing a simple T-shirt...and his arms were covered in bruises. He had bruises on his neck...his jawline...and that looked like dried blood in his hair...and then those pants.

"What in the hell happened to you?" Qingfu demanded, moving around Jaden to stare at the man in disbelief.

"I was reading a book," Maxwell retorted.

"That must've been one helluva book," Qingfu noted blankly, looking him over. "I've never seen paper-cuts that bad."

Disbelief cross the man's eyes before amusement replaced it, and a slight smirk transformed the face from the god of death to a cocky brat. "Action adventure," he noted, "gets me every time."

"You should try audiobooks some time," Qingfu noted, moving even closer to the man and digging into his pocket.

Maxwell laughed at that, eyes still on Qingfu. "I don't know if I'd trust it—I think I may give up reading."

Qingfu looked him over, then extended a hand, palm-up. "You might at that."

"What is this?" Maxell asked blankly.

"Remalene," Qingfu explained. "I got myself nearly shot to death, this is my last dose, but you look like you're about to fall over."

"I really didn't think it was that obvious," Maxwell muttered, tilting his head slightly as he took the pills. "Murder mystery?"

"I can't help a good who-dun-it," Qingfu agreed.

The man laughed again and considered the pills seriously.

"Dude, I have a feeling you were in the cockpit the whole time, and the woman didn't tell us you were coming. If you think I pack poison around in my pocket, I'm gonna laugh at you."

"Aren't you going to kill me?" Jaden demanded, stepping forward to look the man over. He had a feeling that if Maxwell had been with Yuy and Barton when they were leaving Sierra Leone, the man would have shot the helicopter down without blinking twice, deal or no. "I kinda stole your boy..."

"He's not my boy," Maxwell returned easily, popping the pills in his mouth...and taking a drink from a water-bottle he'd had in his pocket. "I thought about killing you, but at the same time...according to the lovely ladies," he gestured at the trio that were waiting uncertainly, "You're like...the supreme ruler of the ocean or something."

Qingfu snickered. "No, just the ship."

"Just the ship?" Maxwell gave him a confused look. "What's the point of being supreme ruler of a ship?"

"I haven't figured that part out," Qingfu reassured him, looking him over again. "Why don't you walk with me...I know another pretty lady who might not mind giving you some attention."

"Look...I've got a guy," Maxwell said carefully. "You're not trying to put me in a cat-house or anything, are you?"

Jaden gave him a very level look, grabbing Qingfu's upper arm. "Funny as you...undoubtedly...are," he muttered, "you're not staying here."

"What?" Qingfu demanded, turning to look at him. "Jaden, he's half-dead on his feet."

"He's a Brigadier fucking General of the Earth Sphere A-fucking-lliance," Jaden snapped back. "I am not holding a Brigadier fucking General on my ship."

"It's our ship," Qing retorted. "And I say he gets medical attention before we decide anything else."

Maxwell tilted his head at them a moment, then turned around and pointed at the woman who'd coordinated the landing.

"We got some...supplies," she said quickly, swinging the bag she'd had on her back off her shoulders and unzipping it. "I grabbed a bunch of Remalene."

Jaden and Qingfu stopped bickering, turning to see...boxes...of the medication.

"I have some gauze and sterilizing stuff...some analgesic cream, and...um...I think some heavier pain-killers. I didn't have a lot of time to pick and choose."

"Me too," one of the other women muttered. "And we loaded some food in here...and water bottles," she indicated the thing Maxwell was holding.

Jaden turned to stare between them.

"I'm a spy," one of the men noted, raising his hand. "I was ordered to get off the base because Barton is going to raze it."

"I totally need a phone...now," Maxwell noted, moving around Jaden and Qingfu a screen on the wall.

Jaden felt a little miffed when the man took over the console without giving him a second glance...then realized what that man had said and looked back to the group again.

"Wow..." Qingfu muttered intelligently. "Quite the haul."

"So we have at least four known spies, a Brigadier General, and a bunch of pirated medical supplies..."

"Sounds good to me," Qingfu shrugged at him, his expression clearly reading that there wasn't a whole lot to be done about it, so he was gonna make the best of it. He offered his hand to the females, smiling at them all brightly. "You girls are dolls."

"We just...wanted to help as much as we could," the first noted, accepting his hug in a bashful way. "I know it's not really a lot...but...well, the Remalene kinda is, huh?" she raised her bag to look at it. "Each box has thirty doses in it."

...there were a lot of boxes in that bag.

Jaden stared at it...as the second woman opened her bag to show a similar collection of boxes.

Well...that made things a little easier, didn't it?

He moved forward, offering his hand himself.

Holy shit...

"Hey, it's Duo," Maxwell noted happily.

"Duo!" Yuy appeared in the vid, his expression elated. "Oh god! You look like shit! Are you okay? Where are you? Where is everyone? Demigod's not working...are you...where are..." he trailed off...as his eyes landed on Jaden.

"I'm on the good ship Illicit due to some unforeseen complications with a couple of Tro's guys who threatened to shoot me if I hurt the pretty ladies flying the transport." Maxwell gestured at the women. "I'd like, totally make them take me back to land, but...wow..." he stumbled sideways, using his hands to keep himself in front of the console...then reaching behind himself for the railing.

"Duo!"

"I took some Remalene," Maxwell explained. "Didn't think about the fact that I haven't eaten since yesterday...wow..." his eyes were going distant as he clung to the railing. "I'm, uh...gonna pass out now..."

Yuy's expression turned savage as Jaden darted forward to catch the man before he hit his head. "If you think I'll let you live..."

"Sir!" the one spy protested, darting forward quickly. "Sir...I'm sorry...but Timorre was trying to get rid of him! He was saying...he said he doesn't want a Brigadier on his ship...it's not..."

Yuy sneered, still looking Timorre over.

"Go get a fucking medic," Qingfu snapped at the women, who were gawking. "Drop your stuff off and get someone down here with a stretcher...holy shit...whoa." He'd looked up and recoiled as he saw Yuy's expression.

"Jaden?" Matty demanded, moving up in front of Yuy, who then focused on attempting to keep him back.

Jaden's chest tightened as he studied the youth. Guilt and worry...concern and confusion...shock, actually. Matt looked concerned.

"You're okay?" Matty asked.

"Are you?" Jaden retorted, thinking of the moment the guy had rolled out of the helicopter. He hadn't been that horrified in a long time. "Wait," he muttered, looking down at the passed-out officer. "You're in Brazil?"

"Not Brazil," Matty grinned slightly, then frowned. "Is he okay?"

"He's torn up," Jaden muttered back, rubbing at his head a moment as he altered his thinking. Obviously the young man was no worse for wear. "He's got dried blood all over," he raised an arm for them to see. "These cuffs need to come off somehow...and...I think the Remalene should help with the bruising...but I don't know how dehydrated he is or anything. I have some nurses here...they'll check him out while he's sleeping. We'll...we'll make sure he's not dying and get him back to you as quick as possible." He looked from Matt's face to Yuy, considering the obvious hatred a moment. "I'm not holding him. Actually, I'm going to try to not even talk to him after this...please don't attack us We're trying to figure things out and...we're unarmed. We have some personal weapons and stuff...but...not enough to be even remotely a threat."

Yuy's eyebrows shot into the air.

"What the hell even happened?" Matt demanded. "We got a call that one day some space ship landed at the base and civil war hit...and then you were gone....floating in the middle of nowhere for no known reason."

"Rab's a dipshit," Qingfu shrugged. "We agreed, and so did these others. Jaden got tired of Rab treating him like his bitch and kicked his ass...and we decided to get out of there. We had the ship, so..."

"I somehow think you're simplifying things," Matty noted dryly, rubbing at his face. "We have to call...call Quatre," he noted, looking around to Yuy. "And Trowa..."

"Sir?" the spy asked. "Orders?"

"Kill anyone who fucks with Maxwell," Yuy retorted. "Let us know the instant Timorre decides to use him as ransom."

Jaden sneered slightly at him.

"Yes, sir," the man muttered, saluting. "Um...anything...else?"

Qingfu turned to give him a level look.

"Take care of Duo," Matty moved into the screen before Yuy could make anymore a comment. "And don't fuckin' sedate'im."

"If he drives me bat-shit crazy, I might," Jaden retorted.

"Don't be pissy," Matty retorted. "We'll try and figure a way to get him without getting you in trouble."

"You will," Yuy noted darkly.

"Yes, and I'm your espoused," Matty retorted. "Which means that I can give orders just like you, and unless I'm countermanded, they'll be followed, so don't go getting pissy at me because you don't get to pound Jaden's face in."

"Yet," Yuy noted very darkly, looking past the youth to the man in question. "I don't get to pound his face in yet."

Jaden snorted and hit the disconnect button.

What the hell was he supposed to do with a Brigadier General?

"He looks kinda...cute...when he's sleeping," Qingfu noted thoughtfully, considering Maxwell as noise started in the hall. "Without that cocky grin...or a weapon...he almost looks like fun."

Jaden gave his friend a level look, rising carefully so he was out of the way of the medics.

"What?" Qingfu asked curiously. "Did you ever ask me if I was straight?"

"Oh as if that's what I was talking about!" Jaden couldn't help but protest that right-off.

"We're trying to keep people from knowing if we're a couple," Qingfu noted to the spies that were blinking at him. "Don't interrupt my game and I'll have no problems with any of you."

"We're with the Brigadier anyway," the man retorted, looking to his fellows. "The unconscious general gets a guard."

"You seem to think I care about you," Jaden noted skeptically. "Why do you think that?"

"We got the notices that you're not persecuting the man on the ship. We don't know how far we can actually trust you though."

"Probably about as far as you could throw me," Jaden noted smoothly. "Most likely, you've been trained to fight better than I was. Keep it in your pants, boys, I won't send anyone after you—I'll come for you myself."

The man grinned at him, then started after the stretcher with his fellows.

"Maxwell's actually...kinda funny," Qingfu noted, looking back to Jaden. "I hadn't expected him to be funny..." he tilted his head. "I guess all I ever saw of him was the homicidal side."

"You did not fight Maxwell," Jaden protested blankly. "He killed everyone he fought."

"You know, that's kinda like those myths of pirates and shit—how the hell do you get the reputation of killing everyone you ever come across if you've killed everyone you've come across? No one would be alive to tell the tale, and it could hardly be attributed to you," he shrugged as he started from the area. "Let's go find Hoxha...I wanna bug him with this. He hasn't left the ESA, and that means he has to cowtow to Maxwell...you coming, Jay?" He frowned. "You don't like J, though...how about Den? I should call you Den—get Hoxha's head full of all sorts of nifty notions there, huh?" he started laughing...and disappeared into the hall.

Jaden sighed, looking to the ceiling a moment as he took a long slow breath.

This was going to be one of those days, he could already tell.

- -

"Duo's out."

"What?" Trowa demanded as Wufei also focused on the screen Heero caused to appear in the middle of the front-panel.

"He's out," Heero repeated. "He just called us from Illicit."

Wufei smacked a hand to his face.

"I didn't get much more out of him than he wasn't at the base, though—he'd taken Remalene and pretty much passed out."

"How is he?" Quatre's voice was strained—and the fact that he wasn't on a vid was portrayed by a bar across the bottom of the screen that wiggled with his voice. Trowa sighed and reached over, touching the corner of Wufei's screen and sending it to the main screen.

"He seemed...okay," Heero returned almost hesitantly. "I didn't get a really good look at him before he passed out, but Timorre didn't seem more than disturbed by his state. I guess Rin...that was Qingfu, right?" Heero muttered over his shoulder.

"Yeah," Matty moved up and looked to the screen. "They gave him a dose of Remalene. They looked a little worried, but not really scared. Duo looked like...hell. He was tired, too...but...was that a normal reaction to it?" Matty looked nervously to Heero.

"Normal? What was wrong?" Quatre's voice was urgent.

"He hadn't eaten," Heero returned, shaking his head at Trowa and Wufei. "He said he hadn't eaten since last night."

"If he just hadn't eaten and he passed out like that...oh god," Quatre made a frustrated noise. "Let me have Deathscythe or Demigod...I can go out to...to Illicit and..."

"Everyone is ignoring Illicit until we take care of Gerrange," Trowa reminded him. "We can't properly acknowledge it exists and that we haven't done anything about it yet."

Quatre made a noise.

"Hey, guys?" Jinli sounded nervous. "I'm glad to hear that Duo's...not...in the base and all...but Quatre looks about to pass out."

"Keep him with you," Wufei ordered. "No matter what he tries to do—he can't leave the caravan. You hear me, Quatre? You try to take off on me and Jin will tranq you."

"I'll kick his ass before I go," Quatre snapped.

"Don't even start that bullshit," Trowa ordered. "If Duo called Heero..."

"They want him to get off the ship," Matty noted. "Jaden wanted him off the ship, but Qingfu wanted him checked first. Jaden told me he'd make sure Duo was okay."

"And since when have we decided to take the word of our enemies?" Quatre still sounded half strangled.

Matty stared at the screen a long moment, then looked up to Heero with wide eyes. "I don't think Jaden's our enemy."

There was a low growl from Quatre's screen.

"If you say half of what you're thinking to my husband," Heero started firmly.

"Fuck you!" Quatre shouted back.

"Damn it, Quatre!" Jinli's voice moved away from the speaker.

"Um...Brigadiers?" a soldier asked almost nervously. "Brigadier Winner and...and...um, Wong-Chang just left the vehicle."

"Thank you," Heero said in a tight voice. "Disconnect and let them know to call me at will."

"Yes, sir," she returned...and the bar disappeared.

Heero rubbed at his face and gestured behind him. "I think I got the problem figured out...but the piece isn't here."

"Of course it isn't," Wufei grumbled, rolling his eyes. "How was he, really?"

"Bruised and bloody," Heero returned dryly. "Blood stains on his clothes, dried blood in his hair...when he started falling I about had a heart-attack..." he looked around, noting that Matty had wandered off and shook his head again. "I think Timorre meant it."

"Which?" Wufei asked, blinking.

"That he wants Duo off the ship, but Rin isn't gonna let him go without a check-up. They were sending him to the medical wing. I really and honestly believe Timorre is floundering out there."

"That's what all the reports we've gotten say. What's going on? Right now I mean."

Heero looked back around then gestured at Demigod again. "A whole lot of nothing."

Wufei frowned, then nodded.

"We're about there," Trowa noted quietly, looking through the images on his screen. "I say ten or fifteen minutes. Halt the line and regroup?"

"Yeah," Wufei agreed, focusing on the controls. Deathscythe stopped and made the gestures to the men around them, then Wufei rubbed at his face again. "So what do we do?"

"Right now, you take care of Gerrange," Heero returned dryly. "This shit shouldn't have taken this long to begin with."

"What do you want us to do with...with Wing?" Trowa asked quietly.

"Destroy it," Heero met his eyes instantly. "Self destruct once and for all—I should have taken care of it instead of leaving it..." he shook his head again.

"Duo's safe?" Blake demanded, half-slamming into Heero as his eyes sought out Trowa's screen. "Really?"

"He didn't call me," Trowa pointed out.

Blake smiled at him, it lit up his face entirely. He looked to Wufei with that same expression, then around to Heero.

"Okay," Matty muttered, moving up behind them. "You're nearly there, aren't you?"

Trowa nodded.

"Watch your ass," Matty growled at him specifically, then looked around to Wufei. "Both of you."

"Yes, boss," Trowa retorted, shaking his head. "Will that be all, boss?"

Matty grinned at him, then frowned and pursed his lips. "I know...you make light of it...but...if that's a base, it'll have...more weapons, won't it?"

"And a couple mobile suits, probably some anti-suit tanks. The usual bull...trust me, Matty, I've done this a few times before."

"And ran out of ammo every time," Heero agreed dryly. "I'll set the boys up in the suite and head over..."

"What?" Matty demanded, turning on him. "But..."

Heero looked around him to the screen. "Jin can deal with Quatre, can't he?"

"I think...mostly," Wufei agreed, licking his lips. "It's hard to tell, though. Quatre doesn't get in this state...so I don't know how fast he'll be to fight."

"At least Jin's not helpless," Heero agreed, sighing. "When you're done there, we can figure out how to get Duo off Illicit."

"Right," Trowa agreed. "So you'll be here in an hour or three, we'll go Edwards on this base, and then we can see if the gundams were built for swimming."

Wufei turned and gave him a very level look.

Trowa grinned, ignoring that.

"Trowa?" Blake moved up around Matty, who was talking urgently to Heero. "Be careful, please? I..." he hesitated. "If you... I can't..."

Trowa took a long slow breath, studying the guy's features, then nodded his head. "I told you...we're going to Pandora's when we get back to LA."

Blake smiled sadly at that, looking down.

"I'll keep him alive for you," Wufei reassured him. "He'll keep me alive, I'll keep him alive...and then we can all have hot crazy sex in the room tonight."

The smile came back to Blake's face immediately, his eyes lighting up and disbelief clearly crossing his face.

"I didn't say with each other," Wufei pointed out half-dryly. "Don't get your hopes up."

"If you didn't fuck me at least half as good as Trowa, I'd be amazed."

Wufei started laughing.

Blake looked back to Trowa a moment, the anxiety returning to his eyes before he smiled.

"I want you to do what you can to keep Matty safe," Trowa said quietly. "Gerrange shouldn't know you, and I don't think everyone on base realizes you're mine, so you should be under the radar enough to fly-by. If shit goes down, get Matty and get out of there. The safest place is LA, but if you can get to the hangar...he knows what I mean...if you can get to the hangar, no one can get in that."

Blake nodded seriously.

"I had a throw-away phone," Trowa noted quietly. "I forgot it in the hangar...it's got...the minutes won't expire and it's in pieces. The charger is there."

Blake nodded again, studying Trowa's face...as he disconnected.

"You're not going to tell him you love him?" Wufei asked dryly.

"I don't have to say it," Trowa retorted. "He knows."

"He also knows we could get killed, and you just told him how to hide if shit goes south. Would it kill you to say it?"

Trowa focused on the screen, narrowing his eyes.

Wufei smirked at him, sitting back laconically in his seat. "One thing I do have to say about him...I like that smile. You get that smile often? I can see why you fell for him."

"Are you done?"

"Oh no," Wufei reassured him pleasantly. "The almighty all-straight bastard fell in love with some twenty-year-old brat. You think I'm going to let you alone? Please, Trowa...I thought you knew me better than that."

- -

"Attention Marshal Gerrange," Trowa's voice was magnified by his machine. "Come out with your hands up, with no weapons, or we will be forced to attack your base of operations until it is razed to the ground. We will give you fifteen minutes to accede to our demands before assuming denial. If we see mobilization, the fifteen minute window will be nullified, and we will attack."

Jinli rubbed a hand down his face, closing his eyes.

He was pretty sure there was a better way to say all of that. It didn't matter, though, did it? Gerrange was very much not coming out in that fifteen minutes, and there were certain formulas that at least had to be flirted with.

The Asian frowned up at Deathscythe, wondering how he'd come to be sitting in a humvee with a sulky ex-gundam pilot and two gundams that were supposed to have been destroyed. That was entirely aside from living with the five gundam pilots alone—and dear lord, he was espoused of Chang Wufei.

He grinned slightly at that, wondering what his parents would think. He couldn't help but feel he'd have been teased constantly.

The idea that Duo'd been grabbed had been terrifying—hearing how they'd hurt him on camera had been painful...and then to hear he'd gotten away just made Jinli want to walk away. This had happened before, to hear Wufei tell it. Brigadier General Zechs Marquise...or was it Milliardo Peacecraft? Either way, he'd been taken hostage and escaped.

All things considered, though, it sort of figured. None of the men in charge had been noted for their leadership skills or forethought. Actually, from what Jinli'd gathered from the files they'd been sent, the men were the ones who had someone partnered with them to keep them in line. Like Jaden Timorre, he'd been through so many anger management classes that he'd spent a few months teaching them. Reading his file, with the myriad demerits, made Jin wonder if Matty was even talking about the same person. The only time the two profiles had ever matched up even slightly was the time when Timorre and Rin had gotten drunk off their asses and Timorre had thrown a beer at the youth. Rin's profile had been less...dramatic...but he'd had enough issues. Marshal Gerrange...well, he'd been a real piece of work, not to mention Deroy Hanager.

At some point, there had to be an...epiphany, didn't there?

Jinli shook his head.

"Oh, look at that," Trowa's voice was almost disappointed as his gundam gestured toward the base. "I think they're mobilizing."

"Wonderful," Wufei returned dryly. "Get ready."

Quatre shook his head and moved from the humvee, pulling the rifle from beside his chair over his neck.

Jinli stared at that as the words really penetrated his mind.

He'd never been in a fire-fight. He was the hand-to-hand guy...he had basic MS training...this...

"Sir?" the female soldier muttered from the front seat, looking back to him. "Please, take your firearm and get ready. Everything is about to start."

- -

"If you'd like to keep your general alive," Rab declared via vid to the gundams, "then we demand you immediately cease and desist."

"Oh, really?" Chang asked with interest. "And how will you kill him?"

"Slit his fucking throat," Rab hissed back, glaring at the hated images on his screen.

"Do it," Chang ordered him. "Get your ass on it so we can kill you."

Rab sneered at the Asian man, reaching for the disconnect. "Fine, we'll see what you think when his blood is all over the floor."

"I wonder if he's woken up yet," Barton mused thoughtfully. "How long do you think he'll sleep?"

"That's a good question," Chang agreed brightly.

"You trying to make me think you talked to him?" Rab asked, trying to keep his voice from going tight.

"Well, no," Chang admitted. "He talked to Yuy."

Rab rolled his eyes at the camera. "His blood is on your hands."

"Oh, so you have him," Barton muttered. "I guess we should back off."

"If you don't want him dead," Rab agreed darkly.

Barton nodded his head...then leaned forward...and disconnected.

Rab sneered at that as Chang also ended the call, then turned toward the commotion that had started at the back of the building.

People were running through the building all over, people were gathering up their belongings...and everyone was heading for the back lot.

"What are you doing?" Rab demanded of the men scrambling around, pushing through the waiting crowed. The men had been trying to clean up the mess of vehicles that had exploded earlier in the day...presumably by Maxwell. "They can't know Maxwell is gone!"

"We don't know where he went," one of the men snapped back. "We have to get out of here...we need to find somewhere safe."

"Safe?" Rab protested. "They believed me when I persisted that we have Maxwell..."

The man gave him a frustrated look, looked around at his fellows, then shook his head.

"What?" Rab demanded.

"You'll have to forgive me, sir," he muttered...and swung.

Rab had a moment of disbelief before the pain flared through his senses...and everything went black.

- -

"So," Wufei muttered. "Mobilizations negates the fifteen minutes grace, right Tro?"

"Oh sure," Trowa agreed happily. "Shall we?"

"I don't want to be the first to act," Wufei noted almost sadly. "I don't even want to be here."

Trowa frowned at the reality in that simple statement, then shrugged. Since they didn't have that choice, they had to deal with what they did have. He leaned forward, and started to work his controls...and Wufei followed suit.

- -

Quatre watched as the gundams moved forward, being sure his weapon was ready for use. There was something inside him that had gone dark since he'd found out Duo'd been grabbed, and he almost couldn't care. He wanted to be going out to Illicit, but that wasn't going to happen until the others took care of Gerrange.

He almost wanted to go to sleep...he wanted to...to...

The sensation of pain and brightness flashed through his mind, and he stopped, blinking a few times. What had that been? Bright white lights and a strange-colored ceiling, that had been the impression...that and the pain.

"Quatre?" Jinli asked, moving up beside him with the rifle around his neck. He looked distinctly uncomfortable in his kevlar and helmet.

"Yeah?" Quatre muttered, still trying to puzzle out what he'd seen and felt—if it'd been from Duo or Matty.

"Are you...are you ready?"

Heavyarms started moving forward, and a moment later, so did Deathscythe.

"That question is now moot," Quatre noted, gesturing the signal for his men to be ready. "Stay with me Wong," he instructed. "Things are about to get loud."