Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Reprieve ❯ chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Title: Reprieve 5/?

Author: Lethanon

Archive: www.geocities.com/lethanon and mediaminer.org

Warnings: AU, Gundams, Angst, general weirdness, bad Heero…sorta. Lol.

Chapter Five

"Heero!"

All three pilots, seated around the worktable in the middle of the safe house kitchen, winced, none of their eyes shifting from their hands and the parts they held though their ears tracked the sound of someone wandering through the house.

"You know…she's not so bad when you get her talking about politics," Quatre noted, fingers pulling at the broken filter he was trying to free up so he could get the air conditioning working in Sandrock again.

Heero grunted, Trowa actually looked at him sideways, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Well, she's not!" Quatre replied defensively.

"Three more days," Heero finally whispered, barely audible. His face looked a little more strained than usual, not that Quatre really gave a damn. After all, he was only waiting until Heero's leg healed a little more before he intended to drill him on the specifics of the mission, and the mission he didn't take.

Heero gently placed the part he had been working on aside and rose, limping through the door, following the sound of Relena's voice, calling…Quatre sighed as he finally pulled the charred remains of the filter paper loose and stared into the grimed black hole. He had a few more hours of just cleaning the damn thing before he could even consider putting it back together.

"Aren't there more important things to fix?" Trowa asked quietly, eyeing the black gunk already forming on Quatre's fingers.

"Yes, and no. If I get a desert mission right now I'll die of dehydration in an hour. I need the cooling systems. No one else gets offered those missions…"

Trowa nodded in understanding and passed a bottle of oil based cleaner his way. Quatre only smiled as he poured a small amount onto the rag and got to work. They sat in silence for a time, listening to the soft sounds of Heero trying to placate Relena's ever fouler mood, her desire to go somewhere, do something. She was so sure the world would collapse without her presence it made Quatre sad. She had no idea the world would collapse either way, even as it went on. That was the nature of war.

Trowa eventually stood and looked down, waiting.

"Hanger?" Quatre queried and waited for Trowa'a slight nod before picking up the basically clean filter and stuffing it in his pocket.

The safe house was not huge, but it was not small either. A sprawling abandoned mansion, the garage was large enough to hide their Gundams and close enough that they could move through the house without fear of being cut off. It was the ideal place to spend a week away from the war. It was just a shame it couldn't have been in better company, or alone…Quatre shook his head to banish those thoughts; they had better things to worry about.

The garage was large, but not huge. Subsequently, the three Gundams were standing in single file, close together, almost touching. Trowa was already climbing Heavyarms' leg, so Quatre grabbed the lift wire with the shoulder he hadn't twisted saving Miss. Peacecraft and opened his own hatch.

It was still a mess, but he knew it had to be better off than 05 and 02's Gundams. Thinking of them made him curious, not for the first time, and he booted up Sandrock's systems, connecting to the network.

There was still no direct word on the network from either pilot. The successful mission details were there, still with no report. Several new missions had been sent to both Gundams, but none had been accepted. There was a note from the Doctors requesting to know if the Gundam's were down. They would just have to wait and see what the outcome was.

He was about to log off when one of the missions caught his eye. It was from a doctor with codename G. Quatre had only ever seen two messages on the network from the man and both had been missions for 01and 02. Combined missions. The kind it was obvious Heero didn't like. Heero had always made the reports, no word of 02 ever reaching the network. Quatre had always thought of him as a ghost, an abnormality, a mistake on the otherwise perfect system. There was no 02, or so he had thought.

The mission plan was…odd. Nothing like the usual detailed report they downloaded.

02

Sydney

0600

G

That was it. Quatre sat staring at the screen for a long while. So long Trowa actually came looking for him. That quiet eye stared at the screen, blinked, then stared some more.

"That's…strange."

Quatre nodded in reply. It wasn't at all what he had expected, and it only confirmed that there was an element in this war they knew nothing about. Quatre, for one, was beyond curious. He was willing to risk one of the proverbial nine lives. Hell, he'd risk nine if it would solve the mystery.

It was, perhaps, not the best of timing, when Heero chose that moment to enter the hangar.

"Where's Relena?"

Quatre was amazed that Trowa had asked. It meant the stoic pilot wanted to know, and that was intriguing.

"Sleeping."

"Good." Trowa leaned over and hit the reply button to the mission outline. Quatre's eyes flew wide as the slender digits typed their reply.

G

Confirmed 1627

0600

03/04

"We have a mission, but before we go we need to talk."

Quatre gaped, looking from Trowa's deadly serious face to Heero's, which gave nothing of his emotion away.

"So talk."

Trowa looked from Heero to Quatre and it was obvious that despite the fact he had opened the conversation he did not expect to be the one to carry it through. So Quatre did it for him.

"You accepted two missions and only took one, Heero. Why didn't you call it in?"

"I.." Heero stumbled, glaring darkly at them both from his place at the garage floor. "I did not believe three Gundams were necessary for the completion of that mission."

Quatre fumed. There had been enough suits there to take out two Gundams and still come after Trowa and himself! Three would have barely been enough!

"Pilot 02. You've met him?"

The change in topic seemed to alarm Heero. His head snapped up and his glare darkened as he glowered. Quatre could tell he was evaluating just where this conversation was headed.

"Yes." Was Heero's firm reply.

"What's he like?"

Now that shocked Heero, a flicker of confusion rushing across his features before he could school his face back into a cold mask.

"Unreliable. Dangerous to the mission. A liability."

Quatre scowled.

"So you left someone unreliable to take care of a mission with one Gundam less than we required?"

Quatre knew Heero knew his story wasn't adding up. There was something wrong about the whole affair. Something that just didn't fit but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was.

"Hn. Mission?"

Change of topic…Quatre sighed, knowing he would get nothing more out of Heero. He wanted to shake the other boy until the answers to his questions fell out of him, but he just couldn't muster the strength. What was the point? It wasn't like he could change Heero Yuy.

"Ah…well…we're not sure…."

Heero stopped whatever he had moved off to do and stared up at them. Quatre looked at Trowa for support.

"You accepted a mission from G for 02." It was a statement, not a question. Heero sighed, waved a hand in dismissal and shortly explained. "Location of the base, time to attack, method of attack."

Quatre stared over at his screen again.

"There is no method."

"Then it's up to you."

Quatre and Trowa shared a look as Heero walked off, clearly pissed. Quatre finally shrugged as Trowa jumped off his hatch to the shoulder of Heavyarms. A moment later Heavyarm's was connected to the network and the two Gundam's were powering up.

Quatre strapped himself in and couldn't help the grin from spreading over his face. He was desperate to leave the safe house and get back out there, away from Relena and Heero and all the baggage that came with them. Just Sandrock and Heavyarms, Quatre and Trowa.

"G must think 02 is near that base."

Quatre stopped and thought about that as he switched on the video and Trowa's head appeared on his screens.

"I was wondering why you accepted that mission. You're right…Which means G knows something we don't."

"He probably trained 02."

"No doubt," Quatre replied as he began walking Sandrock out of the hangar, aware of Heavyarms following close behind. "You're getting caught up in this one Trowa…Do you have to go back to the circus anytime soon?"

Trowa let a faint sense of happiness permeate his face as he blinked back.

"Cathy knows I am well. This is interesting. Besides, I like fighting with you."

Something warm and tight curled about Quatre's heart and he grinned as he fired his thrusters and set in the new coordinates. Sydney.

*

Duo woke to find his throat dry as parchment, his arms itching like hell, most of his body throbbing and his head pounding. It was not an all unfamiliar sensation and he groaned.

"You awake?"

Duo froze, trying to remember where he was. All his senses were telling his he was safe, that the soft swaying was the ship complex on the Pacific, that he was with the Sweepers. So why was someone speaking to him in Japanese?

Memory washed through him. He had been waking, on and off, for hours. Each time there had been the soft murmurings. He had heard Howard once, told the old man he was fine, but the other times…it was this voice, this low, soft, tenor that made him relax completely, forget his pain, forget everything…

"Wufei." That was his name.

"Good morning Duo."

Duo opened his eyes to find a familiar face hovering just above him. 05. Pilot. Shenlong. Chinese. Colonial. The data kept surfacing in his mind in funny little bubbles that made almost audible pops as they came to him in G's gravelly, commanding, terrifying voice. The description matched the boy, but…Duo found he preferred the reality to the data.

"Morning `Fei."

An eyebrow arched at the shortening of the name, but there was no reprimand, no sign that it displeased his companion. It was merely unexpected.

Eyes roving over the ceiling, Duo took quick inventory of what they had him connected to. It didn't look like they were ready for him to get up and about, but he knew he had to get off that bed. He needed the sheets changed, needed that dying scent cleansed from the room. He needed to get out.

Gathering himself, Duo made to shift in one move, to haul himself upright as he usually did when he woke after an `accident'. This time was to be different. Very different.

His arms made it an inch from the bed before pain lanced through his entire body. He opened his mouth to scream, but his body was still moving, dragging his arms under him to lift…His left arm made it, buckled and collapsed as his right was caught in a feather light, unbreakable grasp. His eyes watered but no tears fell and he bit his lip to hold back the cry of pain as he stared at the blurred form at his side.

"Hurts," was all he finally managed.

Wufei didn't say anything, just wrapped one arm around his waist, using the other to lower the broken arm onto his stomach as he kicked a pillow into position and lowered him back. Duo waited until the wild drumming pains stop quivering through his arm before he looked down and finally saw the pins.

"Oh, now that's gross!"

Wufei quirked another eyebrow but again didn't answer as he reached over their heads and began pulling loose the myriad system, attaching it all to a poll with several wheels on one end. Duo let him to all the work, knowing he couldn't life a feather at that point.

Eventually Wufei had all their equipment attached to the poll and he placed it over the side of the bed where it rolled toward the door.

"You sure you're up to this?"

There was doubt in that voice, along with curiosity and a touch of nervousness. There was no fear, no reprimand. It was a question, but there was no attempt to stop him.

Duo only nodded and Wufei reached over, grabbed a piece of familiar fabric and tossed it over his neck, slipping the shattered arm inside the sling. Duo winced at the movement but allowed no other outward sign of the agony to show. He could do this. He would.

"You had a piece of metal through your thigh and your ankle is sprained. Go slow. Don't use your arms."

Duo nodded, already weary, but determined. He managed to squirm his way to the very edge of the bed and soon realized it was his left leg that had all the damage. He scowled darkly at his own weakness, but allowed Wufei to gently place his legs over the edge, let those stronger arms wrap around his waist and torso, and then he reached out, his left arm grabbing hold of the poll with their various equipment hooked on, and he opened the door.

"Guess none of us like doing as we're told," Wufei said softly under his breath and Duo felt a laugh bubbling up his throat. It didn't get past his lips as he struggled past the burning sensation.

"Fei, I need water."

Wufei loosened his hold a little at first, checking to see if Duo could support his weight on his own. He wavered a little at first, but held firm and Wufei rushed back into the room, grabbing a plastic cup from the ceiling table and rushing back. He didn't let Duo hold the cup, pouring it in a sip at a time. Duo growled, tried to grab the cup once but damn near fell on his face. Wufei caught him easily, placed the cup on the floor and wrapped his arms back around Duo.

"Careful," Duo felt that soft breath tickling the space above his ear. "Take it easy. One step at a time. There's no need to rush."

Duo snorted as they moved one step at a time down the hallway toward the cargo bay, as quickly away the bridge as they could before they were spotted by their watchdogs. There was something about the way those arms fitted about him, something about the scent that filled senses, about the way the soft breath ran down the back of his neck. The both stunk of hospital creams and sweat, and yet…

Safe. I feel safe here. Safer than when I'm with the Sweepers and they're my home! I feel like…G can't touch me here. He marveled at the sensation. It was new, and at the same time old.

`I used to feel like this on the streets, with Solo…'

It was a slow, arduous journey to the cargo hold but they made it, the door sliding open to reveal the two, bright, hulking forms of their Gundams.

"Hey Scythe…"

Wufei's grip tightened marginally as he nodded in his Gundam's direction.

"Nataku."

Duo grinned as he tore his gaze away from Deathscythe to Wufei.

"You talk to your Gundam! Finally, someone with a soul!"

Wufei gaped but Duo only laughed as he nodded toward the stairs that led down to the work area. It was a long way down, but together it didn't seem quite so far.