Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Taking Flight ❯ Trouble on the Battlefield ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 06 - Trouble on the Battlefield

" That was rude…"

//...// denotes thought.

***

A line of green fire burst forth from the shadows of the alpine foothills, kicking up dust and debris in its wake, to cleave several mobile dolls in two. The unearthly light came to rest about one hundred feet beyond them, and settled back into the shape of a glowing thermal scythe. Only the orange and yellow explosions of mobile doll fuel tanks could have made the hellish black figure attached to it visible in the black night.

Quatre shivered. It was hard to believe that the same Duo who practically radiated cheerfulness could complete such a radical change of personality in only a few seconds. The way Duo attacked-no, the way he killed-the dark youth took an almost manic pleasure in it. It was almost as though his weapons contained a sentience of their own, a personality that overrode that which was Duo whenever it became necessary to use them.

Then, of course, Quatre could say the same of each of the pilots. They all were forced to become deadly killing machines on the battlefield. They also all expressed their regret in their own way. Quatre repeated the words "I'm sorry" every time he was forced to take a life. Trowa and Wufei expressed the same in silence. Heero? Who knew Heero? Although he had been known to visit the relatives of his victims on occasion.

Duo… did he ever express regret? This question greatly disturbed Quatre. He could take hundreds, maybe thousands of lives on the battlefield and not have a care in the world just minutes later. Maybe Duo's cheerfulness was his form of repentance? Quarter remembered one time when the darker youth told him that he fought "to put the smiles back on peoples' faces." Maybe, hopefully that was it. With a wary sigh, Quatre resigned himself dutifully back to the mission, trying to ignore the maniacally grinning face that appeared on the thumbnail of Duo's cockpit camera.

"Die! Die! All those who see my true form-…" Duo's voice trailed away in mid-sentence, leaving only a confused, open look in its place. A score of mobile dolls and suits were still flying around, waiting to be dispatched into realms un-traveled by living mortals, as Deathscythe's motions suddenly halted. The doll he was just about to dispose of turned and aimed its rifle at Duo's face.

"Maxwell!" a shout from Wufei snapped Duo back to his senses. He ducked down and to his right just as the doll fired its shot. The energy beam passed harmlessly over his left shoulder with only a few feet to spare. Deathscythe rose again to the side of the machine, flexed its fingers, and gripped the doll's throat with both hands, crushing it and severing the wires //NeRvEs//, fuel lines //ArTeRiEs//, and hydraulic swivels //TeNdOnS//. It collapsed lifelessly to the ground, kicking up dust in its wake. Deathscythe's gleaming eyes burned acid green holes through the haze.

Duo panted heavily from the adrenaline rush and whispered colorful curses at himself for allowing his concentration to be interrupted.

Heero pressed a few buttons on his console and Duo's face grew large on the glowing display. Between dispatching the occasional mobile doll and sneaking steadily closer to the base, Heero watched the screen with a barely perceptible scowl.

Unknown to Duo, his whispered curses hissed softly through the cockpit of every pilot's Gundam. Though Quatre was relieved that Duo was no longer shouting like a maniac, the rapid curses were caustic to his ears. A blush spread across his face after a particularly colorful phrase. He didn't know that could be done with a .44 Magnum….

"…Maxwell…" Wufei grumbled irately. Suddenly, an alarm went off in his cockpit and several blinking red windows popped up on his screen. He checked the display, then incredulously checked it again. The door of an underground hangar had been opened and a score of mobile dolls and suits flew out, effectively tripling the number that had remained on the field only moments before. What was more, an unmistakable beam cannon was raised from the depths as well, and its mechanism groaned as it circled to point with deadly menace at the pilots. "Maxwell!" Wufei yelled, jabbing the transmission button so hard that it was a wonder the worn plastic didn't crack. "I thought you were going to disable their defensive weaponry!"

"I did, Wufei!" Duo snapped angrily in protest. "I disabled all the security and defenses, the power to the anti-aircraft stations, and the main generator! They'd have to deplete half their fuel supply, or black out half of Germany to fire that thing! Don't worry, Heero can get in just fine."

"Well, he could," Wufei sneered, "if he wasn't swamped by mobile dolls! You said nothing about twenty more stored underground!"

"I'm not perfect!" Duo replied, gritting his teeth. The silence that rang out between them after that admission was almost tangible. Wufei reigned in his temper using a strategy similar to Duo's, only involving much more silent declarations of dishonor upon the boy.

"Stop fighting each other!" Quatre interrupted, breaking the tension between them. "Look, let's just concentrate on keeping those suits off of Heero while he gets the information we need." The cherubic youth's complexion hardened perceptibly and his voice took on the tone of a leader. "Trowa, work on taking out the beam cannon; we can't afford to risk even a near miss. Wufei, Duo, cover Heero. I'll be on your north side…"

Their battle continued on almost to the morning, and in the end they only barely escaped. OZ had anticipated their attack far more than any of the pilots had realized. It had strategically planted false information right where the pilots were sure to see it. If Duo had been less preoccupied, perhaps he would have noticed how obviously fishy the readiness of his information had been. Of all the pilots, his data had been the most faulty. However, as Quatre mercifully put it, at least everyone was still alive.

They fled to Spain, unfortunately retaining only what was packed in their "important" bags and stowed in their Gundams. Duo "disappeared" for about half an hour during their pre-dawn flight in order to take care of his own irritating business, but since Deathscythe was infamous for its stealth capabilities and each pilot's path was generously spaced from any other, it didn't raise any sort of suspicion.

A whole day and a half passed before the pilots again saw each other, and then only thanks to Heero and Quatre's use of the coded channel. The various Gundams were hidden ingeniously within 25 miles of Madrid.

Quatre wandered through the city's market place with wide eyes and a nostalgic smile. Golden rays of sunlight fell warmly upon his pale skin, caressing him and lending a healthy glow to his cheeks, which had been beginning to lose their rosy hue in favor of a more ashen tone. The bright, warm colors of everything in sight blurred into a swinging sea of brilliance as his vision blurred from tears arising not only in response to the harsh rays of the sun. How he missed life among the Maguanacs! His dear friends, Quatre would forever cherish his memories of the times he spent with them.

His peaceful wanderings were abruptly interrupted when a boy no taller than himself roughly bumped into him. Without stumbling, as if he had prepared for the impact, the heavily clad teen walked past and away leaving Quatre to struggle for his balance.

//"That was rude…"// Quatre thought, still dazed from the sudden jolt. As his hand brushed his side, however, Quatre gasped. His wallet was gone! The boy was a pickpocket, a thief! The cherubic youth whirled quickly around and searched the crowd for the retreating thief's black baseball cap and navy blue, bulky denim jacket. His search didn't last long, only long enough for him to fleetingly wonder if it was the boy or his jacket that filled up that large bulk. The thief hadn't gone far.

Without a second thought, Quatre followed him at a brisk pace, worming his way through the thick crowd. As if he knew he was being watched, the thief sped up as well, moving with deceptive dexterity through the throng of people. Quatre had trouble following him at times as he accidentally bumped into various people, and lost sight of the thief over the heads of others. A moment later, though, he would always catch sight of the boy again and the chase would resume.

It wasn't long before they reached a more open area of the market place. The thief made sharp, nimble turns left and right to avoid Quatre's line of sight, but he seemed almost lazy about it. Always, the thief kept his face hidden, no matter how Quatre twisted and turned for a glimpse.

The thief led him closer and closer to the wall of a large, two- and more-story apartments. Just as Quatre came within five feet of him and reached out to tap the boy's shoulder, a hand not his own shot out and grabbed his other arm, then pulled him into an alleyway. Quatre's heart fluttered in alarm until the sight of Trowa and Heero in the narrow space calmed his nerves. Wufei had pulled him in, and then let go of his arm.

"You're late." Heero accused the newly arrived pilot.

Embarrassed, Quatre admitted, "I lost track of time. A thief stole my wallet, and I was chasing him before Wufei-…"

"Where is Maxwell anyway?" Wufei suddenly asked out of the blue, seemingly unconcerned with Quatre's situation.

"Right here." Duo said as he turned down the alleyway holding a great deal of produce. He shrugged off his lumpy black cap and let his braid tumble down from inside it. Quatre suddenly understood his encounter with the thief. Duo no longer seemed heavily dressed, and Quatre wondered if it was truly possible to hide that much food under such a thin jacket. "I have your wallet right here, Quat'." Duo told him as he walked closer. "Everything is still there, I just needed some way to lead you here without drawing too much suspicion. A cop looked like he was following me for a while, so I didn't want to involve you." He stopped in front of them, sat down in the almost night-like shade of the alleyway, and released the produce into his lap. "Lunch, anyone?"

Suspicious of where he had gotten the various fruits and vegetables, Quatre cautiously bent down and selected a small bunch of grapes. Inspecting them closer, he was surprised to find them already washed, and popped one of the juicy, sweet fruits into his mouth. The other pilots declined, and suddenly self-conscious, Quatre lowered his hands and guiltily snuck another grape into his mouth.

"Your loss." Duo shrugged and began to inhale his food at an alarming rate.

Heero scowled, Trowa politely looked away, and Wufei asked with disgust, "Where do you put it all, Maxwell?"

Duo swallowed his food and grinned sheepishly, providing no answer. As he reached for his next piece of fruit, his hand instead clasped a folded piece of thick, polished, slightly worn brown leather. "Oh, here it is, Quatre." Duo tossed it and the blonde clumsily caught it, then quickly opened the snap and took inventory of the bills.

//"What am I doing?"// Quatre asked himself halfway through. //"Don't I trust Duo? He said it's all here…"// Slowly, Quatre folded and closed the wallet, then slid it into his thin pocket. The cool leather felt good against his warm skin.

For several moments, the boys entertained an uneasy silence as Duo continued to eat. He stole glances at them every few moments, but as he caught their gazes trained on him, he quickly found a much greater interest in his food.

Finally, Wufei spoke; anger imprinted in his voice and emblazoned on his face. "What happened back there, Maxwell? What happened to that information that you were so sure on? Thanks to you, not only was the mission a failure, but repairs to our Gundams won't come easily."

"This isn't the time to point fingers, Wufei." Quatre firmly reminded him as he noticed Duo's half-hearted smile fade. "We just need to find a new place to stay and lay low for a while." Then, turning toward the deeper darkness further into the alleyway, he continued, "Heero, you told me over the encoded channel earlier that you had found a strategic location."

"Hn." Heero shifted his weight against the smooth plaster wall behind him to his left leg and swept his eyes in a wide ark past all the pilots. "It's a studio near the edge of the inner city: two stories, a large, open main room, and six smaller rooms including one bathroom. There are three on the first floor, three on the second. An open, inner spiral staircase leads to the top floor, and one wall is covered in translucent glass windows for easy escape if necessary. It has three exits, one leading to the inner building, one to a small overhanging balcony outside, and an outer window in each bedroom and the bathroom leading to the fire escape. The fire escape is also accessible from the balcony. The large central room is open and unfurnished, and the kitchenette would provide no strategic cover. The wall of windows, while it would break up the shapes of anyone inside, would allow far too much light to escape at night. We can counter both of these disadvantages by hanging sheets at strategic points to create workstations. We can also line the outer perimeter with black felt to stop light from escaping."

Quatre nodded appreciatively, as did Wufei and Trowa.

"Do we really have to stay in the inner city?" Duo objected. His gaze flicked back and forth between Heero and the other pilots, though he tried to hide it. "I mean, it would be easier to escape the city if we were further out, away from nosy neighbors in cramped apartment buildings who always seem to remember just the wrong things…"

"Actually, Duo," Trowa spoke, mildly surprising the other pilots with the shock of hearing his quiet voice. "We would have far more trouble with such neighbors in less dense communities. Fewer people are likely to think it unordinary for new renters to refuse visits in an apartment complex."

Duo sighed disappointedly. "But I wouldn't mind the month's supply of Jello for moving into a suburb…"

Wufei smirked. "With you around, it wouldn't last a week."

Duo laughed sheepishly at that, but made no more objections.

"I'll go make the down payment, then." Quatre offered. "I have to say, Heero, that for this type of encounter, I'm a little less conspicuous than you."

"Hn." Heero could only agree.

***

Despite the inconvenience of being located in the inner city, Duo had to admit that the apartment had a certain charm. If nothing else, the lighting and architecture was beautiful. He had the distinct sensation when walking through the door for the first time that he had entered some sort of artist's studio, not a middle class Spanish apartment.

He discovered early on that the cheap window in his room didn't open, and even though Heero made an attempt at fixing it, there was just no way he would be able to leave the house via that exit without making a terrific racket. He did uncover another, slightly less convenient escape, however. Although his habits annoyed the other pilots, his braid was a useful excuse for spending 20 minutes in the small, single bathroom every few hours, and it was no different than his usual routine. There was enough noise during the day to make the bumps of his wings on the walls and ceiling seem inconsequential, but nighttime was an entirely different matter.

It was on a night three days after the five arrived that Duo's shaky plans began to fail. He sat silently in a far corner of the large living space of their studio apartment. It was vacant of sound at even 11:50 PM except if he listened to the few cars still active on the streets below. It was his shift, and had been so since 9. His dual-toned wings draped lazily around his small, shirtless frame, and the only illumination in the large, sectioned room came from the dim street lamps far below and outside.

//"10 minutes…"// Duo sighed as he stole a glance at the icy blue numbers of his glowing watch before finishing his thought. //"10 minutes until Wufei's shift. He'll be up in 5 minutes, and it will be his shift until 3, then Heero's until 6."// Even though he had only lived at the new safe house for three days, he had quickly made use of his precious knowledge of the other pilots' patterns and habits and the night watch schedule to escape every night to let his wings out, and even test them a little. //"It will be impossible for me to sneak out during Heero's shift."//He cursed silently, knowing it would be a long, painful night unless… //"Unless I sneak out at the end of Wufei's shift."//

Duo's watch let out one nearly silent beep, signaling that it was 11:54. He stood up, stretched, and drew his wings back in; the feathers and bones grew soft and flexible, the joints snapped, and a new layer of skin covered the compressed appendages. He leisurely pulled his black shirt back on over his head and leaned lazily against the wall to await Wufei's arrival.

***

Exactly two hours and 55 minutes later, Duo quietly, carefully rolled out of bed. //"Maybe next time we could invest in better sleeping arrangements. I swear this spring mattress is 50 years old…"// He leaned back and popped a few vertebrae, but went wide-eyed at the sharp sound. Duo stood rigid for several long moments as the shock of the sound disappeared from the house, and then finally let out his breath. Carefully, he hid his jacket on his right side and made his way through the door, down the open hall, picked his way down the spiraling wrought iron stairs, and tiptoed to the bathroom.

Unknown to him, Heero awoke at the sound and caught his retreating form disappearing into the bathroom only several feet away from his slightly ajar first floor door. He resisted the urge to grunt in irritation and after a series of swift, silent movements began walking soundlessly across the floor.

Duo had been acting strangely (more so than usual) since his operation. He had been too quiet, sometimes trailing off in the middle of a sentence, eyes deadened, only to continue a moment later. His laughter rarely reached his eyes, and he had been leaning further forward as he walked sometimes, as if expecting to counter a great weight, then straightening as soon as he noticed. //"I should have mentioned this to Quatre. This is his job."// He caught himself thinking.

On his way past, Duo noticed Wufei reading in the same corner that he had sat in only hours before, reading with a book light. Duo never knew that the Chinese warrior did anything but rant, glare, and fight. He mentally noticed this unexpected discovery and continued carefully on his way.

After he slid into the bathroom, Duo carefully closed the door. He kept the handle turned to keep it from clicking as it closed, and then locket it behind him. From there, he turned to the window and unlatched it, then pushed it out. Night sounds from the street out front grew almost imperceptibly louder as he slid out onto the alleyway fire escape and positioned a piece of wood in the window to lodge it open.

Wufei looked up as Heero walked stiffly past, lowering his book and his reading glasses. "Is it your shift already?"

Without answering, Heero raised a key in his right hand that hadn't been there several moments before and slid it into the lock in the bathroom door handle with a slight rumble. He twisted the knob forcefully and opened it suddenly, perhaps a little eagerly, and stalked into the room.

"Heero?" Wufei asked when he received no reply.

Heero stuck his head out of the bathroom window and looked around, including up and down, then cursed sharply in Japanese, a frown dominating his face.

By this time, Wufei had stood up and leaned against the doorframe, alert and ready for action. "What's wrong?" There was a hint of urgency in his voice.

"Duo's gone." Heero replied quietly without moving his head back into the house.

"What?" Wufei asked, dumbfounded.

Heero pulled his head back inside, locked eyes with Wufei, and said clearly, "Duo is gone."

"No, I heard you the first time," Wufei clarified, "what I mean is, what?" Then, realizing how poorly worded his question was, he sputtered and searched for a new way to ask.

"Duo, gone, climbed out the bathroom window just a moment ago." Heero further explained in broken phrases.

This stopped Wufei's stuttering immediately. "What!? Where? Why?"

"I don't know." Heero flatly replied with no trace of emotion in his face or voice, but his eyes blazed invisibly in the dark room.

"Maxwell…" Wufei growled. "When I get my hands on him…"

"It's my shift."

"What?"

"Hn. My shift, get some sleep. Duo has done this every night. He'll be back in the morning."

Wufei looked at Heero oddly, and then retreated from the room without another word.

***

From the top of his perch on the roof, Duo had seen Heero poke his head out of the window. He silently cursed; knowing that Heero must have seen him sneak out.

Duo looked around and sighed. //"Oh well. Doctor's orders…"// He removed his shirt, his coiled muscles softly reflecting light from the city below. Duo might not have appreciated much else of what Arwel did for him, but whatever the medical staff did to build up his flight muscles looked damned good on the rest of him. The chilly air blew softly across his skin, pulling out goose bumps as it passed. //"It's almost Halloween… Almost my birthday…"// He absently thought, beginning to yearn for the warmth of his wings. Duo shifted aside the linnen and gauze that he wore to please the other pilots, arched his back, and prepared to release them. Duo loved this time of night. Somehow it made everything feel new. He stretched a few strange muscles and felt two sharp pricks as his claws pierced his skin, and a faint slicing sensation as they drew two vertical red lines on either side of his spine. Even after having repeated this exercise so many times in the past week or so, this part never failed to creep Duo out. It almost felt like having two knives dragged down his back, but the sensation was so faint due to the lack of pain receptors in that area that it was almost unreal.

With slits in his skin, the pressure in his back was hard to keep from escaping, and Duo shuddered as he held his wings in for only a moment, just to see what it was like. Then his back bulged, bowed, and those wings were released in one sharp, explosive motion. It was enough to push Duo forward, and them make him stagger back as the initial momentum wore off and the appendages threatened to topple him over. Duo pulled with his stomach muscles and leaned forward to prevent it. Nearly half of his weight was in those wings, which truly wasn't saying much. He fluttered them slightly, instinctively as his healing organs closed the holes in his back seamlessly. When it was done, he curled his wings around his shoulders and over his chest. The chill air was seeping under his feathers and causing little muscles at their bases to pull them and make them puff up, much like what was happening to the little hairs all over his body elsewhere.

He nearly decided to just stay on the roof and not go flying that night, but suddenly his pager went off. It vibrated in his pocket and he reached for it. //"Who could have found my number?"// For a moment he feared that it was Heero, but as he glanced at the softly glowing green display, all those thoughts were rushed from his body and replaced by a strange feeling in his stomach as if he had swallowed his own feathers, or quite a bit of hot air. Hilde's cell phone number winked up at him from the screen just before the light turned off. //"Hilde? What's she doing paging me?"// Resolving to find out, he looked for a clear path to take off and breathed in deeply.

The first night at the safe house hadn't gone very well. He had to sneak out early that night during Quatre's shift and be back by 3 AM for his own. Trowa's shift had been in-between. While climbing the fire escape after releasing his wings, a rung had broken off near the top of the building and Duo had fallen onto the balcony. Faced with no other choice, he jumped and attempted to fly from the balcony, but found it far more difficult than he had anticipated. Flying was instinctual, but it didn't help much when he was still trying to learn to flap both of his wings at the same time. Unintentionally, he flew for the first time after first running into his fair share of things. Despite the various purple bruises he had acquired that night, he still found it strangely fulfilling.

The second night, Wufei's shift was first, followed by Heero's and Quatre's. Duo snuck out toward the middle of Wufei's shift and returned near the middle of Quatre's shift so Heero was less likely to catch him, and Quatre and Wufei were less likely to be paying attention. Flying had been exhilarating that night. He had experimented with gliding, but it was difficult in the chilly night air. Flapping for altitude was tiring, but there had been a pleasant flush in his face and a healthy sheen of sweat on his chest by the time he returned and landed on the roof. He had felt guilty during the day about acting so recklessly, but pleasurable thoughts of the skies above the city quickly replaced the nagging of his conscience with a pleasant buzz in his ears.

Now it was his third night out, and he had work to do. The pilots hadn't yet acquired a vehicle (no reason to attract the attention of the police), and Duo wouldn't have wanted to take one anyway.

He rubbed his shoulders against the cool night air, shuffled his hands together, took a running start, and leaped from the building, the balcony several stories below. He extended his wings in mid-jump and caught the air, then pushed it beneath him in a powerful down stroke. He clutched his jacket close to his chest in his hands and it rattled against the breeze. Duo resisted the urge to extend his arms to help balance him as he entered a particularly cold stream of air. He wobbled around a bit until he glided back into a warmer patch, then flapped his wings several times to regain the altitude he had lost in the chilly downdraft.

Soon he was flapping high above even the tallest buildings in that residential area, though not without a fair share of effort. He briefly wondered what Heero would think of flying like this, and smiled. He would probably hate it, flying without rocket engines or heavy artillery…

Duo banked east and followed the road, searching for a convenience store so he could find a pay phone. It wasn't like him to keep Hilde waiting too long.

***

[End Chapter 6]

A/N: Sorry about the lateness. I actually got this done months ago, but I wanted to cut off the chapter where I had originally intended, and then I just kept inserting scenes and elaborating and making it longer... So what was once chapter 6 will now become chapters 6, 7, and 8. I hope the wait was worth it!