Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Wild Wings ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )

Jess - I imagine the sound attracted the wrong kind of attention and Heero triggered it rather than let it be found, but unless the man shares, we may never know :D

 

Apologies for the delay in this chapter: my internet crashed for a week (but I got a lot of writing done!)

 

Chapter 11

 

He woke again groaning pitifully. At that moment he didn't care. Everything hurt from his head to his toes, hell his fucking toenails hurt. How did he get himself into this mess? The single-room cabin was dark but that was hardly an obstacle. Starlight, moonlight, or just random ambiance allowed him to make out general shapes with a quick sweep of his attention.

 

Past the door he'd stumbled through yesterday was a makeshift kitchen area. A single table took up most of the space in the building and on Duo's half was a single rickety chair and a dead fireplace.

 

He rolled his eyes and carefully began a series of stretches. Sleep was long gone and despite the ache he knew he'd feel better once his muscles were similarly warm. It was a pity there wasn't a fire going.

 

Duo squinted at his watch. Three in the morning. Joy. He'd slept through an entire day.

 

He sat up completely and was instantly ravenous. His stomach snarled like a dying beast. Time for food, then. He swung his legs down to the floor with a grunt and tested their strength carefully. He'd rather crawl across the floor than collapse half-way there.

 

Satisfied he was going to do no such thing Duo pushed himself up.

 

"You should let your legs rest."

 

"Ah!" He landed back on the bed and bounced. Three's luminous green eyes stared up at him from the floor. The man was stretched cat-like in front of the fireplace. Except for the voice and the eyes Duo could hardly tell he was there.

 

"I know." He grunted. But 'I know' wasn't the same as 'I will.' He pushed himself up again and used the iron post of the bed to steady himself. Three made no move to stop him.

 

Once it was clear he was headed toward the kitchen and not the door the Latin piped up again. "There's a bowl of stew on the stove."

 

Prepared food? He didn't have to settle for a ration bar? Brilliant! Duo fetched the bowl and collapsed in a chair at the table. "You can cook?"

 

"It's passable."

 

Duo tucked in. It was more than passable. Veggies, noodles, was that a potato? Oh, the garlic was delicious. His first bite of meat was so surprising he nearly spat it out again. The only sounds in the den were the clink of spoon against bowl and teeth for quite some time. Duo pushed the empty vassal away with a satisfied groan. "Oh, that was amazing."

 

A water bottle thumped next to his hand. "Hydrate yourself." Three said.

 

Duo was too sated to jump that time but the man's ability to slink around was starting to get to him. He heard another bottle land on his bed as the Latin passed so he cracked the one on the table and drank.... and drank and drank until it was empty. Christ if he was so out of sync with his own body's needs it was no wonder he couldn't track another person's movements.

 

Stifling a sigh the pilot made his slow way back to the bed and let himself fall into oblivion.

 

--//--

 

A small stack of clean clothes landed on his stomach. Duo woke with a yelp. Packmale Three stood over him, arms crossed. "Get yourself dressed, it's time for lunch."

 

"Hey, thanks Three! I've been dying for a decent pair of pants—" Duo cut himself off. Packmale? What the hell did packmale mean?

 

"Don't thank me." The tall Latin had already turned away toward the minute kitchen. Duo saw a distinct tail flick at the end of that movement. His eyes went wide. He rubbed them and blinked rapidly. Three had no tail. No ears, no fur, no muzzle, no tail.

 

He was loosing it. Duo looked up, "Huh?"

 

"I didn't get them. One did."

 

The pilot bristled, "You mean he's back?!"

 

"He never left, there isn't a place to go for miles in every direction, Two."

 

Duo looked at the clothes, confused. "Well then... where has he been sleeping?" He crossed his eyes, why had that popped out first. What did he care where the man slept?

 

"In his Gundam, I suppose." Was Three's mild response.

 

"And the clothes?" He held up the pants despite the pull on his ribs. They clearly weren't extras from Heero.

 

The Latin finally glanced over his shoulder, "You'll have to ask him." Duo saw a superimposed image of round tiger-like ears and rubbed his eyes again. They were gone.

 

"Fuck." He needed some air. Now.

 

"He's not a bad guy, Two. You just pushed him. I don't think he's used to being questioned."

 

Duo wasn't sure to be glad Three had misinterpreted his curse or not. He pulled the knit pants on, briefly thankful they weren't geans, grabbed the black shirt for later, snatched the water bottle tangled in his blankets as an afterthought and escaped.

 

He let his back rest on the door and shuddered. Things were not adding up but they were getting very complicated very quickly. Duo could almost understand the 'packmale' feeling. Wolves went around in groups called packs and Three was male- that was logical enough. Why he thought of Three in such a way was a little harder to pin down.

 

Left on his own Duo would be hard pressed to label the guy was 'friend.' On the other hand, Three had saved his life. Twice. Three times? He didn't know. He owed him, though. Maybe that was enough for the wolf in him to consider Three part of the pack?

 

If all it took was a little doctoring and some soup for the wolf to accept someone Duo wasn't sure at all he could trust those instincts. But it was getting harder and harder to divide his own thoughts from those of the wolf. Thinking of Three as a packmale was just... automatic.

 

Duo pushed himself off the door and sat heavily on the step before it. He wasn't at all sure what to make of the hallucinations. Three wasn't a... whatever Duo was. He didn't transform under a full moon and he didn't have a tail. Duo was quite certain that random, disturbing privilege was his alone.

 

Just because he had a few cat-like tendencies, like sneaking around silently enough for ill Gundam pilots to have trouble tracking him, didn't mean he was a cat. Duo put his head in his hands with a sigh.

 

The hiss of a chest hatch caught his attention. Beyond Heavyarms' prone form sat Wing. Heero emerged from the cockpit and climbed up to the mecha's shoulder to meddle in a small knot of wires. That pilot was another complication Duo wasn't sure what to do about.

 

If he didn't have anywhere to go, why was he staying out of the den? Just on Duo's say-so? He remembered telling the man never to come back again, the exact exchange was a little fuzzy. Heero had said something about never working together again... but if that was true, why the clothes?

 

Duo spread the t-shirt over his knees. The front had a large angry dog with her brood of small angry puppies around her feet. 'Life's a bitch' it said at the top, 'and then she has puppies' curved under the picture. Duo huffed and pulled the shirt on.

 

He pushed through the door and sat down again at the table. He tried to hook the second chair with his foot but his stitches pulled. Duo hissed through the pain and leaned forward to yank the chair toward him instead. He put his feet up on it with a sigh.

 

"You really should talk to him, you know." Three admonished as he set a bowl of steaming soup on the table.

 

Duo was too tired to argue the point. He knew it would do no good anyway. The Latin persisted in pointing out the right thing to do in that frightening neutral delivery that made Duo feel simultaneously like a stubborn child and a criminal fleeing the scene.

 

"Careful, it's hot."

 

The braided pilot grunted in reply. Food was food, he remembered too well what it was like it go without. A little heat wasn't going to deter him. He devoured the meal and drained the last of his water bottle (Three provided another to replace it). The urge for sleep overcame him again and he didn't question it. Tomorrow was soon enough to deal with packmales with cat ears and Heero.

 

--//--

 

Duo woke on his own feeling warm and considerably closer to human than the past several forays into consciousness. Three was lounging in front of the fireplace were a nice set of flames were keeping things mostly lit. Duo checked his watch. Nine pm. So, not tomorrow yet.

 

He sat up and stretched. It felt wonderful. The pull at his ribs was mostly gone and once he convinced the stiffness out of his muscles they obeyed most of his commands as well. Brilliant.

 

"Go talk to One."

 

Damn. Not so brilliant. "If he wants to hang around his Gundam all day instead of here it's none of my business."

 

"Actually it is."

 

"Huh?"

 

Three looked up through his bangs with no sympathy. "He's refused to enter the building until you give him some kind of ok. I can't convince him. It doesn't make any sense to me but I've brought him every meal I've made since we got here so the man won't starve himself."

 

Duo threw the blankets off with a frustrated curse. "Stubborn sonofabitch would cut off his own nose to spite his face, I'm sure of it." He wobbled a bit on his feet but emotion steadied him. Duo snatched his water bottle from the table as he passed. Slamming the door made him feel better.

 

He couldn't stamp his feet so he tried to glower instead, but by the time he reached Wing he was just tired. "Heero? Hey Heero!" Duo sat on Wing's foot to catch his breath and give his legs a break.

 

The chest hatch hissed open but no one came out. Duo groaned.

 

"Heero what's this crap about sleeping in your Gundam and not coming near the de—er... safe house?" Damn, that was too close.

 

The voice that drifted down to him was hard. "I believe your exact words were 'don't even think about coming back.'"

 

Oh this was such shit. Duo started making his careful way up Wing's leg, teeth gritted. "Since when did you start listening to me?"

 

"Since your decisions started threatening our safety."

 

Bull-fucking-shit. Duo hauled himself bodily onto the hatch, furious. "I refuse to apologize for—"

 

"I know." The interruption was much softer. "I owe you the apology."

 

"Yes! I—wait. I didn't expect you to admit it." Glare. Duo put up his hands. "Hey, wow. It's just the truth."

 

Heero looked back at his monitors. "The warhead was an unexpected variable... I found it difficult to adjust without any warning."

 

"Yeah... well." Duo tugged his braid over his shoulder and played with the end. "I didn't exactly know I'd have the thing. I'll try and let you know next time."

 

Heero nodded. "I appreciate it."

 

"Good." Duo sprung to his feet a little more quickly than the stitches liked. He covered a wince. "So you'll come and eat dinner at the table like a civilized human, then and stop making Three trek all the way out here?"

 

Was that a smirk he saw there? Another nod.

 

The radio cracked static. "One this is Four! Get yourself to a radio or vid now. OZ is taking over the Alliance!"

 

Duo leaned into the cockpit, "What?!"

 

"Two??"

 

Heero called a command and the front screen tiled itself with news reports. "One and Two here, Four. Can you repeat that?"

 

"Yeah, OZ is staging a military coup! There are revolts springing up on every major base, a lot of the minor ones, and in some places I wasn't aware there were any military."

 

Heero frowned. "Who's leading, then?"

 

Typing echoed over the radio. Duo frowned at the pictures flying by on the screen. The organization of these troops was amazing. To coordinate something so widespread? It was unheard of... Even with the scattered news images he could see that much.

 

Four finally responded. "A guy name Treize Kushranada he was leader of the Specials force within the Alliance- apparently they're strong OZ sympathizers, he could be the guy we've needed to get rid of all along."

 

Heero nodded, verifying the information with his own searches.

 

"My guys are telling me there's a meeting planned for the OZ officials at the New Edwards base—"

 

Heero looked confused, "Guys...?" he muttered.

 

Duo rolled his eyes, "Yeah, the man's got people. Totally not fair."

 

An alert caught their attention.

 

"New mission." Heero said.

 

"That's too convenient."

 

The radio crackled. "Hey guys? I just got a green light for an attack on the New Edwards base."

 

"Me too." Heero replied. "Mission accepted."

 

"I'll see you there. Fly gently. Four out."

 

If Heero thought Four's parting words were odd at all he didn't show it. "So much for dinner then, eh?" Duo sighed. "The two of you are gonna get creamed." He stabbed the plasma screen with his finger, "Check out the number of units they have on base. You're gonna need more help."

 

"Then get off Wing and let Three know he probably has a mission waiting for him in Heavyarms."

 

"Three isn't gonna do it, Heero. You need me."

 

"You can't fight."

 

"I can too! You think a few stitches in the legs are gonna stop me fr—"

 

"You can't, you don't have a Gundam!"

 

Oh fuck. Duo smacked the closest piece of metal. "Then drop me off at Niamey on the way."

 

Heero's glare was like ice. "No. I don't have the time. Get moving."

 

"Screw time, Heero. You're gonna get killed without more help!"

 

"Then you better tell Three where I've gone." Heero slapped the trigger for the hatch and Duo had to scramble off or get caught between folding pieces of metal. He didn't wait to climb all the way down either and was hop-limping past Heavyarms when Wing took off and Three wrenched open the door to figure it all out.

 

"Where's he going?"

 

Duo unscrewed his water bottle. "The same place we are. Grab your shit." Three vanished. Duo drained the bottle and tossed it through the open door. He was half-way to Heavyarms chest hatch when it hissed open.

 

Three grabbed him around the middle and hauled him the rest of the way up like a sack of potatoes. Duo found himself behind the pilot chair holding a small duffle full of ration bars and water bottles. "You've probably got a mission alert." He said as the hatch closed over them. "We're headed for New Edwards, there's an OZ meeting taking place there while they take over the Alliance. I need you to drop me off at Niamey."

 

"What?!" Three didn't have the time to turn around in his seat but Duo could tell he wanted to.

 

"Well I can't be much help from here unless you need me to open your ration bar for you."

 

The mecha rumbled. "Just what do you plan on doing at Niamey?"

 

"I'm stealing my Gundam back."

 

"...right." That single word was just dripping with disbelief.

 

"Oi! I've done it once I can do it again."

 

This time Three did turn around, "You've let your Gundam fall into enemy hands before?"

 

"No!" Duo smacked the pilot chair. "I stole Deathscythe in the first place! You don't think they'd actually pick me to fly the thing, do you?"

 

Three sighed and sat back again. "Why am I not surprised...?"