Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Wild Wings ❯ Chapter 20

Chapter 20

 

Duo's brain felt out of sync with his body. He blinked stupidly at the bathroom. Things were making sense in his heart, but his head was still confused. It didn't help that every time Trowa came even close to him his brain shut down entirely.

 

His clothes were clean... and dry. Duo rubbed his hands over his face and tried to connect the stoic Trowa he was still somewhat wary of with the Alpha that was already as much a part of him as the wolf. The former was still mostly a mystery to him. Duo didn't know the first thing about Trowa... hell, didn't even know his last name—assuming the guy had one.

 

But Alpha... Duo knew his Alpha on a level that he'd never reached with another person before. There was a connection there-an understanding so basic it ruled over his instincts as an L2 street kid.

 

The two didn't seem to mesh—couldn't mesh! There was nothing between them that Duo could see in common other than they shared a body; two souls in a single flesh prison.

 

Duo folded the desert outfit draped over the radiator and stuffed it into the duffle that never made it out of the common bathroom. The only other cloth item was underwear.

 

He hopped into them and zipped the bag. He found the black shirt Heero gave him just inside Alpha's bedroom door. The pants were flung not far from the bed. He slung the duffle over his shoulder when the air vibrated with the sound of a moving mobile suit.

 

Duo dashed through the building in time to see Heavyarms laying down on the dirt beside the transport he brought Deathscythe in. Trowa climbed out of the machine and together they re-covered the mecha.

 

Duo tried to convince his heart to stop pumping adrenaline. "How far away is he?"

 

Trowa tied off a knot. "Assuming he hasn't been moved in the past few days, four hours east of here. I have a handful of parts and pieces in the transport that I grabbed on my way out of the base, but unless you have contacts this is going to be a dry job.

 

Dry. No gadgets or gizmos to peek around blind corners for them or sense trouble before they could hear it. Duo grinned madly. He loved dry jobs.

 

"Is there any reason we need to keep the place in one piece?"

 

"Not anymore."

 

"Excellent..."

 

Duo tossed his duffle into the transport and detoured to Deathcythe for a few last-minute goodies. "I stocked up on explosives while I was with packfem—" Something satisfying settled in his gut.

 

Duo popped his head out of the chest hatch to gaze in Trowa's direction. After a silent moment the Latin looked up. Pinned by that green stare, Duo was suddenly less sure the feeling was from their after-breakfast encounter. Color spotted his cheeks.

 

He ducked back into Deathscythe and tried to focus on the explosives, not who they came from or why his memory invoked a ghost pleasure rather than the expected guilt. When he popped up again his arms were full of small electronics and mostly-round metallic shapes.

 

“What is this…?” Trowa picked a porcupine-like ball from the top of the heap.

 

“Careful, it's sharp.”

 

“Is this shrapnel?”

 

“Not from ol' Scythe, don't worry. But it'll do some serious damage when it goes off.” Duo dumped the munitions where they would fit in the cab. On the dashboard, his seat, the floor, that spot between the two seats that never seemed large enough to hold anything worthwhile cradled three small flashbombs quite well. He plucked the porcupine bomb from Trowa's slim fingers and climbed into the transport. “Let's go, T- we're wasting space!”

 

Trowa smiled wanly and mounted the transport himself. The machine roared to life. Duo saluted their covered Gundams as they rode away, kicking up dust.

 

Various explosive balls rolled around by Duo's feet but he showed no concern. Instead he was propped with his knees on the chair and one hip balanced on Trowa's shoulder while he rifled through the `handful' of electronics Alpha had managed to pilfer from OZ. The man was too modest for his own good.

 

Duo pulled a length of cord from a deep bucket of wires and tossed it behind him. Several small chips and a pair of pliers later he had enough parts and pieces to rig at least three time delays. His questing fingers found an oddly shaped object. He pulled it from the bucket and stared.

 

“This can't be right.”

 

“What's that?”

 

Duo slumped back into his seat with the machine in his lap, it wasn't larger than his two fists together. “This is an EMP. You have an EMP. Where in the world did you get an EMP? How good is it? It's tiny, it'll probably work for a door, maybe two if they're close together, a server room might be best for sabotage. Did you know you had this? Stupid question of course you did, why didn't you tell me?! An EMP! This is gold!”

 

Trowa glanced at the metal thing and shrugged.

 

Duo ignored him. “We'll probably only get one chance to use it- what are the odds I'd be able to pick it up again after setting it off? Could we double back—no we'll have One with us, no time to fetch toys, damn—wait!” He plopped the machine down at his feet and bent over the back of the chair again. “I thought I saw—yes!”

 

His braid whipped around as his slid into the seat properly. For a while the transport was silent, or mostly silent, while Duo tinkered with electronics, wires, breakers and electrical tape. “Bingo! Now we have an EMP on steroids. The signal still isn't very wide but it'll take out a few rooms, anyway—sketch me a verbal map, Alpha we need a plan.”

 

If Trowa thought his new nickname was odd he gave no sign of it. “The building has two floors—“ He started.

 

Duo filled the blueprint in his head with a level of precision usually reserved for drafting boards and architects. Since they didn't know exactly where Heero was they planned out a stealth sweep of the building, something that hit the most potential rooms in the least time. This was all assuming they could get into the building undetected.

 

“Will your EMP work on the mobile suits?”

 

“No,” Duo shook his head, “They're built to work with higher voltages so a surge from an EMP might flip some minor breakers but it won't disable anything. But if this place is as wired as you say it is the pulse could be carried along the piping to other areas.”

 

“You're not sure.”

 

“EMP's are really touch and go. The technology has been around for ages and ages but they've never done major testing with them. If any country ever got hit with an EMP big enough it could potentially shut down everything but manual labor. Communications would cease, anything electronic would shut down, including water purification systems. People would be reduced to the barter system. Let one off in a colony and it'll fall out of space—“

 

“And you're going to let one off in the middle of a base.” Trowa slid his green eyes over to Duo's grinning ones.

 

“Relax, T. It's small, I'd be shocked if the pulse even reached thirty feet. You don't have a pacemaker, do you?”

 

“No, I—“ The rolling eyes told Trowa he was being teased. He smirked briefly. “No.”

 

--//--

 

“Hey, hey pull over here.” Duo tapped on the window and began hiding any and all signs of high explosives. Trowa exited the highway and cruised through a large parking lot.

 

“There in the back—a hiking store. We can grab some binoculars at the least. They probably have rope, carabineers, I could use a backpack or something.” He started counting on his fingers, “Is there anything you want to pick up?”

 

“Let's find out.”

 

An automated chime greeted their entrance. A teenager snapped her gum and looked up from the counter off to the left. She waggled her fingers at them before kicking back her chair and snapping a phone shut.

 

“G'day, boys. What'cha looking for?”

 

“Hi!” Duo chirped, “We're looking to do some hiking about,” he waved a hand around, “but don't have all the parts and pieces. Need a pair of binoculars to start off.”

 

“Sure, this way.”

 

Duo followed with a glance in Trowa's direction but the other pilot was already browsing through backpacks and apparel. He shrugged and turned his attention to a row of progressively larger binoculars.

 

“Wow.” He hefted the last, largest pair, and whistled. “I don't need to see Saturn, just a few miles is good. Something small, if it folds up that's great.”

 

The teenager snapped her gum and passed him a palm-sized set. “These are our most popular model, they fold down the bridge—yes just like that. They're decent for nature hikes and the like but have a pretty steep learning curve when it comes to judging distances.”

 

Duo folded them down and back a few times to test the hardware then focused in on Trowa across the store. The pilot glanced up at him. Duo smiled at the single green eye that swamped his vision. “They'll do.”

 

They collected two coils of rope and a ring full of camo-colored carabineers. Trowa picked out a tough backpack and added a pair of lighters to the group at the checkout counter. Duo started patting his pockets. “Damn, left the wallet in the truck.”

 

Trowa slide a card across the wood counter. “You don't have a wallet.”

 

“Went through my stuff, did you?”

 

The machine beeped, whirred, printed their receipt. They thanked the girl and headed for the truck.

 

“Just how did you plan on getting all this out of the store without any cash?”

 

“Oh, I donno. I would'a thought of something.”

 

“Hmm.” The transport roared to life. “It seems to me that planning is not your strongest ability.”

 

“Psh. Plans are so overrated.”

 

“We need a plan for this.”

 

“Why do you think you're here?”

 

“I thought it was my charming personality.”

 

“If by charming you mean `fucked me raw' sure, yeah, that's it.”

 

Trowa fell silent. Duo belatedly winced at his own words.

 

The Heavyarms pilot finally said, “I am sorr—“

 

“Don't say it.” Duo interrupted. “I don't want to even think about it right now. We have a Gundam Pilot to rescue and a masked menace to mince.” He looked up and made a face. “I feel like the Joker.”

 

“You are a joker.”

 

“No, I mean the Joker. You know, Batman, Robin, Penguin. The Joker!”

 

“Is this relevant?”

 

“Oi. Kids these days.”

 

--//--

 

“So… when you said we needed a plan you really meant a miracle.” Duo squinted through the binoculars as a base swarming with more troops than mosquitoes in Alaska.

 

“Why do you think you're here?”

 

“Oh, har. Har.” He shifted and dug a rock out of the dirt under his elbow. “Think you're funny, do you?” Duo muttered.

 

“We should go in a little past dusk,”

 

“Yeah, no kidding.”

 

“and start the sweep in the southeast corner.”

 

“You take the first, I'll be on the second floor.”

 

“Whoever finds him sets off the first bomb.”

 

“And it's every man for himself.”

 

“How much ammo do you have.”

 

“Not enough.” Duo said promptly. “I have enough high-ex to take out one key point or make a lot of busy problems but not both. The EMP should be planted in the server room if you can get there, that'll help the most. What are the odds of us sneaking out with him undetected.”

 

“Not possible.”

 

“Eh. Well, it never hurts to hope. Alright, let's get these party poppers organi--- hey, hey whoa, what's doing?” Duo's grip on the binoculars tightened in surprise.

 

“What's up?”

 

“I don't… are those floodlights?”

 

“Give.”

 

Duo handed the sights over and watched Trowa's neutral press of lips turn down. “That's new.” He said flatly.

 

Several car-pulled rigs of lights slowly circled the building. Cords of wire fed back to transformers like a spiderweb. The huge lights hummed orange and slowly warmed to bright white.

 

“Well, crap.” Duo said.

 

“Can your EMP handle one or two of those?”

 

Duo snorted. “They're close enough but no. The voltage is so high it wouldn't make any difference. Besides, how would I get up to one without getting shot into swiss cheese?”

 

“Hm.”

 

“Damn, could use a Gundam about now.”

 

“It is rather hard to rescue someone in a machine the size of a building with the dexterity of a rino.”

 

Duo sighed, “I'm just say'n…”

 

“Ah, we're in.” Trowa handed the binoculars back and motioned Duo to follow.

 

“How?” The braided pilot scanned the scene once more but couldn't find an easy way to sneak past anything, not with those floodlights declaring war on the darkness.

 

But Trowa didn't answer. Duo scrambled to catch up with him and swung back into the transport. The vehicle swerved around. Past the bend of rock that was their vantage-point the road met a larger, better paved path that lead directly to the base. Trowa turned the transport away from their target. “Do you have a smoke bomb?”

 

“No… but I might be able—“

 

“Do it. Fast.”

 

“Why?” But he started grabbing pieces.

 

“Because I'd rather not break the only transportation we have if this doesn't work.”

 

“Ok, mister cryptic.” Duo wrenched a spring out of the center of another bomb and tossed the now-useless explosive back behind his seat.

 

The truck stopped, half-in a rut along the side of the road. Trowa popped the hood and slid out before Duo could question him again. He glanced out the back window toward the base and saw a distant column of dust. When Trowa peered around the hood down the road, then up at Duo, the braided pilot cursed. He wasn't a miracle worker but if Trowa had anything to say about it, that truck wasn't going to get past them.

 

He dismantled a flashbomb in record time.

 

When Trowa walked into the middle of the road with an arm raised Duo frantically dug through their new backpack for the lighters. He couldn't rig a sparker so ignition would have to be manual.

 

He could hear the truck rumbling closer. Duo climbed spider-like on top of the wheel well and tucked his smoke-maker into a fold of metal. “This goes fast so tell me when.”

 

Their target began to slow down. Just barely above the spray of loose stones Duo heard `Now.' He lit the packet. It flared brightly- a coil of magnesium from the flashbomb, then fizzled out. He cursed and lit it again. A third time. Something made a dull pop sound and suddenly his face was full of black and blue smoke. He coughed and jumped down to the road. Between hacks he heard the car stop behind them. He picked up the low voices of soldiers and trotted onto the road, waving his hand in the air to clear the smoke.

 

“Maybe you can take a look at it?” Trowa asked, stepping back from the cab door.

 

“Yeah, sure.” The driver responded and pushed his door open. “C'mon, Mac, you're the mechanic.”

 

“Damnit.”

 

“Can it, rookie and hop to. This is the most action you'll see all day.”

 

Duo caught Trowa's eye and made a slight gesture. The green eyes blinked slowly before the pilot nodded. Duo grinned and trotted back to the now smoke-free truck. “Hey man, I hope you can figure it out- we were just headed back into town and everything.”

 

The mechanic climbed up the grill and bent over a perfectly working engine.

 

Trowa struck. He grabbed the driver by the arm and wrenched him around. The next step put him high in the man's guard. A solid punch to the solar plexus left him gasping for consciousness. Trowa pressed his fingers brutally to the pulse-point in the man's neck and started counting.

 

Duo reacted with snake-like speed. He yanked the recruit's collar and twisted his head sharply. A dull snap indicated there was nothing left to worry about.

 

Trowa continued to count under his breath.

 

“I'll ditch the car.” Duo said. He backed the jeep-like truck onto the gravel road and parked it well behind the mound of red rock. He left the keys on the seat.

 

By the time he jogged back up the road Trowa was buttoning up the driver's OZ uniform.

 

Duo took the hint and began stripping the mechanic for his own disguise. “Doggon pants are too short.” He complained.

 

Trowa yanked the driver's ID tags and pocketed them. Then he pulled the body over one shoulder and walked it off the road. Duo followed suit. They left the soldiers in a small dip of land several meters away.

 

“So now I'm pretending to be Mister Howard MacDonald, am I?”

 

“If that's what the tag says.”

 

“And they won't think it's odd that two men who just left are coming back… in a different car… looking different?”

 

“They would if their security were that tight. There was no check on exiting vehicles, merely entering ones.”

 

They climbed into the transport and Trowa swung it around toward their target.

 

Duo rubbed his hands together. “Ok. We're down a few parts and pieces, it'll just make the show more interesting. Three flash bombs and seven localized bombs of various make and model. One EMP. Two men.” He chuckled, “It's just like in the movies. Little assault guys creep through the place and decimate their enemies with bubble gum and a coil of wire.”

 

He divvied the bombs between them and kept the EMP for himself.

 

“Don't risk anything to keep that machine.” Trowa said.

 

“You clearly don't know how useful this thing is.”

 

“Duo.”

 

“I'm just say'n. We could wreak so much havoc. An EMP could be one of our best weapons. No more of this copy and corrupt shit, sneak in, set it off, and sneak out in the chaos. It would turn a seven day job into a three hour one with no losses. No tech to replace. Nothin'”

 

“I mean it.”

 

“But T, think about—“

 

“I've thought about it!” the transport swerved to the side of the road and Duo flinched. A hard hand pinned his neck to the window. Sharp claws scraped his skin. Trowa's eyes blazed. “You are more valuable than any damned piece of machinery. Do I make myself clear?”

 

Duo tried to nod. Couldn't. Gasped instead, “Yes, Alpha.”

 

The quiet pause was filled with Duo's fluttering heartbeat. Trowa slowly pulled his hand away and stared at the massive claws protruding from each finger. He flexed his hand. His eyes met Duo's again.

 

Duo rubbed at his neck and decided he wasn't actually injured. Trowa's expression dropped through a series of motions. Duo thought he was going to apologize for a moment. Then the pilot clenched his fist. A ripple of skin transformed the limb back to human.

 

Trowa's eyes hardened. He nodded once and drove the transport back onto the road.