/Where the hell is he? It’s been five minutes. Maxwell and Wufei are probably pissing in their pants. Great, I’ve got to go back and look for him/
Trowa picked up his bag and machine gun and silently ran down the hall towards the place that Heero was supposed to have met him.
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“Kisama, Maxwell, if you don’t stop pacing I’m going to kill you.”
“Gomen, Wu',” the Deathscythe pilot smiled, turning to his Chinese comrade who he’d snapped out of meditation by pacing the same straight line for over an hour. “But I’m really worried about Heero, he should have opened the door for us by now, or at least contacted us.
“Hn,” Wufei grunted, standing up and turning to face Duo. “We’re in no place to do anything now but wait. Failure isn’t an option. If OZ completes these Velius suits then they’ll be able to easily overrun us. So just calm down and wait. Trowa’s with him, I doubt that together they would have gotten killed.”
Duo sighed. /You’re really a weird guy sometimes, Wufei,/ he thought. /One minute ranting and raving about justice and weakness and the next so damn calm/
“Well I hope you’re right,” Duo softly said, looking off down the dark hallway. Then with a smile he added, “Cuz Shinigami sure isn’t about to blow this mission!”
“A bit late for that,” a voice rang out from down the darkness.
Instinctively turning Duo leveled his gun and squinted into the darkness, hoping to find the speaker. Then with horror he realized that a laser pointer was fixed directly over his heart. One thought went through his mind, /Oh shit/
“I suggest you throw down your weapons and surrender,” the voice echoed off the gray walls. “I will not hesitate to kill you here and now.”
/This bastard sounds serious/ Duo thought, but only tightened his grip on his automatic. /His voice is so calm and professional/
“Duo Maxwell, Chang Wufei,” the voice came out of the darkness like a ghost, but Duo still couldn’t see who it was. Wufei stood still next to him obviously not able to find their enemy. “Surrender now!” A shot cried out and Duo bit back a yell as the bullet tore through his chest. He stumbled and fell to one knee, blood beginning to flow from his wound.
“I will fire again if you don’t surrender,” the voice came, louder then before but just as calm. “And this time it will be a fatal bullet.”
“Kisama!” Duo heard Wufei shout into the blackness of the hallway. “What makes you think that you can capture us? Huh?!? What do you think you can do all alone?”
/I wouldn’t want to piss this guy off if I were you, Wufei/ Duo thought, finding it suddenly hard to breathe. Pain still shot through his chest where the shadowed sniper had shot him. /This guy is good, obviously he’s either got night vision or he’s just one hell of a shot/
Silence hung over the dark corridor for a moment. Then with just the slightest mocking tone the enemy replied, “I could kill you very easily Chang Wufei. You shouldn’t doubt your opponent, especially in the dark and…what makes you say that I’m alone?”
The lights came on and Duo shielded his face from the sudden burst of light. He heard the sound of Wufei next to him throwing his gun to the floor. He looked up to see OZ soldiers surrounding them. They were caught.
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Trowa ran noiselessly through the base. Now that the lights had suddenly come on, he knew they were in trouble. He glanced at his watch, 2:43 AM. The missions should have been over and done with 11 minutes ago and they had yet to find the mobile suit hangar where the new models where supposed to be kept.
/Can’t afford to blow this mission/ Trowa told himself. /These new suits are faster, stronger versions of the Aries. With these OZ will be able to really give us a fight. Huh?/
Hearing a sound Trowa flattened up against a wall and listened intently. /Sounds like crying/ he noted, slowly shuffling down the corridor towards the noise.
He was in the living quarters now, and was pretty sure that it was empty. Finally reaching the corner he waited for a moment and took a deep breath. He could distinctly make out somebody crying around the corner. Probably mourning a lost friend. Inside his thoughts worked like a machine.
/Full clip. No noise. Aim for the head. Kill the one’s that are armed first. Now step around and prepare to fire/
Swiftly swinging around he brought his held his machine gun at his slender waist. He was ready to pull the trigger, ready to extinguish another life without even blinking but he wasn’t quite expecting to see the sight before him.
“Heero…” he let out a soft gasp, his surprise overcoming years of intensive training. There before him in a pool of blood knelt Heero Yuy. Gun long discarded near the wall the Perfect Soldier was now crying like a lost child, clutching to him the lifeless corpse of a little girl. The smell of death and blood overcame Trowa and he stepped forward still in a daze.
The scene wasn’t anything particularly gruesome, at least not to him. When a person grows up raised in a life of bloodshed little does. As he stepped forward Heero suddenly noticed him and his head shot up. Tears still running down his face and with a broken look in his eyes he spoke so softly that Trowa could barely hear him, “I didn’t…didn’t mean to kill her. I…I,” the Wing pilot’s voice broke and he fell into a fury of tears and choked sobs. Moments passed and he looked up again into Trowa’s unfeeling green eyes.
“It’s over,” Trowa calmly said, not letting his face or voice express the sympathy and sadness he killed in his heart, making him unfeeling. “There isn’t anything you can do for her now. We have to hurry up and finish this mission or we’re all be dead.” Heero remained fallen on the floor, small cries escaping his throat although he had now run out of tears to shed.
“Shimatta! Heero, did you hear me?” Trowa asked, raising his voice a little bit partly from alarm that his normally stoic ally was now weeping like a little child.
/Shouldn’t surprise you/ A voice in Trowa’s head said. /After all can you guess how many times in his life he’s cried before? Building up all his emotions and pain. Perfection is hard to build atop the foundation of the human mind/
/Quiet/ Trowa told the voice in his head. /I’m concerned for him now. If we remain any longer we’ll be captured or killed. But I’m going to take care of him no matter what it takes/
/Hmm, is that an emotion?/ the voice answered, almost mockingly. /And it seems to be a very strong one too. Do you, one who has no name, feel emotions concerning this man?/
To this Trowa could not answer. Instead he focused his mind on the events unfolding as his watch beeped four times.
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Wufei saw Duo press the little button on his watch. /At least now Trowa and Heero may have a chance to escape…if they already haven’t been caught/ Wufei thought grimly as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the hallway.
“You OZ bastards sure as hell ain’t about to capture Shinigami alive!” Duo yelled, reaching for his gun and bringing it up to his temple. “I’ll be waiting for you bastards in Hell!!!”
A shot rang out and Wufei grimaced, not wanting to see the bloody sight he was sure had happened. But of course he looked anyway and was surprised to see Duo still standing, holding his hand blood running out of it, gun on the floor.
“Gomen, Mr. Maxwell,” the cold, dead voice came from across the hall. Squinting into the light Wufei made out a distinct figure, kneeling amidst a number of OZ soldiers. A rifle now was dangling from his right arm. The first thing Wufei noticed was the sniper couldn’t have been much older then he was.
“Medic! Get Mr. Maxwell some medical attention and the rest of you take Mr. Wufei into custody.”
OZ soldiers rushed forward and as tempted as he was to run Wufei held his ground knowing that if the OZ soldiers didn’t gun him down the sniper would. Shackles clamped over his wrists and an ensign gave him a rough push forward. Next to him, Duo had collapsed and a doctor stood over him checking for a pulse. Then the sniper drifted up behind the doctor who turned around and whispered something.
“Fine,” the sniper said. “Make sure he’s healed. And take good care of him.”
/He can’t be older then 19/ Wufei thought sizing up the OZ sniper that had captured them. /But he sure as hell can shoot, wonder how he can see in the dark like that/
“No need to worry, Mr. Wufei,” the sniper said turning to him as Duo was carried off on a stretcher. “I’ll personally make sure Mr. Maxwell gets the best of care.”
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/Kuso! Duo and Wufei are caught/ Trowa’s mind raced furiously as he stood in the middle of the hallway. Heero still in a heap on the floor. His mind racing furiously Trowa quickly glanced around for some kind of escape exit, ventilation shaft. The mission was blown but at least he could get Heero to safety.
“Come on, Heero, let’s go!” Trowa urged his comrade to stand. But Heero didn’t even raise his head at the sound of his name. He remained on the floor, holding the dead body of the little girl.
/What the hell’s wrong with him?/ Trowa thought to himself. /Did he just snap now or is that maybe he’s just been pushed over the edge?/ Regardless the situation was looking very grim as Trowa became all too aware of the seconds ticking away until they were caught.
“Heero, let’s go *now*!” Trowa raised his voice but still got no response. Finally he bent down and took hold of Heero’s arm and began to pull the Wing pilot to his feet.
“Iie!!!” Heero’s outburst surprised Trowa. “I won’t leave her, I’m not leaving her here all alone.”
Releasing his arm Trowa stepped back for a minute, taking in the trauma before him. Then with firm resolve he picked up his pistol and sharply struck Heero on the back of the head. The Prussian eyed pilot cried out weakly and then crumpled to the floor, unconscious.
“Gomen, Heero,” Trowa whispered as he picked up the limp body of his friend, throwing his bag of supplies to the floor. He wouldn’t need them now. The dead weight was hard to handle, but Trowa slung Heero over his shoulders and made his way to the ventilation shaft. Opening it he took one last look behind him.
/Right between the eyes/ he somberly noted, glancing at the little girl. /Never had a chance/ He crawled into the tight vent and then pulled Heero up directly behind him. The metal vent was cold and made quite a bit of noise as Trowa moved slowly through it on his hands and knees. /This vent should lead to the outside soon enough/ He though, somewhat struggling with Heero’s dead weight being dragged behind him.
-end part 1
©2001 by Masamune. Please do not remove without permission.
