| Title: Building a New Life Chapter: 12/? Word count: 8094 Rating: Mature Betaed by rogue53 Warnings: Lemons, fighting, blood, explosions, swearing, slight kink. Nothing else. Parings: 1X2, 3X4, 5X6. Relena as friend to all the boys. Disclaimer: I do not own or hold any rights to Gundam Wing. Those rights belong to Bandai, Sunrise, and the Sotsu Agency. These fan fictions were written for fun, not profit. However, this story does belong to me. Please don’t snitch it. Summary: Sequel to The Price They Paid – The Pilots fought for peace for the Colonies and the Earth. With peace and the freedom to begin new lives they now are faced with new threats, not from politicians, but from the hard, cold space around them and the men and women they work with. Construction work is dangerous and the people involved in colonial construction are hardened and rambunctious. Building a colony is not at all like building a city. As the boys are about to find out. Authors note: Not much of a real plot so much as just incidents in building a colony and how the boys handle them. . Wufei read the legal documents, then snarled and threw them across the room. He felt like he was going to cry, or scream, or shoot someone. Milliardo stuck his head out of the bathroom, hands full of hair that he was braiding. “What's up? You look like someone stole your gundam.” Wufei snarled. “They've severed the trials. That means that, instead of attending three or four, we have to be available for all 30 of them. This is going to take ... months, if not years.” Wufei rubbed his face. “I'm so tired of all this. They'll question, and question, round and round until I'm ready to shoot them all. All to get me to tell a lie. They don't want the truth, only what will serve their purpose. I can't stand it.” Milliardo just finished braiding his hair and went to rummage for a shirt. He knew that he and Wufei were not really necessary to the trials now. Their testimony had been recorded and it wasn't that unusual for someone in this situation to testify long distance, via inter colony video. He wondered why they were being singled out. “We'll appeal. We have rights too. I'm as sick of the mess as you are. They're actually imprisoning us on this station. There's got to be a law.” Wufei looked a Milliardo's disgusted expression, then smiled. “I think there is. We just need to find it.” Milliardo looked thunderstruck for a moment then grinned in a very nasty way. “I'll get your computer.” Milliardo brought Wufei's computer to him and set his own on the table. He went to make tea and toast as Wufei started setting up both computers. They spent the next hour going through everything they could find on detaining witnesses and long distance testimonies. What they found was a bit depressing. It seemed that ESUN had laws about detaining witnesses, but none about after the charges had been filed and trial started. The laws only pertained to fact finding before arrests were made. Or witness protection. Wufei finally leaned back against the couch and rubbed his stinging eyes. “Well, that's just about that. I can't find any more references. Can you?” Milliardo shook his head. “Fine, then we just have to figure out how much authority the station actually has over us.” He sighed, stretched and grunted. “More research. Gah!” “No more research.” Milliardo looked at his watch. “It's nearly four pm. We've been at this for nearly...” He stopped to figure, “six hours. We even skipped lunch. I'm hungry and my eyes are burning. We should go eat, take a walk, maybe even go to the dojo. We'll do better if we're fresh.” He fished around in the pile of notes and other detritus on the coffee table. “Here. Start a search with these parameters and I'll do this one. The searches should be done by the time we get back.” Wufei just nodded. Milliardo was right; they weren't going to get anywhere if they worked while they were exhausted. He accepted the paper and quickly typed in the parameters and started the search. Wufei stood up and rubbed the back of his neck, this was when he realized that he hadn't taken a shower yet today. “Ugh! I need a shower.” He sniffed his armpits. “Badly.” Milliardo started to snicker and finally had to sit down. Wufei gave him a disgruntled glare and went into the bathroom. Milliardo followed him. Wufei was already in the shower when Milliardo managed to get his clothing off. He joined Wufei and wrapped his arms around his lover. After nibbling on his neck just long enough to make Wufei's knees weak, Milliardo started to wash his hair. Wufei loved it when Milliardo washed his hair for him. The firm scalp massage didn't hurt either. Wufei sighed and leaned back against Milliardo. “You're good for me. That feels wonderful.” Milliardo turned Wufei around and spent a few moments kissing him. “Look, you're so tense you're about to snap. We need to do some stress control, or we're both going to do something rash.” He looked down at Wufei with a serious expression. Wufei refrained from laughing at the silly looking plastic cap that Milliardo wore to keep his hard to dry hair from getting wet. “Yes, I know. First things first, let's get something to eat. Something good. Then, dojo?” Wufei thought for a moment, reaching out to pull the cap off Milliardo's head. “Yes, dojo. But no combat, I need serenity. Tai chi, then a kata, I think. Then sex.” Milliardo blinked. “We haven't done anything in ... at least two weeks.” Milliardo looked a bit shocked. “It hasn't been that long! ... Has it? It ...” He stopped to think. First there'd been the shock of being refused tickets when they'd tried to leave the colony after the first trial. Then the second trial had dragged on for three days, in which they'd dragged themselves back to their apartment exhausted from all the examination, cross examination, and on and on. He gave Wufei a stunned look. “Damn, it has, hasn't it? No wonder we're both so stressed. Fuck!” Wufei smirked at Milliardo. “I intend to. Come on.” They got dressed in simple jeans and t-shirts and heavy boots. Wufei wouldn't wear ship shoes on the station, claiming they weren't dignified. Milliardo wouldn't wear them either, in his case it was because his feet were so big that there wasn't a pair on the station that fit him. As they walked in the direction of the restaurant Wufei asked Milliardo, “Do you have a need for that sort of sex?” Milliardo didn't have to ask what Wufei meant. He thought for a moment. “No, I don't. I just want you to fuck me ‘til I walk funny. I haven't done anything ... bad lately.” Wufei's sour expression amused Milliardo. “You're not bad. You don't deserve punishment.” Milliardo smiled at Wufei's reflection in a window. “I'm beginning to realize that. But, you know, I like that some of our ... activities...” he raised an eyebrow, “are pleasurable in their own right.” Wufei laughed softly. “Just admit that you're a perv and be done with it. I'll also admit that I find some of your ... kinks, turn me on as well.” Milliardo snorted softly. “Just admit you like tying me up.” “I do. I love the way the ropes look against your white skin. And the feeling that you trust me that much is ... it leaves me speechless.” Milliardo stopped Wufei with a hand on his arm. He swept the smaller man into a bear hug that made him wheeze. Wufei dipped his head to kiss Milliardo, they spent several minutes 'sucking face' as Duo called it. Their attention was drawn from each other when someone laughed and hollered, “Get a damn room, you two.” Wufei laughed and let Milliardo put him down. After they rearranged clothing rumpled by their hugging, they made their way to the restaurant they favored. They liked it because it was near their apartment, only one corridor over and a short way back toward center. And, it was Chinese, which made Wufei happy. Milliardo had never admitted that he really didn't care what he ate. He'd been hungry enough times in his life that food was food. He liked flavor and freshness compared to MRE's or, worse, energy bars, but when push came to shove, food was food. “Ni How!” Wufei's cheerful 'Hello' rang out. Everyone in the place rushed to wait on them. They were shown to a table, given tea and a bowl of rice. The waiter stood to one side to take their order, reciting the specials in quick Mandarin. Milliardo had no idea what the boy said but Wufei translated quickly. Milliardo declined Duck foot Soup and squid with a shake of his head. “You want family style or individual?” Wufei eyed the menu absently, looking for any changes. “Family is fine. How about Happy Family, Shrimp and snow peas, and ... um... I'm hungry for noodles.” “Crisp and Spicy lo mein is good. Or ... There's soba with oyster sauce.” Milliardo thought about that, then said, “I thought soba was Japanese.” Wufei snorted. “About 300 years ago. All the oriental people have more or less melded into one yellow peril.” He grinned at that old joke and Milliardo groaned. They both remembered the day that Milliardo had referred to Wufei as that damn Yellow peril, just before he blew up the station that Milliardo was in charge of. “Ok, I do like soba, but I don't think oyster sauce does it. I'd like it a bit hotter than that.” Wufei considered the options. “Well, there's that really good garlic and tofu soba, we could just have them add a pepper to it.” Milliardo nodded his agreement. “Yes, that really sounds good. And Velvet Chicken with green onions.” The waiter never batted an eyelash at the order. He just wrote it down and left. “We should have gone to the dojo first, then eaten. We'll be loggy.” Wufei shook his head. “My blood sugar was so low I would probably have passed out. We'll walk around for half an hour and be fine. Not like I'm going to do inverted yoga postures, that really would be a mistake. More tea?” He lifted the pot. Milliardo pushed his cup over with a nod. Wufei poured himself a third cup, the first and second having disappeared while they were deciding their order. As he sipped it, he pondered their dilemma. If they left the colony they would be subject to ESUN legal sanctions, if they didn't, he was going to go crazy and so was Milliardo. There was no reason for them to have to testify, identical testimonies, in almost 30 trials, the facts were the facts. They should be allowed to give a full factual statement and let the chips fall where they may. The only reason that things were going the way they were was that the lawyers wanted to allow only facts that were supportive of their case in and exclude anything that was detrimental. That meant the prosecution and defense were already wrangling over what was admissible and what was not. And each attorney wanted to interview both Milliardo and Wufei and try to convince them to only testify to want they wanted admitted, a thing that drove Wufei to distraction. He was severely tempted to refuse to testify at all, or go on one of his more violent 'justice' rants. The only thing preventing him was the simple fact that he really didn't want to go to jail for contempt of court. “We have to get off this station.” Milliardo nearly choked on his tea. “What? What are you talking about? We can't. We'll be arrested and returned. They'll put us both in jail until the trials are over.” Wufei blinked at Milliardo's sudden panic, then he realized that Milliardo would never go back to any confinement, he'd self-destruct. “Hush, think. All we have to do is get to Mina Hurr. There's no extradition agreement between ESUN and Mina Hurr. Just think about it. Now calm down, our food is coming.” Milliardo flushed heavily and bowed his head over his tea. “Sorry. I didn't realize that I was going to panic like that.” “Don't worry about it. I didn't realize that your imprisonment had done that much damage. Be calm. If you really can't do it, we'll just endure. But how this is different from before, I can't see.” Milliardo nibbled at his lower lip for a moment, then shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe it's not. I'll have to think about it. But not now. I think I'd rather eat than brood.” Wufei refrained from remark, he just started serving the food, putting another bowl of rice before Milliardo as well as a divided plate with a serving of each dish arranged neatly in each section. He also poured some soy sauce in the center. “There. Eat, then we'll walk around and talk about this some more. The walk will prepare us for the dojo. Relax. We won't do anything without due consideration. We'll research everything carefully, maybe there's some other way out of this.” Wufei led the way out of the restaurant, neither one of them had allowed their concerns to spoil their appetite. Milliardo found it a bit scary that both of them had fallen back on training without a second's hesitation. After a quick glance around, they headed off for their walk. It didn't take but a few minutes to reach an area they'd never gotten to before as they usually took a different, quicker route. This time they were trying to work off some of their meal before getting to the dojo. Wufei had never realized that they were so close to the main space port until now. They walked around for half an hour, subconsciously checking out access to the cargo bays and boarding area. If all else failed, they now had a silent covenant to run for it. Wufei finally turned his steps toward the dojo. Milliardo followed him, mind churning. When they split up in the locker room, several of the other members followed Milliardo instead of Wufei. Milliardo headed for the weight room, deciding he wasn't going to calm from Tai chi. He wasn't in the mood for contemplation, so he went for mind numbing exertion instead. He entered the weight room and headed directly for the free weights. He didn't want the machines, they wouldn't do what he needed, which was to exhaust him enough that he could rest. He knew the stress was really getting to him. Between testifying in the current case and getting briefed for it, they didn't have anything to do. Neither he nor Wufei were used to this sort of inactivity and Wufei was also worried about his responsibilities on Mina Hurr. Milliardo sat down on the weight bench and tested the weight. It was too light so he added another plate. He settled back to start his routine and, just as he reached for the bar, heard a voice. “You better get a spotter or the staff will be all over you.” Milliardo twisted slightly to look up at the speaker. “Ok, you'll do. How 'bout it?” The man nodded, examined Milliardo, then asked, “Are you sure about the weight. I'm not trying to be critical but if I'm your spotter, I need to know.” Milliardo just grunted, then remarked, “Don't worry about it, better to ask than let me get hurt. I'm sure about the weight, I'm just doing a maintenance.” The man blinked for a second then shrugged. “Well, ok, my name's Jeff, by the way. Ready?” Milliardo nodded and dismounted the bar. “Go.” Jeff started counting his reps and spotting him to make sure that he didn't drop the weight bar on himself. Milliardo remembered the time when he was a cadet that one of the other cadets had dropped the bar on his throat, crushing his larynx and nearly killing himself. Jeff was there to make sure that didn't happen. As he worked out Milliardo let his mind wander. He was going to have to get himself and Wufei off the station soon. They were both becoming way too tense. This tension was not good for them. Their psychological makeup was Warrior, with a capitol W, and they weren't dealing well with a confinement situation that they couldn't combat. And the lawyers for the defense weren't making things easy either. These lawyers seemed always on the attack, pushing just to see if they could get either Milliardo or Wufei to lose their temper. It wasn't working but it was putting additional strain on both of them. As he finished his last set, Milliardo made his decision. Wufei was right, they needed to leave and let the chips fall where they may. He started another exercise and Jeff started counting again, Milliardo forced himself to keep his mind on his lifting. Finally finished with his last set of reps for his last lift, Milliardo took the water that Wufei handed him and the towel from Jeff. “Thanks. Wufei, we really need to talk on the way home.” Jeff grinned at them and announced that he needed to find his girlfriend. Wufei thanked him for spotting Milliardo and waved him on his way. “You want to take a shower here?” “Yes, I'm too sweaty not to.” Wufei ran a hand through Milliardo's bangs, asking, “You over your panic attack?” Milliardo glanced up at him, registered his tender look and shook his head. “Yes, I can't believe that I panicked like that. Sorry.” “Nothing to be sorry for. You were in such bad shape when I found you that it's a wonder you've held out as well as you have. We'll talk more later, when we're sure we won't be overheard.” Milliardo sniffed himself. “Ugh! Shower, now. I'm stinkier than you were earlier.” Wufei snorted a laugh then clambered to his feet to follow Milliardo to the showers. The showers were empty so they didn't have to try to socialize or worry about offending someone. They rushed through the showers, washing each other's hair. After drying hair and general tidying up they headed back for home. They ambled along for a few moments, looking in windows, then Milliardo sighed. He turned and wrapped his arms around an unresisting Wufei. He nuzzled his nose into the crook of his neck and whispered, “We have to get off this station before we both have a real breakdown. So, now what?” Wufei lifted his face as if for a kiss and smiled, a tiny, sly thing. “Good, good. Reconnoiter first. I can get the station plans although I'm wondering if it's a good idea. We better not do any planning in our quarters, we don't know if they're bugged or not.” “Paranoid?” Milliardo chuckled softly “Maxwell say. 'It's only paranoia if they're not actually after you.' I think they're after us.” “Probably right.” Milliardo grinned at the old joke then straightened his shoulders. “So, you have court tomorrow and I don't.” “Start to check for a way to get to a bay or somewhere we can get our hands on a shuttle or ship of some sort.” “Got it. You try to keep your temper. I don't want to have to break you out of jail first.” Wufei sighed. “Ai-ya! I wish Duo was here. He could sneak into an old woman's coin purse.” Milliardo laughed at that old saying and nodded. “He could indeed. But we're both pretty sneaky when we need to be. I'll be taking a good look at several routes of egress; how many guards and so on. This shouldn't be very difficult for us. We just have to make sure to pick our time.” Wufei nodded, rubbing his cheek against Milliardo's shoulder. “Well, we better get going. We're going to start attracting too much attention.” “No, I made sure to place us so that we just look like a couple of young men necking in the shadows.” Wufei glanced around, looking over Milliardo's shoulder then his. “My mother would be shocked to bits. You're good.” “Yes, when I'm good, I'm very, very good; when I'm bad, I'm excellent.” Milliardo pulled away a bit to look down at Wufei with a smirk. Wufei pulled away and led the way back to their apartment. . They made it back without incident and settled in for a late afternoon of doing nothing. Wufei and Milliardo had both learned the value of this from both their psychiatrists and Duo. Wufei even admitted, under threat of tickle attack, that he liked it. “Milliardo?” “Hummm?” “Would you submit?” “Of course.” Milliardo got up and went into the bedroom. He stripped off his clothing and tossed it all into the hamper, then he knelt at the foot of the bed and waited. Wufei kept a duffel in the back of the closet, in a foot locker at the moment, in which he kept the few things they used; mostly ropes. He opened it, retrieved what he wanted and went to the bedroom. Milliardo smiled at him when he dropped the bundles of rope on the floor at his knees. They were beautiful, silk coils in purple and a glittering gold. Then Wufei moved to spread out the silken duvet that Milliardo knew he was to lay on. It was patterned in gold and purple, palm sized gold fleur-de-lis on a purple background. Wufei settled on the bed behind Milliardo and handed him a hair tie to hold, then he began to brush Milliardo's hair. He brushed it slowly, long smooth sweeps of the brush that eased out every tangle, no matter how small. After he was sure that it was perfectly smooth he braided it into a loose braid and fastened off the end. “Beautiful.” “Thank you.” Wufei picked up the first bundle of cord, the purple one and found the ends. He matched them up and pulled the cord through his hands to find the middle. He tied this around Milliardo's neck, checking carefully to make sure that it was not too tight and wouldn't tighten later then he did the same with the gold. Milliardo groaned softly. “Good?” Wufei stopped and rubbed gently at Milliardo's shoulders. “Yes, good.” Milliardo let himself relax back into Wufei's knees for a moment. He was already getting hard. “Ready?” Milliardo nodded. “Stand up then.” Milliardo stood and waited. Wufei began to lace the cords across Milliardo's shoulders and down his arms, first down his left arm, making alternating diamonds first of purple then of gold, guiding the unused cord through the knots to make the exchanges smooth, so as not to mark his lover’s skin. After finishing at Milliardo's left wrist with a neat twist, he did the same starting at Milliardo's right shoulder then down that arm. He stopped from time to time to stroke Milliardo, on the arm, the shoulders, his cock. Wufei tugged gently here and there to make sure that the cords were neither too tight nor too loose. Milliardo gave him a slightly puzzled look but remained silent. He knew that Wufei would make sure that they both got what they needed. He took the set of cords from Milliardo's left wrist and leaving enough slack for later, started to tie his way down Milliardo's torso. After two rounds he brought the cords from the right side into play and wove a cage of silken cords across Milliardo's chest and abdomen, diamonds of gold and purple soon covered his torso. Wufei stepped back to check his work again. Milliardo just gazed off into the middle distance, slowly falling into subspace. He was already feeling a bit drifty. He was also completely hard and beginning to weep a bit. Wufei smiled to himself as he began tying diamonds down Milliardo's right leg. He tied off at the ankle and repeated his ties down Milliardo's left leg. “Look.” Wufei turned Milliardo so that he could see himself in a mirror. Milliardo shivered a bit when he saw himself covered in purple and gold diamonds, his cock jutting away from his body and drooling. He wondered why Wufei had left so much slack but decided that he wasn't to ask, just wait and find out. He was prepared to do that. “Kneel.” Milliardo knelt carefully. He was a bit off balance and nearly keeled over but Wufei steadied him with a hand on his shoulder, then patted him and continued. Wufei tied Milliardo's ankles to his thighs, slipping loops of cord under the juncture of cords already wrapped around his thighs. Milliardo groaned. Wufei passed these cords between Milliardo's buttocks, then under the cord at his waist. Wufei took a moment to stroke Milliardo's now reddening erection then pulled his wrists together and tied them by wrapping cords around them in alternating bands of color. Milliardo moaned softly, dropping completely into subspace, his head drooping slightly. Wufei stopped what he was doing and checked carefully for any sign of distress or strain. Finding none, he continued. Using the cords already in place, he laced Milliardo's arms together, pulling on the cords until his elbows met behind him, thrusting his chest out dramatically. Wufei took a moment to admire his work, then adjusted the cords on Milliardo's chest so that knots pinched at his nipples. Milliardo just sighed softly. Wufei checked everything again, then arranged the cords a bit more artistically. After rubbing Milliardo's arms and legs, which made him groan, Wufei finished by gently pushing Milliardo into position on his chest. He arranged more cords to hold Milliardo's cheeks apart and smiled. Milliardo was hard and leaking heavily. Wufei admired his lover and waited. Suddenly Milliardo started to struggle, this was normal and expected, Wufei just waited it out, then rubbed Milliardo's back while he collected himself again. When Milliardo's breathing evened out, Wufei fetched the last bundle of cord. It was smaller than the rest and much shorter as well. He used this to bind Milliardo's cock in several wraps of cord, then he wrapped a loop around Milliardo's balls and tugged, gently pulling them way from his body and against his perineum tying the cord to a cord around his waist. Wufei made sure that all the cords were out of his way then reached for lube, he wasn't about to hurt Milliardo. He poured some lube into the palm of his hand, then dipped his fingers into it. Milliardo's anus was exposed and encircled by gold and purple cords. Wufei admired it even as he began preparations. He was as hard as Milliardo and he felt like he was going to explode at any second but he wasn't about to hurry. After checking again to make sure that Milliardo was in the proper space, Wufei eased one finger into Milliardo. They had a very active sex life and preparation wasn't really necessary, but Milliardo liked it. Wufei moved his finger in and out, watching as Milliardo's anus flexed and clutched at him. He added more lube and another finger, listening as Milliardo groaned his pleasure. Wufei felt around for a moment then found what he was searching for. He stroked his fingers in and out, rubbing Milliardo's sweet spot with each stroke. Milliardo thrashed for a second then relaxed again. Wufei teased himself for a moment then sat back to look at Milliardo again. Milliardo waited for a few moments then sighed. He was beginning to hurt, just a bit, and he wanted to be taken care of. “Wufei, please.” “A moment, Bi Hai, I want to look.” “Xiao Long, I'm dying here.” Wufei smiled and slid three fingers into Milliardo. Milliardo yelped at the sudden stretch, then tried to push back on his fingers. Wufei held them just inside Milliardo and smiled at his frustrated groan. “So needy. Patience.” Milliardo nearly snarled but when Wufei stroked him again he subsided. After a few more moments of teasing, Wufei took pity on Milliardo and shoved into him with ease. One push set him balls deep in Milliardo's welcoming body. Wufei moaned softly at the sensations. Milliardo had tightened his muscles as soon as Wufei was completely inside his body but he was now alternately relaxing and tightening them. Wufei gave a whimper of surrender and gave Milliardo what he wanted. He began to thrust with increasing force, Milliardo braced himself as best he could and tried to push back. Wufei set his pace and kept them both on the edge of coming for as long as he could stand it. When they were both frantic to come and Milliardo was begging in a pitiful fashion, Wufei untied one knot and the cord fell away from Milliardo, allowing him to come. Wufei increased his exertions and hammered into Milliardo, hitting his prostate at every stroke. Milliardo came with a cry that sounded suspiciously like a scream. Wufei followed him as the contractions of Milliardo's muscles squeezed his orgasm from him. They both groaned and collapsed, Wufei rolling to keep his weight off Milliardo. He didn't want to put too much pressure on his bound arms or legs. They lay panting, sweaty and exhausted for a while then Milliardo stirred, rolling from his sprawl on his stomach to lay on his side. “'Fei? I'm starting to cramp.” Milliardo made a soft uncomfortable noise. “I'm sorry. It took me a bit to catch my breath.” Wufei started untying his lover, rubbing at the small red marks that some of the knots had made. Milliardo shook out his arms and straightened out one long leg, then the other as Wufei undid knot after knot. He sighed and stretched. “That was good. I feel much better.” Wufei tossed the cords to one side to be neatly put away later. “I'm glad. I feel better too. We shouldn't neglect ourselves like that again. This trial is destroying both of us.” Milliardo stood and gathered up the duvet, throwing it casually over the bed with one sweep of his arms. “There. Better. It is and we're leaving as soon as we can manage it.” Wufei hissed softly. “Don't worry. I know we were worried about bugs, but do you really think they would bug me?” Wufei thought about that as he started the shower. “Now that I think about it, no. Nor would they dare bug The Chang of Chang.” They showered, taking their time. Wufei made sure to examine Milliardo carefully to be sure that he wasn't injured in anyway. Milliardo's hair stayed in its braid to keep it dry. Wufei washed his again as his sweaty scalp was sure to keep him awake. Milliardo was yawning widely by the time they finished. Wufei chuckled softly. “Sleepy?” “Mmmm-ummm.” Milliardo nodded and leaned against the side of the shower. “Don't go to sleep until we get into bed. I'm not about to try to carry your heavy carcass to it.” Milliardo grinned slyly. “Why not?” “Because, you great lump, I'm not about to strain my back. Come on. Bed.” Wufei urged Milliardo out of the shower, helped him dry off, then dried himself. They barely made it to the bed before they were both out like the proverbial light. . Wufei eyed the defense lawyer with a very jaundiced eye and made his decision. “I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it's ill phrased and confusing.” He turned to the judge. “Please ask him to rephrase the question into a more understandable form.” The judge did as Wufei asked and the lawyer tried again. “Did you or did you not subject the suit in question to an intrusive examination after the fact.” Wufei's expression hardened. “That is still not an acceptable question.” The lawyer snapped, “And why not?” Wufei eyed him like he was something that needed to be scraped of the sole of his shoe. “Because 'Did you or did you not' is open to all sorts of misinterpretation. If I chose to answer in the negative it could be construed as a lie, answering 'did you not', which I did. But if I answer in the positive it could still be construed as a negative answer. Either way, the question is not only bad English, as in non-standard usage of the word not, but of questionable construction on several levels.” He settled back to see what the lawyer would make of that. He chose to ask for a side-bar, in which he asked the judge to declare Wufei a hostile witness. Wufei just shook his head and announced for the whole court to hear, “A side-bar, how childish. You make it look like you're running to daddy because I won't play fair, never mind that I'm right and you're wrong. Or is it just that you don't want the whole court to hear what you have to say, as if they're not really smart enough to understand it.” The judge just gave a weary sigh and resisted the urge to bang his gavel down on the Defense. “I will not declare Chang Wufei a hostile witness.” He eyed the defense lawyer for a second. “And I'd suggest that the Defense control his dramatic urges more carefully.” He snorted at the lawyer’s outraged expression. “And we'll adjourn for the rest of the day. Tempers are too high to continue. Council for the Defense will see to it that there are no more incidents like today. Adjourned.” He banged his gavel and stood up, ignoring the Defense's exclamation of “Objection.” Grumbling, “Objectionable little shit.” he made it through the door to his chambers before he did something he wanted to do. The Defense snarled, turned to Wufei and snapped, “I suppose you're happy now, but just you wait, I'll get under your skin yet, Chink.” Wufei laughed over the gasps of the spectators, the defense lawyer had forgotten that the omni-directional mic wasn't turned off yet. His remarks had been heard all over the courtroom, and been entered into the record. The whole defense team sighed; this was not going to go down well with the media. Wufei just raised one eyebrow. He remarked, with calm certainty, “No, you won't. I've been tortured by experts, I've been interviewed by men with a combined experience of over seventy years. You, you young upstart, don't have a chance. Excuse me.” He stood up and walked to the doors, opened one and left, head high. He was three steps down the stair well when he heard two men talking. “I don't care, I want that little bastard behind bars before he can figure out how to take off. We need to be able to break him.” “Ok, boss, I'll see what I can do. I'm not too sure about starting a brawl with him, he's really good.” “Damn it! I have to get a handle on him quick.” “Maybe plant some drugs on him or something.” “Maybe ...” The rest was lost as they walked away from the stairwell door. Wufei sighed, rubbed his face and thought hard. He headed for home, his mind made up. . “That self-satisfied, sanctimonious prick had the nerve to try to one up me. Me! The Chang of Chang. Idiot.” The rest of Wufei's rant was delivered in a combination of English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Taiwanese that baffled Milliardo. All he knew was the Wufei was furious, disgusted and had been threatened in some way. Milliardo let Wufei rant for a while, then grabbed him and tugged him into a hug. “Hush, we'll deal. We always do. Relax.” Wufei didn't struggle against Milliardo; instead he rested his forehead on Milliardo's shoulder and sighed. “I'm sorry, Ying, I shouldn't let him get to me, but ... if I don't get it out here, I'll lose it later.” He sighed again. “Is it wrong for me to think about stepping on them with Altron?” “No, as long as all you do is think.” He pushed Wufei away a bit and looked down at him. “Calm now?” “Yes, I'm calm now. Wu Long, we need to leave this place now. They threatened to get me arrested for something. One voice even suggested planting drugs on me.” “Zhengde, I didn't understand what you said, it was all in Chinese of one sort or another. Except for assorted profanities. What are you talking about?” So Wufei told Milliardo everything that he'd heard. Milliardo frowned when he was done and began pacing. As he paced, he applied his skills as a commander to work out a viable plan for their escape. He had plenty of data to work with because the medical station was not a prison nor particularly secure. It was a civilian establishment instead of military. He was vain enough to think that a military installation of this level wouldn't hold them either. He was right. Wufei just watched and did some planning of his own. After they were both satisfied with their personal plans, they would compare them and take the agreed upon best of both and make their escape. As it worked out, their plans were nearly identical, except that Wufei chose to try to go out a cargo bay and Milliardo was more in favor of a transport bay. Wufei picked at his lip for a moment, then nodded to himself. “We'll play that by ear. How much do you want to try to pack?” “Not much. We can probably get away with packing our gym bags, but anything else will raise suspicion on sight. I can get two changes of clothing in mine.” “Mine as well. If we leave out the shoes, I think we might manage three.” Milliardo shrugged. “I can manage with two changes and extra underwear.” “Good, I'll leave the packing to you as you're actually better at it than I am. Don't pack anything we can do without and that includes toiletries. We can always buy more later.” “Got it. I'll make sure to pack our computers. We have some weapons, but ... how much trouble do you expect and what kind?” “Not too sure, but if there is any I want to be armed.” Milliardo just nodded and went into the bedroom. It didn't take them long to change their clothing and pack. They both donned BDU’s, both pants and jackets, the multiple pockets would be a great help in carrying possessions. Wufei found that he didn't really have anything that couldn't be replaced. He'd left his precious family sword in Quatre's private vault on Earth and he wasn't that attached to anything else except his computer. He closed up both computers, marveling again at the small size that Heero and Duo had managed. These computers were the third generation of the computer that Heero had built just six months ago. The first generation had been about the size of a paperback book. These were less than the size of an old fashioned pack of cigarettes. He tucked his in one of his jacket pockets and handed the other to Milliardo. “You ready?” Milliardo just handed him his gym bag and started for the door, saying over his shoulder, “I managed to get three changes of clothing and twice that of underwear in these. We also have handguns and ammo in the shoe compartment. We both also have a bottle of three-in-one soap, a toothbrush and paste. I've got stuff in all my pockets; food, snacks and dry rations mostly. You?” “About the same, with a comfy for good measure.” Milliardo couldn't help a grin. “Me too.” A comfy was a blanket that was soft and warm and could be compacted into a palm sized pack, nearly every mercenary carried one as a matter of course. “Well, we're off.” “In more ways than one.” Wufei's rueful face made Milliardo shake his head. They walked out of their apartment just as they had done for weeks. They walked to the gym, entered and went through to the locker room, but they didn't stay there, instead they walked right out the back door into the service alley. Wufei looked around, then pointed. “There. You were right, there's a service access here.” They both hurried to the back of the dead end alley and Milliardo lifted the cover. They dropped their bags down and eased in themselves, dropping into the darkness as quietly as possible. Milliardo rustled for a moment, then a beam of light bloomed in his hand. Wufei produced his own light a moment later. The soft buzzing sound alerted Milliardo that Wufei's light was a rechargeable one, the small hand crank made a distinctive sound. “Ok, which way?” Milliardo pointed toward the port and led the way. “We'll stay in the maintenance corridors and under-colony until we find some way off the station. I'll make arrangements to pay for whatever we steal before it becomes an issue.” Wufei nodded, then realized that his partner couldn't see him. “Good, that'll keep Preventers from interfering. They won't bother us for running off on the trial, as our testimony is on record, but they'd come after us for a stolen ship.” “If Preventers won't come after us for skipping out, why did we wait so long? And, how do you know that?” Wufei's sigh was loud in the silence of under colony. “I finally got my head out of my ass and looked up ESUN law. They can't force us to testify. The only problem used to be that, if the primary witnesses refused to testify, they would get off. Now, and in this trial especially, secondary witnesses can be enough. There's enough other testimony that they really don't need us. I swear, I think all this is just some sort of attempt to disqualify our testimony or something.” Milliardo snorted and showed his aristocratic upbringing when he announced, “Well, forget about all of that. I am. We'll be out of here in under an hour.” “Bet?” “Yes.” Wufei shone his light on something over his head. “What?” “A week’s foot rubs.” “Done.” Milliardo moved up beside Wufei to see what he was looking at. He was looking up at the belly of a ship. It was a small, fast courier and had the logo of an independent company on it. Wufei looked at Milliardo who just nodded. “We can take that ship, hit space and contact Winner to rent it for us. All we have to do is get to it and get launched.” Wufei sighed. “It's not going to be easy. We've got to get out of here, into the bay and onto the ship. It's not like we can shoot our way onto the damn thing.” Milliardo snickered. “You're thinking like a terrorist. These people are used to pilots showing up, walking on board and leaving. They probably haven't seen the same pilots more than once or twice. We have to get out of here and into the bay.” Wufei nodded his understanding, then hissed, “You're right. So, we look for a hatch somewhere close. Preferably in a closet or something like that.” “Exactly. Then we just walk in, show our pilots licenses and take off.” “Simple. Why do I get a creepy feeling?” “Because you're paranoid.” Wufei just grunted and started looking for their way out. It didn't take them long to find it. It was on the wrong side of the bay for their needs but it was the only one they could find in the area that it was possible to open. They opened it and crawled out, Wufei tossing their bags up to Milliardo, then allowing him to give him a hand up. Wufei peeked around a pile of boxes, then motioned for Milliardo to take the next position. Milliardo moved quickly from behind Wufei to the next pile of cargo. They made it all the way across the bay to the inner doors this way. Milliardo eased the door open and slipped out, followed quickly by Wufei. They leaned against the wall of the air lock for a moment. Wufei looked at Milliardo, then said, “I'm taking the braid out of my hair. You need to braid yours more tightly and include your bangs. That'll make us look different. There's been enough of our pictures on the news lately that someone might recognize us.” “You're right. I wish I had a cap. That'd help too.” Wufei just smirked and pulled two caps from his thigh pocket. He handed one to Milliardo and put the other on his head, backwards. Milliardo pulled his down over his eyes a bit, the shadow changing his eye color just enough. They just walked across the bay, entered the ship, showed their licenses to the man in the cockpit and accepted the papers he handed them. It seemed that the ground crew was expecting two pilots sometime that afternoon. They assumed that they were the pilots arriving early and just turned the ship over without a murmur. Wufei signed for the ship, using his own name but signing in kanji. His sheepish admission that he couldn't read or write English was greeted with a laugh and the declaration that most pilots didn't write English either. He claimed that the 'chicken scratching' that most pilots produced had to be some foreign language that only pilots knew. He maintained a stream of chatter as he turned the ship over to them, then took himself off to find coffee. Milliardo settled in the pilot’s seat after a round of rock, paper, scissors to decided who was pilot and who was co-pilot. “Oh, this feels good. I can't believe we pulled it off.” Wufei started his instrument checks. “Don't pat yourself on the back just yet. We still have to launch.” Milliardo just nodded then started his launch countdown, initiating contact with control. The man on the other end was curious as to why they were launching now and asked, “I thought this flight was scheduled for this afternoon. 1600 or something.” “Change in plans. We both got set up earlier than expected. So we figured we'd go ahead and take off. Get a little bonus for early delivery. We can take off, right?” “Yeah, I can sneak you in between a couple of commercial flights. Those guys never get off on time. Passengers just don't have any consideration at all, know what I mean? Really. Well, enough chatter. You finish your pre-launch checks and I'll get back to you.” “Thanks, I'll do that. Should be ready in ...” Milliardo looked over at Wufei who signaled 20 minutes, “twenty minutes. Plus or minus.” “Great. That's going to put you right on the button. I'll open the outer doors now and you can taxi to the launch point. Clear space to you.” “Thanks. And same to you.” Milliardo grinned at Wufei and hoped it was going to be as easy as it looked. It turned out that it was. They launched in exactly twenty minutes to the merry voice of control wishing them clear space and a good flight. “Well, someone somewhere up there likes us. That was a piece of cake. Or am I counting chickens?” Wufei shook his head, huffing when a lock got into one eye. “Piece of cake. We're far enough out already that they can't call us back. What are you looking at?” Milliardo examined his readout again. “Not sure. Some sort of ghost. Probably a container barge.” “Oh. Forget about it. I'll set course for Mina Hurr.” Milliardo nodded. “Ok, and I'll get in touch with Winner and have him rent this boat for us.” Quatre was delighted, of course, and readily made the requested arrangements. They didn't talk long as the time lag was nearly ten minutes, but they agreed that they were going to have a long time to visit at Mina Hurr. “Great, Milliardo, once we make it to Mina Hurr we're really home free. No extradition agreement with ESUN, I can finish my job, and we can find someplace we like.” “I can't wait. I feel, for the first time in a long time, that I'm really going to have a home.” “Me too.” They went back to their duties, happy to be off the medical station and on their way. |
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