"This is, by far, the stupidest thing you have ever done..." her voice crackled over the coms, pointedly unamused, a hint of worry laced in her words. "that includes both times you infiltrated enemy organizations, as well as the time you tried to blow yourself up. You are evidently going for a personal record in stupidity." Une muttered.
"I'm glad to hear that you and Cathy are attempting to get along... talking about me." He whispered, tucking the worn pocket mirror around a corridor turn.
Clear.
Very well...
The woman snorted over the line. He crinkled his brow.
"Hardly. Possessive woman. It was part of a cautionary tale. One of which assured me I am not at all interested in knife play."
Trowa paused mid hallway, blinking.
"... should I even ask?"
"I was threatened great bodily harm if you were to ever die on my watch, or because my psychosis upset you to the degree in which you made another attempt on your own life. She was very thorough, it was graphic. If it hadn't been aimed at me I'd have been sad that she wasn't a part of our interrogation crew. She'd be a real treat, you know?" She chuckled.
Trowa only twitched and carried down the path.
"Perhaps we should cease unnecessary conversation? Things will get ugly fast if someone catches sight of me..."
Une let out a shaky sigh.
"Right... it's just that- well, I'm going crazy. If I don't talk I'll begin thinking again and get wrapped up in my own head. If she's-"
"She will be fine. I promise."
He sucked in a breath as a hysterical laugh broke free from her chest.
"You can't know that. No one can... and I don't know what I would do if I lost her- if I lost you too. These past couple years you've been a real knight in shining armor Barton. Don't fuck this up by recklessly getting yourself killed because you didn't want to chance an extraction team..."
He sighed and leaned back against the cool brick wall as he ducked behind a beam. He shut his eyes.
There wasn't always safety in numbers...
"Then keep talking... you've always had a way of talking enough for the two of us. I'll just listen..."
"Like the good ol' days? Very well..."
Trowa broke free from his resting spot and dashed down yet another steel corridor, careful of his footsteps, eyes watching for the slightest hint of movement.
It was hard to believe it, but bases on Earth were far more difficult to navigate. Some could go for miles underground. There was only so much room to be had on colonies in space. Sometimes he truly missed the simplicity of it all. But he had been happy on the planet, no doubt about that.
"I was thrilled when you decided to stay with the Preventers after the Eve battles, Trowa. You could have gone anywhere, disappeared into the wind, but you stayed." She started, as if reading his mind. "Not just that, but you stayed Earth-bound like Relena and I. I don't think I've ever truly told you just how grateful I was for that. It can be so hard to trust people after all of the betrayal, it was a relief to have another top operative that had already proven himself, even more so it was comforting to have another friend. It was amazing how great you were with children despite your quiet nature. I'm not sure I would have made it through that first year without you..."
He sucked in a sharp breath, startling her, as he flattened himself within a doorway while a handful of armed men slipped down a neighboring hallway twenty feet in front of him. He waited until he could no longer hear their footsteps before letting go a shaky exhale.
"It's fine..." he reassured her quickly, darting past the cross-way.
"I never did apologize for how I reacted when I realized you practically lived with us. I just wasn't prepared. One day I woke up and realized there was more of your gear, your personal items, in my guest bedroom than your dorm at HQ. I was a bitch and almost chased you away. Marie about had my head. Told me not to ruin a good thing. From the mouths of babes, hmm? We weren't even a 'thing' at that point. You just sort of fit in like a puzzle piece and made everything better. Fulfilled the need for a male role-model in her life that wasn't a sociopath. You could have left after I screamed at you and told you to go. But instead all you did was leave your things, go back to your dorm for the weekend, and you came back Monday morning like nothing ever happened."
He let the corner of his mouth quirk at that.
"I knew you didn't mean it. You just needed space."
"I did." She agreed, but he could hear her throat grow tight. "And then I didn't. I lasted three months after that. Realized what I had almost lost, then ended up curled in your arms on the couch, and you stopped using the guest room. You gave up your dorm. I-I know I don't say it often, but I-"
"I know."
"Of course you do..." she huffed.
He paused, turning the com down to barely a buzz so he could listen, and frowned.
"I think I've got something..." he murmured, checking his weapons. "I'm going to have to go dark, I'll leave the line open on my end, but I won't be able to hear you."
"...Understood."
He flicked the switch and took another deep breath, releasing it slowly. He crept along the walk at a snail's pace, inching closer to the opened door-frame at the end of the left side of the corridor. The element of surprise was all he had working in his favor at this point. The ceilings were low, no beams to slink across, and if he was going off of previous rooms he had skirted past, this one wouldn't be much better off space wise. It was quite possible that there would be many bodies in close quarters, that he would have to be very precise with his movements.
When he was finally just out of reach of the doorway he had his worries confirmed. There were at least eight men just behind the wall in an office of a room. With any luck Marie as well. It would be difficult. He would have to take the guns out of the equation immediately. But hopefully the crowd would mean that everyone within running distance was already present.
He pulled a knife from its sheath, silently counted to three, and spun around the corner, tucking and rolling to take out the tendons of the two men nearest to the doorway. He only had a brief moment to confirm that yes, the girl was in fact within the room, before he lunged forward toward the remaining six men.
The problem with having to take firearms out of the equation due to Marie's presence was having to focus on disarming rather than dodging- and Heero was always so much better at taking a bullet than the rest of them. Making sure he was far away from her and the focus of their attention was hardly a difficult matter. The Preventor issued kevlar took the brunt of most of the shots aimed his way- but each hit still burned fiercely, and in such an enclosed area it only took so much damage before weakened areas tore free. He would have massive blooming bruises by the next day, but the graze on his thigh wouldn't slow him down much, and the bullet lodged in his upper arm would only become a hindrance when the numbness died down, having missed the bone. But he would surely be benched for weeks after this mission. Truth be told he wasn't sure Lady would be letting either of them out of her sight any time soon.
Once disarmed the remaining six men had hardly stood a chance and the only remorse he felt was in that Mariemaia had been forced to witness such brutality at his hand.
He approached her slowly, hands raised to assure her that he was calm, knife loosely clutched in one as he reached toward her with the other. Tear sparkled in her eyes, and he winced as he ripped the tape from her mouth, startling a gasp from her. The dam broke at that and she burst into deep ragged sobs as he cut the rope from her wrists behind the chair, and from her ankles. He sheathed his knife and wiped his bloodied hands on his pants before gently running one through her mussed unwashed hair.
"Hey there Princess... let's get you back home to Mom, hmm?" He smiled softly, and picked her up, her arms wrapping tightly about his shoulders while he wound her still weak legs around his waist.
As he turned his ear piece back on all he could hear for a long moment were Une's matching sobs. Then when she finally could contain herself she announced that the troops were storming the base now that she was located and in good hands, and that all he needed to do was continue to keep both of them safe and out of the way while they were retrieved.
He didn't have it in his heart to be pissed that she had modified his plan last second.
She was safe and that was all that mattered...
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Une met them at the head quarter's hospital wing three hours later, having been unable to help on the front line herself.
Mariemaia was overall fine, some scrapes and bruises, and dehydration on top of being filthy from the initial abduction, but there would be no lasting physical damage. He supposed the ordeal would add to her mental scars however, but Trowa was confident that they would be able to work through them together like before.
With the news that her daughter would make a full recovery Une took to fussing over his injuries. Sally had threatened to strap him to the bed if he tried to leave, and thus he was draped across across it with ice packs across his chest and abdomen in addition to the bandages covering his thigh and shoulder. As he had anticipated, he was benched until both Sally and Une agreed to reinstate him. He supposed he could use the vacation.
When Sally offered to sit in Marie's room with her, to give them some alone time finally, he managed a sheepish soft smile.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get us both back here unscathed. It was a difficult situation. I would rather me be banged up a bit than her have gotten hurt from my carelessness."
Lady snorted and wrapped an arm around his good shoulder, pulling him in for a hug.
"Oh I forgive you. But that doesn't change the fact that you're out of the field for at least the next six weeks." She sighed, pulling back far enough to press her lips against his.
When she pulled away he sighed.
"I figured as much... but I also thought for sure that a lecture would come with this as well..."
At this Une smirked and cocked a hip.
"Oh no Trowa dear, I get to play good cop this time." He rose a brow at her. "But you're going to have to face the wrath of two very distressed individuals that are flying in as we speak.
To her utmost glee he gaped at her horrified, the expression foreign on his face.
"You...you didn't!"
Lady cackled.
"Oh yes, I did. Cathy and Quatre are positively livid..." she purred, stroking her thumb over his cheek bone.
Trowa could only groan and prepare himself for the worst.