Happy Birthday and Feliz Cumpleaños to Starhopper-chan! Since I'm so terrible at presents, here's your birthday fic. My apologies that I didn't get the first chapter up until today and yes I do remember your birthday was Friday, but my dad got home that evening from his long rock-climbing excursion and we laughed at all his pictures from his digital camera all night. Gomen and lo siento.
But the point, or shall I say the inspiration for this fic comes mainly from my own dealings with the little monsters. (I say this lovingly) I thought it would be fun to turn my own experiences and troubles into a fic and see how the GW characters would react in the same situations. I've even added direct quotes from kids I've babysat, just for the fun of it. Kids really do say the oddest things...
Yosh.
Babysitting is not for the Weak-Hearted...or Gundam Pilots?
By gatogirl1
Chapter One: In which Heero and Duo carry out a mission
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"You're not just the songleader...you're The Evil Songleader!"-Garrett & Owen
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Heero ran silently through the dark hallways of their latest OZ target. Streamlined in his usual spandex, he made not a sound as he dashed through the maze, counting off the number of side corridors that corresponded with his mental map he'd poured over for hours in prepping for this mission. 'Five...six...seven...there it was! Eight.' Not losing a stride, Heero darted down a hallway that looked no different than the others he'd dashed by. But he didn't need, nor have the time to second-guess himself; he needed to hurry if he was going to make it before the alarm system went off.
Along with the corridor tally, he also had his mental clock ticking away the seconds far more quickly than he would have liked. His and Duo's hours of preparation hadn't taken into account the two idiot guards who'd cut duty for a few minutes head start on a smoking break. The two men had stared dumbly at the two boys. Duo had been kneeling in front of the so- called "secret" base's outside door handle with his lock picks at work. Heero's hands were both occupied in holding one unconscious guard's hand in an identification box while also keeping two fingers pinched on the distended wire to disable the retinal scan. They'd spent a lot of time figuring how to get through the high security door without setting off the alarm when the two bozos had nearly wasted all their efforts.
One of the guards had immediately attacked, drawing out a gun and nightstick, while the other had turned tail and gone shouting for help. With a curse, Duo had clicked the lock open, then thrown up an arm to block the oncoming blow. Heero had dropped his unconscious burden once the door slid open silently but gone after the escapee instead of entering. And while it had only taken them a moment or two to take care of the two men and dispose of them in the surrounding forestry, it had been a few precious minutes off their clock.
The opening of the door deactivated the extensive alarm system that lay behind it- the latest in heat sensors, touch sensors, noise sensors, and countless others that were just as at home in a Mission Impossible movie as in this OZ base tucked away in a corner of the forest. Normally, anyone entering through this door had three minutes and 45 seconds to enter and tap in a code into the touch pad a ways down the hallway, or exit the hallway and enter one of the connecting rooms. If the correct code wasn't typed in during that brief amount of time or the area wasn't returned to it's empty and undisturbed state, the buildings alarms would all go off and the entire place go into lockdown.
All in all, it was one of OZ's best systems of protection to date.
'Too bad it wasn't keeping Duo or himself out,' Heero couldn't help but smirk as he slipped through the unremarkable, yet important door only moments before his mental countdown terminated. 'Three...two...one,' as the door closed silently and the sensors, no longer able to detect his presence, switched back on.
Rather than remaining in the doorway open to attack and detection, Heero immediately scanned the room for a defensible place and glided into it. Pulling a gun from his hidden holster, or Hammerspace as Duo had resolutely decided, he held it at the ready to take out the target of this assassination assignment. Then, gun extended, he stepped silently over to the connecting laboratory's doorway, paused, then entered the darker room.
A moment later, a gunshot echoed through the room.
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"01? Heero? Hey buddy, you there?" Duo's voice came crackling over the radio.
Heero grunted across the room from where he'd set down his radio. In order to hide the body...there. With one last yank, the corpse was hidden deeply inside one of the bedroom's closets- and would hopefully not be discovered for a few days. This allowed Trowa the perfect way out from the undercover mission at this very base that he was currently out on. Heero strode across the room, snatching up his radio and barely containing a grimace. Radios this size, these handheld bulky things...just...just...so unprofessional.
"What is it 02?"
Static for a moment, then Duo's voice came through. "I hate to end this party earlier than planned, but you're going to need to scram." Heero's trained ear picked up the note of tension in Duo's lighthearted attitude.
"What's happening?"
"Well, I'm taking a tour up in the air duct system and I really think they need to get someone up here to clean more than twice a decade. Pooh! Smells like something crawled up here and died!" He broke off with a snort. "Maybe someone left the remains from an earlier assassination up here...Anyway, I was poking around in the security camera system they've got here. And boy, someone must have a strange sense of humor or taste cuz one of these cameras is focused on a bathroom..." came the laughing voice.
"Duo..."
"Right, um, the point being is that even though all security is seeing is the loop of video of an empty corridor, I'm now able to see everything that's going on in the hallways. And I'm seeing a few people pacing the hallways. Two of them are just passing the hallway you took..." Duo broke off, swearing.
"Report." Heero's voice interrupted his partner's rant.
"Crap, Heero, they took the turn down your hallway! They've left the camera's view...disappeared from my sight...must be heading towards your position! You've gotta get outa there now!"
Heero turned to leave, then frowned. "But if they're coming in here and I leave out the door, they're still going to see me."
"Hm...hold that thought for a second..." A scrambling noise filled the radio, before it cut off.
Heero's gaze scanned over the room again, even though he'd already memorized the layout. If and when the intruders came in, what would be the best corner to ambush them from? He had to take them out before they sounded the alarm; this whole mission counted on slipping in and out without alerting the rest of the base. He was positioning himself behind a chair- still able to see anyone coming in the door, but more defensible than standing in the open middle of the room, when he heard some scuffling above. Raising his glance and nose of his gun, he realized someone was coming in through a hatch in the ceiling...only moments before a black figure dropped into the room. A black, braided figure...
"Did I scare ya?" Duo quipped, quickly brushing away the ceiling shreds that clung to his priest's outfit. "I knew breaking into the air duct system would be handy. Ta da! Our escape route!" He waved Heero towards the ceiling's hole. "Now hurry! They'll be at the door at any second!"
Heero strode across the room, re-holstering his gun in his spandex. Getting a leg up from Duo, he had a handhold on the trapdoor in the ceiling, when the door to the room burst open. In his surprise, Duo dropped Heero's foot, leaving him holding onto the trapdoor. As said door was hinged into the ceiling, it fell closed, dropping a slightly disconcerted Heero back into the room.
The body hurtling into the room from the open door and immediately glomping onto his legs only helped to add to Heero's confusion.
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Starhopper-chan: Do you want to help me name the fic? Don't really like the current name...Unless you don't mind it...And yes, I agree. How does Trowa remain undercover with that hair??