Hullo! Thanks everyone for the great great feedback. I have to say a special thanks to Nanashi who seems to have been around since I started writing and always offers this great little voice of support. It's like having a little supportive bird at my window all the time. Thank you! Diane, I agree with you that Duo doesn't have to be threatening to this pairing, because I frankly don't see any reason for Duo and Heero especially wanting to be together. That just makes no sense. So you're absolutely right! Besides, Hilde's pretty cute, so it's not like he's lonely.
Some small educational notes to you guys to address some stuff… Tasers are used today in law enforcement, and they have actually been modified now to make muscles contract rather than spasm. Everything I told you about the history is true. However, the tasers today are deployed on these long thin curly wires that are attached to the blocks with barbs that catch on your skin or clothes. They have to be pretty close range to even be used, but they do keep a lot of people from being hurt.
Yes, Greenlady, Curare is actually a numbing poison that is used by the Amazon Indians to hunt their food. They use blowdarts and it can be lethal although if you're ever poisoned by some odd chance, it is best to rub salt in the wound and eat a lot of salt, as it will absorb and nullify the poison. I've never heard of the game you're talking about, but one of my favorite books as a kid was "Amazon Adventure" which was a "Hardy Boy" type book where this family went down the Amazon, collection animals for the zoo and wrestling anacondas and such. ^_______^
Thanks for reading guys! Hope you enjoy!
Strength of Heart ARC - Installment 1
Chapter 2 - Overture
"Come in Helena, Helena, this is the "Red Dragon" freighter class C, requesting docking instructions."
Inside the small communications office, the lieutenant put his coffee down to answer the incoming call. His crewmate was left to continue their chess game. The early morning didn't bring that much traffic, so there wasn't much to do.
"We hear you Red Dragon. Can we get your entry code?"
"L473545," the voice crackled over the comm. unit.
He checked the docket, taking another sip of coffee.
"Confirmed, please continue to docking platform 7."
"Roger."
The six Preventor agents watched quietly from the back of the freight ship as their spy flew them past the security blockade. All were silent, awaiting the go ahead to start the mission. Minutes passed in complete silence with only the low, unsteady hum of the old freight engine to break it.
Their pilot couldn't help but glance back once in a while to see Officer Chang's outsourced agents. They all looked so young… just like Chang. They had cold eyes. Well, two of them did. Chang, the blond and the braided kid looked a little more approachable, but the other two… they hadn't even moved for three hours. The shorter kid looked like he was sleeping, leaning against the wall. The taller one with the green eyes just stared at the stars. When they had boarded, they had simply nodded to him, their eyes, ice cold.
He had been surprised when he had first met officer Chang since there was a rumor that he was a Gundam pilot. He had been somewhat disappointed to find that it was just a young man who had been working as a Narcotics officer for the police on L3. Of course, there were so many rumors about the Gundam pilots. They were dead. They were alive. They were boys. They were women. One of the popular rumors was that they were androids, pretending to be human. Just rumors. No one ever really knew who they were. Himself? He highly doubted that they were even alive, let alone running around living their own little version of 'Blade Runner'. If you asked him, they had all died, trying to destroy "Libra" and government just pulled out the Gundams during the Maremeia incident, to try and keep the peace.
He assumed these kids were probably from Mr. Chang's old narcotics team. Not one of them looked to be much older than his eldest son and narcotics officers usually had to look young. He wondered why they had been brought in for an infiltration of this nature. Of course, they might have just as easily busted drug rings on abandoned satellites, so maybe they were prepared for this kind of thing. Narcs pretty much held the record on crazy busts, so they had to be versatile.
He pulled himself from his pondering as they neared the satellite. Seven hundred feet and closing. Six hundred. Five hundred. He slowed the ship. Four hundred. He looked back.
"Okay, you're clear."
The short Japanese looking kid didn't even open his eyes as his hand flashed out and hit the control panel, causing the solid metal door to close them all away from view. A few minutes later, the Preventor pilot saw them floating steadily toward the outer hull of the ship, hiding in a battered bit of ship debris that floated, seemingly randomly toward their destination. He continued on his trip to the docking bay to await further orders once the takeover was complete.
A few minutes later, the Preventor pilot saw them floating steadily toward the outer hull of the ship, hiding in a battered bit of ship debris that floated, seemingly randomly, toward their destination.
Inside the satellite, crewmembers winced as more debris hit the ship, causing the metal around them to vibrate and hum ominously. With no shields, it was no wonder they kept having air pressure leaks. They turned their attention away as the inner claxons went off to signal another weapon delivery. They all hurried to form the fire lines needed to unload the ship quickly and efficiently, the bangs and groans of the old vessel forgotten in their fervor to help maintain their nation's security. They would not give their freedom again to the smiling trap of a promise of peace. Everyone had played that particular game far too often.
The two workers repairing the outer hull of the ship did not notice the six intruders until they felt their arms held and tiny needles jabbed into their arms through their space suits. They only had enough time to voice their surprise at being attacked in the void of space before they fell into a drugged stupor.
Wufei placed small pieces of tape on the holes rent by the hypodermics as Quatre and Trowa held the limp forms. Quickly, they pulled the two figures and Duo's makeshift pressure room inside the station's airlock and closed the hatch.
Inside, they placed the lifeless workmen in a corner. They would be out for a few hours. Heero checked the time on their air meters. He held up all five fingers for Quatre to indicate how many hours of air the men had. Plenty of time for them to complete their mission and retrieve the two hapless men before they suffocated. Quatre nodded and Trowa and Heero headed silently for the security panel, laptop in tow to trick the air pressure sensors. The other four Preventors headed the other way, lugging the bulky contraption with them. Wufei went ahead, manning the heat sensor to make sure they could find an unpopulated area to break in.
Fortunately, it looked like it wouldn't be hard. Most of the crew had gone to the docking bay. They were able to find what the schematics labeled as a storage closet. It was big enough anyway. Carefully, they maneuvered Duo's bulky airlock into place. The long cylinder would be too heavy in normal gravity, but it was manageable with the four of them. The funnel-like opening kissed the metal on the ceiling as Duo welded it into place. He crawled inside and pulled the small hatch closed with his foot as he tested to make sure the seal was airtight. The space was cramped, but everything seemed to be in order. The hard part would be laser cutting the metal without setting his space suit on fire in such a tight space.
He crawled back out backwards to see Trowa and Heero approaching. A quick thumbs up from Trowa and Quatre handed the laser device to Duo who crawled back inside the tight area, pulling the lock shut. The rest waited silently outside. Quatre stole a glance at Heero. He could feel Heero's pain bearing down on the boy and he looked pale, but they all looked pale in this light. Heero looked up at him and Quatre's eyes widened at being caught. He looked away, but could feel the curiosity from his fellow pilot. Fortunately, Duo came out to signal a job finished, saving them from more uncomfortable staring.
Quatre went first, knowing how to operate the machine since he had helped fashion it. The others watched and followed, Duo bringing up the rear. They had to go one at a time, closing the bottom hatch, working the pressure gage to match that of the room above and exiting through the top, closing the top hatch and banging on the floor where Duo held his hand, waiting for the vibration from above to send the next person through.
Once they were in, they were dismayed to find that the 'storage closet' had been furnished to second as living quarters since one deck was out of commission at the moment. Quietly, one person watched the door while the rest pulled off their space suits. They were dressed in street attire since this station required no uniforms, however, there were only about a thousand people onboard, so there was a chance they would be recognized as non-personnel. They had toted their guns in a cardboard box, to keep hidden until they reached the upper deck of the control center. Once there, they would all be in overdrive.
Quatre pushed toward the door panel and turned.
"Ready?" he whispered. He received nods return and they made their way out into the hall. The blond locked the door from the inside and stepped out. They couldn't afford having the residents come back and find that the base had been compromised.
They were met with little suspicion, save a few people who gave them strange smiles as they tried to place their faces, nothing more.
Once they left the living quarters and entered the work decks, it was different.
"Hey! Do you guys have your IDs with you?" An officer confronted them, friendly, but annoyed that they weren't wearing their ID tags around their necks.
"Yeah, hold on." Duo smiled, disarmingly, reaching into his jacket and shooting the man in the leg. He let out a strangled scream as the current of electricity played havoc with his muscles and then sank to the ground. The only other officer in the hall heard and ran over.
"Hey, what happened?"
"He's hurt," Trowa said, his voice tinged with concern. The officer leaned over to examine his comrade. A vice-like grip covered his mouth and he convulsed, his eyes sliding closed, as Noin submitted him to the same treatment as the other.
They quickly dumped the bodies in what appeared to be a chemical lab and burned the lock shut so no one would find them and sound the alarm. The hall they were in soon opened up into the upper deck and they were met with no further obstacles there. As with most of the decks, the crew seemed to be away, unloading the freighter still. Only a skeleton crew remained, but Quatre could make out Bayati on the floor below, sitting at the conference table drinking tea and reviewing some kind of report. There were about ten officers they could see, and certainly more under the deck they stood on. The upper deck, which circled above the room, was lined with unmanned diagnostics stations.
The five knelt on the deck, out of sight. Quatre positioned himself in front, his green eyes hard as he whispered out orders.
"Trowa, Heero, you start by taking out the guards closest to the center control station. Noin, Wufei, Duo and I will wait five seconds and jump down. Duo, you and I are on the outside to take care of the officers that Heero and Trowa can't see."
"Right," Duo whispered in agreement.
Trowa pointed to a small stack of air tanks near the railing, high enough to hide behind.
"If we can start from there, we'll have some cover."
They slunk around outside of the deck to station themselves behind the tanks. Trowa and Heero slid one to each side of the stack, guns held up in ready to start. They both looked at Quatre, who nodded.
"In three."
Three seconds later, the loud POP of the tasers echoed through the large room. Officers everywhere stared, frozen, as the men around them began to fall. Finally, looking up, the still-conscious men could see four intruders descending on them, guns blasting. Quickly, the room was filled with the sound of real gunfire as the surprised rebels pulled themselves from the daze of an out-of-context situation and began returning fire.
Heero and Trowa worked as fast as they could to take out everyone on the deck, since their companions in freefall had no way of dodging bullets. Quatre took a well-aimed shot at Bayati as he ran for the control center. The Indian man too went limp as he attempted to pull the limp body of a soldier from off the control panel. Quatre felt some degree of satisfaction at being able to take that shot at a man who had betrayed his family's trust.
Heero watched their comrades descend, waiting for them to reach the ground. Once he was sure they had control down below, he turned to Trowa.
"We have to get Noin out of the picture for a few minutes for Quatre." He motioned to the air tanks. "I'll create the distraction."
Trowa raised an eyebrow, looked at the air tanks, then at Noin and quickly figured out what Heero was planning.
"I understand." He dropped his gun, stood and waited, beside the pile. Heero backed up a bit and threw his shoulder into the middle of the tanks, pushing them hard enough to cause a couple to start falling off the ledge. The four below didn't even hear as they were still engaged in some remaining firefight. With cat-like speed, Trowa leapt onto the railing and pushed himself forcefully down toward Noin. Fortunately, her back was still turned as he landed softly; drawing back his gun, he brought it down hard on the pressure point on the corner of her neck. Her eyes rolled into her head and she fell forward. Wufei looked at Trowa perplexed. Trowa ignored this and dragged Noin to a safer location behind the conference table.
"Now Quatre."
Quatre shot one last guard before grabbing Wufei and pulling him to the center control panel. Duo was picking off the last of the officers, while Heero had descended and made sure the door wouldn't open for any unexpected guests.
Wufei and Quatre pulled the bodies from the control panel.
"What's going on?" Wufei asked, confused.
Quatre skimmed the panel, trying to make out the controls.
"Noin hasn't let you out of her sight the entire time we've been here and I know you wanted to tell us something."
Wufei's lips pursed into a smile. "I see," he said, impressed. The blond, he had always seen as weak and pathetic, never stopped surprising him. He was obviously having trouble deciphering the Russian-built control panel. Wufei pushed him out of the way and ran his fingers deftly over the controls.
"This should close every door in the ship," he said, somewhat smugly, smiling at Quatre.
The blond, in turn, blinked and brought his wrist communicator to his lips.
"This is Preventor Sand," he said, staring at Wufei as the worked the controls efficiently. "All doors are closed off. We can begin the evacuation."
"Roger, Preventor. This is Red Dragon. The rest of the fleet is on the way. Er, I didn't expect you on the line. Is Preventor Fire with you?"
Quatre looked at Trowa, who nodded back, having examined the unconscious woman.
"She'll be okay in a few minutes. She got hit by falling debris."
"Roger. The fleet should arrive in about forty minutes."
"Sand out," the blond replied. He looked at Wufei. "We don't have much time. Why did you call us all here?"
Wufei looked at them all as they approached the control center, waiting for his response.
"I can't be sure of everything, but there's something sour in the Preventor's department. I've been cut off from information I have always had access to before. Certain people have started acting strangely."
"Including Miss Noin," Quatre voiced quietly. Wufei nodded in response.
"There are things happening within the organization that stink of old OZ tactics, but I can find nothing so far."
"That's just perfect," Duo said acidly. "So what do you need us to do?"
"She's waking up," Trowa warned, walking back toward Noin.
Wufei regarded them all. "Just be careful," he warned. "I don't know how Noin became part of this, but I doubt it's by choice. I'll try to find out more and keep you informed. But I can't risk becoming suspicious when I'm here full time."
Quatre broke in. "It would be better if we hacked the system from the outside, to keep attention away from Wufei for now."
"That would give me some space to do some prying of my own," Wufei agreed.
Heero's eyes narrowed. "Where's Zechs in all of this?"
Noin moaned and started shaking her head.
Wufei lowered his voice. "That's the other thing. He's disappeared." All of them stared in surprise at that. Quatre was about to ask how, but they were out of time.
"What hit me?" Noin said, blinking. Trowa helped her to sit up.
Heero approached her, eyes blank as usual. He could tell she was suspicious. Her eyes darted toward Wufei.
"I got knocked into the air tanks," Heero said, his tone even. "You've only been out for a few minutes."
This seemed to console her a bit as her shoulders relaxed visibly. Wufei came over as well, kneeling down and checking her eyes.
"I've closed all the doors and the rest of the fleet is on the way. I haven't pulled any files, since you were in charge of that," Wufei said with some amount of bitterness to his tone. "Do you feel up to it?"
Noin got up, still leaning on Trowa for support.
"It's just a bump," she said, smiling weakly and heading for the control center, the tall brunet staying with her since she didn't quite seem steady on her feet yet.
Quatre turned to Heero and flashed him a bright smile. "Thanks Heero," he whispered.
Heero nodded. Quatre could see that he was a little pale and drawn after all the action, but not too much worse for wear. Quatre desperately hoped that the Japanese boy's fatigue would ease the effort Quatre would have to expend, convincing him to come home with him. Without even having to communicate, Duo, Quatre and Heero fanned out to check on the unconscious soldiers to make sure none were hurt too badly. Though the weapons used to incapacitate them were harmless enough, it didn't erase the possibility of injury from falling. Fortunately a lot of bruises, a couple of gashes and one broken bone was about all the damage any of the rebels had sustained.
"Hey Heero," Duo called from across the room. Heero looked over. "As I recall, you have some experience setting broken bones. Ever done it for someone else?"
Heero laughed under his breath, slightly amused. Kneeling down, he used his good arm to pull the unconscious woman's lower leg back into alignment. She winced in her sleep, but remained effectively doped down. They lifted her and carried her to lie somewhere flat and out of the way. Duo winced and put a hand on his lower ribs as they straightened and stepped away from her.
"You okay?" Heero asked with his usual dry tone.
Duo grimaced. "Yeah." He straightened and grinned at Heero. "One of the bullets had some luck getting through my armor. It's not deep though."
"You had better not tell Quatre,"
"Why bother?" Duo chuckled. "Quatre always knows regardless. It's Wufei I'm worried about. If they even catch wind of an injury, he's the one who gets to write the ten-page report on how it happened. He'd never forgive me."
Duo walked away, leaving Heero amused but confused. How would Quatre know regardless? Of course the blond was overly sensitive to what people were feeling, so that must have been what Duo meant. He would maybe bring it up with the Deathscythe pilot later, as he was sure the boy was already cooking up where they would go for dinner tonight.
An alarm sounded and they looked up in surprise. Noin was staring at the control panel in disbelief, her hand pulled back as if it had been bitten. Wufei stormed over.
"What happened?"
Noin started typing furiously.
"Something I accessed must have set off the self-destruct mechanism! It didn't even ask for a password. But when I tried to open the file, it happened."
Wufei moved beside her, accessing the files on his own screen.
"The files are automatically deleting. We'll have to try and save as much as we can before it wipes everything."
"Wufei, what's the countdown?" Quatre asked, disturbed.
"Thirty minutes." He continued to work on the data problem though, knowing that the blond would handle that part. Quatre turned to the others.
"That's not enough time to evacuate the base. We'll have to shut it down. Duo, Trowa, and I can go. Heero, can you find the schematics and get us down there? If we cancel the lockdown, we'll be swarmed and never make it. You'll need to guide us and open each door as we get to it."
Heero shook his head. "Duo can do that. I should come with you."
Quatre glared and reached up, squeezing Heero's injured shoulder. The stoic boy's features showed nothing, but he paled as pain shot through his arm.
"You're not in condition to do that Heero." The blond stood his ground as he felt a flash of intense anger shoot through the boy, glittering in his eyes visibly for a brief moment. He released the injured arm, but held the stormy blue gaze. "You'll only slow us down."
"Yeah, and though I appreciate your vote of confidence," Duo said sarcastically, "I can't work the system as fast or as well as you can."
Heero stared at them both and quietly went to one of the side desk consoles and began to type.
"When you exit, go down to level A and head for section B-5," he said, dropping his anger and focusing on the mission. There wasn't time and Quatre was right.
"Let's go." The three left, reloading their guns and disappearing through the door. Almost immediately there was the explosive sound of gunfire, but it was quickly silenced and Heero opened the next door in their way as Trowa, Duo and Quatre made their way down to the reactor core.
Quatre cursed as he ploughed into one of the larger men, bringing his taser up and drilling the soldier. He used all his strength to hurl the unconscious form at one of his cohorts. The man blocked the incoming body, throwing it to the side, but by the time he could recover, Quatre had shot him down. He stormed to the next door watching as Trowa and Duo dispatched of their own assailants with relative ease. Trowa had sent one woman flying over his head before spinning a well aimed back kick into another. Once they were away, he put them out. Duo was waiting for his target to stop firing from behind the bulkhead, before he ran and leapt over the three foot high barricade, kicking his assailant before landing a nasty leg pin on the man's neck. He fired point blank at the man's leg, waiting until he twitched and went limp before disengaging.
"We're through Heero," he said into his communicator. "What's next?"
The other two listened as Heero's voice crackled through.
"One more room before the lift, then you should be able to use access conduits for a while to avoid any more confrontations."
"Right." Quatre waited for the next door to open, locking his gun on the first target he could see. "If you want to die, by all means, keep us from shutting down the self-destruct."
These people were unarmed workers and only a few of them even looked like they wanted to try and fight. Quatre walked through them, letting them part, his senses open for any sign of attack. Trowa and Duo followed behind, covering the sides. None of the workers wanted a fight. The three boys stepped into the lift and headed down.
After the door shut, Duo stared at Quatre.
"Dude, you are pissed."
Quatre looked at Duo, a hard look in his eyes.
"She lied."
"Huh?"
Trowa raised an eyebrow.
Quatre reloaded his taser angrily. "Noin knew what she was doing when she accessed the information."
Trowa looked skeptical. "You think she was trying to kill these people?"
Quatre shook his head, furiously. "I think she wanted to get rid of the data. I don't think she knew that she would set off the self-destruct countdown."
"Or she knew we would be able to shut it down."
"Right."
"Damn. What the hell is going on?" Duo said, flustered. "Why would she do that?"
"I'm sure there's a good reason." Trowa offered quietly. Quatre nodded.
"She must have had orders to destroy the base without telling us, or even Wufei, what's going on, but why?"
"Quatre? What do you feel about it?" Duo asked sternly. Trowa's watched with curiosity as Quatre's eyes clouded over.
"I'm not sure," he said, bowing his head. By then the lift had reached Deck A and Quatre walked to open the door, Trowa and Duo setting up behind the lift wall, ready for another attack.
"But whatever she's hiding, it doesn't feel malevolent." He opened the door and they headed for the wiring conduits.
~~
Heero ran over the schematics, waiting for Quatre's next report. He had been able to tap into their communicator signal and could now see them moving along each corridor as little flashing dots. His Russian wasn't the best, but it was good enough for what he needed to do. He was focused on the task at hand, but he couldn't help but wonder how Quatre knew about his condition. Sure he looked like hell, but for all Quatre knew from appearances, he could have been in a bar room brawl. He couldn't possibly know about the internal injuries. Heero wasn't even limping, let alone showing the discomfort he felt. This would take quite a while to heal… though he didn't plan on being around for that long.
He had wanted to go on the more dangerous mission, only to increase his chances of death. It had not been logical, nor had it been smart. Quatre had been right. He would have been in the way. Even if he took it lightly, he probably would barely make it through dinner tonight, let alone a mad dash through a ship of angry armed captives, which means he may have gone down by now. Quatre's way was the more efficient way. The mission was to take the base with zero deaths, Heero's included, and the mission always came first.
He looked down.
"Quatre, you're near the access panel. It should take you up right under the reactor core."
"I see it."
The sound of muffled talking and metal against metal was audible through the console speaker. Heero glanced up at Wufei and Noin. They were both burning data cylinders as fast as possible. Wufei had cursed several times as data he was downloading simply self-deleted from beneath his fingers. They had little time though. In ten minutes, the safety margin would be gone and they would be forced to evacuate. Quatre, Trowa and Duo would be trapped.
"Quatre, you have nine minutes," Heero warned.
"I know, I know," he replied, whispering, "but there are ten or more armed men in that room and most of them are right by the cover. "They'll mow us down before we got the door open," he said, frustrated.
"How much of a distraction do you need?"
More muffled talking.
"About three seconds."
Heero moved to the ops station.
"Roger. I'm going to move the base, full throttle, for five seconds." He said it loud enough to draw Noin and Wufei away from their work. They both acknowledged and braced themselves.
On Quatre's end, Duo and Trowa nodded, Duo keeping one eye on the guards on the other side of the grate. The power station was noisy enough that they couldn't be heard below the deck. It helped that the men were talking. There was nowhere to take cover in the room above. Even then, only one person could exit at a time, so whoever went first would take the brunt of the counter attack and have the most work cut out for them. Five seconds would have to be enough. It would actually be more, since the power would have to be gathered before the base would actually move fast enough to throw anyone off balance.
"Acknowledged Heero. We're ready."
Duo moved up the ladder to the grate, but Trowa grabbed him and shook his head, standing just below the grate. Duo backed off, trusting the quiet boy.
New and even more annoying alarms went off when the base began to draw more power than the core could take. Most in the room above began to move toward the engine when the base heaved, throwing them to the floor.
Trowa used the butt end of his gun to knock the grate up and to the side as he used his powerful legs to jump straight up, shooting as he went. This gave Duo ample time to exit as well, shooting anyone who was left. Quatre followed and looked for stragglers on the outskirts of the room. The low gravity made it diffictult for Trowa to get back down after jumping. He had caught on to the ladder that ran up the metal column that held the source of the base's power while Duo and Quatre systematically searched the room for anyone else, their guns held at ready.
Duo carefully approached a closed door to what looked to be some sort of closet. Quatre had finished checking his side, and advanced on the door from the side, sliding silently along the wall. They nodded at each other Duo trained his gun and reached over to quickly press the button that would open the door.
What came flying out was huge, heavy, and metal.Duo was able to block it in time, but it still drove into him, knocking him back. A gun came up, from the darkness and Quatre dropped his own taser, kicking the gun up and lunged forward to grab it and push it further up, punching the body behind it, once, by touch, he had a sense of where the man's head was. He was relatively large though, hence being able to throw something that heavy that hard in low gravity. The punch didn't seem to do much good, so Quatre struck as hard as he could at the side of the man's neck, stunning him and twisted the arm he already had a hold of, shoving it up to lock the elbow and yanking hard, even as a punch barely missed his face, brushing the receding strands of his hair as he moved out of range. The man screamed in pain, dropped his gun and followed the pain in his pinned arm, out into the light where Quatre pulled him.
Trowa, aka the cavalry, had since arrived and drilled a shot into the man at close range. The man quickly succumbed to the anesthetic. What must have been close to seven feet of imposing soldier fell and hung in the low gravity, sinking slowly to the ground. Quatre released his arm before it broke from the strain, and turned to help Duo. Trowa reported success to Heero in the meantime, success on reaching their destination.
The longhaired boy had hit the bars surrounding the center column in his backward trajectory and now sat, somewhat senseless against them. One of his hands was pressed against his eyes and a steady stream of blood ran between his fingers. The item thrown had been an old monitor. It now sat in pieces to the side. Quatre kneeled and pulled Duo's hand away. A hefty cut in the center of his forehead had blood spewing into his eyes and down his nose.
Duo grinned painfully, a small groan escaping his lips. 'Wufei is going to kill me for this one." Quatre smiled and unzipped his jacket enough to pull out a handkerchief, handing it to the boy, who pressed it against his head. At least he didn't have a concussion, though he was unsteady on his feet as the blond helped him up.
"Quatre, five minutes."
That meant five minutes before their safety margin was used up and fifteen minutes all together. They split up and began to scan the various computer stations for the manual shut off. Trowa found it first… a small screen with a pop up window with two boxes and the self-destruct countdown flashing at the bottom. Apparently, someone else had tried to shut it down as well.
"Heero, I need a password."
Up in the control center, Heero started his search. "Roger… what server are you on?"
"It's called Zaphod… the program is labeled Syphon. It looks like the last user name was Ojroopesh."
Heero's fingers flew across the keyboard. "Acknowledged, Roopesh Ojha. Hold on."
Trowa stood patiently at the screen while Quatre and Duo pulled off the faceplate underneath. There was a tangle of wiring linked to a connection board underneath. Duo sighed.
"Typical IT. Never label a damned thing."
He turned on his back and slid into the small space to look at the wiring above the board. A loud curse came from under the desk. Quatre kneeled back down.
"Duo, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," he grunted. "Our friends seem to have a large rat problem. Can you find me some tools, and maybe a band-aid?"
Back in the control room, Wufei and Noin had stopped trying to back up the information they needed. It was gone. Wufei only hoped there was enough to glean some information as to who was backing the party. He walked over to Heero, leaving Noin to nurse her headache and pack up the data cylinders.
"We lost about seventy percent of the information of the information we wanted. It deleted itself. It's still going."
"I know," Heero grated out roughly, still typing.
"Huh? How?" Wufei asked, confused.
Heero glared up at him.
"It's wiped out all the password files."
Trowa watched his watch and decided he had had enough waiting. Duo was still cursing and fiddling with the wiring under the panel, but didn't seem to be making progress. Quatre couldn't do much but hand Duo the tools he needed. Trowa clicked on his communicator.
"Heero, we're past the safety line. Any progress?"
The comm. unit crackled to life.
"I'm dealing with a minor setback with the password files."
Trowa's eyebrows rose. "Huh? What kind of setback?"
"There are no more password files."
More, unintelligible cursing came from Duo. Apparently he had heard that.
"That could be a problem," Trowa agreed.
"Ah… Duo." Quatre said softly, leaning in so that his head was almost inside the little hatch. "I think it's all up to you at this point."
"Yeah. No pressure or anything." He shot out, cringing as a wire sparked. "Could you hand me the cutters again?"
"There may still be a chance," Heero said, searching as quickly as he could. "I'm searching the old cached information. Ojha has been a tech on board for five years. Apparently most of the backup is untouched still."
Wufei was now meditating lightly against the wall, but he laughed. "Let's just hope he didn't believe in changing passwords too much."
Heero didn't reply, continuing to watch the various searches as they combed through five years' worth of files. The timer continued to flash alarmingly in the bottom corner of the screen. They now had six minutes and thirty five seconds before the core overloaded and the whole base went. Noin had already called the fleet to stay at safe distance. She was now transferring the collected information to the Preventor databases, in case they failed.
As he waited for the files to surface, Heero's form of panicking was to calculate how much faster he could have this entire network running if he had been in charge.
Down in the reactor core, Quatre watched with some trepidation as the hum of the core began to gain in volume and pitch. He found himself running up the statistics of survival. Of course they would all die so close to the core, but Heero and Wufei might actually survive the initial impact. Unless they were picked up within thirty seconds of total exposure to deep space though, they would just die later. Of course the chance of being picked up by a chance spacecraft was close to nil.
"Aha!" Duo's whoop broke him from his morbid reverie. "I think I found it. Quatre, hand me the electrical tape and the pliers."
The blond complied. Trowa merely watched them, waiting for a word from Heero. They now had two minutes and the core was starting to sound very sick, sending vibrations through the hull of the ship. The other passengers would probably be panicking now. Trowa found himself regretting not having given that book to Quatre. Even if he may never get to use it, Trowa had desired very much for Quatre to know that Trowa wanted to give it to him. He wondered idly if he should tell Quatre that he had been meaning to give him a Jazz Piano book before they died. Maybe the blond would think he was crazy…
"Trowa, I have the file." Heero's voice was tinged with urgency.
Trowa snapped around and pressed a button to bring the screen back up.
"Go ahead."
"Try "Enlightenment"."
Trowa typed it in. The hourglass spun.
"No good."
"Quatre, I need some extra wire!"
"There isn't any."
"Never mind, I'll steal some from something else."
One minute and twenty-two seconds.
"Forty-two."
"That's not it."
"Some tape, Quatre… OW!" More cursing.
One minute and eleven seconds. The core was beginning to wine and pulse under their feet.
"Defenestrate"
"No."
"Just one more connection and I can trick it. Hand me the pliers again."
"Nirvana"
Trowa's fingers fumbled on the keys and he had to backspace and type again.
"No."
Heero cursed and went through the list. Ojha had different passwords for every goddamned system. One caught his eye though and he almost smiled. "Try this one."
"Quatre, cross your fingers," Duo said as he twisted the last wire together.
Fifty-five seconds.
"I don't want to die."
"What?" Trowa asked, perplexed.
"The password."
"Oh." He typed it in. "Wait, one word, or a sentence?"
"Sentence."
"With the apostrophe or without?"
Forty-nine seconds.
"Without."
Trowa hit the return key. A small gray window popped up with a message in Russian and two prompts below. Trowa knew enough Russian to know "Yes" and "No" and hoped that the window was asking him nicely if he was sure he wanted to abort the self-destruct. He clicked yes.
"That should be it," Duo said.
Wufei, Noin, and Heero waited for confirmation.
The whine of the core suddenly began to drop in intensity. Trowa laughed softly and watched the screen come up with a confirmation and the final count at point of abortion.
Forty-two seconds.
"Confirmed," he said quietly into the communicator.
"I guess that did it," Duo said matter-of-factly.Quatre, who had placed his hand on Duo's knee in anticipation, now slumped, his head landing on Duo's stomach in relief. Duo laughed and patted the blond head.
~~
"I think I should take the credit."
The three boys walked through the silent halls on the way back up to the control center, passing all the people who dozed in oblivion, not knowing how close to death they had been.
"You didn't rewire the controls before I entered the password."
"Guys, does it matter?"
"Trowa… My head is killing me, my ribs are killing me, I have laser burns and electrical burns and my hair smells like ratshit. Not to mention the fact that Wufei will kill me for getting injured… could you give me a little of the credit?"
Trowa laughed softly. "When you put it like that."
~~
The dinner that night was pleasant. The five boys, Sally and Noin were there. Noin quizzically explained Zechs' absence. He had requested a month of leave, telling no one where he would be, not even her. Technically, his vacation had not yet run out, but they were looking into his whereabouts anyway. So far, nothing. Only a hard gaze from Wufei gave the former Gundam pilots any reason to suspect this wasn't quite the whole truth.
Most of the entertainment came from Duo and Quatre. They played off each other pleasantly and even Heero smiled a few times. Trowa was received a very affectionate hug for a Jazz Piano book. He smiled softly the rest of the night. Most of the evening was spent, catching up on what had been happening in the last three years. On Sally's suggestion, they had decided on pizza in a quiet restaurant below Preventor headquarters. With no time for reservations and not much energy or desire to do anything formal, it topped off the evening nicely. A small local band played jazz and there was an outside patio so they sat outside in the cooler air.
Heero merely sat back and watched them. Eventually, they fell into a somewhat heated discussion about mobile suit design, Duo taking the lead, having customized his Gundam more than anyone. Heero excused himself quietly and walked out into the night air. As he exited the restaurant, he looked at the group one last time. He didn't see the blond anywhere and he stiffened.
"Heero."
He turned around. Quatre moved out from beneath the awning and approached him.
"Please don't leave." He smiled. "You never gave me an answer."
"Answer to what?"
"I asked you to come back with me after this remember?"
Memory sparked in the deep blue eyes but he shook his head. "I don't really have the time right now, Quatre," he said kindly. "Why don't you ask Trowa… or Duo?"
Quatre smiled. "Because I'm asking you. Hilde has Duo on a short leash and Trowa has to perform. You're not guarding Relena anymore, so I thought you could help me break into the Preventor files."
Quatre felt a spike of pain from Heero at hearing Miss Relena's name. He kept his sunny demeanor though. He filed that information away for later.
"You were always better at hacking than any of us. I could really use the help. Besides it would be nice to have an old friend around for a while. I would appreciate the company. Please Heero?"
Quatre's smile and his wide, questioning green eyes almost had Heero relenting. But Relena's name struck his chest like a cold iron spike and he shook his head. He had tried to go on after the war. He was so tired. Going on was a never-ending chore. He was ready to end it. It was time. This time, he would do it right. He would kill one more time and it would be over. He would finally get to rest.
"I can't," he said. "I'm sure you can handle it." He half-smiled and put a hand on Quatre's shoulder. "Take care of yourself." He started to walk away.
"So that's it. You're just going to disappear again."
He turned and gazed at the blond evenly. Why wouldn't he let this go?
"I have things I need to do Quatre."
"Like what, Heero? Find a bigger cliff?" Quatre's voice was rising with anger. Heero's eyes widened. Duo was right - he did know. Heero had always thought Quatre to be uncanny in his ability to see through people, but had never suspected him to have newtype abilities. It was inconsequential, though. Heero turned.
"This isn't any of your concern Quatre."
"A friend in trouble isn't any of my concern? That's rich Yuy. Is that part of your perfect soldier 'code'?"
Heero whirled on him and advanced calmly. "Don't call me that."
Quatre stood his ground, though the intense anger he felt from the other man was making his own hands shake. He didn't move though.
"Then stop acting like it," he snapped coldly. Heero froze.
"What?" he said, the bile rising in him. Quatre gazed at him, his eyes hard and unforgiving.
"You and I both know that part of this desire for self-destruction comes from your training. Don't even try to deny it. Your goal has always been finding a battle sufficient enough to bring your own death. If there's no 'mission' there's no Heero Yuy, because some bastard in a lab told you that's all you're good for."
Quatre took a step forward, closing the gap between them completely.
"That's the soldier in you, not the man. Not the man I call friend. Not the boy who kept me from doing just what you want to do four years ago. If you're not the perfect soldier, then why are you doing this? Because whatever this is really about Heero, underneath, you're still following orders."
"You don't understand."
"Do I need to Heero?" Quatre asked coldly. "One of my friends wants to kill himself and I would miss him if he was gone. What do I need to understand? That you feel like there's nothing left just because Relena isn't obsessed with you anymore?"
Quatre was grabbed bodily and shoved against a wall before he could get anything more out.
"Then maybe the man you think you know is gone," he hissed, shoving the other boy against the wall again. "Because you know nothing about the one in front of you," he bit out.
They were so close their breath intermingled. They stared at each other from across a distance of a few inches, both angry. Quatre let out a breath.
"Then show me." Quatre reached up and pulled Heero's hands off of his arms with relative ease and strength. "I want to understand Heero."
Heero shoved the boy up against the wall and backed away. "It's too late for that. Goodbye Quatre."
He started to walk away. For a second, he wasn't followed and he almost wanted Quatre to. But he heard nothing and so he continued to walk down the block. Suddenly though, he heard the quickened sound of shoes on concrete.
"Please." Quatre's voice was shaking now, not with anger, but misery. Heero couldn't ignore that. He stopped.
"Please don't leave us. Don't leave me Heero. I… I need you."
Once more, he walked back to the blond. "What?"
Quatre bowed his head. His hands were trembling.
"I'm going to need you Heero. I can't do this without you." He whispered the last sentence.
"Do what?" He stared intently at the boy, but Quatre wouldn't meet his eyes.
Quatre's hands clasped and he stared down at them.
"I… there's something I have to do," he whispered. "It's more than just finding out what's happening within the Preventor's organization. I need your help with that too. But soon, I'll have to do something else… and I can't do it alone."
"What is it? Quatre?" Heero finally grabbed the other man's arm.
Quatre looked up at him miserably. "I can't tell you now, but I will. Soon. Heero, please come with me. I need you here for this. I need all the pilots, but you most of all. I need to make sure that you'll be around when the time comes. Just come to Egypt with me."
"Hey."
They both looked up. Duo had stepped out. He was walking down the sidewalk toward them, looking at them suspiciously.
"Is everything all right? You guys have been gone for a while."
They didn't reply, merely staring at each other. Duo huffed.
"Heero," Duo said. The Japanese man finally looked at him, his arm not leaving Quatre's. "The correct answer is yes, Quatre, I'll come with you, and then we go back in, pretend nothing happened and have some dessert. Besides, I would feel much better knowing you're in Africa with Quatre, rather than bashing your brains out on the side of the mountain somewhere."
Heero's eyes narrowed and he glared at Quatre. "Does everyone know about this?"
Quatre shook his head. "Just Duo."
Heero continued to stare at the blond and Quatre couldn't continue to meet his eyes. He looked away. Heero dropped his arm.
"We'll talk. Later."
Quatre looked back up at him, but he was already walking back in. Duo winked at the hopeful blond and put an arm around his shoulders, guiding him in as well.
"Tell me blondie. Tell me I don't have good timing!" Quatre looked at the braided clown, amazed, because it was true. Quatre laughed and lovingly rested his head briefly on Duo's shoulder before they wandered back inside. The aftersurge of adrenaline hit him now harder then it had when they stopped the self-destruct countdown earlier that day.