DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing or Dark Angel.

A/N: Thanks to Angel Lily, Za Kaze no Nisou, and Spazoid for reviewing. ^^ In this chapter we meet Max and the transgenics…

Language-ness: Onna is Japanese for woman. It's one of Wufei's favourite insults.

~*~

Chapter Three

Shortly after midnight, the g-boys found themselves hiding behind an abandoned car in Sector 5, staring at a high chain-link fence ten yards away in front of them. They had just managed to slip unnoticed past a horde of sector police and a rowdy group of drunks pouring liquor on a large, burning 'X' in front of the same fence.

Heero took his gaze off of the Terminal City compound to check his gun. "Okay, men, this is the plan: we split up into pairs, I'll go alone, and get over the fence. Once we're inside, head for the roof of the target building. We'll go in through the top and do a little espionage before we make our move. It's every man for himself until we get to the roof. Any questions? Let's move…"

*

The pilots separated and headed to different regions of the fence, looking to gain entry.

Trowa looked up. "It looks about twelve feet tall. You're small, Quatre, I bet I could give you a boost."

Quatre squinted at the top. "But there's barbed wire."

Trowa knelt down and cupped his hands together. "So tuck in your head on the way over. And don't look down."

"But how will you get past it?"

Trowa's eyes sparkled. "I'll manage."

Quatre was launched over the fence with a grunt, clearing the coils at the top with an inch or two to spare. He rolled when he hit the ground to absorb the noise. A few moments later Trowa landed lightly on his feet next to him.

Quatre looked up at his friend in shock. "How did you do that?"

Trowa grinned. "A running start and a bit of a launch." He pointed at a board leaned up against an oil drum just outside the perimeter. The smile vanished as quickly as it had come and he drew out his gun. "Let's go."

*

Duo frowned at his enemy. Its chain links winked back at him mockingly in the dim light from the burning 'X.'

Wufei sighed. "Let's just climb the damn thing."

"What if it's electrified?"

In response the Chinese boy picked up a chunk of wood and heaved it at the fence. It clanged against the metal and fell to the ground with a thud, completely unharmed.

"All right, so we'll climb it…" Duo muttered as he approached the barrier. He heaved himself up, his braid swinging, and soon was at the top. Immediately he began to curse. "There's barbed wire up here!"

After an eternity of negotiation and awkward bending, he eased himself over the sharp coils and slowly made his way down the other side. Three feet from the bottom, he was jarred to a sudden stop and pain shot through his head. He looked up and cursed more fluently. My braid's caught in the barbs… Finally he was freed and he collapsed on the ground, vowing never to go near any fence again.

A shadow loomed over him as he examined the damage to his hair. "Hey, you're in my light…" He looked up to see Wufei standing there, completely unharmed.

"I didn't even see you go over the fence," Duo said with a little amazement.

"There was a hole a few yards away. I crawled through."

Duo jerked his head to see the hole, standing three yards away from where he'd gone over. He could have sworn it was laughing at him. A long line of thoughts involving Wufei, Wufei's mother, barnyard animals, and melting the damned fence down into sharp objects good for stabbing reeled through his mind. He shook his head to clear it and got up with a sigh. "Where's this building we have to climb?"

***

They got to the top of the building without too much trouble. When they got there, Heero was crouched behind a large metal box, examining the floorplan via a red-tinted flashlight.

"'Bout time you got here," he muttered when all were assembled.

Duo bristled. "Excuse me, Mr. I'm-a-perfect-soldier. My hair got caught!"

Heero looked up at Duo with his fierce eyes. "You should cut it off anyway. It's useless and dangerous."

Trowa cut off Duo's angry defense with a hand gesture. "How do we get in?"

"Through the air ducts." Heero pointed at a large round pipe curving out of the roof.

The pilots crawled into the vent one by one, dropping silently to the pipe below. They toiled slowly through the black ducts on hands and knees, straining to be silent.

Finally Duo saw a tiny rectangle of dim light ahead. After checking the room below, Heero popped the cover off the opening and they scrambled down into a small boiler room. The darkness was less absolute here than in the ducts. Duo could make out the outlines of his comrades' faces.

Heero checked the blueprint again silently. "We'll split up again, into two groups," he whispered softly. Trowa and Wufei take the left corridor and Duo, Quatre and I will take the right." He showed them the route. "Be absolutely silent!"

They split off and Duo crept down the corridor behind Heero with Quatre in tow. Nothing stood in their way until they were close to the parking level where Relena was supposed to be. Quatre was behind Duo, peering around in the near-darkness, when he suddenly tugged on Duo's sleeve.

Duo stopped Heero and looked at Quatre questioningly. The young man pointed wordlessly down the hall in front of them. A small figure was standing against the wall, unmoving. Maybe he's asleep, Duo thought.

He was proved wrong when the child--for it was too small to be otherwise--ran from the wall towards them. Running wasn't even the word for it. The kid was a blur to Duo's eyes. The God of Death drew his gun, hoping to get a lock on his target. Where is he? I can't even see him! All he could hear was strange clicking noises, and then Heero was locked in hand-to-hand combat with their assailant.

*

Quatre could now see the guard clearly. He was about five feet tall and completely bald. His eyes shone blackly as he fought with Heero, his limbs nearly a blur like his whole body had been a minute ago. Quatre could see Heero was going to lose this fight, and decided to help out. He crept up behind the smaller boy and brought the butt of his gun down swiftly against his head. A loud crack could be heard and the guard fell to the floor, stunned but apparently not unconscious.

The pilots took this opportunity to flee down the hall. Heero looked bothered that he had needed Quatre's help to defeat a soldier half his size, but ran just the same. There were no more guards and they got to their destination in a few minutes.

"So much for the element of surprise," Duo muttered as they climbed back up into the ceiling.

The three boys edged through a maze of pipes, trying not to step on ceiling tiles below. Heero put his finger to his lips and carefully pried up the corner of a tile. After peering through, he replaced it and pulled one up a few feet away. His messy brown hair was lost from view as he dropped trough the hole. Quatre followed after, landing on a rusty metal beam next to him. Duo came last, replacing the tile behind him.

Below them the huge warehouse room was teeming with bodies. Normal humans were talking and socializing with creatures beyond Quatre's imaginings. He saw a woman that looked like a cat, sleeping peacefully on a blanket in a corner; a man with pure white skin relaxing in front of an open fridge with an ice pack on his forehead. In the centre of the room a huge man with scales was talking to a dog-man around a cigar. There must have been a hundred people and creatures there, at least.

Quatre was so fascinated by what he saw that when Heero touched his arm he jumped and nearly fell off the beam. He steadied himself and followed Heero's pointing finger. Relena was tied up to a chair in a corner, surrounded by three of the creatures and one human woman, her chocolate skin shining with perspiration. Next Heero pointed discreetly at a beam across the cavernous room, where Trowa and Wufei crouched, looking around.

"Now what?" Quatre whispered. "How do we get Miss Relena?"

"They're all awake now. They have to go to sleep sometime. We'll try to save her then." Heero communicated the same message across the distance to the other two with sign language.

Quatre looked at Duo to see if he'd heard. The 02 pilot's eyes were glazed over as he stared at something or someone below them. "Duo. Duo!" Quatre whispered sharply, finally poking Duo to get his attention.

"Huh? Wha-?"

Quatre sighed patiently. "We wait 'til they go to sleep and then try to get Miss Relena."

"Oh…kay." Duo's eyes went back to searching the floor. Evidently he had lost whoever he was looking at.

Quatre sighed and settled in to wait.

*

Duo looked all around the floor below him, searching every face before moving on to the next. Where had she gone? He had just been staring at the most stunningly beautiful woman he'd ever seen, and then Quatre distracted him and he lost her. She had just been talking to that black girl guarding Relena, and now she had vanished.

He looked up. Oh, there she was, crawling across the rafters towards Trowa and Wufei.

Wait a minute…

He went white as a sheet and started to shake Heero wordlessly, pointing frantically towards the other two boys and their silent stalker. Heero swore softly and whipped out his gun, taking aim carefully. The silenced bullet pierced the wood of the opposite beam right between two of her black-gloved fingers. The woman looked up sharply, but more importantly, so did Wufei and Trowa.

The two boys stood up and retreated, intending to climb back into the ceiling. Duo watched in silent horror as Trowa backed into a tall, well-built man standing on the beam behind him.

*

Wufei glared daggers at the tall, dark haired woman in front of him. Her fists were out defensively in front of her, a pitiful gesture. He could take any woman who dared approach him. The glare in her eyes matched his.

"Bring it on, onna," he spat, lowering himself to an almost-crouch. He was unarmed and almost wished Yuy would shoot her. Almost. He still looked forward to humiliating her more.

After a centuries-long staredown, she made the first move, rushing at him and aiming with a black-clad leg for his head. He blocked it easily and punched her. Her head reeled back slightly from the impact and she let loose with a flurry of punches that could have easily cracked the two-by-fours around him. He dodged every one, though barely.

His eyebrows raised slightly. She's good, he thought. For an onna. He attacked again, but she dodged this one and pulled his arm over her shoulder, flipping him forcefully into the beam under her. All the air rushed out of his lungs and he lay there, winded and sore. He squeezed his eyes shut with the pain and when he opened them her face swam into view.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Her voice gnawed at him. He wanted to rip her insolent face off.

"What's it to you, bitch?"

She glared at him again and looked about to push him off the beam. Instead she turned around. "Alec, have you got the other one?"

"Yeah, Maxie. He's squirmy though." A deep male voice echoed back.

"Let's go. We'll put them down with the vice minister." She hoisted Wufei up and dragged him down a ladder somebody had set up. When they got to the floor he was swept away by a scaly creature smoking a cigar.

At least they left Yuy, Maxwell and Winner, Wufei thought as he was secured to a chair under heavy guard. He looked discreetly up to the roof and was disappointed to see the woman, her companion and a dog-man surrounding them. Quatre fell off the beam and was caught by a human-looking boy. God damn them. Now what will we do?

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A/N: Not the best way to meet new people. How will the g-boys rescue Relena, or just get out of this mess? I apologize, but school, life and my dad's addiction to online hearts and euchre may keep me from updating this story for a while. I'll do my best. Ja.