I had quite a scare with this chapter. I accidentally saved another file in its location. Luckily I had deleted a copy of it earlier so I was able to rescue it, but it was very scary.

The support for this story thus far has been much more than I expected. So, for your reward, a brand spanking new chapter!

------------

Chapter 3: The Long Road

So, true to her word, Une was in the conference room one hour later. Suddenly though, I felt very tired. I guess the last few days were just catching up to me. I didn't care right now since Une promised I could go home, err to my hotel, once this mission was over.

Unfortunately for me however, my sunburn did not go unnoticed by the others in the room and soon snickers and pointing ensued. I ignored it, the debriefing was the most important part of the mission. Because if you didn't know what the hell you were supposed to do, how could you do it?

This mission was supposed to be an easy one. Supposed to is an interesting phrase, since I was paired with so many greenies, being easy was an unlikely outcome. But it did sound simple though, it was all staged actually. Preventers rented a building on the outskirts of town and once a month the new preventers were taken there to pass their final test. It was an infiltration mission, and every month the mission changed. The guards were always supposed to do different things and the objectives were always different. Our particular mission seemed simple. There was a captive Called Mary-Anne Sue… kinda corny I know. But it was a simple search and rescue, get in, get Mary, get out.

The Mission

So in less than thirty minutes we were armed and on our way. There were two teams going in to get Mary, it wasn't a competition, just a way to make the groups smaller. So there were actually two Marys in this building, if one team got there first, there was still one Mary left for the other team. Our mission started almost seven blocks from the building itself. Because honestly we couldn't just drive up to every target and rush in now could we? This was supposed to emulate a real mission after all. We all jumped out of the van and paired off. I paired off with a greeny named Rickie, he had been in training for over a year now, and seemed rather ticked that I had only been trained for two days, and was now on this mission. But I figured he would get over it fairly quick right?

At least Rickie was skilled, he moved fast and quiet, not nearly as stealthy as I, but still pretty good. We stopped just a few feet from the building to scout it out. There must be alarms, we both agreed, and decided to take our time getting in. We shuffled over to a side window and places a thin wire through the side to check for wiring on the inside. If we lifted the window and the alarm blew then our mission would be over. The telltale hitch in the smooth movement of our metal wire told of electric alarms. Nodding to Rickie he pulls out a small shocker drop. It was kinda odd looking, it was like a drop of water that we placed on the end of our metal wire and when it touched the alarm on the other side it would zap it.

Once we got the alarms down we both slid gracefully through the small window.. and then landed gracefully on our asses on the concrete floor. We had been given a map before leaving, like the other teams. It was not an exact map just a guess where the damsels in distress were supposed to be. So ours said on the fifth floor somewhere in the right side of the building. We dodged and rolled our way over the stairs and under the door ways, careful not to be spotted or heard. Lucky for me Preventers had taken up the same basic signals me and the other guys had used during the war. Because of this it was easy to fall in step with Rickie, a head nod here an eye dart there and we were communicating on a different level.

Took the two of us an hour to reach the fifth floor, we were not stupid enough to use the elevator directly or the main stairwell. There were side wells and hidden doors that led to other floors. Considering how dangerous a real mission could be we were making excellent time. On the fifth floor it was not hard to determine where the damsels were being held. There were two armed guards standing outside the door with mean looks on their faces. Although this was supposed to be like a real mission we had been given orders not to harm any of the guards here. They were volunteers and minor employees, most of which, barely knew how to hold guns much less use them. Before entering the building everyone had been informed that merely sneaking up on them and pressing a finger to the back of their neck or speaking the word 'down' was enough to get them to act like you knocked them out.

I smiled evilly as I moved very slowly and cat like to my guard, Rickie had doubled around the other side and was getting his. It was almost sad how very out of it these guards were. I was literally breathing on his ear when I said 'down'. Scared the poor guy to death I think but then he nodded and I turned to see his partner already downed by Rickie. With a smile and a nod Rickie and I walked into the room to save our woman… well actually I should rephrase that. The thing was.. they were dolls. Although they were not exactly life size they were close and very heavy. I suppose this was a thing to teach us that our damsel would not always be conscious.

Within an hour and a half Rickie and I were almost back to our window, but we were pretty sure we could not go back out that way. If it had just been the pair of us I suppose it would have been alright. But with how small the window was and how, uncooperative the doll was our only way to get her out would be to shove her out. There were video cameras everywhere though, and if Une saw us shove our prize out the window to land on it's head then I was pretty sure we would be docked… a lot. The first floor was a rather open level. There were beams and walls occasionally but rarely anything else. It made it hard to escape since there were few placed to hide. Rickie and I had broken apart, I took the doll of course, and we would meet back together in fifteen minutes with escape suggestions. Out of all the things I expected would be difficult on this mission, I did not think getting out would be the thing, since most times I could get out the same way I got in. I had very little success in my escapades, but Rickie seemed overly cheerful when he returned to our rendezvous point.

"I found the way out" he said in a boastful tone. "It's so simple its almost stupid."

I will admit I had my doubts, anything that simple would be rigged somehow, but I followed on like a blind idiot to wherever he lead. Just a note to myself, I should not be so very trusting of Rickie in the future. He lead me directly to the side entrance, once out it would be no doubt easy to get away. But getting out would be hard since there were three guards there. The thing about the first floor was, you couldn't knock out guards here, since it was so heavily guarded if you attempted to 'down' someone, they would not down just call for back up. I let out a long sigh and glared at Rick.

"How the hell do we get passed them"

He looked at me like I was some idiot.

"Well its obvious, I take the damsel, you distract them and I get out with her then you run like hell and follow"

I felt my face flaming, there was no way in hell a tactic like that should ever be used. There were several other options to get out of this building and if there was another way then you were not supposed to put your partner in danger. I voiced my anger of course, but not loudly since the guards would hear us.

"What in hell are you thinking Rickie? You NEVER put your partner in danger if there is another option'"

He seemed pissed that I was not willing to play his dummy for him and got an angry look when he yell-whispered back.

"Look its perfectly sane, I am sick to fucking hell of being in here and I want damn well out. This way is the easiest and fastest way out. So we are doing it whether you like it or not.

My eyes got a determined look and I clenched my teeth, practically spitting out my response to him.

"NO! I will not do it Rickie, there is another way, now MOVE the fuck OUT!"

I stood up, damsel in my arms, a stupid move though. Rickie was determined not to give up his avenue of escape and before I saw what was coming a fist flew into my right eye, and with the added weight of the doll I was sent tumbling into the door. I can't really say I blamed the guard for what happened next, I mean the guy was a volunteer and nothing like this had ever happened to him before. Basically his gut reaction was to fire at me, out of fear. Lucky for me though, they were only rubber bullets. Actually I shouldn't say lucky me, since I am sure my ribs were not happy about it when the rubber bullets hit them. I heard the familiar woosh of my air rushing out of me and everything went black.

I awoke in the preventers med-center with Sally leaning over me flashing light in my eyes. I had a quick witted and silly thought come to mind and even with my foggy mind I could not help but voice it.

"Wow Sally, I have not seen you in years and the first thing you do is flash me."

I won a chuckle from her but I bet she was pissed deep down. But in the end she always had her revenge since we always came to her hurt and needed her help. With a kind voice Sally gave me the basics on my injuries.

"Well save for a black eye and some very bad bruises on your chest, I think you will live. You can leave as soon as you talk to Une and now that you are awake I will go buzz her and get her up here."

I leaned back in my hospital bed and stretched my arms overhead then stopped and winced at the pull of pain in my chest. I pretty much figured out what Une and I were going to discuss, no doubt Rickie would be in trouble over this. My eyelids had flittered closed for a few moments to rest my eyes since I was very tired when suddenly I heard a crash in the room. My eyes flew open and peered in the direction of the peace breaking sound. I soon found myself gazing into beautiful midnight blue eyes and my breath froze… it was Heero

------------------------------

AHAHA! Cliff Hanger!….. okay sorta cliff hanger .Hope you all enjoyed having a much longer chapter this time around. aren't we all happy that I stayed up very very late to get this chapter done?!?Anyways, still would like a beta-reader (twould be nice). Not desperate for one just want one since I am pretty sure I have grammar problems. Reviews are fabulous and so are suggestions and such :D