the plot thickens...

but yesh, heero is alive. and he's gonna be pissed... XD hee-chan's still kinda screwed up though... well, you'll see :D

oh, and we're about halfway through the fic here. there's only like 5 more chapters after this one XD

and thanks for the *looks real quick* 3 reviews last chapter... and all the hits X3

Chapter 6

Rescue You

The sound of worried and confused chatter brought him back to his senses. He sat up slowly, finding that his tattered shirt and bulletproof vest were gone, replaced by a thin layer of bandages. His chest had been heavily bruised, and there were a few other non-life-threatening gashes and gunshot wounds littering his body. He was still terribly exhausted.

"H-Heero! Lie down! You're still hurt..." Sally, upon noticing that he was awake, quickly went to his side.

"No," Heero growled, voice even, "Where's Duo? Why isn't he here?"

Sally didn't reply to that, nor did Une, who was standing near the doorway.

"Lie down Heero, I don't want to have to make you," ordered Sally, staring at Heero smugly.

"Follow your orders, Yuy. Even if you're supposed to be dead, you still have to do as you're told," that was Une. She didn't seem to be able to meet his piercing cobalt gaze...

"...Dead?" asked Heero, confused as he lay back on the cot.

Une tried to explain, "You were missing for over a week, under the circumstances of your mission, it was logical to assume that—"

"You told Duo I was dead?" cried Heero, jumping to his feet to glare at Une in pure fury. "He's surely committed suicide by now!"

Nobody tired to push Heero down this time. They knew he was far too angry to be stopped. Even after all these years, deep down—even if it wasn't so evident anymore—he was still the mercilessly trained 'Perfect Soldier' with his hair-triggered violent responses. He was still one of the most dangerous men alive.

"He hasn't, I can assure you that! Not yet, at least," defended Une as Heero stalked towards her, looking more and more dangerous by the moment. He cared about Duo more than anything; so if his lover had lost his life to a lie, then everyone responsible was going to pay with their own lives. Everyone, including Heero himself.

"What are you talking about," he demanded, glaring daggers at her.

Une stood tall, glaring right back. Something told her that Heero wouldn't hurt her... yet. "I sent him to finish your mission. He was suicidal, so obviously if he took on a mission as dangerous as that, he wouldn't be bound by the fear of death. I told him that as soon as he returned with the data on the rebel's weapon, he was free to take his own life if he wanted."

"And what are his chances of success? Did you even think of that? Not only is he suicidal, but his mind is obscured by depression; there's no way he can come up with an effective mission strategy!" screeched Heero. But then his voice got deadly serious, explaining, "The reason I failed my mission was because he made me swear to ditch that mission if I didn't think I could make it back safely. I was captured when I tried to escape with the data—they destroyed everything, my transmitter, my weapons, even their own data—then they locked me up for god knows how long until I finally escaped and made it out of there."

Une and Sally were speechless. Heero then pushed right past them. "I'm going to find him. Don't you dare even try to stop me," he growled. Somewhere, Heero knew all too well that this little stunt could very well cost him his job, but he didn't care. And he also knew that Une wouldn't fire him in the end, because not only had he lived when she had declared him dead, but he was saving the life of another of her highest ranking agents. Heero and Duo were just too valuable to her, and she'd be indebted to Heero for saving Duo's life...

Heero didn't care that he was hurt or that he was still on the verge of collapse. His need to rescue Duo was more than enough to keep his body functioning. All that mattered to him now was getting Duo back in his arms, alive. And Heero would not fail. He couldn't...

. . .

Back in a jet taking him to the drop-zone again, Heero sat in the chair, head in hands. He couldn't believe that all this was happening. If he had just been a little more careful, or insisted that Duo had come with him on the mission in the first place, then none of it probably would be happening.

Une had told him everything that she knew—how Duo had reacted to the news, how he had acted more angry than mournful, when he left...

Shaking his head to clear it of those thoughts, Heero got the attention of the pilot and co-pilot. He didn't bother asking politely, knowing that with his rankings, he could be as rude as he wanted to be and get away with it. "I need you to drop me as close to the enemy base as you can without endangering yourselves. And don't bother finding any clearings or proper drop-zones."

"Yes sir," nodded the pilot. It was not the same pilot and co-pilot as the pair that had first taken Heero and Duo to their mission destination, which was probably a good thing...

Heero directed his attention back to the floor. It was going to be at least another three hours till he got there; and he was still so tired... He really should try to stay awake and devise a strategy, but...

. . .

"Sir? ...Wake up, sir. We're almost there," said the co-pilot, his voice pulling Heero up from the depths of oblivion.

Heero remained silent, his eyes opening slowly. He felt slightly more rested now—if not terribly groggy—but not really enough. He'd probably be running completely on an adrenaline high in a few hours or so... But that didn't really matter to him; as long as he rescued Duo, it was okay.

Still not saying a word, Heero went to go get his things together. He hooked several grenades to his belt, slung his gun over his shoulder, made sure he still had that little med-kit in his belt-pack...

Heero felt a slight sensation of déjà vu as he strapped on his parachute. It was just like when he started this horrible mission all those days ago—he honestly didn't know how long he had been gone.

It wasn't long until the pilots gave the okay for Heero to leave. He leapt out of the plane—much like Duo had—and pulled his parachute when he was still a good ways up. He took that time to observe how close he was to the enemy base, as well as get his bearings straight. Heero was actually lucky enough to find a small clearing to land in, and he detached himself from his parachute as fast as he could. He took off in the direction of the rebel facility.

"I'm coming to rescue you, Duo..."

ouhoooo! you better hurry heero!

so? what ya think? gonna review? please do XD

until tomorrow, then...