well, here we go! sorry for teh late update... me and quatre (me and heero's friend XD) were hangin out all day

so yesh, heero found duo, but duo thinks he's seein a ghost! how tragic!


Chapter 8

Escape

"Duo!"

He whirled around in shock, his gun falling from his hands and clattering onto the floor. He stared at Heero, disbelieving. He had to be a ghost... this was just too good to be true.

Heero stared back, speechless, so glad that he had made it to his lover in time. Duo was still alive.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

The sound of Duo's voice—angry, as if he didn't want to see what was before his eyes—brought words back to Heero's lips.

"Duo, pick up you're weapon! We're not safe here!" Heero began walking towards Duo quickly, who was still standing there, paralyzed by shock and disbelief.

And, as if on cue, shouts began to echo through the halls. The enemy was closing in on them; there was no time to get away. They would have to stay and fight.

Heero finally came up to Duo, shaking his lover's shoulders. "Duo, get a hold of yourself!" Time was running out. Heero bent down to pick up Duo's gun, forcing it into the other's hands.

"Y-you're back..." stuttered Duo.

"We'll discuss that later. I need you to help me, Duo! We need to fight!"

I Need You.

Help.

Fight.

Duo was suddenly aware of himself again. He was suddenly serious; suddenly ready to fight. He locked away all memories of the recent tragedy, and let it just be Heero and Duo again. Just the two of them, fighting back to back, slaughtering the enemy like back in the days of the war... even if Heero was just a ghost... even if Duo was still alone...

The rebel forces came at them from two directions—the way Duo had come and where he had been headed—leaving only one way of escape. There were a lot of them, almost too much for Heero and Duo alone. But they fought anyways, shot down as many men as they could. Of course, the rebels shot at them too, but with the way the two Preventer agents were darting around the small space, almost none of their bullets made contact. Inevitably, both Heero and Duo received a few grazes and whatnot, but most of the wounds and casualties were on the enemy side. Most of the wounds...

Out of the corner of his eye, Duo saw a rebel edging around to the back. He was aiming his gun at Heero, who had his back turned on that end of the hallway... Duo couldn't let this happen.

"Heero! No! Look out!" screeched Duo as he threw himself into harm's way, shielding his lover. Even if his mind still thought that Heero wasn't really there, that he was just a ghost; Duo had to protect him... The bullet hit a moment later, burrowing itself an inch or so below the right side of his collar bone, but close enough to his arm that it had missed his Kevlar vest—it was a lucky shot, completely missing his ribcage. But that rebel had been aiming for Heero's heart...

Duo fell back against Heero, uttering a small noise of pain. Heero, who had already spun around in surprise, wrapped an arm around his lover's waist, keeping him upright. He took down the enemy without hesitation, freeing the way for their escape. And, despite the fact that there were still several rebels left alive, Heero took off down the hall, pulling Duo along with him. However, before Heero was too far, he took a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin with his teeth, and tossed it over his shoulder at the remains of the rebel forces.

The concussive force of the explosion sent Heero and Duo to the floor, nearly knocking them both out. Heero, whose body was no longer fueled by adrenaline, blacked out for a few moments as he and his partner lie on the ground. Duo had managed to stay conscious, but he did not rise just yet. He clutched at the wound in his shoulder, his face slightly contorted in pain.

A moment later, however, before Heero had risen from the darkness, Duo managed to push himself up a bit. He stared at Heero in confusion for a split second before realizing what had happened. A terrible fear replaced that confusion. He shook his lover's shoulder, scared that he would not wake. And he had just gotten Heero back, even if he wasn't really there... "Heero...! Wake up! Please...!" he begged.

With a near inaudible groan, Heero slowly opened his eyes. But then the sense of urgency returned and he was up in a moment, pulling Duo to his feet as well. "Are you alright? Did that bullet—?"

Duo cut Heero off, "I'm fine. I don't think it hit anything, so I'll be okay for now. But Heero... are you alright? Are you really alive...?" he asked they began running again, hand in hand.

"I am," was all Heero said, answering both of Duo's questions to some degree.

The two Preventer agents ran down the halls as fast as they could. Now that Duo had the data on that weapon, all that was left was to destroy the place... but not just yet.

Coming across a rather dark hallway, Heero and Duo hurried down it. They came to a stop not too far from where they had come in, but still far enough that they were slightly hidden by the shadows. The both of them collapsed to their knees on the floor, and before Heero could even react, Duo had enveloped him in a hug.

"I'm so glad you're back!" he sobbed into Heero's chest, making sure to keep his voice quiet. Duo could feel tears streaming from his eyes—Heero was back from the dead. He felt so real, so warm. He even smelled just like Heero—it was like he had never died. It felt so real, that Duo could almost believe that it really was Heero in his arms; that he wasn't just hallucinating. "I'm so glad... even if you are just a ghost..."

"A ghost...? Duo, I'm here. I'm real. I didn't die," said Heero, forcing the other to look him in the eye.

"You didn't? But..." Duo's body was trembling, his cheeks wet with tears. But Heero really had died, right? That's why Duo was on this mission, that's why he was going to commit suicide as soon as he got the chance. But maybe, since Heero's ghost was here, Duo could stay in this world a bit longer. As long as Heero was with him... even if he wasn't real...

Heero grabbed Duo's hand, pressing it to the side of his face. "If I was a ghost, would you be able to touch me? Would you be able to feel me under your fingertips? Duo, I'm real. I didn't die," insisted Heero. "If I was a ghost, would you be able to kiss me?"

"I... I don't know..." mumbled Duo, averting his gaze. But then, he looked up into Heero's cobalt eyes. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to the other's. Heero's arms wrapped over Duo's shoulders, and Duo's went around Heero's waist. They broke off the kiss rather soon as Heero pressed a hand to the bloodied gunshot wound in Duo's shoulder.

"I need to bandage this..." muttered Heero, his tone indifferent, still not sure if Duo believed he was there or not. He pulled out the tiny med-kit in his belt-bag and got to work wrapping up the wound. Thankfully, there was not only a hole from where the bullet went in, but there was an exit-wound as well—the bullet must've stopped when it hit Heero's Kevlar vest.

"You really are alive..." whispered Duo around a wince—he was starting to feel lightheaded from blood loss. He was so glad that Heero wasn't a ghost. He was so glad that he was real. He was so glad that he could be in his lover's arms again. He was so glad...

"I told you so," smiled Heero as he pulled Duo to his feet. "C'mon, we need to get out of here before they find us."

And they took off into the halls again. Heero, having already been here once, had a good idea of where the rebel's weapon arsenal was. Thankfully, they didn't run into many guards—they all must've been sent to take the two Preventer agents down at once, back there. And the ones that were left went down without much effort. But still, Duo was wounded and Heero was on the verge of collapse. They didn't have much fighting strength left, so this mission had to come to an end very soon.

"Wait," Heero said, pulling Duo to a stop.

"What is it?" Duo asked, still holding the other's hand tightly.

Heero looked around to make sure that they were still hidden, "It's a three day hike back to the drop-zone, right? We'll need to steal some supplies before we blow this place up."

"Yeah. Any idea where they keep food and stuff?" asked Duo, glancing around as well for a moment, before he looked up at Heero.

"Think so..." said Heero, pulling Duo down the halls again.

Soon enough, they came across the supply room. After digging around for a moment, Duo found a bag and Heero tossed in several bottles of water and some packages of food. Heero slung the strap of the bag over his shoulder, then the two Preventer agents took off into the halls again.

When they finally reached the weapons arsenal, Heero and Duo hurried to set up as many explosives as they could. Thankfully, the rebel base actually wasn't that big—it seemed to be some sort of old, renovated warehouse, to be exact—so simply setting all their bombs in one place would probably do the trick. After wiring a few of the C-4 blocks and tossing in anything else that could help with the explosion, the two Preventer agents made a run for it. They had set the bombs with a timer of ten minutes—they had to hurry.

It was relatively easy making their way out—all they had to do was backtrack to avoid the few guards that were still alive. Before they knew it, Heero and Duo were dashing down the last hallway; the exit was in their view. Then they were outside, back in the icy darkness of night. Still hand in hand, the two Preventer agents ran back to the safety of the forest. There wasn't much time left now...

Sheer will power was all that was keeping Heero's legs moving underneath him now. And he knew that the moment he stopped, he would collapse. He had hardly gotten a single chance to rest while he had been captured. The rebels hadn't really beaten him or tortured him like they usually did; they just forced him to stay awake nearly all hours of the day. At first, he was able to handle their torture methods, but as time had gone by, he had grown weaker and weaker and weaker. But he had managed to escape and save Duo, so that was all that mattered.

Duo was having trouble keeping himself going as well. The bullet in his shoulder throbbed with pain in time to the rapid beat of his heart. The wound hadn't bled too much, for that he was grateful, but he had still lost enough blood for it to sap quite a bit of his strength. But more than anything, Duo was scared for Heero's wellbeing. He still had no clue how the other had managed to still be alive, much less get to him in time. However, there was no time to worry about that as the two made their way deeper and deeper into the dark forest.

The explosion shook the ground, filled the air with ash, lit up the black night sky.

Heero and Duo both lost their footing as the forest floor shuddered beneath them. Darkness took Heero in an instant, leaving Duo alone for several moments until he too fell into the depths oblivion...


hehe poor heero and duo... :D

well, next chapter tomorrow...

-Shinigami out.