MOUNTEBANK Ch. 8
The halls were dark and full of shadows, and Duo blended in easily. Without the hall lights lit for the day, and no other inmates in the cells to speak of, the escape was almost too easy.
Duo had his glock at the ready, and we ran. The hallway seemed to stretch for miles before we reached its exit- the elevator. The panel next to the door was already undone, most likely Duo's doing from earlier.
"The cameras are only down for an hour, and thank god you were sleeping on the floor. That still image will be up by the time the CCTV goes back on line." Duo said as he pulled a pin from his hair and his smartphone from his pocket. He inserted the pin into the exposed panel and pushed. The elevator doors roared open, but the elevator itself was a floor below. We were greeted by the car's suspension cables.
Duo let loose a satisfied sigh and replaced the hair pin and smartphone on his person. He finally took a second to take a look at me.
"How are you feeling? Do you think you can climb?" He said, gesturing the cables.
I couldn't hesitate, this seemed to be our only out.
"I'm fine. I can handle it." My muscles were atrophied and my core was weak from the lack of real food, but I was hoping my adrenaline would kick in somewhere between the hallway and the threshold. I had to be able to climb.
You have to make it out. Her voice, my hallucination, sang in my ears. I could feel my confidence building, even if it was due to my delusion.
I hopped over to the top of the elevator car and barely landed upright. The car swung from side to side, resulting in a loud scraping noise from the cart hitting against the vertical tunnel.
"There are overnight crews stationed on each floor but Une's. We gotta watch our footing." Duo whispered as he cleared the jump with ease. He nodded over to the main cable with his head. "You go first, I've got your six man." I cringed and reached for the braided cable, relishing its cool, thick weight. It was made of millions of metal fibers that poked and prodded at my skin. Maybe the pain of getting pricked by the wire would increase my blood flow and in turn, light a fire under my ass.
With whatever strength I had, I pulled myself up the cable. It wasn't exactly hard, I had done things like this many times before, but I was lacking the typical strength I was accustomed to. All those bowls of chicken soup had left my muscles to waste.
I rested my bare feet in between whatever loops in the wire I could find, allowing myself respite. When I found the support I needed, I let the relief wash over me. This was possible, I could do this.
I looked down and saw Duo, cap on and grip firm on the cable beneath me. He was ready to go. I had to be, too.
I flexed each hand and inhaled, pulling myself up.
We had been climbing for several minutes when I felt the cables engage.
Someone had activated the elevator.
I froze in my spot, bracing for any pain that could come with getting caught in the moving cable, but the pain didn't come. Instead, I felt my body lower.
The elevator was going down, and so were we.
"Hang tight man, we are going down a floor or two. We should be fine as long as we don't let go." Duo's voice came from below me.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tightened my grip on the cable.
You won't fall. I won't let you.
The elevator came to a rest two floors below where we started, which allowed us to come to the realization that we needed to climb even farther and even faster to avoid another setback.
You can do this.
So we climbed. After a few minutes I started to realize we were headed towards the one floor with a rooftop patio. A lot of floors didn't have windows, and those that did were either fused shut to the building or equipped with alarms. Our only hope was to get a door open and get out onto the patio.
Soon, I could see where the roof came into view. The elevator shaft was ending. I couldn't help but smile, I was finally about to taste freedom. After nearly two weeks in solitary confinement, I was about to bust out.
But my stomach soon began to lurch, the lack of conditioning becoming ever apparent. I had been in space for years, I still didn't have my land legs yet. I had eaten nothing but chicken broth for my last two weeks of meals. I was soft and weak.
I slowed to a stop, gripping the fraying cables to my chest, savoring the pin pricks of stray metal fibers straining against the braided strands. Maybe if I stuck myself to the cable, I wouldn't fall.
"You alright bud?" Came the gravelly voice from below. Duo. That's right, he was here. I couldn't stop, not when he was below me. The thought of letting him down after we had come this far was starting to eat away at me, and I felt my palms grow slick with abhorred sweat.
I took in a deep breath, wheezing from exhaustion.
"Almost there, Heero. C'mon. You can do this." He strained.
You can do this. Came the auditory hallucination once more. My guardian angel delusion.
I felt myself grunt out loud, and gripped the cable below me with my bare feet. The prickling fibers felt like shards of glass, but it was enough to wake me up. The sudden rush allowed me the strength to clean off my sweaty palms one at a time, struggling against the cable as I did so.
So I pulled again. And I got my traction back. And I pulled again. Here was the homestretch. I pulled again. I couldn't wait to huff the Brussels air. I could practically taste it.
Ping.
I stopped.
A faint, lighthearted sound that felt menacing at the same time.
Most likely another delusion. Popcorn was ready. Sure I could go for some popcorn.
Ping.
That time was louder.
"Heero...I think we need to climb faster..." Duo warned, voice shaking. I chanced a look down, and saw the elevator car coming up the shaft. It moved at a pace annoyingly slow enough to irk whoever was riding it, yet terrifyingly fast for those of us managing to climb the shaft's cable.
"Fuck." The word came out like a prayer. And the elevator wasn't stopping.
Throwing all caution to the wind, I somehow increased my pace. I hadn't been capable of something like this in years. Had I really saved the world? Had I nearly died as many times as I did, only to come out on top? Was I not, a Gundam pilot in the days of my youth?
Fuck yes. I pulled the cable, and I pulled my body with it.
"There he is!" Duo hollered, easily matching my pace.
As we reached the top of the shaft, the elevator slowed to a stop on our desired floor. I looked down at Duo, who was already ahead of me, and standing on top of the car.
He waved at me, and made a gesture like he was going to jump. It was idiotic, and risky. If we slipped out on top of whoever was riding the elevator, we would be granted access to the floor, and possibly a few weapons if they were armed. But we'd have to take them down. Did I really have that in me?
I didn't have time to act, as the elevator 'pinged' once again, and the doors slid open. I let go of the cable, and tried best I could to land on my feet. I miscalculated the fall, and felt my ankle roll. Stifling a hiss, I rolled over the top of the car and through the narrow opening on top of the two already unconscious, and unlucky, bystanders.
Duo stood nearby, spare glock in an extended hand.
"Thanks." I grumbled as I accepted the weapon, but it was hard to keep my composure. I couldn't help the smirk that pulled at the corner of my mouth.
"Save the PDA for later buddy. I still have to get you out of the building." He chuckled while clicking off his safety. I nodded in assent, the hard part was over in my opinion, but he still had a point. How were we going to get down the building? Rappel? Base jump? No one had a spare helicopter and the patio on this floor was definitely not large enough to land one anyway.
I recognized the floor immediately. It was the Foreign Affairs floor, one of the many places you could find Relena besides the Brussels Embassy nearby. When she wasn't colony hopping or working on the road, she was either here or making appearances at the Embassy. She didn't keep a permanent office.
I don't like to be stuck in one place too long.
It was strange, I had thought the voice would be gone by now. But the delusion was taking hold in the back of my brain, and I was now starting to welcome it...to look forward to it.
And the voice was right. Relena didn't like to stay in one place too long. I could only imagine how she was feeling now...or how she felt.
My confidence in her being found alive was at an all time low.
"I know what you're thinking, and I am NOT going to let you think it." Duo growled. "She's alive man. She is. We wouldn't let you down like that. We just...slipped up." I couldn't fight the defeated look I gave Duo. If I had been healthy and younger, I probably would have clocked him in the jaw. Slipped up? This was more than a slip up. This was a fall off a cliff. This was a free fall.
Slip up...the nerve.
I took a good look at Duo. Could I even trust him? He seemed like the same old Duo...the same pilot 02. His face hadn't changed, but although we were only nearing 26 years old, I could see the strands of silver peaking through from beneath his cap. We all had our share of early onset gray hairs, especially after all we had been through. I typically kept my hair short, and Duo was more inclined to let it free. Badges of honor, each strand.
It had been years since I had seen him last. He had gotten himself married during that time. Even more reason for gray hair.
I extended my free hand out to him, and he took it gratefully. Engaging him in as firm a handshake as I could, I greeted him as formally as I knew he would accept.
"I jerked off with this hand while you watched you son of a bitch."
Immediately he dropped the hand and yelped. I laughed for what felt like the first time in years and clapped him on the back. I wasn't going to let this go. He was lucky I was sleep deprived and starving, otherwise I would have called him out day one. My senses seemed to have been dulled by my time in space. He had pretended to be my female guard for nearly two weeks. He watched me shower. Suddenly, the creepy smile made sense.
"No guards this time of night?" I wondered aloud, taking the moment to release my clip and check my available ammo. The clip inserted back into the glock with a satisfying 'click'.
"You landed on 'em man." Duo nodded towards the unconscious bodies nearby. It was looking like I had gotten lucky, and they broke my fall.
Speaking of broken fall. My ankle was beginning to throb.
"I did something...' I started, trying to flex my bare foot. Immediately, white hot pain gripped me like a vice. I had definitely at least sprained it.
"Can you put weight on it?"
"I'm gonna have to right?"
I kneeled down to take a closer look, no bruising yet, but the ankle was swelling. I chanced a bit of weight, and although it hurt, it was bearable for the moment.
"Did you break it? Can't you set it yourself?" Duo laughed as he pulled out his smartphone.
"What am I, fifteen? I don't do that shit anymore...too old." I chanced a step, not ideal, but it would do.
I stifled the pain as we made our way down the hall, seeking out my auditory hallucination.
If I could just hear her voice, one time. I could make it.
But nothing came. I couldn't hear her anymore. I couldn't find her voice inside my head.
The patio doors were barely fifty feet away, and we looked like we were home free.
I tried to hobble faster, not bothering to contain the sounds spilling from my mouth as I ran. Curses and grunts aside, I say I was handling it like a champ.
When we finally made it to the end of the hall, we turned a corner to enter the patio area, only to encounter three armed guards, kneeling behind swat shields and ready to fire.
"Submit or we shoot!" An unnamed guard yelled. The city of Brussels gleamed behind them from beyond the patio doors. So close. So close to smelling that sharp, city air.
"What was that? I didn't hear ya..." Duo laughed, hands raised.
"DROP YOUR WEAPON!" One guard screamed, and only then I noticed that I was pointing my pilfered glock at them. With a scowl, I engaged the safety and let the gun drop to the ground. I was lucky they let me do that much. I raised my hands, and one approached me and secured my arms behind my back.
My ankle throbbed.
I should have been able to stick that landing earlier...if I had, I could have fought my way out of this without an issue. But I was past my prime, weak from space and malnourished. Every hand dealt was a shitty one. The guard cuffed me, in the traditional metal ones this time. My shoulders strained for relief, but my arms were locked. Unless I could somehow roll my way out of here, I was done.
But then I heard the tell-tale sound of a heavy body dropping.
I turned to see Duo with his own glock, and two unconscious guards on the floor.
"Good 'ol gun in the boxers trick. Gets 'em every time..." He spun the glock on a finger, as he has always done.
My guard, dumbfounded, turned me towards Duo and pulled his own gun to my head.
"Stay back!" He yelled, pressing the muzzle of his semiautomatic handgun against my temple. The gun was colder than ice, and the guard shook while he held it. He'd likely never had to use it before. And he seemed antsy. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my own heart beat, until all I could feel was my throbbing ankle and the calming rhythm of my own breathing.
I leaned my body forward, and pulled him up and over my back in one motion. I sunk forward to roll over him, knocking the wind out of his chest as I landed, and bringing my arms under and back over my legs in the process. I easily swiped his gun in the meantime, and pointed it under his chin. I disengaged the safety and rested my thumb against the hammer.
"Give him the keys to the cuffs." I leaned in by his ear. He whimpered beneath me, body tensing. "KEYS." I thundered.
"In my backpocket..." The young guard's voice shook. Duo took the cue and fished them out, not bothering to unlock me yet. I was fine.
"Get his wallet. And his car keys!" Duo asked, giddy.
"Back pocket?" I asked. The guard nodded. "Duo, just take them. Uncuff me dammit." Duo did as he was told. Guess I wasn't so fine.
He flipped the young guard's wallet open, studying the ID.
"Rufus Barn...Interesting name. 56 Rue de la Senne. That's not far from here! Wow you must live in the dorms. You must be a wee baby." My long-haired comrade giggled. He gingerly placed the wallet back into Rufus' back pocket. "I know where you live now. Thank you! We won't bother you unless you give us a good reason." He winked. The guard squirmed. Duo pulled the gun out from his waist band and pistol whipped him. Rufus was out.
"The ol' gun in the boxers trick."
"That's what that is?"
"It is now."
I sat up from the young man's chest and surveyed my handiwork with a heavy side of guilt. I hadn't acted this way in a very, very long time.
You did what you had to. The voice! It was back. I could almost answer her. But if I did, I knew I would have lost it.
Duo was already breaking through the door panel by the time I shook myself from what could have been a post-traumatic episode.
The lock gave with a cheerful beep, and the doors slid open.
We approached the ledge of the patio, which overlooked the center of Brussels. The Embassy and the Grand Palace shone under the rising sun. Dawn was here, and gone was our cover of night.
Duo shifted around a nearby garbage can, and pulled out two small back packs. He put one on and fitted me with the other one. We stood staring for a moment over the ledge.
"Its been a while since I've done this..." He chuckled nervously. "But you've been free falling for years up on PATHfinder right? Limited gravity?"
I didn't have a chance to answer before he pushed me over.
The last time I base jumped with Duo, we were two suicidal maniac teens running from Oz. The only reason I made the jump then was because I heard Relena call out to me. If she hadn't given me the time of day, I would have let myself hit the ground at a hundred miles an hour.
All I had of her now was that very voice, calling out to me from the darkest recesses of my subconscious. Falling was an incredibly familiar feeling, having lived in space for the last two years. But I wasn't prepared for how time would stand still. I felt as though I was watching myself plummet to the ground.
I took a deep breath, and pulled my ripcord.
a/n I felt like I gipped you guys with that short chapter and low-key cliffhanger before, and I just couldn't sit on this chapter for another second! I hope you guys feel as relieved as I did while writing it! Duo was so fun to write. I'm really considering writing some sort of buddy cop piece with Duo and Heero...I wrote a funny drug-themed one called Military Time a while ago. If you find stoners funny, check that one out!
Thanks for your continued support!
~murshmallow
