Chapter 10
And this is why I always try to follow my instincts, Harry told himself as he watched his new friend standing with his hands still hovering over the computer terminal while the black-clad newcomer held him at gun point. Harry was rather surprised when he noticed the three foot long braid of hair hanging down the man's back. Wouldn't that make him very easy to identify? Whatever. This guy was dangerous. As silently as possible, Harry started inching closer to the confrontation. He wasn't sure what he would be able to do, but he had to try to help.
Harry saw Heero dart a glance from the newcomer's weapon to what could be seen of his face under the black cap. Quickly, he tried to finish the command sequence, but a sharp report threw him away from the console.
Harry jerked violently at the loud noise, almost giving away his position. Looking up he saw Heero on the ground several feet away from where he had been standing before, a gunshot wound bleeding sluggishly in his upper right arm. Carefully, Harry slid his wand into his hand as he crept closer. Harry wasn't sure if shield charms would work against bullets, but if that mad man tried again, he was going to try something! He'd figure out how to deal with the statute of secrecy later.
Heero carefully pushed himself back to his knees gritting his teeth against the pain in his arm. Glaring at the man that had shot him, he demanded, "Who are you?"
"Hey, you're the one that's pointing those at my buddy, I should be asking you that," the man, a young one from the sound of his voice, said flippantly while taking a couple of steps closer.
Harry glanced at Heero to see him still glaring at the intruder and slowly dropping his hand behind his back. What is he doing? Harry wondered. He got his answer when Heero suddenly rolled to the side and came up shooting.
For a few moments there was mass confusion as Heero and the mysterious shooter traded shots, then suddenly found themselves without their weapons.
"What the hell?" the black clad young man exclaimed as he gun was forcefully jerked out of his hand and sent flying.
"Wha...!" Heero was just as shocked, though not as vocal when his weapon did exactly the same thing. He was even more surprised when he watched his AWOL gun land in the hands of a suddenly there Harry. Blinking quickly, Heero tried to process what he had just seen. There had been nothing there, then suddenly Harry appeared as if he had just popped in out of thin air. What in the world was going on here!
"You idiot, keep your voice down!" Harry demanded of the newcomer, scowling. "And what in the world do you two think you're going to solve by killing each other? Or are you both just trying to save the Alliance the trouble?"
Heero stared at Harry, or the apparition of Harry, in shock, though he managed to keep his face blank. How did he get here? Had he been wrong all this time and the boy was an Oz spy? No, that wasn't possible. Heero was sure of it. And how had he pulled their guns out of their hands anyway! He was standing at least twelve feet away from Heero and even farther from the stranger.
"Hey, he was the one looking to blow up my buddy, pal!" the stranger defended himself. "I'm just defending what's mine. And how did you do that?"
"Magnets," Harry deadpanned as he looked from Heero to the newcomer. Dumping both weapons over the edge of the submarine, Harry moved over to his silent friend, ripped off his shirt sleeve, and used it to bandage his arm. Harry wasn't sure where the uniform jacket had gone, but he was glad he didn't have to work around it. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Harry looked back at the stranger, "You never answered his question, you know."
The braided man looked at him with a blank expression on his shadowed face, then turned his hands palm up in question. Harry rolled his eyes, then repeated, "Who are you?"
"No can do," the man said shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure you're not cleared for this. The professor was really strict on..." the newcomer's reply was cut off by an alarm sounding. He quickly looked at his watch, and began muttering. Harry and Heero could just barely understand as he groused, "They've already reached the surface. I must have miscalculated the tide."
Harry was confused for just a moment, before there was the sound of something large breaching the water and moving fast. Instinctively Harry tried to get a look at what it was, but the stranger pulled out a flare and lit it, half-blinding Harry and making it impossible to see what was moving in the water.
"Don't look, pal," the stranger warned. "I'm sure you've got your reasons for being here, but you'd better just walk away. Save yourself a lot of grief."
Harry looked at the man in confusion, while keeping a restraining hand on Heero's arm. Who is this guy? Harry wondered. First he shoots Heero, now he seems to be trying to protect me from something. But what?
Hearing Heero muttering to himself, Harry listened hard, trying to make out what he was saying.
Heero wasn't sure what to make of the situation. He had limited time to finish the command sequence before it would delete itself. He could still set them off manually, but between the shock of having this guy show up, then having Harry popping out of thin air, Heero wasn't sure what in the world he should do. He was fairly sure from what he saw before that guy pulled out the flair that he had found Wing and brought it to the surface. If he was working for OZ, Heero had to act fast.
"I can't let OZ get it," he murmured to himself. Tensing just a little in preparation for making a break for the torpedoes, Heero was surprised when Harry's hand suddenly tightened to hold him still.
"Hold on, Heero," Harry murmured quietly, "I think this guy may be on your side."
Heero watched in shock as Harry raised his voice to get the other boy's attention.
Quickly putting together the little clues he had picked up Harry prayed he had come to the right conclusion as he spoke, "Hey, that wouldn't happen to be something you found at the bottom of the ocean would it?"
Confusion and suspicion warred for top billing on their mystery man's face, "Yeah, I found something. What's it to you?"
"Not me," Harry denied, then pointed to Heero, "Him. Given that he was going to blow whatever it is up before OZ could get a hold of it, I think he has first claim."
The black clad man turned to Heero and cocked his head in curiosity. After a moment he asked, "G, H, J, O, or S?"
Harry looked at him as if he had lost his mind, but Heero calmly replied, "J. You?"
The braided man suddenly relaxed, "G. Damn, sorry about that," with a wave to indicate the gunshot wound on Heero's arm. "Name's Duo, by the way."
"That's great, but how are you planning to get out of here?" Harry asked quickly, noticing that the confusion of Heero's sabotage seemed to be dying down. They need to get out of here quickly.
Duo glanced around, seeing what had the other boy so worried. "I can get one of you out with me, but I don't have room for three in my machine."
"Good," Harry nodded prodding Heero to stand. "Heero, you go with him."
"No, I cannot leave you behind to be punished for my actions," Heero denied, looking angry at the very thought.
Harry grinned, "Heero, you didn't catch me following you from town. You really think they're going to catch me now?"
Heero glared at his black-haired...acquaintance. Heero wasn't really sure he should call the boy his friend, but he did care if he got hurt because of him.
"I'll be fine, Heero." Harry declared. "I'm more concerned that the two of you get out of here. Now, go on. Duo," Harry turned to the long haired man with a serious expression. "I'm trusting you to get him out of here, if you betray him, you don't want to know what I will do to you." The last part was practically growled, thinking of his own betrayal by those he should have been able to trust, and Harry was satisfied to see Duo swallow hard. Though Harry hadn't realized it, as he had turned to Duo, the anger he had been feeling caused his eyes to start glowing with an eerie green light that was very obvious in the darkness.
Nodding his agreement, though still glaring at the braided man in suspicion, Heero walked over to where the dark-clad pilot was standing. Turning back to Harry, Heero said, "I should be back to the Institute within a couple days. You will explain all this then."
Harry smiled slightly as he watched the two disappear over the edge of the boat to swim out to meet the approaching machines. Even Harry, who wasn't very knowledge about modern military technology could tell that these were something special. After watching the two disappear under the water heading west, Harry pulled out his locket and made his way home, wondering how in the world his life always ended up being so complicated.