Break out

Author notes: I got this idea out of nowhere and I'm going with it to see where it leads me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's.

Chapter 11,

Wufei yawned and looked around as his sleep riddled mind tried to make heads or tails of things. Finally his brain seemed to have gotten a jump start and he recalled the mission and meeting with Duo and finding out about Heero. He yawned again and poked at the fire which was close to dying out. After tossing another log on the fire he glanced at where Sally had been sleeping and found an empty sleeping bag. The woman in question was sitting on a rock a short distance from their camp and was staring up at the stars.

Wufei got up and walked over to her side. She turned when he approached and he could see the worry on her face. He could also very faintly see she'd been crying earlier.

"What are we going to do? Preventors might not be much, but it's all I have. I can't really see myself doing much else…" Sally said quietly. Wufei sat down beside her and laid his arm around her waist in an attempt to comfort her some.

"You shouldn't worry about such things now. We already agreed we weren't going to turn them in. Even if we did that Arday guy will just say we knew where they were headed when no one else did or something equally ridiculous. We really don't have a choice; we'll continue to follow the trail in the morning and catch up with Duo and Heero. They'll need all the help they can get if they're to reach Quatre's land. After that we will see. I'm certain that if needed Quatre will gladly see to it that you're given a nice job doing something you love doing. Besides I've no better credentials than you do; if anything I'm the one who should complain. My job experience exists of war veteran and scholar. I'd be lucky if they got me a job as librarian…come now. Let's return to the fire where it's warm." Wufei said quietly. Sally chuckled softly despite her worry.

"How come you hate cold anyway Wufei?" she asked as they walked over to the fire.

"It's not that I hate it; I'm just not equipped for it. My colony was all about efficiency. In the winter nothing grows so they decided to skip that season all together. I didn't see snow until I first came to earth. I just stood there in a snow covered field. It was at least 10 degrees below freezing point and I had on what I met you in. I stood there exactly 5 seconds and then hopped back into Nataku where it was warm." Wufei said smiling at the memory.

"I keep forgetting that some colonies didn't have a winter…" Sally said smiling at him.

For a long time the two sat silently by the fire. Sally stared at the flames until she felt she was running circles in her mind from all the thinking she'd been doing. She sighed and stared down the path at the clouds of steam billowing up. Slowly a grin spread on her face.

"Hey Wufei?" she asked quietly. Wufei grunted a soft response apparently in deep thought himself.

"Remember that steam down the path?" Sally asked nudging him a little. Wufei nodded to this and blinked several times waiting for her to continue.

"I checked it out while you were sleeping, there's a natural hot spring." She said chuckling softly as she watched the emotions flicker over his face as he processed this information.

"Well, we can't really find them if we can't see where we're going in the forest below…and I did pull a muscle in my back the other day. A hot spring bath would be beneficial to its recovery." Wufei mused very much tempted by the idea of a steaming hot spring just a few steps from their current location.

"As a doctor I have to say it's ill advised to work when one's body is isn't in good condition and hot springs are known for their therapeutic effects." Sally said smiling. Wufei smiled back lazily.

"Well if the doctor says so then we must take this opportunity to revitalize our body ne?" Wufei said finally as he pulled Sally onto her feet with him.

"We'd best." Sally agreed laughingly.

OEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOE O

Duo yawned tiredly. After twenty hours of on and off walking he still only managed to get Heero to just half way down the mountain. He wished Heero still had his laptop with him so he could ask the other to check just where the hell in this mountain filled hole they were. As it was though he could only guess how close they were to the border of former Georgia. He'd not counted on Heero's broken ankle slowing them down or Wufei and Sally showing up.

After a long soak in the natural hot spring though he was feeling somewhat human again and the very treat of being allowed to enjoy the hot spring had done wonders for Heero. Not only was he finally cleaned of the thick layer of dirt that had gathered on them over the week and in Heero's case from however long ago it was he last saw a bath, but he was also much more relaxed now. With the prison now almost two and a half week behind them Duo could see that every day that they managed to stay ahead of the local law enforcers Heero was slowly relaxing just a little and the small spark of hope in his eyes grew.

Duo froze as he sensed more than heard Sally and Wufei come up behind them. Heero tensed and let out a frightened whimper. Duo quickly set him down and covered him a knife ready in his hand.

"Whoa whoa truce! We're the good guys kid!" Sally said raising her hands and smiling.

"It's alright Duo, we're helping you. We did not expect Yuy to be our perp. However this did make several things click into place though. Whichever way we go about it we'll be blamed if you manage to escape into Quatre's country; might as well join you now and save us the hassle. I believe Winner counted on that to begin with." Wufei said stepping up beside Sally and placing his hand against the knife. A war time gesture Wufei had used before to signal his cooperation. Duo could easily stab him in the hand and continue to do worse; Wufei placing his hand against the knife was a sign of trust toward Duo. Duo relaxed and put the knife away. He then turned to Heero and helped him over to the area he'd previously picked out for their next rest stop.

"Wufei and Sally are joining us. They're good people. They're gonna help us get to Quatre and safety. You c'n trust em." Duo said smiling at Heero.

OEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

Heero nodded after looking at the two a moment. His eyes widened though as Duo suddenly slumped. He umphed as Duo's weight came to rest on his chest and lap. Sally and Wufei were by his side instantly and pulling the braided boy off him, but Heero held tight.

"No." he grunted. His voice was raw and his eyes took on a clearer more determined look. Whatever had caused Duo to pass out like that it was their fault.

"Heero, Duo hasn't slept in days. He needs his rest, but if he sleeps like this he'll get sick. We need to get him in a sleeping bag." Sally said quietly.

"No." Heero said again.

"Sally go prepare the sleeping bags in Duo's bag." Wufei said having deftly removed the backpack without removing Duo from Heero's lap just yet.

Sally nodded and under Heero's watchful gaze pulled the two sleeping bags from Duo's backpack that she accepted from Wufei and fashioned them together much like Duo had when the four of them had first spent the night at one camp almost a week ago. Once finished she turned to Wufei and raised an eyebrow. Wufei simply nodded his thanks and turned to Heero.

"Come you can't put Duo in the sleeping bag with just your one hand. I'll help you." he said putting one of Duo's arms around his neck and waiting for Heero to work the other around his neck without using the still bandaged wrist. Wufei then slowly got up and pulled most of Duo's dead weight with him as Heero got up unsteadily on his broken ankle. The two walked Duo's sleeping body over to the sleeping bags where Wufei had Heero sit down in the sleeping bag before shifting Duo in with him and stepping back so that Heero could get himself and Duo situated comfortably.

"You should rest now. I'll keep watch and in the morning Sally will take a look at your injuries and treat them as best we can." Wufei said smiling at his friend.

OEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

"I'm going to kill that bastard warden." Sally muttered as she kept Wufei company on his watch.

"You won't. Maxwell won't leave enough of him for that." Wufei said shaking his head.

"He doesn't even trust me anymore." Sally said annoyed with their situation in general and a bit upset by the fact that Heero hadn't wanted to trust her.

"Yuy was raised to be a tool of war. He was conditioned to fight for peace, but no one ever bothered to think about after the war. They assumed he'd die before it ended. They assumed we all would live just long enough to turn the tides and then die amidst the violence. I don't believe Master O and the other gundam engineers expected even themselves to survive. Right now though his mind has regressed back to the days of his conditioning. He's isolated himself as a means of self-defence. His body has been acting purely on instinct. Earlier though had been the first I've seen of the real Heero. It came out when you tried to move Duo. In this state of mind that he is now in he clings to Duo as if he's his life support. When Duo's lack of sleep caught up to him and he passed out Heero was lost. I merely deduced based on his reaction to you that in order to help Duo I had to show Heero that we aren't here to take Duo away from him. In order to do that I chose to make Heero aware of his limitations and the need to accept my help." Wufei said calmly.

"What will you tell Heero tomorrow though when Duo doesn't wake up? He's likely not slept since starting this mission almost three weeks ago. I doubt he'll wake up within the next two to three days." Sally said quietly.

"I will tell him the truth; that Duo needs his rest and all we can do is wait." Wufei said simply.

"Wufei? Why don't you get some rest too for once and let me take watch? Heero will need you until Duo wakes up." Sally said. Wufei nodded to this and grabbed his sleeping bag.

"Wake me for second shift." he said before laying down to sleep.

Hope you enjoyed it!