Bishi Pile Challenge: Challenge response to Rain, Wind, Argue, Conspiracy Minor to Hair, Bad Night, Red Tape Word count: 2,224

Series: Friends 51/??

Author: Karina

Pairings: Duo + Zechs, Quatre x Trowa

Many thanks to Katie for beating Friends.

Character Challenge =

Chapter 51

It was proving to be a long day. A long and decidedly uncomfortable day.

Maxwell, of course, was his usual difficult self, clearly disapproving of the arrangements they were making to return them all to the safety and comfort of the city. Anyone would think the braided idiot had fallen in love with the wilderness, with the bone aching cold, the masses of snow trapping them and the howling wind that threatened to bowl them over with every step. He was so patently reluctant to abandon the ramshackle building and return to civilization that Wu Fei's mounting irritation was constantly provoking thoughts of marooning the insufferable man here.

Given the rate of their progress against the wind packed snow, they would still be on the mountain when night fell. The snow was reluctant to give up the helicopter and they were still digging out the lower half of the machine and the day was more than half over. After they thawed out and ate a third meal for the day, they would be back out in the chill for another stint of work, and Yuy would not be assisting them on this round of back breaking shovelling. While he and Barton laboured to dig out the landing struts and belly of the chopper, Yuy would be checking over the computer systems and the mechanics of the machine.

It would be deplorable luck if Winner's mechanics did not have the machine fully prepared for the conditions of Sanc and they were forced to spend yet another night in this cold hell because of negligence. He could already hear Maxwell complaining about the need to hike to the other helicopter.

There was the chance of more snow too. Clouds were gathering about the high peaks and the temperature was dropping rapidly and any more snow might well doom them to another night on the mountain and more digging on the morrow.

"Zechs says it will rain around nightfall."

Maxwell peered out at the helicopter now visible at the end of the track way they had beaten into the snow. He shivered and withdrew from the exposure of the wrecked room, retreating back into the surviving portion of the cabin and made his way back to the fire in the larder.

Barton had remained in the pantry when Maxwell had determined to have a look at their progress, feeding the fire with wood and watching over Marquise who, it appeared, was sleeping. There was no movement from within the tent and the flap was wide open, the light dim but enough to see the large form curled beneath the sleeping bag. That pale mass of hair was like a banner in the dim tent, almost glowing with an ethereal shimmer.

"It will be nightfall before we have the helo ready. I prefer it to rain rather than snow," Heero crouched beside the fire and thrust his hands close to the flames, presenting as great an area of his body to the heat as he could manage in the tight confines of the room. "At least the temperature will be warmer with rain. We need to be down from here as soon as we can."

There it was again, Wu Fei noted, Maxwell's scowl at mention of leaving the mountains. The scowl was followed immediately by a quick glance at the tent and its sleeping occupant. Marquise and his comfort appeared to disturb Maxwell far more than Wu Fei would have thought possible, given the two had known each other for a meagre few days. They were strangers, enemies during the war, and Maxwell knew just what a fruit cake the Oz pilot turned White Fang leader had been. Why did Maxwell concern himself with the man as though he was someone special?

"The weather conditions will dictate how quickly we can make the return flight. We need to pick up the other helo, and just hope there was not sufficient snow fall to bury it." Trowa observed.

Their own machine was lower down the mountain and they could only hope it was more sheltered and had accumulated less snow drift. Wu Fei certainly did not feel inclined to dig out the machine in the dark and in deteriorating weather. That would give new meaning to a 'bad night'.

"If it's buried, then it can remain buried until a recovery team makes it out here. I am not digging out a second machine in the dark. The flight to the city will be uncomfortable enough without making it whilst soaking wet and in freezing temperatures." Wu Fei rubbed his fingers vigorously, attempting to return warmth and feeling to them.

"What say we make the return flight in Quatre's helo? Just leave the other one where it is and send out a recovery team?"

Yuy scowled at Barton's suggestion and dared to push his hands a little closer to the dancing flame. They needed to return to work, but none of them was particularly eager to face the icy chill again, and it was barely fifteen minutes since they had sought the fire's warmth. They had to be wary of frostbite and while they were all keen on departing the mountains, they could not afford to rush proceedings. That way lay disaster.

Personally, Wu Fei liked having ten fingers and toes.

"We need to ready the emergency stretcher in the helo. As soon as I can get the door open I'll bring in the necessary gear to transfer Marquise to the chopper. I'll need every blanket to make him as comfortable as possible. We'll all need a hot meal before we leave and only when we are all on the helo will I send an estimated ETA to Une."

"You know what you are sending him into?" Maxwell was glaring hotly enough to melt ice.

"No, and neither do you!" Wu Fei had had enough of the dark looks and snide comments. "None of us know the truth of what is going down, but we have a job to do and we will do it. Do you honestly think it better to keep him in this death trap than return to New Port City? Face it, Maxwell, you don't know any more than we do what the truth is. That's Zechs Marquise in there, the leader of White Fang. The man who intended to drop a space fortress on the planet!"

"And that's Chang bloody Wu Fei sitting there, lording it over the slum brat who can't keep a fucking job because everyone expects him to blow the hell out of their precious lives! Chang fucking Mr. Justice Freak himself Wu Fei, who had his own moment of madness playing Little Miss Dictator's bitch!"

"Enough!" Yuy glared into the sudden silence his bellow produced. "Settle down, both of you."

"Indeed it is enough. We have a job to do and that job is surviving to get off this mountain before it is anything else. Allowing our tempers to get out of hand will accomplish nothing." Trowa handed a mug of soup to Yuy. "Sit down, drink the soup, and then we can get back to work."

The air felt like it was charged with electricity, a storm brewing, ready to break out into violence and destruction.

"That won't make anything go away or change anything." Duo snarled, unwilling to subside quietly.

"No, it will not change anything, but it will serve to warm me up and save my ears." Trowa inclined his head to Maxwell. "There is nothing we can do about this situation, Duo and there is nothing you can do about it either. We don't know enough to make any snap judgements."

The resulting silence was far from pleasant and the air was so thick with tension you could cut it with a knife. Wu Fei was, however, fair enough to acknowledge that he had had his moment on the dark side of history. He had not, and would not speak to any of them on the why of his past actions any more than he suspected Marquise would confide in them as to his reasons for doing what he had done.

Somehow, in amidst the reams of red tape that was government bureaucracy, Marquise had been spared serving justice for his actions. His own salvation was being a part of Preventers, but Marquise? What did he do to salve his conscience? Did he even attempt to make restitution? Was the cold bastard too full of himself to know his mistakes and the injustices he had perpetrated on the world? Did he once give thought to seeking to earn forgiveness?

"I intend to snoop around."

Dark eyes widened and he was not the only one looking at Yuy in disbelief. Barton looked like he wanted to pound his head into the rock wall and Maxwell… well, the hope on his face was just pathetic.

"Yuy!"

"I am curious, Chang."

As though that was explanation enough for abject idiocy! Chang snorted, grasped his mug from Barton's outstretched hand and wrapped his chilled fingers around its warmth. Yuy was an idiot if he stuck his neck out and ruined his chances of fading into obscurity. There was undoubtedly a conspiracy involved in this mess; he was not a fool, he knew what politicians were like, and Yuy had no right to rock the boat they all sailed on.

"If you pry into what does not concern us, you are not the only one who will be targeted." Barton glared into the fire, pointedly not looking at anyone.

"You will drag us all down with you." Wu Fei warned, scowling fiercely into his cup, not daring to look at Yuy for fear he would fling the cups contents in his face.

"I suggest you request Une assign you somewhere far away and to a very public position. That would be best to keep you out of this. If you are in plain sight, and are seen to be doing what you should be doing, the axe is not likely to fall on your neck."

They, those men and women in power, would use any excuse to drag them down and throw them into detention centres. Being a few thousand kilometres away from trouble would make no difference.

"Why do you have to interfere? Why do you have to draw their attention to us? This has nothing to do with any of us."

"I am not so sure it has nothing to do with us, Wu Fei. They watch us, expecting us to do something at any time, even after all this time. They expect us to do something that will confirm we are not 'ordinary' or 'innocent'. The truth is we are not ordinary, they have that right. We will never be ordinary, no matter if it is our fondest wish. Do you honestly think we can just blend into normality? Become just another Joe walking down the street? We were Gundam Pilots. We were terrorists. We reshaped history and we did it in a way they can not forget. Bloodily. Messily. Violently. In plain sight of the world."

"I know what we did, you don't have to remind me, Yuy."

"Maybe I do?" Intense blue eyes stared around the fire, pinning each man in turn. "I've been denying what I am, who I am for a long time. I've tried to live by their rules, but they still watch me. They don't trust me and they make no attempt to hide their distrust. They never will. Until I'm either dead or too old to be a threat, they will watch me, just waiting for an excuse to take me down."

"The name Yuy is as much a threat as the man." Maxwell took his soup, settling with his back to one side of the tent opening to allow the heat to flow into the tent.

"If we do nothing, be ordinary, eventually they will have no choice but to accept us."

He needed to believe that. He needed to believe it, or he would have to face himself in the mirror once again and not see Chang Wu Fei but someone else. Someone he did not wish to meet face to face again. Someone who had been pathetic.

"You really believe that, Fei?" Piercing blue/violet eyes pinned him. "Do you honestly believe that?"

"I need to believe that, Duo Maxwell, or I have nothing to hold onto. Can you get that through your blind obstinacy? The world is not all about the unfairness of your life. Preventers means much to me; I have no where else to go. My colony is no more, my people are few and scattered across the colonies; no one wants to admit they came from L5. An entire culture died in that war and not at the hand of the enemy, but by the will of the leaders. L5, my home, will never be restored. I have no home; no place to go to, no family. Clan was everything. Without that what do I have left?"

"Yourself. Your friends. The chance to start something for you; for those few others who were spared obliteration if you will it."

The deep voice from the tent froze his blood. Wu Fei stiffened but he was unable to move, unable to speak in either denial or challenge.

End

Karina Robertson 2009