50: Rebirth

"I was wondering when you were gonna show up!" Duo's voice was raspy, his face had a couple of bruises, but the young man smiled nonetheless. "So, came to shoot me this time or to help me out?" This question seemed directed at Heero, who just snorted and moved back into the hallway to keep watch. Wufei was sure an inside joke was going on here, but he had no idea what it was.

"Got a lock pick?" Wufei asked, moving forward, eyeing the shackles which bound Duo.

"Idiots were smart enough to brush out my hair." Duo answered and Wufei noticed that the mass of chestnut brown was indeed hanging loose around him.

"Good thing I brought my own."

Next to Duo, Wufei was probably the best of them when it came to picking locks. Heero would choose doors he could either blow or hack open to enter a building and Trowa would as soon go through a window even if the only one unlocked was somewhere high up. They had never bothered to learn the grace of lock picking.

"There's two problems on your current course." Quatre's voice spoke in his ear.

That man was a true genius. Quatre Rebarba Winner could not afford to be connected to this breakout. It would devastate his company, touching the thousands of people working for him. At this moment, Quatre Winner was having a conference call with a customer, while at the same time watching their premises and progress via the computer. The ease with which he seemed to work in those sentences he transmitted to Heero, Trowa and Wufei made the Chinese man wonder if the Arab had done this before.

A lock sprung open and Duo's hands were free. "Give me that." He said, taking the lock pick and squatting to free his feet. "Light?" Wufei shone the flashlight down to the shackles. In no time, the shackles fell away from his feet.

Two faint thuds were heard and Duo looked up. "The Lion's here as well?"

Wufei nodded. It had been Trowa taking those men out. So far they had managed not to kill a single person. It was Heero's firm suggestion not to do so. He had vowed never to kill again during the Mariemeia incident and he had held to that ever since. Trowa and Wufei agreed easily enough, Wufei being the only one who'd taken a life since adulthood. It made their rescue mission more complicated, though. They could not afford to be recognised.

"Let's move." Heero urged, seeing that Duo was free. Wufei handed him a weapon and something to cover his face

"If you take the second route, you'll have fewer obstacles to face." Came Winner's voice in Wufei's ear.


princess