Warnings: R, 3x4, 1+R, 2+H, 5+S, 13+11, 6+9 – Sap, Angst, Lime, AU
Disclaimer: As always I make no claim to Gundam Wing or any of its characters!
A/N: Duo finally makes his big entrance. Other than that nothing much else to report on this one! Thanks for you're encouragement you guys…it means a lot! I hope you enjoy this one, I had a lot of fun writing it! There's a bit of a cliff-hanger at the end, I'll try to get the next part done asap.
FALCON'S REVENGE
Part Nine – Thieves' Paradise
The sun hung low on the horizon casting an crimson tinge on the sprawling city as four horses trudged wearily through the rear gate of Levas. Solo's eyes narrowed calculatingly as he watched the small group. The blonde at the front of the party rode with the straight backed posture and easy grace of one brought up in the saddle, and that could mean only one thing…fresh meat. Solo smiled.
Raising his left arm above his head Solo signalled to the man standing guard below him, 'coming up through the street on the left…' he hissed to his companion. The man beneath him nodded, 'right. I'll call the others.'
Scrambling down from the rooftop Solo landed noiselessly on the ground. With pretty looks like that, the boy was a dandy he was sure of it. No doubt travelling to the city to join the other fawning aristocrats at the castle; hoping to make his mark and find favour with the king. Solo scowled and spat on the floor, 'damn nobles…!'
A muted sound from behind alerted him to the approach of the others. There were nineteen in all including himself, all were born street rats…for ones such as they there was no hope of furtherance or success.
Looked down upon as worse then animals by most of the flouncing nobility his kind were either ridiculed and tormented or completely ignored…Solo couldn't decide which he thought worse.
'We only get one chance at this…' he said catching each set of eyes in turn as he spoke. 'Duo…you're with me, we'll take care of the baby. The rest of you keep his honour guard off our back, without his guards this will be as easy as stealing sugar snaps from a infant!'
Seventeen heads nodded enthusiastically but Solo frowned as his eyes came to rest on the final member of their band.
'Damn it all Duo…you're not getting all decent on us again are you?'
The boy sighed audibly and shook his head, 'no it's just sometimes…I wish there was another way, that's all.'
Solo nodded laying a hand on the adolescent thief's shoulder, the youngest in the band Duo had just turned seventeen. He was of average height and slight build, large amethyst eyes looked out though chestnut hair, which was tied in a tight braid and hung down the youth's back.
Solo had found Duo when the boy was five, left for dead in the sewers, still clinging to his mother's cold corpse. The sight had nudged something in Solo and instead of leaving the boy to perish, as common sense suggested, he had adopted the child and initiated him into the band.
As Duo matured through, Solo began to notice a marked difference between the boy and other member of the group. Duo was a dreamer…idealistic and optimistic, the charismatic brunette had none of the self-pitying mannerisms that characterised the majority of people in his position.
'I know Duo…I wish there was too, but the cold truth is there isn't. Anyway what's the real harm? Daddy will pay the ransom, we'll be able to eat for another few months and blondy down there will have something to boast to his friends about. Everyone's happy…you see!'
Duo sighed again looking unconvinced but nodded, '…ok.'
Smiling encouragingly Solo slapped him on the back, 'that's more like it kid…alright then…lets go!'
Wufei wrinkled his nose as they passed though the back streets of Levas' poor quarter. 'Remind me again Quatre why we did not use the main gate?' he said his eyes narrowing in disgust as he spotted a whore flaunting herself at them from a third story window.
'We came this way because I don't want to go though all the usual ceremony of arriving at the palace.' Quatre replied distractedly his eyes searching the semi-darkened streets around them. 'You know what Treize is like…if someone recognizes me before I get to the castle we'll have hours of greetings and introductions to endure before I can get any work done!'
Shifting nervously in his saddle Quatre twisted around, raking gaze his behind them.
'What is it…?'
The sound of Trowa's voice so close to him made Quatre start. 'I don't know…' the blonde frowned, '…I feel like someone is watching us.' Quatre reached to his side to loosen his sword and the others followed suit.
'How long have you been feeling this?' Heero asked.
'Ever since we entered the city…for a while I thought it was nothing…just people watching us pass…but it's more specific then that, I'm sure of it now!'
The words had hardly passed Quatre lips when Trowa's horse shied violently away from the ally in front of them.
Numerous shabbily dressed men emerged from the ally to their left, moving across the narrow street quickly to block the party's advance. Glancing back Quatre swore as several more men materialized behind them ruining any chance of escape. The band held a variety of weaponry ranging from short swords to bulky wooden clubs.
Quatre could sense an underlying air of hopelessness hanging over the men like a murky haze as they advanced on himself and his party. Shaking his head slightly he forcefully shoved aside the wave of pity that threatened to cloud his sense of danger.
'Your early warning system could use some work Quatre…' Heero muttered dryly.
The blonde gave a short laugh before pulling his sword from its sheath keeping the point low beside his horses flank.
'I'll work on it…' he murmured before raising his voice.
'What is it that you want? If it is money you are looking for you are going to be sorely disappointed!' He called to the group but the men paid him no attention, instead circling around his mount to advance on the others behind him.
Quatre's eyes narrowed dangerously, if there was one thing that enraged him more than anything it was the way people judged him solely on his looks, dismissing him as a threat in favour of those with a more menacing appeal.
'Someone should teach you not to underestimate your enemies…' he muttered darkly as he pulled the reins of his mount sharply, swinging the horse around to face the men who were trying to overwhelm his companions.
Though thoroughly outnumbered by their assailants the superior training and weaponry the three men possessed coupled with the fact that they were mounted meant that the armed band were of little threat. Quatre paused to watch the others fight reluctant to stay out of the skirmish but knowing that barging into the fray now would only unbalance his companions and earn him a stern reprimand from his captain.
Shifting his attention to Trowa, Quatre watched with wrapt attention at the way the man's muscles shifted with each swift stroke of his sword. The quiet determination on the brunette's face belied the furious and deadly blows he was directing at his enemies.
So engrossed was he in watching Trowa's movements Quatre didn't notice the shadowed figures that rose from the roof above him. He gave a startled cry as one of the men leapt from the building knocking him from his horse and sending his sword clattering across the cobbled stones of the street.
Motioning for Duo to remain on the rooftops Solo waited for the young noble's attention to be sufficiently distracted before bracing himself and leaping from the roof; rolling as he hit the ground the thief grunted with satisfaction when the boy gave a startled shout and fell from his horse onto the paved floor below.
However if Solo was expecting the blonde to stay down once he struck the ground, he was sorely mistaken. The thief pulled himself up from the ground and turned around just in time to catch the young noble making a dive for his sword.
Retrieving his weapon with a small sigh of relief Quatre shifted his weight onto his right leg, switching his grip on his sword so it was positioned behind him the hilt raised slightly above his hip.
Solo's eyes narrowed as the blonde readied himself to strike, he seemed to handle his weapon well. With a sudden realisation Solo knew he had misjudged the youth and he signalled for Duo to take up a position behind the noble on the rooftop.
When the blonde stuck he did so with such speed and ferocity Solo found that he was hard pressed to defend himself. He had thoroughly underestimated the boy Solo thought sourly, rather then being merely trained with a blade, he was a proficient to the point of brilliance; lightening quick movements and fluid strikes professing the makings of a master swordsman.
Raising his sword in defence Solo barely managed to parry the youth's strike as the blonde deftly feigned a blow at his right flank before shifting direction with a flick of the wrist and driving the weapon towards the thief's left shoulder.
A resounding clash of steel on steel reverberated across the street as Solo caught the boy's blade on his own. They didn't have much time left he deemed, the noise would have undoubtedly aroused the night watchers and Solo knew that in a few minuets the area would be swarming with guards.
Using all his strength to push the blonde away Solo took the brief respite to glance up at Duo and signal for the youth to attack. With unnaturally catlike grace Duo leapt from the rooftop landing deftly behind the blonde, his knife raised and ready as he caught the boy from behind.
Quatre felt the threat behind him before he heard the second assailant hit the ground but the momentum from his previous attack carried him backwards into the man's grasp and he froze as he felt cold steel pressed up against his neck.
'Don't make a move…' Duo murmured quietly pressing his dagger firmly against the blonde's throat. Solo came up in front of them panting slightly from exertion and pulled the boy's weapon from his hand before looking up at Duo and nodding once.
Leaning close to the blonde's ear Duo muttered quietly 'sorry about this kid…' before bringing the hilt of his dagger down on the youth's head, and catching the blonde's weight as he went limp.
'Right…we need to move, now!' Solo ordered sharply and Duo nodded slinging the blonde's inert form over his shoulder and disappearing into a nearby ally. Glancing across at the others Solo raised his voice, 'that's enough lads…fall back!' Then without waiting to see if they obeyed his command Solo turned and followed Duo into the darkened streets of Levas.
Trowa looked up suddenly at Quatre's cry and was rewarded with a shallow blow to his right forearm from one of the bandits below him. Cursing softly under his breath Trowa aimed a crushing over arm blow at the man, watching with silent satisfaction as the brigand stumbled back a deep wound in his left shoulder.
Glancing across at the others Trowa saw that they too had heard Quatre's shout and both were tackling their assailants with renewed vigour as they struggled to come to the blonde's aid.
Try as they might though each time one opponent was cut down another seemed to take his place, and although they caused the mounted men no real difficulty, they were successfully impeding their path to Quatre.
Risking another glance across at his lover Trowa gave a startled shout as a second attacker jumped the blonde from behind and placed a large knife at his throat. The man bent forward slightly to whisperer something in Quatre's ear and the blonde froze his gaze shifting quickly to catch Trowa's.
The brunette watched transfixed as the first bandit, who had previously been fighting Quatre, relinquished the blonde of his sword before nodding once to the man in front of him. A silent communication seemed to pass between the pair and for one horrifying moment Trowa truly believed they would kill his lover.
Then the younger man once again bent forward to Quatre before raising the dagger and brining the hilt down on the back of the blonde's head.
Their gazes still locked Trowa winced as he saw the flash of pain flicker across Quatre's face before the blonde's eyes slipped shut and he went limp.
With a command from their leader all those who were able quickly disengaged the trio and with surprising speed and proficiency, melted back into the narrow streets.
'If there's one thing cowards like that are always good at, it's running away…' Heero snarled as he kicked his horse forward towards the ally Quatre's kidnappers had fled down.
With a snarl of rage Trowa spurred his horse forward after Heero, but as they came up on the street and looked down they saw nothing, the ally was empty and Quatre, was gone…
TBC…