A very peculiar mission

Disclaimer: Ohimesama does not own Gundam Wing and never will.

A Very Peculiar Mission

"We have a new mission." Heero announced as he set his computer down on the kitchen table.

The other four pilots, in the process of breakfast, paused and looked at each other in surprise. Heero only said 'we' when all five gundams were required. Usually he just said "I have a new mission," or "Wufei has a new mission." In the rare case that they teamed up, well then it was "Duo and Trowa have a new mission."

"Are you listening?" the lead pilot demanded. The other boys snapped their attention back to his words. "This one's different."

"Different?" Quatre repeated nervously.

"Hn." Heero replied calmly, his face expressionless as he watched the computer print out the mission details.

"How is it different?" Duo demanded, long braid twitching as he shook his head in irritation. Duo thought meals should be exceptions from all missions. Heero thought breakfast was a lovely time to announce the next suicidal attempt.

"We-el..." Heero scanned the message. "It seems we are required to pick up a certain item... it doesn't say where..."

"Lemme see that!" Duo snatched the message out of Heero's hand.

"No." Heero grabbed it back.

As the two fought over the piece of paper, Trowa, Wufei and Quatre read the message-it was still on the computer.

"Huh." Trowa, O quiet pilot, commented, and withdrew to his rightful chair.

"How strange." Quatre rubbed his nose in thought.

"JUSTICE!" Wufei shouted for now good reason and stomped off, muttering under his breath. "Duo, stop it! You're just getting hurt!"

Heero smirked, folding the paper into a tiny ball and closing his fist around it. Duo, sporting a red hand mark on each cheek, sat down in a huff.

"Read the message, Quatre." Trowa suggested.

"Right."

To the pilots of the Gundam Mobile Suits; Wing Zero, Deathscythe, Heavyarms, Sandrock and Shenlong.

From: the five scientists.

Your mission, if you chose to accept it, and you will, is to locate and retrieve an item known only as a 'Nintendo 64 game console'. Also needed are six 'Controllers' (controls of the console system) and a program called 'Mario kart 64'. Once in your possession, the pilot of Gundam Wing Zero, code name Heero Yuy, must rig the system to accommodate all six 'Controllers'. As of now, the system only supports four 'Controllers'.

Further instructions will follow once you have completed his mission. Destroy this message as soon as all pilots have read it.

Heero stalked over to Quatre, and deftly snatched his computer back.

"Burn this." He commanded, handing the folded paper to Wufei. As Wufei lit the paper and watched the ashes drift to the floor, Heero deleted the message off his hard drive. When he was done, Heero turned to face the other four motionless pilots.

"How odd."

The others stared back at him, waiting.

"Let's go." As though the two words released the bonds of silence holding the boys, the other four started talking all at once.

"NOW?"

Heero nodded.

"Can't I finish my muffin?"

"No."

"Do we have time for a cup of tea?"

"No."

"Where did I leave my Gundam again?"

Heero shrugged. He knew, but why tell?

"I WANT MY MUFFIN!"

"No."

Heero stalked over to Duo and cuffed the braided boy lightly. "I say we go."

"Yeah, I guess that's best."

"I can't find my keys."

"You clear the dishes."

"Where's my jacket?"

"What's the mission again?"

"I WANT MY MISSION! I MEAN MUFFIN!"

Heero laughed, and the four froze.

"What blew up?" whispered Duo.

Heero chuckled, and stood staring at the others, his hands on his hips.

"You four are so weak." He laughed again.

"I AM NOT WEAK!"

"Chill Wufei. You all let me push you around these days. What happened to the independent streak we all shared?

No one answered. They stared back at him, wary. Heero sighed.

"Duo, finish your muffin, Quatre have a cup of tea. Trowa, you left your jacket in the front hall. Wufei, keys are in Shenlong, where they belong. See you outside at 1000 hours."

He left, shutting the kitchen door behind him with a faint click.

Wufei was the first to speak.

"I AM NOT WEAK!"

"What just happened?" Duo looked puzzled. "Wow... did Heero just actually talk to us? About something not a mission?"

Trowa shrugged. "Quatre, may I have a cup of tea?"

"Sure." The blond boy heated the water automatically, his face confused.

After having a calming cup of tea (well, Duo opted for coffee) the four went to start up their Gundams, all of which were hidden in various places.

"Deathscythe rises again!" Duo cheered as he pressed the red ON button.

Wufei sighed loudly into the intercom. "Duo, you rode Deathscythe just yesterday!"

"Oh yeah." Duo scratched his head, making faces at Wufei through the viewing window until Quatre protested-he could see Duo too.

Wing Zero rose majestically over the trees, and shot off. The four other Gundams quickly took after the flight model, running along on the ground.

"Heero..." Trowa started, avoiding a tree.

"I have located a 'Nintendo 64' console at a store downtown."

"Oh."

"Hey, Heero," Duo chirped, "Just how are we supposed to get this console thing anyway. We can't just bomb the place like usual."

"Why not?"

The four pilots stared through their open communication windows at Heero, who was dead serious.

"That'd be...murder." Quatre said in a shaky voice.

"Hn."

"We can't do that!" The most peaceful of the pilots protested.

"Why not? That's what we always do, isn't it?"

"Well, yes," Quatre admitted, "But, Heero, these will be innocent people."

"We have killed innocents before."

Duo scowled. "We'll go to hell if we killed some innocent shopkeeper."

"They already have a place reserved for us."

Quatre shuddered, and called on the two silent pilots. "There has to be another way, doesn't there?" He shot them a pointed look.

Trowa considered this. "I suppose so."

Shenlong dodged a large rock, and a wicked gleam came into Wufei's eyes. "I have an idea." He announced.

Quatre clapped his hands. "See Heero? I told you there was another way."

"What's the plan, Wu-man?" Duo asked.

"I'VE TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT, MAXWELL!" Wufei thundered.

Duo rubbed his ears. "Sorry, man."

Wufei calmed down after shooting a fireball at an unoffending tree. "We'll all go undercover and infiltrate this store, and one pilot will hide the console on his person."

There was silence as the four others examined the plan in their minds.

"I say we go for it." Duo cried.

"I agree." Quatre said.

"So do I." Trowa said softly.

"Hn."

Wufei smiled one of his rare smiles. "Good."

The Gundams raced along a deserted highway, leaving suspiciously large footprints in the concrete. The buildings of the fair sized city nearest to their favorite hideout loomed in the distance, rapidly growing as the boys approached.

"Um." Trowa studied the city, and tentatively made a suggestion. "Perhaps we should leave the Gundams here, for now."

Heero nodded an affirmative. The five Gundams came to a sudden stop, neatly arranged in a shining row of gundamian and power. The huge mecha spun on their man-sized heels and dove into a handy collection of trees. Trowa and Heero took advantage of the surroundings to conceal Heavyarms and Wing Zero, positioning the machines under outcrops of rock, and thick sections of trees. Wufei and Quatre placed elaborate mesh made of leaves and branches over Shenlong and Sandrock. Duo leapt out of his Gundam and casually dropped one small twig on Deathscythe's chest. The other four, now finished with their careful hiding techniques, stared at Duo.

"What?" he said defensively. "It's always worked before. My trusty twig will hide Deathscythe."

With shudders at Duo's naïve and somewhat idiotic approach, the Gundam pilots set out on foot toward the city, and the console their mission demanded they get. The sun smiled down on them, and somewhere a scientist laughed.