Rescuing Noname
Rescuing Noname By Elly Leaverton
AN: This story makes use of the spelling in the official translation of the Episode Zero manga: 'Middie' and 'Noname'. I apologize to the 'Midii' and 'Nanashi' prefering fans. But, as Shakespeare says, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet."

They shoved Middie roughly into the cell and slammed the door. She did her best to glare at them through her non-blackened eye, but it was hard to be fierce or intimidating in handcuffs.

The cell was brick, with no light other than the moonlight streaming in the barred window. It smelled musty and stale. There was another smell: blood. Blood and body-odor. A huddled form moved in the corner. She was not alone. There was only one person it could be.

Middie scoffed. "How ironic. The Preventers hired me to get you out and I end up trapped in the same cell with you."

The huddled form moved at her words. "Hello?"

"You must be Trowa Barton. I'm Middie Une, professional free agent, the Preventers hired me to extract you. Only I screwed up. I let 'em catch me like a damn amateur. I let you down and I'm sorry about it, but..." Middie paused because she thought she heard something.

A raspy chuckle came from the dark figure. Trowa was laughing.

"Um, are you laughing?" she asked.

"It wouldn't be the first time," he gasped.

"That you laughed?"

"That you let me down," he replied bitterly.

"I'm sorry, I don't a clue what you're talking about." She was beginning to feel angry now.  She came to rescue him, and he was playing verbal games with her!

She heard scuffing. The dark figure moved so that the moonlight fell directly on his face.  She'd seen that face before, even through the bruising she recognized him from…where?  The answer escaped her.

"You look so familiar," she told him. "Have we met?"

"You knew me as 'Noname'," Trowa spat the words.

That's it! Middie thought, then she blurted out, "Oh yeah, you're that kid who didn't shoot me back when I was in the Alliance. Small world."

He glared at her. She could feel his hatred. It surprised her.

"You're not still holding a grudge are you? Geez that was...what? Fifteen years ago?" she asked.

"After I took you in and protected you, you had the people who raised me killed." His words were quiet and forceful. He continued to glare.

"Oh yeah, I remember those wonderful people now.  Terrorists, who raised you as a soldier from day one," she snapped. There was a long pause, then she shrugged. "Besides, it was the war. I needed the money. Nothing personal."

"To save your poor sick father and three little brothers?" he asked bitterly.

"I told you that? Why on earth would I tell you the truth, I wonder? You have a better memory than I do. My father died a long time ago, and I put my brothers through college with the money I made spying for the highest bidder." She shook her head. "I never tell people the truth about me now. God, I was young then."

He glared at her again. This really pissed her off.

"Oh, get off your high horse, Mr. Trowa Barton. I've read about you. You and your Gundam. You wiped out whole bases--civilians, janitors, army-brats, everyone. I'm not the only person with blood on their hands here."

"I was fighting for the colonies..."

"Oh and that makes you so much better than me fighting for my family? Who do you think you are? Robin Hood?"

He said nothing.  Silence.

She looked at him and shook her head.  I'm gonna earn my money this time, she thought. Well, time to get to work. She turned and leaned against the wall using it to get her feet under her. "Are you handcuffed?"

"What?" he snapped.

Middie sighed. "I said, are you handcuffed?"

"Yes."

"Great. Then you'll have to turn around." She stumbled over to him.

He looked up. "For what?"

"To help me get my pants down."

He looked away. "Pee your pants for all I care."

She dropped to her knees next to him, her face inches from his. "Listen to me you little jerk. I know you hate me. I accept that. But that doesn't change the fact that you and I are in a goddamn prison with people who are going to kill us.  Painfully! They took away all my tools, even searched my boot heels, but obviously cavity searches didn't occur to them. Get it?"

He looked at her then.

She continued.  "Yes, that's right Gundam boy. Freedom. Just one belt and zipper away. Then you never have to see me again, I promise.  Okay?"

He nodded.

She moved around so she was behind him and in reach. He fumbled with her belt, his burnt and swollen hands hurt to move. Why is it that torture always starts with the hands? He didn't know how many fingers were broken. He tried to pull the strap out, bone ground against bone and he cried out.

"What the hell?" She bent down to look at his hands. She whistled. "They sure did a number on you. Why didn't you tell me?"

He was still quivering in pain. He shook his head.

She moved around to his side. "Listen.  You'll have to do it with your teeth." She raised up so her belt was on a level with his eyes.

He hesitated, looking at her.

"Just do it," she hissed. "And don't think you're ever getting this close to my crotch again."

"I would..." he started a mean retort.

"Yeah, yeah," she cut him off. "Just do it."

He leaned in and grabbed onto her belt. He tugged the strap out, his forehead pressing into her belly. Then he pulled it to free of the pin.

Finally, he pulled the strap away from the buckle.

"Now the button, I can get the rest."

This required him to bury his face more deeply into her belly. He felt her breast on the back of his head as he pulled the button free.

"Thanks," she scooted away.

Trowa tried not to listen to her remove her pants and underwear, but it had a distinctive sound. However, the sound he found even worse was the quiet, wet, sucking sound as she removed something from...he flushed.

Then it was over. He heard metal on metal, a click and he knew she was free. He heard her pulling up her pants. She returned to his side, quickly picking the lock on his cuffs.

"I'm shackled too," he told her.

"Boy, they really didn't trust you." She bent to the task of removing them.

"Can you stand?" she asked, putting her hand under his arm to help him rise.

Roughly, he pulled his arm out of her grasp. "Yes." He reached for the wall and planted his hand. He pulled but his legs were too weak and his hand hurt excruciatingly. He gasped.

Middie shook her head, watching him. "Good to see you still got your pride. But that's hardly practical." She took hold of his arm again.  This time he didn't pull away. She pulled his arm up over her shoulders and lifted him to his feet. He was a good eight inches taller than she was, so she made a good crutch. They walked to the door.

Middie put her ear against it. She heard nothing.  Hmmm, there must be a guard.

She leaned him against the wall by the door, and quietly picked the lock.

She cracked the door, just a bit.

She saw the guard. The fool had his back turned.

"Wait here." She mouthed.

Trowa watched her slide out. A few seconds later he heard a scuffle and the gurgling sound of blood in a windpipe.

She returned to his side, her hands had blood on them and a gun in them. She said nothing but took his weight onto her shoulders again. When they walked out, he saw the guard with his throat slit.

She saw the direction of his stare.  She grimaced.  "I'm not as sweet as I used to be."

He shifted his stare to her.  It was a look of horror.

She defended herself. "All your killing was too detached, Trowa. I've killed a fraction of the numbers you've killed and you look at me like that." She shook her head and looked down the hall as they walked.

"I've never slit a throat."

"I'm happy for you," she snarled irritated. She was silent for a few minutes.  She didn't care what this jerk thought of her.  Or did she?  "If it makes you feel any better, that was a first for me."

It did make him feel better. He wondered why?

They both knew this compound wasn't very secure. Once they made it out the main door, they just had to cross into the woods and they'd be home free.  Of course that was a long way with guns and people in-between.  Surprise or stealth were the only two options.

When they got to the end of the hall, Middie leaned him up against it.  She peaked around the edge to check out the exit. There was a guard at the door. Of course. And the guard was facing the direction they had to go to get to the door.  She quietly told this to Trowa.

"I'll have to shoot him," Middie whispered.

Trowa nodded.

"Once I do, that will alert the whole compound." Middie checked the hallway behind them.  Clear.  "We'll have to run for it. You up for that?"

There was a glint in Trowa's eyes. "I want out of here."

"That's what I want to hear. Ready? Here goes." She clutched Trowa to her side and swung around the corner. She shot the guard in the head. Clean.  He went down but the sound was loud and echoing.

They ran for the door and barreled through it.  The way was clear!  Shouting and lights erupted behind them, but they ran for the forest as one, adrenaline pumping.  He felt no pain. Not now, he felt nothing, but the need to flee.

"This way," she hissed. She took a trail he couldn't see, his body moving like a machine. He heard the voices behind him. People chased them. Guns fired.

Middie swung them sideways, putting her body between him and the guns.  She ran sideways, pushing him along.  She fired her gun randomly behind them to discourage the chasers.

His legs stopped working. He'd used all his resources.

"No!" she hissed. "Don't stop now, we're almost there!"

She looked behind them and could see the flash of gunpowder.  Dark shapes moved.  She fired two more shots and the gun click empty.

"I can't," he gasped, "I can't...my legs."

"Damn! Well, I don't know how long..." She pulled his body over her shoulder in a fireman's carry. "I can do this." She began to carry him, each step a test of her strength and long years of working out. The men behind them were catching up.  I hope we're close enough, she thought.  "Yuy!" she shouted, taking step after heavy step. "Yuy! God damn it!"

The report of guns sounded ahead of them.  They were surrounded!  Bullets whizzed by...into the pursuers behind her! Thank God!

A man in green appeared out of nowhere beside her. Heero Yuy.

"Give him here," he ordered.

She handed Trowa over like a sack of grain, and they both ran for the Preventers vehicles. They crashed through the underbrush as their cover fire pulled back with them.  Preventer soldiers.  Heero's men.  The jeeps were just ahead.

Heero dropped Trowa over the side into the backseat of a jeep and yelled, "Move out! Everybody move out!" Middie climbed in shotgun.

Four vehicles jumped to life and pealed out of the forest and down the road.

Heero talked on the radio to his men. Two of the accompanying Preventers got hit, but there were no causalities. He congratulated them.  It was a clean extraction. 

Except for my black-eye, missing boot heels and wounded pride, Middie thought to herself.

Middie watched the trees pass, blurry.  She felt uncomfortable.  She didn't want to go back to Preventer headquarters tonight.  Not with him.  They couldn't pay her enough for that kind of abuse.

As the convoy of Preventer Jeeps passed through the village, Middie asked Heero to pull over. She got out, and turned to look at Heero.

"One Trowa Barton as promised."  She raised her eyebrows.

Heero nodded and pulled two cred-cards from his breast pocket. "You sure you want to be left here?" He handed them to her.

"Yes, too many guys around make me nervous." Middie grabbed her duffel bag out of the back of the jeep.  She felt Trowa's gaze on her. He knew why she wanted out so early. He tried to figure out if he cared.

"That's it.  See ya around, Preventers," she said to Heero.

Heero nodded and started to pull away. As the jeep passed her, Trowa came to a decision. "Middie!" he called.

She looked up at him, catching his eyes.

"Thanks." He stared at her as the jeep drove away.

His thanks surprised her, she wasn't expecting it. She nodded in response.  A half smile turned the corner of her mouth. Then she disappeared into the night.

-The End-

This fan fiction is written for entertainment only, the author does not claim to own any part of Gundam Wing. Please do not distribute. Gundam Wing© Bandai, Sunrise, Sotsu Agency.