Mighty Insignia

Mighty Insignia

By Claudra

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, sorry. Just amusing myself. ^____^

A/N: Parings are 1+2, 3+4. Wufei is the humor in this story. Oh, and I promise to include more Quatre in this chapter! He kind of faded into the background there... Anyways, on to the second chapter of "Mighty Insignia". What's in store for the G-boys this time? Who set that bomb? Read to find out...

"Damn those PurpBirds!!" Duo exclaimed as his hero was once again unconscious. Shinigami had picked up an old Nintendo system and was currently caught up in a game of "Paladin's Quest"(1).

"You should use that 'FireG' move, it seems pretty sufficient against the bird-type enemies." Heero stated calmly in his monotone. Duo threw a pillow at him.

"What," Wufei started, "is the point to this game? All you do is fight monsters and roam around town."

Duo glared dangerously at Wufei and stated, "There IS no point. That's the point."

This only further confused the 05 pilot. "Wha....."

"Don't bother Wufei, he'll only state more random spiels of odd wisdom." Trowa interjected from the couch.

The five of them were tiredly sitting around in the messy living room of their shared apartment the evening after the late-night disaster. Wufei, sitting with several lengthy novels piled in front of him, was scrutinizing the game Duo was playing, while Heero watched over the edge of his laptop, and Trowa and Quatre sat on the couch, Trowa's arm slowly creeping over the top of the couch to rest behind Quatre's shoulders.

"Which further proves that Duo was the one who taught Heero that 'High' song..." Quatre mumbled, grinning at Duo like the Cheshire cat.

"Hey!" Duo exclaimed and splashed his drink at the Arab, completely soaking his top. Instead of complaining, Quatre grinned even wider.

"Point proven."

"That doesn't prove anything!"

"Oh, yes it does--"

"No."

"Well, considering that you spend all of your time with him, and since ANY wisdom comes to you when you are high--"

"Hey!! I don't get high!!"

"And now you are furiously denying the fact that--"

"Actually," Heero said, "he did teach me that song. He'd be singing it in the shower when I... " he paused, trying to rephrase his words as Quatre, Wufei and Trowa roared with laughter, "The point is, he actually did teach me that song, and no, he doesn't smoke. I'd kill him." Once again, he paused and smiled slightly as Duo sent him a number-one-on-my-hit-list glare, "I guess I was trying to act as cool as Duo was.. last night... I have to say, I must have been really drunk to pull that stunt..." Now everyone was laughing, specifically at the memories of previous Duo-Heero antics.

In the past years, the events of the war and the Mariemaya incident had slowly drifted away, leaving only a few nightmares and sadness. Every once in a while, one of them would break down in tears.. but they had always been there for each other. Of course, none would admit it (save Quatre), but they worked well as a team, and as a family. They were all in the same boat together, and had also ended up rooming together.

Funnily enough, Duo and Heero were the inseparable two in the house. Wufei was the lone, wise one in the group, while Quatre and Trowa had only just begun flirting with each other.

Grinning stupidly at Trowa's arm, Quatre thought about all of the things he wished were true. Mind you, flowers and other stuff wasn't necessary, but little things like this...

With a loud rip, Duo pulled the Nintendo socket out of the wall and flipped on the news. Quatre sadly watched as Dick's Last Resort came onto the screen.

".... Last night an explosion occurred on the corner of 6th avenue inside the bar, 'Dick's Last Resort'--" At this, the anchorwoman looked amused, "At about 11:30. Witnesses say they saw a young man with dark brown hair suspiciously wandering around where the bomb was planted--"

"BULLSHIT!!" Duo cried, jumping to his feet, "He didn't ev--"

"Duo!!" Heero snapped, "Shut up and let us hear already!"

Duo grumbled incoherently as Heero pulled him onto his lap and wrapped his arms around him.

".... Let's talk to Detective Potvido for any confirmation on the subject."

"Hey, it's that Detective we talked to! ... He didn't seem very trustworthy. I didn't like him."

This time it was Quatre's turn to be hushed as Potvido suddenly occupied the screen.

"..Detective Potvido, what do you think of this claim?" The reporter asked, holding the microphone under the man's overlarge nose.

"I spoke to him and his friends, and they seemed a bit.. suspicious. Rather reluctant to answer questions. They had ducked under the bar before the explosion, and told me no reason as to why, although I suspect they either knew, or planted it themselves. Yes, I am quite sure they did it. We have several other pieces of evidence, though that information is, at the time, classified. Thank you." With this, he waved the reporter away and stepped off the screen.

"That DICK!!" Duo hollered, and threw himself at the TV. Fortunately, they didn't have to pay for a new television set, because Heero grabbed the maddened Shinigami just in time. The screen suddenly changed from the ruined Dick's Last Resort to a picture of Heero.

"... Police are searching for for these criminals, but have not yet found them. The authorities do have their license plate, and are on the lookout for their car. If you have seen a blue Volvo with the license plate 835POD9, please contact the police--"

"First off, we've got to ditch the car," Trowa said, angrily flipping the TV off. "And get new credit cards... without our names..."

"Duh." Duo interjected.

"Wufei and I will ditch the Volvo. Heero, you make sure you have an efficient disguise, and make sure we have money for a shuttle. Start packing, also, Duo. Quatre." Trowa grabbed Wufei's arm, leading him out of the room. With one last look at Quatre, he said, "Quatre, don't forget the instruments, ok?" He smiled at the fervent, nodding head.

Quatre heard the door slam; they were gone. "Well," He said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together, "Shall we pack?" Duo nodded, and led Quatre out of the room.

"hrmm... I wonder what I should keep in my wardrobe.." Duo mumbled.

"Duo, I don't see what's the point in wondering, everything in your closet is the same."

"I'll take that as a compliment; thank you." Duo said loftily as they separated, his voice floating after Quatre as the blond entered the room he shared with Wufei and Trowa.

On Wufei's side of the room, books rested elegantly on his furniture, While Trowa had barely anything but his clown half-mask, which was perched on top of his dresser, along with a flute case. Quatre, however, had pictures of all of his family resting on his beside table, several poetry novels that reminded him of better times, and a violin, recently played, laying on his bed.

Throwing open a small, light trunk, he shoved in all of his clothes, which had ended up more casual over the years, (but he still kept the khakis) in by simply taking out a drawer and emptying the contents over the waiting bag. Then, after placing his violin carefully back into it's case, then settling it into his trunk, he stared over at his pictures. He would have to take them out of the frames, he decided, and ended up stacking them in a Tupperware container and placing them in an empty spot. Next, toiletries.

Being a bachelor's hovel, the bathroom -- and nearly every place else, for that matter -- was a disgusting mess. It took Quatre several tries to grab a clean toothbrush, much less three. Duo entered the room and tried himself, but with a better luck. Shinigami seemed oddly accustomed to the chaos, as though it was his nature. It certainly wasn't Quatre's.

After grabbing several needed bathroom items (including an extra roll of toilet paper; Quatre had learned that being stranded in the bathroom was no fun), Quatre pulled out yet another small suitcase and began plopping Trowa's things in it. He had easily selected the things Trowa needed the most, but once he got to Wufei, the blonde had no clue whatsoever.

"What am I going to do with all of these books....??"

Sighing, the pilot of 04 shoved Wufei's clothes into another bag (they always had a spare, for they ended up traveling a lot), and stared blankly at the novels, non-fictional books, and several fantasies. Wufei can deal with these.

Quatre zipped up his and Trowa's backpacks, trotted down the hall, and set the cases down by the door. He then began making a total mess by knocking over furniture, tipping pots, and generally wreaking havoc.

"Hey, what's going on over there, Cat???" Duo bellowed after hearing an ear-splitting crack of the leg of a table snapping off. Shinigami came running into the hall, expecting some kind of threat.

"WTF... Quatre..??" Duo stared, but was silenced.

"When the police find us, they will most likely search the apartment -- and find Heero's, er, experiments. He can't very well bring them with us, and we don't have time to get rid of them." Quatre explained as he knocked the shade off of a lamp. "Now they will think someone was after us. Confusion." Quatre added, shrugging. "Hey, put your things by the door, k? I'm off to kill the living room."

* * *

"Wufei, pull off the license plate on the front, I'll get the back."

Trowa and Wufei moved to opposite sides of the car and jerkily ripped off each of the license plates. Wufei reached the driver's seat first, and hopped in with a huffy grin.

"Let's go for a joyride to the lake, ne? Since it's dark, not a soul will notice us." Wufei press the gas pedal, and, in a cloud of dust, headed off to the lake.

Both boys sat in tense silence, still contemplating running from the law.. all of their lives. What was to become of them? Trowa finally had the nerve to voice this query.

"Wufei? ... What... Where will we go from here?" He asked, turning to the Chinese man. There was a pause, then--

"I don't know. But at least we have each other."

* * *

Once they had reached the lake, Trowa hopped out, and Wufei opened his door in order to escape. Then, they ditched the car. Staring at the bubbling water, Wufei sighed.

"I think I left one of Duo's CD's in there."

"Screw the CD, he'll have to live with it."

Almost suddenly, a car appeared on the nearby road, a flashlight flooding the park grounds.

It was a police car.

Soon the men inside were jumping out and were following the tire tracks to the lake.

"Shit." Trowa mouthed, grabbed Wufei, and sprinted off into the trees. The 03 pilot then headed towards the police car.

"What..? ohhh..." Wufei stuttered, then climbed into the jacked police car's passenger seat.

"I'm driving." Trowa barked, then turned the car on. Fortunately, the cops had left their keys. That way, they wouldn't waste time by having to rewire it.

"Hey!! HEY!! What do you think you are doing!?! Stop, this is the police!!" The two cops suddenly emerged from the bushes, trampling over to the almost-gone car. Thankfully, Trowa had gotten the car started and floored the gas pedal.

"Nice driving, Trowa." Wufei called over the wind whipping around them furiously, "Almost as bad as Duo's."

"You do realize we are being chased by the cops, right?"

"I was aware of that fact, yes."

They rode in silence --that is, except for the siren that Wufei had conveniently turned on-- until they reached their apartment.

"Stay here, I'll get the others." Trowa leaped out of the police car, dashed up the stairs to the apartment door, unlocked it, and stared at the ransacked hovel.

"QUATRE!!" He screamed, suddenly terrified that something had happened to the other pilots while Wufei and he were .. out. Trowa dashed over the mounds of toppled tables, chairs, plants, and paintings and headed into the living room. There, standing by the ruined table and looking wildly about, was Quatre.

"Yes?" He asked, nervous about the horrified, dangerous look flickering in Trowa's eyes. The 03 pilot sighed in relief, made his way over to Quatre, and hugged him tenderly. Quatre, obviously enjoying the extra attention, hugged back.

"I'm fine, Trowa, it's ok..." He mumbled, as though reading Trowa's mind (though he most likely did). Lightly stroking the brown hair, the 04 pilot pulled away from the embrace, and grabbed Trowa's hand.

"I'm confusing the police. This way, they won't come here and think we just up and left. Perhaps there was someone looking for us, ne? Besides.. Heero's machinery.. codes.." Quatre's grin grew wider as Trowa's mouth split softly into a rare smile. Trowa almost never smiled.. And he looked perfected when he did so.

"You packed, right?"

"Yes, although I have no idea what to do with Wufei's books, he can't carry them all..."

"I know. Tell him to deal with his books once we lug out the trunks, okay?" when Quatre nodded, Trowa turned away, and leading the blonde by the hand, pulled him into the hallway and into Duo and Heero's room.

"Duo? Heero?" Trowa called at the closed door. "Time to go." At this, the door swung open and out came the two, both with bags slung over their shoulders.

"Trowa.... where, exactly, are we going?" Quatre asked, still clutching onto the other boy's hand like a child as they walked down the hall to the door.

"It would be best to stay at a place big enough that no one could find us without searching for years." Heero said, walking swiftly out of the door. Trowa nodded in agreement.

Quatre gasped, his eyes lighting up. "Are....."

"Yes. We are going to Earth."

* * *

"Moshi moshi." A strong, dark, feminine voice answered the ringing phone as the fingers attached to the voice tapped against a keyboard, soft blue light emitting from the computer screen as it washed over the figure in the chair. Haltingly, the voice on the other side of the communication spoke, then--

A gasp. "Shuhan???" The voice cried in alarm, then the fingers immediately stopped their ceaseless tapping. "Why are you calling, my Shuhan? Is something wrong?"

"Stop calling me that." The caller snapped. "I'm not anyone's leader anymore." The caller's voice paused, then, trembled. "Something has come up."

"Eh?" Then after a brief, garbled sentence from the caller, "Oh..... shit. She... you mean...."

"Yes. She's back." The caller had switched back from the odd language. Then, after the caller had once again said something in the funny tongue, the dark voice responded.

"How very ironic.

"Listen, Shuhan, you'd better get on the next shuttle over here, and you'd better show up at my front door, or else."

"There's no use making threats, you know. I'm going to listen anyways."

"I know." a pause. "I just wanted to make that very, very clear. Make that an order, young lady."

"Yes, of course, my Taisa (2). I'll be there."

"I understand." Then, as a sudden afterthought that matched the dark tint in the voice to a startling degree, making the strong-sounding voice seem owned by someone very, very dangerous...

"She should be careful.... Plague still follows her every step."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

1. Paladin's Quest is an old game for Super Nintendo. It just so happens my sister was playing this while I typed. ^__^

2. Taisa is Japanese for Colonel.