Title: Here There Be Reptiles
Author: Thunderfoot (Sheena)
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Pairings: 3+4 and eventual 5+2.
Archive: If you want it just ask, I don't bite (much ^_^)
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, I don't own Jurassic park. I'm just playing with the characters.....don't sue.
Warnings: Possible OOC (I'm still not very familar with the characters, I haven't seen much of the series and this is only my second ever attempt at GW fanfic) This part may be a little slow as it kinda sets the scene.
Author Notes: Okay, I've seen different takes on what Quatres' Uchuu no Kokoro is. My take on it is it's kinda like the force ( I admit it, I'm a Star Wars fan ^_^ ) except he can't do any of that telekinetic stuff or mind tricks. All it does is tell him when people close to him are in trouble and warns him when something bad is going to happen and he can pick up on peoples emotions, not their thoughts though.
This is based loosely on Jurassic Park: Lost World (I love that movie!)
Feedback is greatly appriciated!
**thoughts**
"Speech"
-------------character change-------------------
Sound effects and com talk
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"Sooooo, we gotta go to this island and stop OZ from capturing the local wildlife. Ooookay........" *~*Duo Maxwel*~*
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Life was good. It was summer, the weather was mild and there was no school. To top it off there had been no missions for the past month, so Duo was indulging in something he got to do very rarely, curl up in a corner of the current safe house (or should that be safe mansion) and read. The mansion they were staying at was one of the numerous Winner estates and had a large library selection.
At the moment he was curled up in one of the easy chairs under the library's large windows. In his lap was a random book, with several more on the floor beside him. The book may have been open but he wasn't reading, he was staring out the window watching Quatre and Trowa wander around in the gardens.
**I wonder where the other two are. Let's see now......Heero, that's not too hard, he'll be up in his room on that damned laptop of his. 'Ch, I swear he was born with that thing!**
He started snickering at the mental images that bought up **Wu'll be outside somewhere, meditating I'll bet. Or maybe practising his martial arts, shirtless, with sweat dripping down his body, running over taunt........_down_ boy!** This was getting to be a common occurrence. He wasn't quite sure when it had started but he'd been noticing the Shenlong pilot more and more like _that_ and less and less the other way. **I've gotta stop doing that. Quatre is starting to notice** The blonde boy had caught Duo staring at the Chinese teen the other day, he hadn't said anything but the sly grin and wink he'd given Duo had been enough.
As though his thoughts had summoned him, Wufei appeared in the Library doorway. "Maxwell, what are you doing in here?" The look on his face was priceless.
"What'd's it look like I'm doin' Wu? I'm readin'" Duo flashed the cover of the book at him and grinned. **Floored 'im! I'm probably the last person he'd expect in the Library**
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"Wu_fei_, Maxwell, Wufei"
He'd always suspected that there was more to Duo than met the eye, so he really shouldn't have been surprised to see him in here. **Whenever I think I have him figured out he throws out another seeming unrelated piece about himself**
Duo Maxwell was a puzzle to Wufei. As a scholar he had always prided himself on his puzzle solving abilities, and yet he could not figure out the enigma that was the braided American pilot.
"Whatever Wuffy"
Sigh **Sometimes I think he purposefully tries to antagonise me. Scratch that, I _know_ he does it on purpose** "As much as I enjoy discussing the pronunciation of my name" he leant against the door frame and gazed coolly at Duo "Yui is looking for you. We have a mission"
Without a word Duo stood up, placed the book with the others on the floor, and walked out the door. Wufei followed him with his eyes until he was lost around the corner. Looking over at the pile of books on the floor he shook his head. Duo Maxwell was a puzzle, one which he intended to solve.
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The five pilots had gathered themselves in one of the many drawing rooms in Quatres' mansion and were already deep into planning their mission.
"Soooooo, we gotta go to this island and stop OZ from capturing the local wildlife. Oooookay......" These had to be some of the strangest orders he'd ever received. "I don't suppose they mentioned _what_ the local wildlife _is_ did they?"
"No, the doctors have no idea what lives on Isla Sorna" Heero pressed a couple of keys on his laptop, calling up a map of the area he began to point out different areas "OZ will be landing here on the north side. We will land here on the north eastern side. Camp will be on the cliff here"
"Where is the OZ camp?" asked Quatre peering over Heero's shoulder.
"Here" He tapped a section of the screen which turned red.
"Transport" Trowa got up to join Quatre at Heeros' shoulder.
"We go by shuttle to this island, where we will be met by a contact with all of our gear for this mission. we then go by boat to Isla Sorna"
"Does anybody else think this is weird?"
"It is odd that OZ would be interested in the wildlife of this island" Wufei looked over at Duo who had curled himself up on one of the couches like a cat "but I don not believe there shall be any difficulties"
Duo tugged on his braid "Famous last words Wu, famous last words"
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Two days after that planning session in one of his mansions found Quatre and Trowa standing in a busy market place awaiting the arrival of their contact. The shuttle to the island, their first and last stop before heading to Isla Sorna, had been relatively uneventful. Duo had been throwing around different possibilities as to what the 'wildlife' could be, some of them had been on the outrageous side, and alternating between teasing and casting, what he thought were secretive, glances at Wufei. **It's cute how he does that when he thinks no one is watching. He knows I know he likes him, but I don't think he realises that Wufei likes him.......actually I don't think _Wufei_ realises that he likes Duo. If they don't do something soon I'm going to be tempted to play matchmaker**
If the first leg of the journey was anything to go by, then this mission was going to be smooth sailing, leaving plenty of time for Quatre to figure out how to get Wufei and Duo together. At least he hoped it was going to be smooth sailing. He'd had a dull ache in his chest since they'd taken off. Absently rubbing at it while he kept an eye out for their contact, he mulled over what type of wildlife would interest OZ so much, and how to give Wufei and Duo a push in the right direction.
"Something the matter little one?" Murmured Trowa, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "That's the fourth time in as many minutes you've rubbed at your chest like that"
"Am I being that obvious?" He went to rub at his chest again but stopped himself. Chuckling he looked up at his lover " I guess I am. I just......have this feeling, this ache in my chest. I _think_ my uchuu no kokoro is trying to tell me something but I'm not sure"
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Trowa glanced at the blonde boy standing next to him. He'd learnt two things about him some time ago. Firstly _never_ underestimate him. He may look small, fragile and innocent but he was anything but **Small, yes. Fragile, no. Innocent, definitely not!** He had to fight back a grin. Second, _always_ trust Quatres' _feelings_ as they usually always tended to be right.
"You're not sure?"
"Well...." He grinned impishly "It could have just been those sandwiches I had at lunchtime"
Trowa smiled and put his arm around Quatres' shoulders **He's trying to make the both of us feel better by cracking jokes. His humor needs a bit of work though** "We'll just have to keep our eyes open then". A flash of movement in the crowd off to his left caught his eye "I believe our contact has arrived". He gave a small nod in the general direction he'd seen the contact.
Quatre turned to where Trowa had indicated in time for the contact to materialize out of the crowd in front of them. He wasn't much to look at. Probably in his mid to late twenties, casually dressed in jeans and a white 'Bite Me' T-shirt. Looking Quatre up and down he initiated the pass phrase "The wizard is feeling restless tonight"
"And Dorothy is has gone and lost her shoes" Duo had fallen out of his chair laughing when he heard the pass phrase, saying something along the lines of 'who thinks up this stuff?!' Trowa tended to agree with him.
Seemingly satisfied with his answer the contact continued. "Your boat is at the south docks, pier 46. All of your equipment is stowed onboard and you have all the nautical charts for the area in and around Isla Sorna".
"Thank you" said Quatre, always polite no matter what the situation.
"You know none of the locals will go near the place"
"And why is that" Trowa asked. Any information this man could give on the island could be valuable.
"They call them, the chain of islands Sorna belongs to, the Five Deaths. People, sailors and locals alike, have gone there and never returned, so now none of the locals will go there".
Quatre absently rubbed at his chest again as he stared at their contact.
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"Oh wow!, hey Wu, WU! Check this out, oh this is so totally cool! This place has everything _including_ the kitchen sink!" It hadn't taken Duo very long to start exploring the gear they would be using for the mission. Currently he was bouncing around in the trailer that would be their base of operations, practically tearing the place apart.
Wufei was staying well out of his way, watching him intently. **He seems fine now, no where near as upset as he was before** Duo had been nearly as shaken up as Quatre had been when pilots 03 and 04 had returned from meeting the contact. **I admit the stories about this chain of islands is disturbing, equally so since we know that something there had caught OZ's attention**
Something fell into his line of sight and he looked up, backpedaled, tripped over one of the numerous crates of gear scattered around the deck, and landed on his back. Belatedly he realized it was only Duo wearing some strange contraption over his head and eyes. Said pilot was now sprawled against the side of the trailer laughing loudly, still wearing the odd contraption.
"Kisama! Maxwell, what the hell are you wearing?!" Duo held his arms out from the side and did a small pirouette, braid swinging in a lazy arc over his behind. **And what a nice behind that is** He mentally slapped himself and snapped his eyes back to Duo's face.
"They're night vision goggles. You like? You flip his switch here and.....OW!" Duo quickly pulled the goggles off his head and began blinking rapidly "oooh, after image. Cool! Hey Wu, you gotta check some of this stuff out! C'mon!" Without any room for argument Duo grabbed Wufei's arm and dragged him into the trailer.
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Heero was worried, not that you could tell that from his cool exterior but he was. After Trowa and Quatre had reported back with stories of where they were headed he had run a search on Isla Sorna. what he had found was disturbing. In the past twenty years over one hundred people had gone missing in the area.
**That is one hundred too many for my liking.** The other pilots were the closest thing to family Heero had ever had, concequently he was protective of them.......not that they were ever going to find out about it.
**Let's see what else there might be on this island. I don't like going in uninformed** Running a search for anything that might be listed on Isla Sorna would take time. He checked their ETA: 2 hours **I just hope that's enough time**
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Delicately juggling two cups of tea, Trowa made his way over to where Quatre was watching Duo drag Wufei around. He had the oddest look on his face. "Quatre" he called quietly so as not to startle the blonde Arabian "I bought you some tea"
"Thank you Trowa" Quatre accepted the cup and went back to watching Duo and Wufei.
Trowa studied Quatre as he watched the other two pilots **He seems calmer now. He's not constantly rubbing at his chest anymore at least. I don't know whether that's a good sign or a bad sign** He took a sip of his tea and winced slightly as it burnt his tongue.
"Those two are clueless....It's cute!" Quatre turned to Trowa and his face took on that I-really-know-I-shouldn't-do-this-but-I-really-want-to-play-matchmaker expression. Trowa had seen it once before when he had been dragged into helping set up one of the Manguanacs.
He looked over to Duo and Wufei and studied them for a moment **Quatre's right. They're clueless. I'm tempted........but then again, I remember what happened the last time he played matchmaker** "No"
"Now what?"
"Don't interfere"
"But..."
"No!" With that Trowa picked Quatre up, slung him over his shoulder, and carried him like a sack of potatoes towards the cabins. He was fully intent on putting Quatre's mind to _other_ uses.
"TROWA!!"
It would be quite some time before anybody would see either of the two again.
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Duo started snickering when he heard Quatres' shriek "Somebody's gonna get lucky"
"Pardon?" Wufei looked up from where he was sitting and gave Duo a confused look.
**He's cute when he does that** "I'm talkin' 'bout Quatre. Tro just slung him over his shoulder and headed towards the cabins. I don't think we'll be seein' either of 'em for a while"
"Oh..." realization flooded Wufei's face and he blushed "Oh!"
This set Duo off on another round of snickering.
"I fail to see what is so funny Maxwell"
**Oh, nothin' much, you're just too cute when you're flustered** "Nuthin' Wu-man. Say where's Heero. I haven't seen his perfect soldierness since we left port. Don't tell me he's gone an' holed himself up with that laptop of his _again_? I swear that guy's permanently attached to that thing. Spending so much time on it can't be healthy. Y'know the last time we roomed together I could've sworn he spent more time on that thing than off it! I suppose I'd better go an' get 'im off it for a while, don't want his eyes goin' square on 'im. He wouldn't want that, it'd make him too noticeable on missions and we can't have that now can we?" He started to head towards the doorway intent on finding Heero and dragging him off his laptop, even if it killed him. "Hey, you comin' Wu?"
"Wu_fei_, Maxwell, Wufei" It was almost an ingrained response now.
"Whatever Wu, coming?" He hadn't even bothered to turn around. If he had, he might have seen the strange look in Wufei's eyes. Or the way that Wufei seemed to follow how he walked, focusing on his braid and how it caressed the Americans behind almost lovingly.
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It had only taken him an hour to find something relevant on their destination, and a possible explanation of OZ's interest in the place
Heero didn't like being surprised, he _really_ didn't like it! So he was more than slightly pissed with the information on his screen. To top it off it looked like the doctors might have known about what was on the island in the first place and hadn't told them.
Ownership: InGen corporation. Biological research facility
Details Y/N ?
**Biological research. I do _not_ like the sound of this. If the doctors knew why didn't they tell us?** He hit the 'Y' key with a little more force than necessary.
Accessing.....Please wait
The information flashed up on the screen. Heeros' eyes widened.
"Masaka..........."
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"Sir!" One of the many officers assigned to this mission saluted as the commanding officer entered the bridge. "We're scheduled to reach Isla Sorna in just under two hours."
"Very good Ensign. Maintain the ships present course" Metal glinted as the lights reflected off his mask. **time to see if the rumors I've been hearing are true**
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It didn't take Duo, with Wufei in tow, long to find Heero. After all, there were only so many places on their ship a person could hide, and Duo Maxwell was nothing if not persistent.
They found him up on the bridge staring at his laptop. **Am I psychic or what? Now how to go about this.....I could ignore him and leave him.......naaah** Plastering a maniacal grin on his face, Duo too a flying leap and attached himself to Heeros' back.
"Heero! Man! How's it going? What're ya doin' up here? Don't you know it's not good for your eyes to stare at a screen for too long? You're eyes'll go square!" Throughout this Heero maintained his I-am-a-rock impersonation. He didn't move, he didn't blink. He just sat there with a stunned expression staring at the screen.
**Back up a bit here. Heero is stunned?! Shit, that happens, well never!** He moved around in front of Heero and waved his hand in front of his face. "Hellooooooo. Is anybody in there? Hello, Heero, wakey wakey. Yoohoo, Earth to Heero, Earth callin' Heero, come in." When that didn't work he rapped his knuckles on his head.
"Masaka....."
"Oh, he speaks. Sooo, why were you zoned?"
"That's.......impossible"
Duo sighed and dropped his head into his hands "This is getting nowhere fast. Heero _what_ exactly is impossible?"
Finally blinking, Heero looked up from his laptop, well, where his laptop _would_ have been had Duo not been standing in front of him, and focused on Duo. "Duo go and get the others".
"I'll go" announced Wufei who had been standing forgotten in the doorway.
"Wu, when did you get here?"
"Maxwell, _you_ dragged me here" he turned and walked, well stalked, out.
"Oh, yeah" He looked sheepish.
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Wufei had to get out of that room. He had to think. When Duo had glomped onto Heero like that he'd felt a twinge of well...well something.
Actually, it had been more than a twinge. When Duo had glomped onto Heero he had felt.....jealous of Yui. **That's ridiculous. Why would I feel jealous of Yui. Maxwell is nothing more than a fellow pilot, and a puzzle that needs to be solved.** He sighed and headed towards the cabins where he assumed Trowa had carted Quatre off to earlier. He really did _not_ want to interrupt them but a pissed off Yui could be a scary thing, then again so could a pissed off Quatre.
Walking _very_ slowly down to the cabins, Wufei continued to mull over what he knew of Duo. **He plays the joker, yet he calls himself Shinigami. He acts like an airheaded fool around us and yet I've _seen_ his results at school _and_ I saw some of those books he had in the library, they were definitely _not_ light reading. There appears to be some brains to go with his beauty** He blinked, that was about the fourth time he'd caught himself thinking something along those lines with in the past hour.
Plus, he realized with a groan, he'd been oggling Duo's body earlier. **An I was doing it the other day. Then I was jealous of the attention he gave Yui. Dear gods! I'm falling for Duo Maxwell!**. He wasn't anywhere near as surprised at his discovery as he thought he would have **I think I need to have a talk with Trowa later.**
He'd reached the cabins during his musings **damn**. Listening intently, with more than a little embarrassment, he held his breath. **Well I can't _hear_ anything. That's a good sign** He walked to the door to Trowa and Quatre's room and knocked on the door.
There was a groan and a muffled curse that sounded like _Quatre_. **Then again maybe they're just very quiet....**
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Quatre was curled contentedly up to Trowa. Moments like this were few and far between, so he was a little miffed when someone knocked on the door. He groaned and swore softly.
"Barton, Winner, if you two are finished Yui wants to see us all up on the bridge immediately" Wufei sounded almost embarrassed.
Quatre snickered. **Poor Wufei, probably drew the short straw and had to come down here**. "Okay Wufei, thank you". The sound of hasty footsteps heading away from the door was his only reply. Still snickering Quatre poked his lover in the ribs "Trowa, wake up"
A hand snaked out and grabbed his wrist. The next thing he knew was underneath Trowa and getting a thorough kissing. "I heard. We'd better head up before Yui comes looking for us"
"Mmmnn......don' wanna" Quatre replied and tried to pull Trowa down for another kiss.
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Twenty minutes later the five pilots were gathered in their ships small bridge. Heero, as usual, was seated in front of his laptop. Duo appeared to be a little on the ansty side and kept shooting Heero glares from where he was standing near one of the corners. Wufei was standing nearby Duo, and kept sending him odd looks.
**Could it be Wufei is finally noticing Duo. Poor Quatre may not get to play matchmaker after all.** Trowa chuckled silently. He was standing on the opposite side of the room to Duo and Wufei, with Quatre standing next to him.
Never one to beat about the bush, Duo got straight to the point. "All right Heero, _now_ can you tell us what was so damn impossible"
"Isla Sorna was owned by a corporation known as InGen back in the late twentieth century. They also owned another island called Isla Nebula. There they built a theme park that never opened and at least four people died of unknown causes. There were no bodies".
"What does this have to do with where we are going Heero?" Quatre had begun to rub at his chest again. Trowa wrapped his arm around his waist.
"Isla Sorna was their breeding ground for the park. It was also listed as a biological research facility".
"Shit!" Duo was off the wall he was leaning on.
"They specialized in DNA and cloning. The successfully cloned some extinct animals and bred them for the park. When it failed to open, they abandoned Isla Sorna and turned the animals loose."
Wufei looked thoughtful. "My guess OZ is after the research on cloning"
"Nuh uh, you're forgettin' that our mission is to stop OZ gettin' their hands on the local _wildlife_." Duo looked over at Heero and gave him a hard look. "There something you're forgettin' to mention. Like what _exactly_ they cloned?"
"Dinosaurs. They cloned dinosaurs".
"You're shittin' me......right?! This is some kind of joke, Heero?"
Heero caught Duo's eyes and held his gaze. "Iie".
tbc
Author: Thunderfoot (Sheena)
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Pairings: 3+4 and eventual 5+2.
Archive: If you want it just ask, I don't bite (much ^_^)
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, I don't own Jurassic park. I'm just playing with the characters.....don't sue.
Warnings: Possible OOC (I'm still not very familar with the characters, I haven't seen much of the series and this is only my second ever attempt at GW fanfic) This part may be a little slow as it kinda sets the scene.
Author Notes: Okay, I've seen different takes on what Quatres' Uchuu no Kokoro is. My take on it is it's kinda like the force ( I admit it, I'm a Star Wars fan ^_^ ) except he can't do any of that telekinetic stuff or mind tricks. All it does is tell him when people close to him are in trouble and warns him when something bad is going to happen and he can pick up on peoples emotions, not their thoughts though.
This is based loosely on Jurassic Park: Lost World (I love that movie!)
Feedback is greatly appriciated!
**thoughts**
"Speech"
-------------character change-------------------
Sound effects and com talk
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sooooo, we gotta go to this island and stop OZ from capturing the local wildlife. Ooookay........" *~*Duo Maxwel*~*
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Life was good. It was summer, the weather was mild and there was no school. To top it off there had been no missions for the past month, so Duo was indulging in something he got to do very rarely, curl up in a corner of the current safe house (or should that be safe mansion) and read. The mansion they were staying at was one of the numerous Winner estates and had a large library selection.
At the moment he was curled up in one of the easy chairs under the library's large windows. In his lap was a random book, with several more on the floor beside him. The book may have been open but he wasn't reading, he was staring out the window watching Quatre and Trowa wander around in the gardens.
**I wonder where the other two are. Let's see now......Heero, that's not too hard, he'll be up in his room on that damned laptop of his. 'Ch, I swear he was born with that thing!**
He started snickering at the mental images that bought up **Wu'll be outside somewhere, meditating I'll bet. Or maybe practising his martial arts, shirtless, with sweat dripping down his body, running over taunt........_down_ boy!** This was getting to be a common occurrence. He wasn't quite sure when it had started but he'd been noticing the Shenlong pilot more and more like _that_ and less and less the other way. **I've gotta stop doing that. Quatre is starting to notice** The blonde boy had caught Duo staring at the Chinese teen the other day, he hadn't said anything but the sly grin and wink he'd given Duo had been enough.
As though his thoughts had summoned him, Wufei appeared in the Library doorway. "Maxwell, what are you doing in here?" The look on his face was priceless.
"What'd's it look like I'm doin' Wu? I'm readin'" Duo flashed the cover of the book at him and grinned. **Floored 'im! I'm probably the last person he'd expect in the Library**
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"Wu_fei_, Maxwell, Wufei"
He'd always suspected that there was more to Duo than met the eye, so he really shouldn't have been surprised to see him in here. **Whenever I think I have him figured out he throws out another seeming unrelated piece about himself**
Duo Maxwell was a puzzle to Wufei. As a scholar he had always prided himself on his puzzle solving abilities, and yet he could not figure out the enigma that was the braided American pilot.
"Whatever Wuffy"
Sigh **Sometimes I think he purposefully tries to antagonise me. Scratch that, I _know_ he does it on purpose** "As much as I enjoy discussing the pronunciation of my name" he leant against the door frame and gazed coolly at Duo "Yui is looking for you. We have a mission"
Without a word Duo stood up, placed the book with the others on the floor, and walked out the door. Wufei followed him with his eyes until he was lost around the corner. Looking over at the pile of books on the floor he shook his head. Duo Maxwell was a puzzle, one which he intended to solve.
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The five pilots had gathered themselves in one of the many drawing rooms in Quatres' mansion and were already deep into planning their mission.
"Soooooo, we gotta go to this island and stop OZ from capturing the local wildlife. Oooookay......" These had to be some of the strangest orders he'd ever received. "I don't suppose they mentioned _what_ the local wildlife _is_ did they?"
"No, the doctors have no idea what lives on Isla Sorna" Heero pressed a couple of keys on his laptop, calling up a map of the area he began to point out different areas "OZ will be landing here on the north side. We will land here on the north eastern side. Camp will be on the cliff here"
"Where is the OZ camp?" asked Quatre peering over Heero's shoulder.
"Here" He tapped a section of the screen which turned red.
"Transport" Trowa got up to join Quatre at Heeros' shoulder.
"We go by shuttle to this island, where we will be met by a contact with all of our gear for this mission. we then go by boat to Isla Sorna"
"Does anybody else think this is weird?"
"It is odd that OZ would be interested in the wildlife of this island" Wufei looked over at Duo who had curled himself up on one of the couches like a cat "but I don not believe there shall be any difficulties"
Duo tugged on his braid "Famous last words Wu, famous last words"
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Two days after that planning session in one of his mansions found Quatre and Trowa standing in a busy market place awaiting the arrival of their contact. The shuttle to the island, their first and last stop before heading to Isla Sorna, had been relatively uneventful. Duo had been throwing around different possibilities as to what the 'wildlife' could be, some of them had been on the outrageous side, and alternating between teasing and casting, what he thought were secretive, glances at Wufei. **It's cute how he does that when he thinks no one is watching. He knows I know he likes him, but I don't think he realises that Wufei likes him.......actually I don't think _Wufei_ realises that he likes Duo. If they don't do something soon I'm going to be tempted to play matchmaker**
If the first leg of the journey was anything to go by, then this mission was going to be smooth sailing, leaving plenty of time for Quatre to figure out how to get Wufei and Duo together. At least he hoped it was going to be smooth sailing. He'd had a dull ache in his chest since they'd taken off. Absently rubbing at it while he kept an eye out for their contact, he mulled over what type of wildlife would interest OZ so much, and how to give Wufei and Duo a push in the right direction.
"Something the matter little one?" Murmured Trowa, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "That's the fourth time in as many minutes you've rubbed at your chest like that"
"Am I being that obvious?" He went to rub at his chest again but stopped himself. Chuckling he looked up at his lover " I guess I am. I just......have this feeling, this ache in my chest. I _think_ my uchuu no kokoro is trying to tell me something but I'm not sure"
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Trowa glanced at the blonde boy standing next to him. He'd learnt two things about him some time ago. Firstly _never_ underestimate him. He may look small, fragile and innocent but he was anything but **Small, yes. Fragile, no. Innocent, definitely not!** He had to fight back a grin. Second, _always_ trust Quatres' _feelings_ as they usually always tended to be right.
"You're not sure?"
"Well...." He grinned impishly "It could have just been those sandwiches I had at lunchtime"
Trowa smiled and put his arm around Quatres' shoulders **He's trying to make the both of us feel better by cracking jokes. His humor needs a bit of work though** "We'll just have to keep our eyes open then". A flash of movement in the crowd off to his left caught his eye "I believe our contact has arrived". He gave a small nod in the general direction he'd seen the contact.
Quatre turned to where Trowa had indicated in time for the contact to materialize out of the crowd in front of them. He wasn't much to look at. Probably in his mid to late twenties, casually dressed in jeans and a white 'Bite Me' T-shirt. Looking Quatre up and down he initiated the pass phrase "The wizard is feeling restless tonight"
"And Dorothy is has gone and lost her shoes" Duo had fallen out of his chair laughing when he heard the pass phrase, saying something along the lines of 'who thinks up this stuff?!' Trowa tended to agree with him.
Seemingly satisfied with his answer the contact continued. "Your boat is at the south docks, pier 46. All of your equipment is stowed onboard and you have all the nautical charts for the area in and around Isla Sorna".
"Thank you" said Quatre, always polite no matter what the situation.
"You know none of the locals will go near the place"
"And why is that" Trowa asked. Any information this man could give on the island could be valuable.
"They call them, the chain of islands Sorna belongs to, the Five Deaths. People, sailors and locals alike, have gone there and never returned, so now none of the locals will go there".
Quatre absently rubbed at his chest again as he stared at their contact.
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"Oh wow!, hey Wu, WU! Check this out, oh this is so totally cool! This place has everything _including_ the kitchen sink!" It hadn't taken Duo very long to start exploring the gear they would be using for the mission. Currently he was bouncing around in the trailer that would be their base of operations, practically tearing the place apart.
Wufei was staying well out of his way, watching him intently. **He seems fine now, no where near as upset as he was before** Duo had been nearly as shaken up as Quatre had been when pilots 03 and 04 had returned from meeting the contact. **I admit the stories about this chain of islands is disturbing, equally so since we know that something there had caught OZ's attention**
Something fell into his line of sight and he looked up, backpedaled, tripped over one of the numerous crates of gear scattered around the deck, and landed on his back. Belatedly he realized it was only Duo wearing some strange contraption over his head and eyes. Said pilot was now sprawled against the side of the trailer laughing loudly, still wearing the odd contraption.
"Kisama! Maxwell, what the hell are you wearing?!" Duo held his arms out from the side and did a small pirouette, braid swinging in a lazy arc over his behind. **And what a nice behind that is** He mentally slapped himself and snapped his eyes back to Duo's face.
"They're night vision goggles. You like? You flip his switch here and.....OW!" Duo quickly pulled the goggles off his head and began blinking rapidly "oooh, after image. Cool! Hey Wu, you gotta check some of this stuff out! C'mon!" Without any room for argument Duo grabbed Wufei's arm and dragged him into the trailer.
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Heero was worried, not that you could tell that from his cool exterior but he was. After Trowa and Quatre had reported back with stories of where they were headed he had run a search on Isla Sorna. what he had found was disturbing. In the past twenty years over one hundred people had gone missing in the area.
**That is one hundred too many for my liking.** The other pilots were the closest thing to family Heero had ever had, concequently he was protective of them.......not that they were ever going to find out about it.
**Let's see what else there might be on this island. I don't like going in uninformed** Running a search for anything that might be listed on Isla Sorna would take time. He checked their ETA: 2 hours **I just hope that's enough time**
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Delicately juggling two cups of tea, Trowa made his way over to where Quatre was watching Duo drag Wufei around. He had the oddest look on his face. "Quatre" he called quietly so as not to startle the blonde Arabian "I bought you some tea"
"Thank you Trowa" Quatre accepted the cup and went back to watching Duo and Wufei.
Trowa studied Quatre as he watched the other two pilots **He seems calmer now. He's not constantly rubbing at his chest anymore at least. I don't know whether that's a good sign or a bad sign** He took a sip of his tea and winced slightly as it burnt his tongue.
"Those two are clueless....It's cute!" Quatre turned to Trowa and his face took on that I-really-know-I-shouldn't-do-this-but-I-really-want-to-play-matchmaker expression. Trowa had seen it once before when he had been dragged into helping set up one of the Manguanacs.
He looked over to Duo and Wufei and studied them for a moment **Quatre's right. They're clueless. I'm tempted........but then again, I remember what happened the last time he played matchmaker** "No"
"Now what?"
"Don't interfere"
"But..."
"No!" With that Trowa picked Quatre up, slung him over his shoulder, and carried him like a sack of potatoes towards the cabins. He was fully intent on putting Quatre's mind to _other_ uses.
"TROWA!!"
It would be quite some time before anybody would see either of the two again.
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Duo started snickering when he heard Quatres' shriek "Somebody's gonna get lucky"
"Pardon?" Wufei looked up from where he was sitting and gave Duo a confused look.
**He's cute when he does that** "I'm talkin' 'bout Quatre. Tro just slung him over his shoulder and headed towards the cabins. I don't think we'll be seein' either of 'em for a while"
"Oh..." realization flooded Wufei's face and he blushed "Oh!"
This set Duo off on another round of snickering.
"I fail to see what is so funny Maxwell"
**Oh, nothin' much, you're just too cute when you're flustered** "Nuthin' Wu-man. Say where's Heero. I haven't seen his perfect soldierness since we left port. Don't tell me he's gone an' holed himself up with that laptop of his _again_? I swear that guy's permanently attached to that thing. Spending so much time on it can't be healthy. Y'know the last time we roomed together I could've sworn he spent more time on that thing than off it! I suppose I'd better go an' get 'im off it for a while, don't want his eyes goin' square on 'im. He wouldn't want that, it'd make him too noticeable on missions and we can't have that now can we?" He started to head towards the doorway intent on finding Heero and dragging him off his laptop, even if it killed him. "Hey, you comin' Wu?"
"Wu_fei_, Maxwell, Wufei" It was almost an ingrained response now.
"Whatever Wu, coming?" He hadn't even bothered to turn around. If he had, he might have seen the strange look in Wufei's eyes. Or the way that Wufei seemed to follow how he walked, focusing on his braid and how it caressed the Americans behind almost lovingly.
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It had only taken him an hour to find something relevant on their destination, and a possible explanation of OZ's interest in the place
Heero didn't like being surprised, he _really_ didn't like it! So he was more than slightly pissed with the information on his screen. To top it off it looked like the doctors might have known about what was on the island in the first place and hadn't told them.
Ownership: InGen corporation. Biological research facility
Details Y/N ?
**Biological research. I do _not_ like the sound of this. If the doctors knew why didn't they tell us?** He hit the 'Y' key with a little more force than necessary.
Accessing.....Please wait
The information flashed up on the screen. Heeros' eyes widened.
"Masaka..........."
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"Sir!" One of the many officers assigned to this mission saluted as the commanding officer entered the bridge. "We're scheduled to reach Isla Sorna in just under two hours."
"Very good Ensign. Maintain the ships present course" Metal glinted as the lights reflected off his mask. **time to see if the rumors I've been hearing are true**
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It didn't take Duo, with Wufei in tow, long to find Heero. After all, there were only so many places on their ship a person could hide, and Duo Maxwell was nothing if not persistent.
They found him up on the bridge staring at his laptop. **Am I psychic or what? Now how to go about this.....I could ignore him and leave him.......naaah** Plastering a maniacal grin on his face, Duo too a flying leap and attached himself to Heeros' back.
"Heero! Man! How's it going? What're ya doin' up here? Don't you know it's not good for your eyes to stare at a screen for too long? You're eyes'll go square!" Throughout this Heero maintained his I-am-a-rock impersonation. He didn't move, he didn't blink. He just sat there with a stunned expression staring at the screen.
**Back up a bit here. Heero is stunned?! Shit, that happens, well never!** He moved around in front of Heero and waved his hand in front of his face. "Hellooooooo. Is anybody in there? Hello, Heero, wakey wakey. Yoohoo, Earth to Heero, Earth callin' Heero, come in." When that didn't work he rapped his knuckles on his head.
"Masaka....."
"Oh, he speaks. Sooo, why were you zoned?"
"That's.......impossible"
Duo sighed and dropped his head into his hands "This is getting nowhere fast. Heero _what_ exactly is impossible?"
Finally blinking, Heero looked up from his laptop, well, where his laptop _would_ have been had Duo not been standing in front of him, and focused on Duo. "Duo go and get the others".
"I'll go" announced Wufei who had been standing forgotten in the doorway.
"Wu, when did you get here?"
"Maxwell, _you_ dragged me here" he turned and walked, well stalked, out.
"Oh, yeah" He looked sheepish.
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Wufei had to get out of that room. He had to think. When Duo had glomped onto Heero like that he'd felt a twinge of well...well something.
Actually, it had been more than a twinge. When Duo had glomped onto Heero he had felt.....jealous of Yui. **That's ridiculous. Why would I feel jealous of Yui. Maxwell is nothing more than a fellow pilot, and a puzzle that needs to be solved.** He sighed and headed towards the cabins where he assumed Trowa had carted Quatre off to earlier. He really did _not_ want to interrupt them but a pissed off Yui could be a scary thing, then again so could a pissed off Quatre.
Walking _very_ slowly down to the cabins, Wufei continued to mull over what he knew of Duo. **He plays the joker, yet he calls himself Shinigami. He acts like an airheaded fool around us and yet I've _seen_ his results at school _and_ I saw some of those books he had in the library, they were definitely _not_ light reading. There appears to be some brains to go with his beauty** He blinked, that was about the fourth time he'd caught himself thinking something along those lines with in the past hour.
Plus, he realized with a groan, he'd been oggling Duo's body earlier. **An I was doing it the other day. Then I was jealous of the attention he gave Yui. Dear gods! I'm falling for Duo Maxwell!**. He wasn't anywhere near as surprised at his discovery as he thought he would have **I think I need to have a talk with Trowa later.**
He'd reached the cabins during his musings **damn**. Listening intently, with more than a little embarrassment, he held his breath. **Well I can't _hear_ anything. That's a good sign** He walked to the door to Trowa and Quatre's room and knocked on the door.
There was a groan and a muffled curse that sounded like _Quatre_. **Then again maybe they're just very quiet....**
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Quatre was curled contentedly up to Trowa. Moments like this were few and far between, so he was a little miffed when someone knocked on the door. He groaned and swore softly.
"Barton, Winner, if you two are finished Yui wants to see us all up on the bridge immediately" Wufei sounded almost embarrassed.
Quatre snickered. **Poor Wufei, probably drew the short straw and had to come down here**. "Okay Wufei, thank you". The sound of hasty footsteps heading away from the door was his only reply. Still snickering Quatre poked his lover in the ribs "Trowa, wake up"
A hand snaked out and grabbed his wrist. The next thing he knew was underneath Trowa and getting a thorough kissing. "I heard. We'd better head up before Yui comes looking for us"
"Mmmnn......don' wanna" Quatre replied and tried to pull Trowa down for another kiss.
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Twenty minutes later the five pilots were gathered in their ships small bridge. Heero, as usual, was seated in front of his laptop. Duo appeared to be a little on the ansty side and kept shooting Heero glares from where he was standing near one of the corners. Wufei was standing nearby Duo, and kept sending him odd looks.
**Could it be Wufei is finally noticing Duo. Poor Quatre may not get to play matchmaker after all.** Trowa chuckled silently. He was standing on the opposite side of the room to Duo and Wufei, with Quatre standing next to him.
Never one to beat about the bush, Duo got straight to the point. "All right Heero, _now_ can you tell us what was so damn impossible"
"Isla Sorna was owned by a corporation known as InGen back in the late twentieth century. They also owned another island called Isla Nebula. There they built a theme park that never opened and at least four people died of unknown causes. There were no bodies".
"What does this have to do with where we are going Heero?" Quatre had begun to rub at his chest again. Trowa wrapped his arm around his waist.
"Isla Sorna was their breeding ground for the park. It was also listed as a biological research facility".
"Shit!" Duo was off the wall he was leaning on.
"They specialized in DNA and cloning. The successfully cloned some extinct animals and bred them for the park. When it failed to open, they abandoned Isla Sorna and turned the animals loose."
Wufei looked thoughtful. "My guess OZ is after the research on cloning"
"Nuh uh, you're forgettin' that our mission is to stop OZ gettin' their hands on the local _wildlife_." Duo looked over at Heero and gave him a hard look. "There something you're forgettin' to mention. Like what _exactly_ they cloned?"
"Dinosaurs. They cloned dinosaurs".
"You're shittin' me......right?! This is some kind of joke, Heero?"
Heero caught Duo's eyes and held his gaze. "Iie".
tbc