"Hello boys," Noin said, watching them file out of the shuttle. She was a little surprised to see Jinx exit from the hatch, but then again, Jinx never was one to stand aside when there was a war to be won. Waiting at home for the men to return was not one of Jinx's personality traits.
"Hey, Lu!" Duo said, sauntering up to her.
"Watch the nicknaming," Noin warned, not wanting to seem less in the eyes of her soldiers. She smiled at Duo's friendliness despite herself.
Wufei stifled a yawn.
"You must be tired, taking off in the middle of the night like that. You all should rest," Noin said, leading the way out of the hangar and through the hallways of her craft.
"Have something to eat?" Duo cheerfully asked, his stomach rumbling.
"Not until breakfast is served at 06:00. That gives you guys about 3 hours to rest." She stopped in front of a large room. It was a conference room that had obviously been substituted to serve as a bunkroom. Three sets of bunk beds lined the walls, and the large conference table had been pushed to the back of the room.
Duo mumbled something about starving to death within three hours as the pilots shuffled into the room. They were all beyond tired, having not slept since the night before. And the day filled with suit-practicing and weapons checks on top of having to escape Relena's palace had worn them all out.
Noin remained in the doorway for a while. Jinx plopped down in the middle of the floor, with Duo next to her. Slowly the pilots either took a seat on a bed or on the large conference table so that they were all in a rough circle.
"What are we going to do?" Quatre asked, voicing everyone's question.
Faces looked thoughtful as they considered their options.
"We don't know where the artillery storage is," Wufei pointed out. "And I'm sure none of us want to be responsible for just blowing the entire base out of existence. We need to be more strategic."
"So aim for the weapon's storage again?" Duo asked.
"Sounds good to me," Trowa offered, stretching and laying down as he got more comfortable on the expensive conference room table.
"But we don't know where the artillery storage is," Wufei repeated in dismay. This would be harder than any of them thought it would be.
"Infiltrate," Heero said.
"What?"
"Send in someone to infiltrate the base, become part of the ranks to send back information to the rest of us. Then we'd know where the storage was," Jinx explained.
Obviously, the two of them had already discussed this, Duo thought. "So who do we send?" he asked, knowing already who would volunteer.
"Trowa has been successful in the past," Quatre offered. "I'm too well known."
"As am I," Wufei said, referring to his involvement in the Preventors.
"And I'm already dead," Duo said with a cheery smile. He was still proud of that fiasco.
"So Trowa, Jinx or Heero?" Noin spoke up from behind them.
Again, faces were quiet at they contemplated who to send.
"Jinx and I," Heero said quietly.
"Why?" Trowa asked, not wanting to be left out.
"You have a sister to return to. What if this maniac idea doesn't pan out? We could use your explosives knowledge to still blow up the base if we need," Heero explained. "You all have someone waiting for you."
The pilots looked at each other, knowing that Heero was right. Wufei had Sally waiting. Trowa and Quatre promised to return to Cathy. Duo was too important to all of them to send on this suicide mission. And suicide mission it was.
"I might be able to pull some strings," Jinx offered. "I used to be a part of this organization, remember?"
Duo nodded, knowing that she was best for the job, but unwilling to let both of his friends go off and leave him. He suddenly reached over, hugging her close.
"Details in the morning," Heero said, lying down on the bed he happened to be sitting upon. He closed his eyes, signaling that the rest of them should do so as well.
Noin turned off the lights and closed the door behind her.
* * * * * * *
It was 10:53, and none of the pilots had awakened yet. Noin was starting to get worried. Maybe they had left in the middle of the night, she thought. Maybe something had happened to them. She hurried as she ran down the hallway to the conference room door. No light shone from the crack under the door. Maybe Jinx and Heero had left. Maybe…
The door swung open silently, a ray of light from the hallway grew across the floor, illuminating one of the sweetest scenes Noin had ever witnessed.
The die-hard rough and tough Gundam pilots were in a heap on the floor, snuggled together as they slept peacefully. Heero was holding Jinx close to him, spooning her. Jinx was doing the same to Duo, who held one of her hands over his waist and close to his chest and hugging it like a child hugs a teddy bear. Jinx's other hand was extended up, holding onto Quatre's hand. Quatre was laying above their heads, with his body perpendicular to theirs. Trowa was using Quatre's side as a pillow, his long body stretched out under the large conference table. Wufei was even part of the group, similarly using Duo's calf as a pillow.
Noin smiled. Even tough Gundam pilots need to support each other, she thought. "Hey guys," she said in a whisper.
Heero's eyes immediately popped open, as did Wufei's.
"It's getting late," she explained. "You all should eat and get started on your mission." Noin closed the door and left, leaving Heero and Wufei to wake the others.
Wufei sat up, groaning and rubbing his neck. Duo's leg was not all that comfortable of a pillow. His noise woke up Trowa, who seemed a little surprised at himself for using his sister's lover and his best friend as a pillow. The lanky man stood up slowly, stretching out.
The removal of weight from his side made Quatre's eyes flutter open as he woke up. "What time is it?" he growled, unhappy to wake up.
"Too late," Heero explained, squeezing Jinx tighter as he spoke. She stirred in his arms.
"I don't want to go," Duo whined, snuggling closer back into Jinx's stomach.
"Come on," Wufei ordered, reaching down and grabbing a leg. He pulled Duo away from the couple still on the floor. "You're the one who wanted to eat."
"Did someone say eat?" Duo asked, his eyes popping wide open. In an instant, he was up on his feet, looking around him for food.
Trowa and Quatre shook their heads in disbelief. Duo would do anything as long as you offered him food.
"Jinx," Heero said softly into her ear.
"Let me sleep a while longer," she pleaded. Heero jerked a little in surprise. He didn't think she had woken up. "I need to prepare for going back in there. Clear my mind of anger," she explained.
"Do you want me to stay?"
"No, go and plan with them," she said softly, momentarily squeezing Heero's hand that she held against her chest.
Heero sat up, and then put his arms under her legs and back. He lifted her and gently laid her on the closest bed. None of the beds had been used, save for the few pillows or blankets that were stolen off to make the floor more comfortable. He pulled an extra blanket up over her and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "I'll be back soon," he said.
* * * * * * *
Jinx stretched in the copilot's seat, still not fully awake from when Heero picked her up and carried her out of the bedroom after the boys had a meeting. They were on their way to the OZ base, and she had to be fully alert and fast if they were going to survive this. Shaking her head to rattle her brain to active mode, she glanced aside to Heero's intent face. He was more concerned with flying the little piece of shit shuttle that they'd gotten from Noin.
Duo hailed them from the carrier. "Hey guys, just wanted to give a final call before we go into stealth mode," he grinned from the monitor.
"Final call, received," Heero said, slipping easily into full-soldier mode.
"How you feelin' Jinx?" Duo asked.
She leaned over close to Heero to answer him. "Been better. Returning to the Lion's Den is not exactly my greatest fantasy, you know."
"I know, babe," Duo empathized. "But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."
"Sure thing, Duo," she said smiling. Jinx was having a hard time concentrating. Her chin was practically on Heero's shoulder as she leaned over to talk to Duo. Their cheeks occasionally brushed against one another, and Jinx tingled at her nearness to Heero. "Keep in touch via Zero," she said, leaning her head in Heero's direction.
"Sure thing. Over and out."
Heero willed himself to concentrate. Jinx's breath was warm on his neck, and he found himself constantly figuring and refiguring the distance between his lips and hers.
"Zero," a voice called in his head. It took him a moment to realize that Duo was talking to him though the earpiece he wore.
"Yea, Death?"
"Just checking the connection. You hear me ok?"
"Yea."
"Good, I hear you loud and clear. Remember, everything you hear, I hear," Duo said, referring to the microchip technology that allowed the tiny earpiece microtransmitter to access Heero's sound receptors in his brain.
It hadn't been Heero's most favorite way of keeping in touch during the infiltration part of the mission, but that was the only sure way they could think of on short notice.
He glanced aside to Jinx, who to his disappointment was sitting back in the copilot's chair. You alright? he asked silently, not wanting Duo to hear their private conversation.
I'm scared, she admitted, shivering a little in her chair.
Don't worry, he told her, we'll be in and out of there so quickly they won't even know what hit them. He smiled and took a hold of her hand.
* * * * * * *
"So, who are you again?" the scruffy looking officer asked him.
"Heero Yuy, ex-OZ agent and assassin, looking for admittance to your ranks, Sir!" Heero sharply replied with a perfect soldier salute.
"Hmm," the man hummed as he stalked around Heero. He was looking for a weapon of some kind, or maybe a transmitter. It was just too good to be true for the Plague to bring back an ex-Gundam pilot to work on their side. "Do you realize, Yuy," he asked, "that we are the scum of OZ? Even OZ did not agree with Bravo section. We were kicked out of the faction, ordered to disband for life. Only after you disposed of our former captors were we free to rise and reclaim our place among the rulers of the Sphere."
Heero remained calm and collected on the outside. Inside he was seething. These guys were the ones they'd been told about. The group of soldiers more interested in mutilating and destruction than the sanctity of human life. On several occasions they were known to have murdered in cold blood, killing women and children in the streets during an uprising. They were the ones responsible for killing Duo's Sister Helen and Father Maxwell. He wasn't sure if he could do this anymore. His knees felt weak.
But he couldn't back out now. Jinx had already been taken through the corridors, led to be a member of the soldiers here. They trusted an assassin like her, for they weren't aware of her secretly fighting against OZ on the side of the Preventors. Heero on the other hand was known to fight back against them.
"Are you prepared to strike back against Peacecraft and help me claim the Sphere as my own?" the brawny man asked, growling in Heero's face and trying to make the young man loose his nerve.
"Sir, yes, Sir!"
His eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you," he said simply. Before Heero knew what was happening, hands grabbed him from all sides and yanked him down the hallway.
* * * * * * *
Quatre gasped. They all listened over the carrier's intercom as voices shouted at Heero, dragging him through hallways of the OZ base and leading him to a detention area. For once, Quatre wished that they hadn't taken his advice: he wished they hadn't given Heero the earpiece. Then they wouldn't have to listen as he grunted, resisting against the soldiers that held him.
Duo's imagination went into overdrive. He remembered seeing Jinx strapped to the electric field wall, and he could accurately visualize Heero in that same position, his eyes shining in defiance as they slowly killed his friend with torture. Duo blinked hard, trying to rid himself of the visions.
A metal door clanged shut, and soldiers shuffled around Heero. They could hear the light clicking sound, which meant Heero was now cuffed. And the gentle jingling sound told them that chains were nearby. Or keys. More shuffling and the door slammed again.
They could hear Heero grunt again. He was most likely struggling against his bonds.
"Talk to me."
Duo snapped to reality, reaching to put the headset on. "We're here, Zero," he said into the microphone as he adjusted it in front of his mouth. "We're all here."
Heero moaned a little.
"Where's Hope, Zero?" Duo asked.
"You heard," Heero whispered, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself by speaking loudly. "They took her somewhere. She's a soldier now, for their side."
"Maybe she can get the job done herself, then rescue Heero," Quatre said hopefully.
"Find the location of the artillery storage, set up explosives to detonate when we fire upon the base, rescue Heero, and make it out of there alive?" Wufei said skeptically. "There's no way one person can accomplish that."
"Shh," Trowa hushed them. "Footsteps are approaching Heero."