The time had finally arrived to leave for the spaceport. On the way there, Heero gave Quatre directions on where he should be unless they needed him. Quatre asked several questions...Ones that usually started with 'but what if'.
"If things get bad, you come in and we'll have to use as much force as possible. We aren't sure how many we'll be up against anyway. Just stick to the plan." Heero explained as he drove. Duo sat in the seat next to him, silently. He never thought he would mind Duo being quiet but right now it was unnerving. Quatre came back with another question.
"But what if they are able to capture you two as well?" Quatre said, sounding concerned.
"Then you get out of there and contact the Preventers. You'll have to let them know about the entire situation at that point." Heero replied. Quatre looked down and nodded. Once again he was stuck in the middle of one of these situations. They made it to the spaceport in no time. Quatre stayed there with the truck as they headed for the East Gate, as previously instructed. There was only one shuttle near them as they looked around. No one else seemed to be there yet.
"Well that's great. They force us into this trap and now they're late." Duo noted to himself.
"Just calm down. They'll be here." Heero said over his shoulder. Duo glanced at him, crossing his arms in front.
"You seem a little too calm if yah ask me." He said in a low tone. Heero looked back and met the glare he was getting. He closed his eyes and looked away.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He admitted, irritating Duo.
"Let's put it this way then. They aren't going to hurt Relena. She's too important. Hilde on the other hand is just a Preventer. Basically there's no consequence if anything happens to her." He said point blankly.
"You obviously don't know anything about their objective then." Heero said glaring back over, trying to level Duo with his look.
"It's more like they are completely for the Colony's independence. Relena can easily become a threat to their plans. While Hilde is nothing more then someone from the Colonies. They probably view her almost as someone to protect." He elaborated. Duo dropped his gaze.
"That's my job." He muttered to himself. The sudden sound caused them both to look up. The door to the shuttle nearby opened and several men in uniforms came out. Once they all filed out, a familiar face appeared. Heero could feel his teeth clench as the figure came closer to them. It was the same man who tried to convince Heero to help them before. He was also the one on the phone.
"I have this vague memory of saying for only you to come. And here we are with the two of you." The older man addressed Heero. He glanced back at Duo.
"I couldn't stop him from coming." He lied, turning back. The man crossed his arms in front of himself.
"Well now I don't know if this will work. You aren't following the rules. This might be a problem." He said, trying to get a rise out of Heero. He seemed to enjoy seeing how he'd react. There was a slight flicker of anger in Heero's eyes but it diminished quickly. He wasn't going to let this guy have his way.
"Let's just get this over with. Where are they?" He demanded, pulling the disk out of his pocket. The man grinned wickedly when he saw the disk. He quickly motioned to one of the soldier's to go back to the shuttle. Duo's gaze left the man and went towards the shuttle.
"Now how do I know that this information is accurate?" The man asked casually.
"You can check it here if you want." Heero answered absentmindedly. One of the soldier's went over to Heero and retrieved the disk from him. He went into the shuttle as well in order to check it.
"There better not be anything on that disk that could cause problems." The older man warned Heero and then glanced over at the other Gundam pilot and grinned.
"We have afterall, already had problems with a certain little God of Death." He narrowed his eyes at Duo. Duo leveled him as he returned the glare.
"Little, huh? You're fortunate if you don't see me in action. But you might live long enough to see it." Came another crazy threat. Heero shook his head. There was no point in stopping Duo. He even wished he was in a position to threaten them. Although Duo wasn't really in one either but didn't seem to care. A couple of soldiers went towards Duo, all of them waiting for him to make a move. He just casually stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Well he's an interesting one. Guess we didn't get to know about this pilot as much as we did about you. Seems like your not the only loose cannon that was involved in Operation Meteor." The older man said to Heero who simply turned away. The soldier that left earlier with the disk came out and walked over to his boss.
"Well?" He asked, turning to the soldier. He handed him the disk before speaking.
"It's all there. Even the plans for the Zero system." He informed him.
"Very good." The older man said, placing the disk inside his jacket.
He looked back at Heero, who was hiding his anxiety very well. "A wise decision." He added.
"Now, for your part." Heero answered in his usual monotoned way. The man let out a small laugh. It irritated the two pilots which was its purpose. He continued to smile at them for a few seconds before finally saying:
"Of course." He grinned even more. The door to the shuttle opened as soon as he finished his statement. Heero felt his breath stop suddenly. He couldn't remember being this anxious before. Another soldier emerged carrying Hilde. He didn't seem to be very careful with her. Duo wanted to push forward and take her away but he just stood where he was. His legs didn't seem to be working anyway. She was unconscious and had a couple of bruises and scratches. That was all but it was enough to make Duo's anger flare up again. At the same time he felt weak, seeing the state she was in. The soldier stopped a few feet away from him and tossed her roughly at him. Her limp body almost didn't make it to him. He moved quickly to keep her from slumping to the ground. Her head rested heavily on his shoulder. He gave the leader one final glare before turning to leave. He wasn't leaving for good though. He'd come back as soon as he brought her to the truck. He continued to eavesdrop on the conversation as he walked off.
"What about Relena?" Heero demanded, becoming impatient. The man continued to smile back at him.
"I've actually enjoyed having her as a guest and find that the separation would just be too emotional for me." He explained. Heero could feel his anger rising in his throat.
"Where is she." He said slowly, in a threatening voice.
"She's not even here. I didn't want you to think you could get them both back before I put my plan into order. Once things are moving smoothly again, I'll let her go." He promised, his soldiers standing by, waiting for Heero to react. They had managed to set him up again. He was powerless in this situation.
Back at the truck, Quatre hurried to get out when he saw Duo coming his way. He wondered where Heero was. Duo gently handed Hilde to him then went to the back of the truck, rummaging through their supplies.
"What are you going to do?" Quatre asked, still holding Hilde close to him.
"This guy is seriously asking for trouble and now that I've got her back, he's gonna get some." He answered picking up the rather large bazooka. Quatre's eyes grew wide.
"But what about Relena?" It was his last attempt to get Duo to think straight.
"As it turns out they didn't even bring her. They've been playing Heero like they did before. So I'm sure he'll want to help cause some damage along with me." Duo added, glancing down at Hilde. He quickly brushed her bangs off her face.
"Take care of her. I shouldn't be too long." He said, focusing back on their mission. Quatre nodded and put her inside the cab. Duo headed back in the direction he just came from.
"This could become much worse then it is now." Quatre said to himself. He headed back into the cab and closed the door. There was going to be an explosion, he was certain of that.
"You don't seem to understand, she was part of the agreement. Now where is she?" Heero said, trying not to sound like he was becoming irrational like he knew he was.
"I already told you, she's not here. Now if you'd like to come and help us with our plan we'll consider letting you see her. How's that sound?" The man offered. Heero didn't answer him. He was the first to notice a missile coming towards the shuttle. He turned his back quickly as it exploded, causing everyone to scatter. Heero coughed from the smoke. One of the soldiers helped the leader up off the ground. He angrily looked to where the missile had come from. Duo grinned as he moved the bazooka away from his face.
"Oh I'm sorry was that YOUR shuttle?" He asked sarcastically. He couldn't help but smile considering how nice it felt to blow something up again. Two soldiers near Heero went for their guns but he leg-swept them before they had a chance to fire. A couple more started to react to the sudden attack and he went after each of them, knocking them over the head. Now the numbers were beginning to be in their favor. Duo put the bazooka down and ran over now holding the semi-automatic, he had on him the entire time. Heero also had his gun out now too. They both got behind some debris while the remaining soldiers continued to fire at them. On occasion, they would return fire.
"Why did I bring you again?" Heero yelled over to Duo.
"Cause you wouldn't have gone this far, that's why." Was the response. "But at least I left you some action." He added.
"Not much." Heero mentioned as he reloaded his gun. Despite their threats, they weren't aiming to kill this time. Finally the shooting stopped and they finished up with the soldiers. Duo made it to the leader first as one of the remaining soldiers went after him. He just punched the guy, not giving it much thought.
"Well how unfortunate for you." He said to the leader. "What was that you called me before? Little and a loose cannon." He smirked at the poetic justice of this circumstance. Heero walked over.
"Don't you dare." He told Duo, bending down and pointing his gun in the older man's face. A wave of panic came over him. Heero's expression remained the same.
"Where is she?" He said one final time. The man began to tremble but it didn't effect Heero at all. Heero cocked his gun and glared even more, showing how angry he was becoming. He narrowed his eyes.
"So who's suppose to be controlling me now?" He said in a somewhat joking manner. Considering all this man had done both of the former Gundam pilots deserved some fasecious comments. Now the older man realized that the Preventer's had nothing to do with the attack, at this point. Duo looked around to see if any of the soldiers were going to be a problem for them now. After surveying the area, he knew they weren't. The man still wasn't able to answer.
"Maybe we should just take him in. He's wasting our time." Duo muttered to Heero. Heero thought about it but his thoughts quickly went back to Relena. Suddenly there was the sound of another gun cocking behind the two of them.
"That's enough you two!" They both recognized Sally's voice. She sounded very angry. They probably had never heard her take that tone of voice with them before. They both turned around slowly. Yes, she was actually pointing a gun at them. Trowa stood behind her as well as Quatre. Heero stood up but neither Duo or he dropped their guns. She continued to glare at the both of them.
"Please don't make me shoot you." She finally said. Duo nervously put his down and Heero decided it was for the best. "Trowa, handcuff the leader, and you two come with me now." She demanded, putting her gun away. Trowa did as she told him to. As Heero and Duo followed her, Quatre looked down, trying not to make eye contact with them. Heero paused briefly before walking by.
"What did you do, Quatre?" He asked and expected a response.
"They just showed up here, honest. They traced you before." He explained defensively. Heero simply nodded and continued behind Duo. They went over to where they had parked the truck. There was another vehicle there as well. It was probably what the other two Preventer's came in. Sally leaned up against their truck trying to decide how to start this.
"Were you really planning on shooting us?" Duo asked, not giving her time to think. She looked down and sighed loudly.
"I don't know what I would have done. I figured I'd let the other guy think you were in big trouble though." She answered, not sounding angry. Duo smiled, a bit relieved.
"Oh, that's a relief. I thought we were in deep when you showed up." He said calming down. She shot him a glare.
"You're still in trouble." She said flatly. His nervous expression returned once she mentioned that. She glanced in the back of the truck, then at them.
"And exactly where did you get all these weapons?" She asked, crossing her arms infront of her. Heero finally spoke up at that point.
"They're Duo's." He answered bluntly. Duo dropped his head. He didn't want to tell her so quickly. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I've had them forever. This just seemed like the appropriate time to get them out." He explained. Her expression grew darker.
"You know that as Preventers you can't kill and aren't suppose to use weapons like this." She said as if quoting some handbook.
"Well today we weren't acting as Preventers. These guys didn't come after the Preventers, they came after us, personally." Heero told her, his tone threatening again. He was obviously still on edge. She shook her head sadly.
"That doesn't matter though. You even stole information from us." She reminded him.
"You mean information that was mine to begin with. We still don't know where Relena is so we really don't have time for this." He added, as though he was ending the conversation. He started walking back to where they had just come from. She went to stop him but he was already out of reach. She looked down, not knowing what to do now. Duo opened to door to the cab of the truck to see if Hilde was awake yet. She seemed to be getting there. He turned back to Sally.
"Look Sally, as Preventers, we let these guys get away twice. If you look at it from their point of view, they felt that they could push us around. They assumed that, since Preventers aren't suppose to do all this stuff, we're easy targets." He said, trying to conclude his side of the conversation also.
"But where do you draw the line then? When is it okay to kill and not okay?" She asked, still upset with what they had done. He was about to answer but stopped. He wasn't sure what to say.
"Mmm...Duo?" Hilde said quietly, catching his attention. He leaned back inside the cab.
"Yeah, I'm right here." He told her and was suddenly greeted as she hugged him around the waist. He had to quickly catch his balance. "Guess you're happy to see me." He said jokingly. She didn't say anything in response, which was odd for her. It actually scared him a bit.
"Did they hurt you?" He asked seriously. She shook her head.
"No, they locked Relena and me up and never bothered with us after that. They just pushed us around alot, but that's all." She told him. He sighed in relief.
"Don't worry, we're going home soon." He promised her then turned back to Sally.
"I don't know the answer to your question. But this seemed like one of those situations. We didn't draw the line here. And we didn't kill anyone either, which says something about us." He explained and Sally actually nodded back as though she agreed. He usually wasn't this serious and that alone said alot. Sally walked over to where Trowa and Quatre were. Heero was talking to Trowa while Quatre was handcuffing whoever was able to walk.
"I still think there was a better way." Trowa said to Heero as he picked up the semi-automatic and put the strap over his shoulder. He picked up Heero's gun as well.
"There didn't seem to be any other way. Now are you going to let me talk to this jerk or what? I still need to find Relena." He explained, waiting for Trowa to get out of his way.
"I already talked to him." Trowa said back.
"He won't tell you anything. You pretty much have to scare it out if him." Heero replied.
"She's at the South Gate." Trowa started. "There was another shuttle over there. Guess they were anticipating this." Heero was surprised Trowa found out so much. He put his hand out, waiting for Trowa to give him his gun back.
"I think you can handle this without it." Trowa added walking away. Heero went towards the South Gate. Sally walked up to Trowa once he was finished talking with Heero.
"Where's he headed?" She asked, not sure what to expect anymore.
"I assumed you already knew that information." Trowa answered and went back to work. She knew what he was talking about.
***@---***
Heero ran as fast as he could in order to get to the other gate. When he got there, there was luckily only one shuttle there waiting to take off. He headed right for it and smashed the door down, causing everyone inside to stand up. There were three soldiers in there. Heero recognized two of them as the soldiers who were so abusive to him before. The first guy that he came in contact with wasn't much of a challenge at all. Although with such an important mission right now, there could have been twenty guys and it wouldn't have made a difference. The second two were more of a problem. They both used guns but he managed to dodge their shots. Once he got close enough, he knocked the guns out of their hands and eventually knocked them out. He handcuffed the three unconscious soldiers before moving on. He went to the front of the shuttle.
"Relena?" He called out, waiting for some kind of response. But there was nothing. He came to another door that was locked. He rammed his shoulder into it and eventually smashed it in. He walked down the aisle slowly checking each seat he passed. Suddenly he caught sight of someone, all the way in the front. He quickly got there and sure enough it was Relena. Her hair covered most of her face. She looked so peaceful, laying there asleep. He bent down to pick her up. He left the shuttle to find the two trucks now parked outside. Duo jumped out of the one cab while Trowa casually got out of the other truck.
"There's three in there. I already took care of them though." He informed Trowa. He noticed Sally sitting in her truck along with Quatre.
"I was coming to help but guess you didn't need me." Duo mentioned, walking past him towards the shuttle. He regarded Relena.
"She gonna be alright?" He asked, looking back at Heero.
"Yeah." Was all the response he received. He went up the stairs and Trowa followed close behind. Heero just stood next to the truck and waited for them to return. He wasn't sure what kind of measures Sally was going to take when they got back. Inside the shuttle, Duo pulled one guy out while Trowa swung the other two over his shoulders.
"It would appear that we're starting a collection here." He said as they left.
"Yeah, we might actually run out of room for them all." Duo answered jokingly. They put the three remaining soldiers in the back of Sally's truck. Duo glanced in the back of the truck that Heero and he had come in. All his weapons were gone. He shot a look Sally's way and she simply shrugged back.
"Guess I'll be lucky if we get off that easily." He muttered to himself as he got in the driver's side. He slid in next to Hilde and reached over her to get the passenger door opened. Heero climbed in, being careful with Relena. He shut the door and put her on the seat in between Hilde and himself. Hilde had apparently gone back to sleep. Sally didn't follow them back to the apartment, which was kind of strange, considering that there were still things that had to be discussed. But it could always wait until tomorrow. Heero carried Relena and Duo had Hilde on his back so he could open the door. The two pilots entered the now dark apartment, quickly finding the lightswitch. Duo headed upstairs and Heero remained down in the living room. They didn't see each other for the rest of the night. Heero made sure that the front door was locked before turning off the lights for the evening.
"If things get bad, you come in and we'll have to use as much force as possible. We aren't sure how many we'll be up against anyway. Just stick to the plan." Heero explained as he drove. Duo sat in the seat next to him, silently. He never thought he would mind Duo being quiet but right now it was unnerving. Quatre came back with another question.
"But what if they are able to capture you two as well?" Quatre said, sounding concerned.
"Then you get out of there and contact the Preventers. You'll have to let them know about the entire situation at that point." Heero replied. Quatre looked down and nodded. Once again he was stuck in the middle of one of these situations. They made it to the spaceport in no time. Quatre stayed there with the truck as they headed for the East Gate, as previously instructed. There was only one shuttle near them as they looked around. No one else seemed to be there yet.
"Well that's great. They force us into this trap and now they're late." Duo noted to himself.
"Just calm down. They'll be here." Heero said over his shoulder. Duo glanced at him, crossing his arms in front.
"You seem a little too calm if yah ask me." He said in a low tone. Heero looked back and met the glare he was getting. He closed his eyes and looked away.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He admitted, irritating Duo.
"Let's put it this way then. They aren't going to hurt Relena. She's too important. Hilde on the other hand is just a Preventer. Basically there's no consequence if anything happens to her." He said point blankly.
"You obviously don't know anything about their objective then." Heero said glaring back over, trying to level Duo with his look.
"It's more like they are completely for the Colony's independence. Relena can easily become a threat to their plans. While Hilde is nothing more then someone from the Colonies. They probably view her almost as someone to protect." He elaborated. Duo dropped his gaze.
"That's my job." He muttered to himself. The sudden sound caused them both to look up. The door to the shuttle nearby opened and several men in uniforms came out. Once they all filed out, a familiar face appeared. Heero could feel his teeth clench as the figure came closer to them. It was the same man who tried to convince Heero to help them before. He was also the one on the phone.
"I have this vague memory of saying for only you to come. And here we are with the two of you." The older man addressed Heero. He glanced back at Duo.
"I couldn't stop him from coming." He lied, turning back. The man crossed his arms in front of himself.
"Well now I don't know if this will work. You aren't following the rules. This might be a problem." He said, trying to get a rise out of Heero. He seemed to enjoy seeing how he'd react. There was a slight flicker of anger in Heero's eyes but it diminished quickly. He wasn't going to let this guy have his way.
"Let's just get this over with. Where are they?" He demanded, pulling the disk out of his pocket. The man grinned wickedly when he saw the disk. He quickly motioned to one of the soldier's to go back to the shuttle. Duo's gaze left the man and went towards the shuttle.
"Now how do I know that this information is accurate?" The man asked casually.
"You can check it here if you want." Heero answered absentmindedly. One of the soldier's went over to Heero and retrieved the disk from him. He went into the shuttle as well in order to check it.
"There better not be anything on that disk that could cause problems." The older man warned Heero and then glanced over at the other Gundam pilot and grinned.
"We have afterall, already had problems with a certain little God of Death." He narrowed his eyes at Duo. Duo leveled him as he returned the glare.
"Little, huh? You're fortunate if you don't see me in action. But you might live long enough to see it." Came another crazy threat. Heero shook his head. There was no point in stopping Duo. He even wished he was in a position to threaten them. Although Duo wasn't really in one either but didn't seem to care. A couple of soldiers went towards Duo, all of them waiting for him to make a move. He just casually stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Well he's an interesting one. Guess we didn't get to know about this pilot as much as we did about you. Seems like your not the only loose cannon that was involved in Operation Meteor." The older man said to Heero who simply turned away. The soldier that left earlier with the disk came out and walked over to his boss.
"Well?" He asked, turning to the soldier. He handed him the disk before speaking.
"It's all there. Even the plans for the Zero system." He informed him.
"Very good." The older man said, placing the disk inside his jacket.
He looked back at Heero, who was hiding his anxiety very well. "A wise decision." He added.
"Now, for your part." Heero answered in his usual monotoned way. The man let out a small laugh. It irritated the two pilots which was its purpose. He continued to smile at them for a few seconds before finally saying:
"Of course." He grinned even more. The door to the shuttle opened as soon as he finished his statement. Heero felt his breath stop suddenly. He couldn't remember being this anxious before. Another soldier emerged carrying Hilde. He didn't seem to be very careful with her. Duo wanted to push forward and take her away but he just stood where he was. His legs didn't seem to be working anyway. She was unconscious and had a couple of bruises and scratches. That was all but it was enough to make Duo's anger flare up again. At the same time he felt weak, seeing the state she was in. The soldier stopped a few feet away from him and tossed her roughly at him. Her limp body almost didn't make it to him. He moved quickly to keep her from slumping to the ground. Her head rested heavily on his shoulder. He gave the leader one final glare before turning to leave. He wasn't leaving for good though. He'd come back as soon as he brought her to the truck. He continued to eavesdrop on the conversation as he walked off.
"What about Relena?" Heero demanded, becoming impatient. The man continued to smile back at him.
"I've actually enjoyed having her as a guest and find that the separation would just be too emotional for me." He explained. Heero could feel his anger rising in his throat.
"Where is she." He said slowly, in a threatening voice.
"She's not even here. I didn't want you to think you could get them both back before I put my plan into order. Once things are moving smoothly again, I'll let her go." He promised, his soldiers standing by, waiting for Heero to react. They had managed to set him up again. He was powerless in this situation.
Back at the truck, Quatre hurried to get out when he saw Duo coming his way. He wondered where Heero was. Duo gently handed Hilde to him then went to the back of the truck, rummaging through their supplies.
"What are you going to do?" Quatre asked, still holding Hilde close to him.
"This guy is seriously asking for trouble and now that I've got her back, he's gonna get some." He answered picking up the rather large bazooka. Quatre's eyes grew wide.
"But what about Relena?" It was his last attempt to get Duo to think straight.
"As it turns out they didn't even bring her. They've been playing Heero like they did before. So I'm sure he'll want to help cause some damage along with me." Duo added, glancing down at Hilde. He quickly brushed her bangs off her face.
"Take care of her. I shouldn't be too long." He said, focusing back on their mission. Quatre nodded and put her inside the cab. Duo headed back in the direction he just came from.
"This could become much worse then it is now." Quatre said to himself. He headed back into the cab and closed the door. There was going to be an explosion, he was certain of that.
"You don't seem to understand, she was part of the agreement. Now where is she?" Heero said, trying not to sound like he was becoming irrational like he knew he was.
"I already told you, she's not here. Now if you'd like to come and help us with our plan we'll consider letting you see her. How's that sound?" The man offered. Heero didn't answer him. He was the first to notice a missile coming towards the shuttle. He turned his back quickly as it exploded, causing everyone to scatter. Heero coughed from the smoke. One of the soldiers helped the leader up off the ground. He angrily looked to where the missile had come from. Duo grinned as he moved the bazooka away from his face.
"Oh I'm sorry was that YOUR shuttle?" He asked sarcastically. He couldn't help but smile considering how nice it felt to blow something up again. Two soldiers near Heero went for their guns but he leg-swept them before they had a chance to fire. A couple more started to react to the sudden attack and he went after each of them, knocking them over the head. Now the numbers were beginning to be in their favor. Duo put the bazooka down and ran over now holding the semi-automatic, he had on him the entire time. Heero also had his gun out now too. They both got behind some debris while the remaining soldiers continued to fire at them. On occasion, they would return fire.
"Why did I bring you again?" Heero yelled over to Duo.
"Cause you wouldn't have gone this far, that's why." Was the response. "But at least I left you some action." He added.
"Not much." Heero mentioned as he reloaded his gun. Despite their threats, they weren't aiming to kill this time. Finally the shooting stopped and they finished up with the soldiers. Duo made it to the leader first as one of the remaining soldiers went after him. He just punched the guy, not giving it much thought.
"Well how unfortunate for you." He said to the leader. "What was that you called me before? Little and a loose cannon." He smirked at the poetic justice of this circumstance. Heero walked over.
"Don't you dare." He told Duo, bending down and pointing his gun in the older man's face. A wave of panic came over him. Heero's expression remained the same.
"Where is she?" He said one final time. The man began to tremble but it didn't effect Heero at all. Heero cocked his gun and glared even more, showing how angry he was becoming. He narrowed his eyes.
"So who's suppose to be controlling me now?" He said in a somewhat joking manner. Considering all this man had done both of the former Gundam pilots deserved some fasecious comments. Now the older man realized that the Preventer's had nothing to do with the attack, at this point. Duo looked around to see if any of the soldiers were going to be a problem for them now. After surveying the area, he knew they weren't. The man still wasn't able to answer.
"Maybe we should just take him in. He's wasting our time." Duo muttered to Heero. Heero thought about it but his thoughts quickly went back to Relena. Suddenly there was the sound of another gun cocking behind the two of them.
"That's enough you two!" They both recognized Sally's voice. She sounded very angry. They probably had never heard her take that tone of voice with them before. They both turned around slowly. Yes, she was actually pointing a gun at them. Trowa stood behind her as well as Quatre. Heero stood up but neither Duo or he dropped their guns. She continued to glare at the both of them.
"Please don't make me shoot you." She finally said. Duo nervously put his down and Heero decided it was for the best. "Trowa, handcuff the leader, and you two come with me now." She demanded, putting her gun away. Trowa did as she told him to. As Heero and Duo followed her, Quatre looked down, trying not to make eye contact with them. Heero paused briefly before walking by.
"What did you do, Quatre?" He asked and expected a response.
"They just showed up here, honest. They traced you before." He explained defensively. Heero simply nodded and continued behind Duo. They went over to where they had parked the truck. There was another vehicle there as well. It was probably what the other two Preventer's came in. Sally leaned up against their truck trying to decide how to start this.
"Were you really planning on shooting us?" Duo asked, not giving her time to think. She looked down and sighed loudly.
"I don't know what I would have done. I figured I'd let the other guy think you were in big trouble though." She answered, not sounding angry. Duo smiled, a bit relieved.
"Oh, that's a relief. I thought we were in deep when you showed up." He said calming down. She shot him a glare.
"You're still in trouble." She said flatly. His nervous expression returned once she mentioned that. She glanced in the back of the truck, then at them.
"And exactly where did you get all these weapons?" She asked, crossing her arms infront of her. Heero finally spoke up at that point.
"They're Duo's." He answered bluntly. Duo dropped his head. He didn't want to tell her so quickly. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I've had them forever. This just seemed like the appropriate time to get them out." He explained. Her expression grew darker.
"You know that as Preventers you can't kill and aren't suppose to use weapons like this." She said as if quoting some handbook.
"Well today we weren't acting as Preventers. These guys didn't come after the Preventers, they came after us, personally." Heero told her, his tone threatening again. He was obviously still on edge. She shook her head sadly.
"That doesn't matter though. You even stole information from us." She reminded him.
"You mean information that was mine to begin with. We still don't know where Relena is so we really don't have time for this." He added, as though he was ending the conversation. He started walking back to where they had just come from. She went to stop him but he was already out of reach. She looked down, not knowing what to do now. Duo opened to door to the cab of the truck to see if Hilde was awake yet. She seemed to be getting there. He turned back to Sally.
"Look Sally, as Preventers, we let these guys get away twice. If you look at it from their point of view, they felt that they could push us around. They assumed that, since Preventers aren't suppose to do all this stuff, we're easy targets." He said, trying to conclude his side of the conversation also.
"But where do you draw the line then? When is it okay to kill and not okay?" She asked, still upset with what they had done. He was about to answer but stopped. He wasn't sure what to say.
"Mmm...Duo?" Hilde said quietly, catching his attention. He leaned back inside the cab.
"Yeah, I'm right here." He told her and was suddenly greeted as she hugged him around the waist. He had to quickly catch his balance. "Guess you're happy to see me." He said jokingly. She didn't say anything in response, which was odd for her. It actually scared him a bit.
"Did they hurt you?" He asked seriously. She shook her head.
"No, they locked Relena and me up and never bothered with us after that. They just pushed us around alot, but that's all." She told him. He sighed in relief.
"Don't worry, we're going home soon." He promised her then turned back to Sally.
"I don't know the answer to your question. But this seemed like one of those situations. We didn't draw the line here. And we didn't kill anyone either, which says something about us." He explained and Sally actually nodded back as though she agreed. He usually wasn't this serious and that alone said alot. Sally walked over to where Trowa and Quatre were. Heero was talking to Trowa while Quatre was handcuffing whoever was able to walk.
"I still think there was a better way." Trowa said to Heero as he picked up the semi-automatic and put the strap over his shoulder. He picked up Heero's gun as well.
"There didn't seem to be any other way. Now are you going to let me talk to this jerk or what? I still need to find Relena." He explained, waiting for Trowa to get out of his way.
"I already talked to him." Trowa said back.
"He won't tell you anything. You pretty much have to scare it out if him." Heero replied.
"She's at the South Gate." Trowa started. "There was another shuttle over there. Guess they were anticipating this." Heero was surprised Trowa found out so much. He put his hand out, waiting for Trowa to give him his gun back.
"I think you can handle this without it." Trowa added walking away. Heero went towards the South Gate. Sally walked up to Trowa once he was finished talking with Heero.
"Where's he headed?" She asked, not sure what to expect anymore.
"I assumed you already knew that information." Trowa answered and went back to work. She knew what he was talking about.
***@---***
Heero ran as fast as he could in order to get to the other gate. When he got there, there was luckily only one shuttle there waiting to take off. He headed right for it and smashed the door down, causing everyone inside to stand up. There were three soldiers in there. Heero recognized two of them as the soldiers who were so abusive to him before. The first guy that he came in contact with wasn't much of a challenge at all. Although with such an important mission right now, there could have been twenty guys and it wouldn't have made a difference. The second two were more of a problem. They both used guns but he managed to dodge their shots. Once he got close enough, he knocked the guns out of their hands and eventually knocked them out. He handcuffed the three unconscious soldiers before moving on. He went to the front of the shuttle.
"Relena?" He called out, waiting for some kind of response. But there was nothing. He came to another door that was locked. He rammed his shoulder into it and eventually smashed it in. He walked down the aisle slowly checking each seat he passed. Suddenly he caught sight of someone, all the way in the front. He quickly got there and sure enough it was Relena. Her hair covered most of her face. She looked so peaceful, laying there asleep. He bent down to pick her up. He left the shuttle to find the two trucks now parked outside. Duo jumped out of the one cab while Trowa casually got out of the other truck.
"There's three in there. I already took care of them though." He informed Trowa. He noticed Sally sitting in her truck along with Quatre.
"I was coming to help but guess you didn't need me." Duo mentioned, walking past him towards the shuttle. He regarded Relena.
"She gonna be alright?" He asked, looking back at Heero.
"Yeah." Was all the response he received. He went up the stairs and Trowa followed close behind. Heero just stood next to the truck and waited for them to return. He wasn't sure what kind of measures Sally was going to take when they got back. Inside the shuttle, Duo pulled one guy out while Trowa swung the other two over his shoulders.
"It would appear that we're starting a collection here." He said as they left.
"Yeah, we might actually run out of room for them all." Duo answered jokingly. They put the three remaining soldiers in the back of Sally's truck. Duo glanced in the back of the truck that Heero and he had come in. All his weapons were gone. He shot a look Sally's way and she simply shrugged back.
"Guess I'll be lucky if we get off that easily." He muttered to himself as he got in the driver's side. He slid in next to Hilde and reached over her to get the passenger door opened. Heero climbed in, being careful with Relena. He shut the door and put her on the seat in between Hilde and himself. Hilde had apparently gone back to sleep. Sally didn't follow them back to the apartment, which was kind of strange, considering that there were still things that had to be discussed. But it could always wait until tomorrow. Heero carried Relena and Duo had Hilde on his back so he could open the door. The two pilots entered the now dark apartment, quickly finding the lightswitch. Duo headed upstairs and Heero remained down in the living room. They didn't see each other for the rest of the night. Heero made sure that the front door was locked before turning off the lights for the evening.