AN Okay, here is the next chapter. Not much else to say.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Under Pressure
Chapter 8
~~~~~~
Duo gulped as he looked at what his soon-to-be wife was devouring. She was barely two
months pregnant and she was already eating half the refrigerator. She was now spooning away
her third plate of stew. An excellent stew he had to admit, but she was eating more than he!
And the occasional midnight snack had turned into a three double sandwich and a whole carton
of milk. Every night! Where did she leave all that?!
He sighed and shook his head, feeling his braid dance on his back. Luckily she didn't
seem to be too much troubled by morning sickness, otherwise he would see that sandwich coming
out every morning. He shuddered at the thought.
"What's wrong, honey?" broke Hilde's voice through his reverie.
"Nothing. I was just thinking that at the rate you're eating, I will have to get another
job just to pay for the food."
She laughed heartily. "Don't worry, Duo. We got more than enough. And I could always
get a job, you know."
"Oh no, no way. No pregnant woman of mine will have to work while I'm around."
"That's really sweet of you." She gave him a hug, while she walked over to the sink, her
plate in hand. Thank god, she wasn't going to spoon for another helping. He didn't think he could
stand that. "But just because I'm carrying a baby, doesn't mean I'm suddenly as fragile as a
porcelain figure."
"But you don't have to get a job," he pleaded with her.
"I know that, but sitting around the house all day, getting fat, won't do the baby much
good. Getting a job will be wholesome."
"Then maybe you shouldn't eat so much," he murmured.
She laughed and pulled his braid. "I can't help it. When I'm hungry, I eat, until the
hunger goes away. That just seems to take a lot more eating nowadays." Lovingly she put her
arms around his shoulders. "Don't worry. We're gonna be just fine."
Smiling he gently stroked her arms. His smile turned into a groan as he watched her arm
stretch towards the fruit basket in the table. Her hand closed around an apple and brought the
peace of food to her mouth. All his muscles contracted as he listened to her taking a bite and
chewing on it.
"You want a bite?" she asked.
Deciding to take her rare offer to share her food he took a bite out of the already half
eaten apple. How did she do that? By the time he was done chewing she was done with the whole
piece of fruit. Amazing. She pressed a sticky applely kiss on his cheek and went to do the dishes.
Sighing he got up and grabbed a tea-cloth, so she wouldn't say he was lazy.
~~~~~~
Wufei glanced at the screen. "We have something on radar, Heero."
Heero, in the pilot seat, turned to him. "What is it?"
Wufei frowned. "A unmarked carrier, looks like it."
"Where is it going?"
"It's trajectory carries it about twenty miles from... from the base we're heading for.
Could it be a supply carrier for that base?"
"We won't know unless we find out, won't we."
Wufei smiled slightly. It was easy working with Heero. His personality might be questionable,
his skills were unrivaled and he wasn't nearly as unbearable company as Duo. Besides, Heero and he
were more alike than any of the others. They refused to let their emotions get in the way of their
mission.
"After it, then, but stay low. We don't want to appear on their radar."
Heero shot his friend a look that said, 'what do you think I am, a moron?' He deftly
maneuvered their plane low, tipping the trees. From a safe distance they followed the supply
carrier, until it landed.
"Better bring it down, so we can follow on foot," Heero said.
Wufei nodded in agreement. Yes, that was the best thing to do. They landed on a clear spot
between the trees. The plane barely fitted there and while they were dipping down, they slashed a
few trees. Heero flicked a few switches above his head and suddenly they were bathed in silence.
Wufei unbuckled his seatbelt and got up.
"Get your gear," he said to Heero. Silently the other man followed.
Outside they were met by the cool air of northern Canada. The trees rustled in the wind,
pines and spruce firs mostly. Between the evergreen trees stood some dying brown. The ground was
covered with needles, softening their footsteps, not that that was necessary.
Compass in hand they made their way to where the carrier had landed. It was a good hour
walk, but neither of them spoke. Quite suddenly the woods gave way, leaving the ground bare. In
the middle of the clearing stood a farm. The large carrier next to it told the two that this was
no ordinary farm. Their was not an animal in sight. But there were people alright. People in very
familiar uniforms.
"Preventers," Wufei growled. He sensed Heero's gaze, sweeping over him. He had never told
anyone why he had left and he could feel Heero's mild curiosity. He didn't explain himself though.
"Looks like we don't have to contact them after all. If only we would have known sooner."
"I suggest we give them the information we have. If they knew what we do, they would have
contacted us long before, and moved Relena to a different location."
Wufei didn't feel like letting himself be known. Former coworkers could be among those people
and he didn't want questions asked, but he realized Heero was right. They had to share their information
with them. "Then we had better get going," he said, sounding like he had just written his epitaph.
They silently rose and made their way to the barn. Wufei grumbled angrily. The security was lacking,
because it was so easy to reach them. He had let himself in with Preventers again. He hated it. He didn't
want to. But ask Heero to take over so he could return to their own plane, was admitting a cowardice he
despised. So he continued.
Finally someone seemed to take notice of them as they made their way to the double doors.
"Halt, this is a restricted area. State your business," a man said, raising his rifle, his
insignias marking him as a lieutenant
Wufei felt his irritation rise. "I wish to speak to your Commander. Where is he?"
"I said, state your business!"
It was a good thing Heero stepped in, because he might just have wrung the guys neck.
"I think our business has a lot to do with yours. We have some information on the base your watching,
your Commander would like to have. Take us to him."
The lieutenant stood in doubt for a few seconds. Then he motioned for two of his men to come to
him. "Search them for weaponry."
The two did as they were ordered. Wufei and Heero had come lightly armed, only a gun and two knives
each. They kept the weapons and positioned themselves behind and to the outside of the two intruders. The
lieutenant led them to the barn. Inside was the controlled hubbub Wufei knew so well. He looked around and
recognized the setup in the barn. Equipment near the door, bunks in the back.
He didn't have much time for a stroll down memory lane though. The lieutenant led them to two very
familiar figures. One was obviously a man, the long pale blond hair marking him as Zechs Marquise. The other
one... Wufei heart sank. The other on was Sally Po. Shit, I don't want this! I don't care if Heero thinks I'm
a coward, I should have stayed at the plane!
"Commander, we intercepted to intruders," the lieutenant saluted his superior.
Next to Wufei Heero snorted. In any other circumstance, Wufei would have agreed. They hadn't been
intercepted, they had walked purposely right into their arms. But now he dreaded the woman that was turning
to face the would-be intruders. Her blond hair was still tied in those two tails hanging over her shoulders.
Her high cheekbones accented the lines in her face. Her soft red lips slightly parted as she was about to
respond. Her gorgeous blue eyes widened, as they fell on him. "Wufei!" Her soft kind voice spoke his name
in surprise. He could hear the hurt she felt and his chest painfully contracted. He had been a fool to leave
this woman behind! How could he ever have thought, he would get over it? Never, ever, would he love anyone
else than Sally.
Zechs voice cut through their connection. "Heero, Wufei, what are you two doing here? Have you been
contacted by Lady Une?"
"No," Heero said. "We have some information that led us here. We didn't know you would be here as well."
"What kind of information?" the Lightning Count inquired.
"It's only fragments," Wufei put in, desperately trying to divert his attention from the woman he loved.
"I didn't get as much as I had hoped. It's pretty much two files scrambling each other, and the one we need was
also encrypted."
"If it's so important that you came all the way out here, why didn't you just contact Lady Une?"
Reluctant he turned his gaze back to Sally. "Because the records were outdated for over a year. For
all we knew the hinted organization had died and then we would have put the Preventers on alert for nothing.
Your presence here proves it's still active." And you standing in front of me just proved me I'm still very
much in love with you. Damn you, woman! Why do you mess around my head so much?!
"How did you find us?" Zechs put in.
"We followed what looked like a supply carrier. It was headed close to where the base mentioned in the
records is supposedly located." Heero cold voice somehow had a calming effect.
Zechs shook his head. "Great, they were spotted. I told them to take a smaller plane, one easier to
hide, but no, they knew better. Pfah!" He snorted in disdain.
Wufei reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box with disks. "This is all we have. The blue
disk is decrypted, the red one isn't." He handed it to Zechs. As he brought his arm back to his side, a hand
suddenly closed around his wrist.
"We need to talk," Sally said, dragging him with her. He caught the bewildered looks on the faces of
both Zechs and Heero, before he was rushed outside. She kept pulling his arm until they had reached a spot
that could not be seen from the barn or the stations of the guards.
"Let go of me," he said angrily, as he pulled himself free from her grasp.
"Why did you leave?"
The question caught him a little by surprised. He had expected she would just start yelling at him.
"I already explained. I couldn't work with you anymore."
"And why was that? No. no. let me get, you had... how would you say this... you had to get over your
'infatuation' with me, didn't you. So let me ask you, just out of curiosity, did you?"
"Did what?" he grunted unwillingly. He didn't like where this conversation was going.
"Did you get over it, over me?"
He wanted to say, 'yes, I did. You mean nothing to me now', but he couldn't. For the first time in
his life he cursed his upbringing. He had always been taught honesty stood above all else, so he couldn't
lie. And he definitely couldn't lie to those big blue eyes staring into his own.
"No," he whispered, knowing his heart had defeated him. What would she do now? Would she call him
a hopeless, heartsick little boy who kept hanging on to the past? That was how he felt. Or would she laugh
at him, or just walk away without a word? He looked down at the ground.
"Good," she said. Surprise ran through him at that one word and he looked up again. Her eyes had
lost al the heated fury now, they glowed with kindness and compassion. And understanding. "I hope one day
you will be able to acknowledge your heart for what it is and feels, Wufei. Until then, I'll wait for
you." She squeezed his hand and turned.
He looked at her retreating form almost hungrily. She said she would wait for him! She didn't think
he was an idiot. He didn't know how long he would have to let her wait, because he still couldn't make out
his own feelings, but somewhere deep inside him a flame had started to burn. It was feeding on the words
she had spoken and he knew it would eventually purge him of all doubt and worry.
~~~~~~
Heero frowned at the Preventer dragging the ex-Preventer along, away from him and Zechs.
"Do you know what that is all about?" he asked his once-enemy.
Zechs shook his head. "I'm not sure. It could have something to do with Wufei's sudden resignation
three years ago."
"Why did he do that?"
The blond man shrugged. "I've given up on trying to understand that guy long ago."
"So, what do we do about all this?" Heero got down to business.
"Well, actually I've been tempted to call one of you five to help us out. We need someone who can
easily infiltrate the base and gather more information."
"So you want Wufei and me to spy on them?"
"Yeah, that's one way of putting it." Zechs scratched his head. "However, it will be dangerous."
Heero cocked on eyebrow. As if that ever stopped him from doing anything.
Zechs seemed to read his mind, because he grinned. "We had better get your gear as fast as we can.
You up to going in tonight?"
"Sure, let's get to it."
The two men walked over to a computer. While Zechs showed the newcomer what they had on the layout
of the enemy's camp, Sally joined them again, a slight smile around her lips.
"Where's Wufei?" Heero asked.
"Oh, he'll be here in a moment. He needs some time to think. Don't worry, we'll have an easy time
filling him in on all this."
In a short amount of time Heero had engraved the crude camp's layout in his mind. By that time Wufei
had joined them again and was also studying the map on the computer screen.
"We think that's where the commander's office is, or something like that. And this looks like a
small conference room."
The two young pilots nodded. "We'll go there," Wufei said. "That's where plans are made."
"What do you need?" Sally asked matter-of-factly.
"Camouflage clothing, weaponry, tools, climbing gear," Heero answered. They would probably have to
climb the walls to get in and he preferred doing that using rope. It would make things a lot easier and it
would take less time.
"Very well, I suggest you get some sleep before tonight. If you came straight from Cinq, you must
have a jet lag. We'll get the gear ready and wake you in time."
Heero smiled in his mind. Zechs knew a soldier's life and knew they could sleep anytime they had
to. Gratefully he walked to the back of the barn with Wufei and hoisted himself in a spare bunk. For a
moment his thoughts drifted back to the mining asteroid where he had worked. He wondered how Anton was
doing. He should have listened to the man and gone to the doctor. Instead he had been stubborn and
therefore the bacteria eating his lungs had been able to bring him closer to death than anything had
ever could.
It did not do to dwell on the past. He turned on his other side and forced himself to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed. More coming soon. Please review? Pretty please?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Under Pressure
Chapter 8
~~~~~~
Duo gulped as he looked at what his soon-to-be wife was devouring. She was barely two
months pregnant and she was already eating half the refrigerator. She was now spooning away
her third plate of stew. An excellent stew he had to admit, but she was eating more than he!
And the occasional midnight snack had turned into a three double sandwich and a whole carton
of milk. Every night! Where did she leave all that?!
He sighed and shook his head, feeling his braid dance on his back. Luckily she didn't
seem to be too much troubled by morning sickness, otherwise he would see that sandwich coming
out every morning. He shuddered at the thought.
"What's wrong, honey?" broke Hilde's voice through his reverie.
"Nothing. I was just thinking that at the rate you're eating, I will have to get another
job just to pay for the food."
She laughed heartily. "Don't worry, Duo. We got more than enough. And I could always
get a job, you know."
"Oh no, no way. No pregnant woman of mine will have to work while I'm around."
"That's really sweet of you." She gave him a hug, while she walked over to the sink, her
plate in hand. Thank god, she wasn't going to spoon for another helping. He didn't think he could
stand that. "But just because I'm carrying a baby, doesn't mean I'm suddenly as fragile as a
porcelain figure."
"But you don't have to get a job," he pleaded with her.
"I know that, but sitting around the house all day, getting fat, won't do the baby much
good. Getting a job will be wholesome."
"Then maybe you shouldn't eat so much," he murmured.
She laughed and pulled his braid. "I can't help it. When I'm hungry, I eat, until the
hunger goes away. That just seems to take a lot more eating nowadays." Lovingly she put her
arms around his shoulders. "Don't worry. We're gonna be just fine."
Smiling he gently stroked her arms. His smile turned into a groan as he watched her arm
stretch towards the fruit basket in the table. Her hand closed around an apple and brought the
peace of food to her mouth. All his muscles contracted as he listened to her taking a bite and
chewing on it.
"You want a bite?" she asked.
Deciding to take her rare offer to share her food he took a bite out of the already half
eaten apple. How did she do that? By the time he was done chewing she was done with the whole
piece of fruit. Amazing. She pressed a sticky applely kiss on his cheek and went to do the dishes.
Sighing he got up and grabbed a tea-cloth, so she wouldn't say he was lazy.
~~~~~~
Wufei glanced at the screen. "We have something on radar, Heero."
Heero, in the pilot seat, turned to him. "What is it?"
Wufei frowned. "A unmarked carrier, looks like it."
"Where is it going?"
"It's trajectory carries it about twenty miles from... from the base we're heading for.
Could it be a supply carrier for that base?"
"We won't know unless we find out, won't we."
Wufei smiled slightly. It was easy working with Heero. His personality might be questionable,
his skills were unrivaled and he wasn't nearly as unbearable company as Duo. Besides, Heero and he
were more alike than any of the others. They refused to let their emotions get in the way of their
mission.
"After it, then, but stay low. We don't want to appear on their radar."
Heero shot his friend a look that said, 'what do you think I am, a moron?' He deftly
maneuvered their plane low, tipping the trees. From a safe distance they followed the supply
carrier, until it landed.
"Better bring it down, so we can follow on foot," Heero said.
Wufei nodded in agreement. Yes, that was the best thing to do. They landed on a clear spot
between the trees. The plane barely fitted there and while they were dipping down, they slashed a
few trees. Heero flicked a few switches above his head and suddenly they were bathed in silence.
Wufei unbuckled his seatbelt and got up.
"Get your gear," he said to Heero. Silently the other man followed.
Outside they were met by the cool air of northern Canada. The trees rustled in the wind,
pines and spruce firs mostly. Between the evergreen trees stood some dying brown. The ground was
covered with needles, softening their footsteps, not that that was necessary.
Compass in hand they made their way to where the carrier had landed. It was a good hour
walk, but neither of them spoke. Quite suddenly the woods gave way, leaving the ground bare. In
the middle of the clearing stood a farm. The large carrier next to it told the two that this was
no ordinary farm. Their was not an animal in sight. But there were people alright. People in very
familiar uniforms.
"Preventers," Wufei growled. He sensed Heero's gaze, sweeping over him. He had never told
anyone why he had left and he could feel Heero's mild curiosity. He didn't explain himself though.
"Looks like we don't have to contact them after all. If only we would have known sooner."
"I suggest we give them the information we have. If they knew what we do, they would have
contacted us long before, and moved Relena to a different location."
Wufei didn't feel like letting himself be known. Former coworkers could be among those people
and he didn't want questions asked, but he realized Heero was right. They had to share their information
with them. "Then we had better get going," he said, sounding like he had just written his epitaph.
They silently rose and made their way to the barn. Wufei grumbled angrily. The security was lacking,
because it was so easy to reach them. He had let himself in with Preventers again. He hated it. He didn't
want to. But ask Heero to take over so he could return to their own plane, was admitting a cowardice he
despised. So he continued.
Finally someone seemed to take notice of them as they made their way to the double doors.
"Halt, this is a restricted area. State your business," a man said, raising his rifle, his
insignias marking him as a lieutenant
Wufei felt his irritation rise. "I wish to speak to your Commander. Where is he?"
"I said, state your business!"
It was a good thing Heero stepped in, because he might just have wrung the guys neck.
"I think our business has a lot to do with yours. We have some information on the base your watching,
your Commander would like to have. Take us to him."
The lieutenant stood in doubt for a few seconds. Then he motioned for two of his men to come to
him. "Search them for weaponry."
The two did as they were ordered. Wufei and Heero had come lightly armed, only a gun and two knives
each. They kept the weapons and positioned themselves behind and to the outside of the two intruders. The
lieutenant led them to the barn. Inside was the controlled hubbub Wufei knew so well. He looked around and
recognized the setup in the barn. Equipment near the door, bunks in the back.
He didn't have much time for a stroll down memory lane though. The lieutenant led them to two very
familiar figures. One was obviously a man, the long pale blond hair marking him as Zechs Marquise. The other
one... Wufei heart sank. The other on was Sally Po. Shit, I don't want this! I don't care if Heero thinks I'm
a coward, I should have stayed at the plane!
"Commander, we intercepted to intruders," the lieutenant saluted his superior.
Next to Wufei Heero snorted. In any other circumstance, Wufei would have agreed. They hadn't been
intercepted, they had walked purposely right into their arms. But now he dreaded the woman that was turning
to face the would-be intruders. Her blond hair was still tied in those two tails hanging over her shoulders.
Her high cheekbones accented the lines in her face. Her soft red lips slightly parted as she was about to
respond. Her gorgeous blue eyes widened, as they fell on him. "Wufei!" Her soft kind voice spoke his name
in surprise. He could hear the hurt she felt and his chest painfully contracted. He had been a fool to leave
this woman behind! How could he ever have thought, he would get over it? Never, ever, would he love anyone
else than Sally.
Zechs voice cut through their connection. "Heero, Wufei, what are you two doing here? Have you been
contacted by Lady Une?"
"No," Heero said. "We have some information that led us here. We didn't know you would be here as well."
"What kind of information?" the Lightning Count inquired.
"It's only fragments," Wufei put in, desperately trying to divert his attention from the woman he loved.
"I didn't get as much as I had hoped. It's pretty much two files scrambling each other, and the one we need was
also encrypted."
"If it's so important that you came all the way out here, why didn't you just contact Lady Une?"
Reluctant he turned his gaze back to Sally. "Because the records were outdated for over a year. For
all we knew the hinted organization had died and then we would have put the Preventers on alert for nothing.
Your presence here proves it's still active." And you standing in front of me just proved me I'm still very
much in love with you. Damn you, woman! Why do you mess around my head so much?!
"How did you find us?" Zechs put in.
"We followed what looked like a supply carrier. It was headed close to where the base mentioned in the
records is supposedly located." Heero cold voice somehow had a calming effect.
Zechs shook his head. "Great, they were spotted. I told them to take a smaller plane, one easier to
hide, but no, they knew better. Pfah!" He snorted in disdain.
Wufei reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box with disks. "This is all we have. The blue
disk is decrypted, the red one isn't." He handed it to Zechs. As he brought his arm back to his side, a hand
suddenly closed around his wrist.
"We need to talk," Sally said, dragging him with her. He caught the bewildered looks on the faces of
both Zechs and Heero, before he was rushed outside. She kept pulling his arm until they had reached a spot
that could not be seen from the barn or the stations of the guards.
"Let go of me," he said angrily, as he pulled himself free from her grasp.
"Why did you leave?"
The question caught him a little by surprised. He had expected she would just start yelling at him.
"I already explained. I couldn't work with you anymore."
"And why was that? No. no. let me get, you had... how would you say this... you had to get over your
'infatuation' with me, didn't you. So let me ask you, just out of curiosity, did you?"
"Did what?" he grunted unwillingly. He didn't like where this conversation was going.
"Did you get over it, over me?"
He wanted to say, 'yes, I did. You mean nothing to me now', but he couldn't. For the first time in
his life he cursed his upbringing. He had always been taught honesty stood above all else, so he couldn't
lie. And he definitely couldn't lie to those big blue eyes staring into his own.
"No," he whispered, knowing his heart had defeated him. What would she do now? Would she call him
a hopeless, heartsick little boy who kept hanging on to the past? That was how he felt. Or would she laugh
at him, or just walk away without a word? He looked down at the ground.
"Good," she said. Surprise ran through him at that one word and he looked up again. Her eyes had
lost al the heated fury now, they glowed with kindness and compassion. And understanding. "I hope one day
you will be able to acknowledge your heart for what it is and feels, Wufei. Until then, I'll wait for
you." She squeezed his hand and turned.
He looked at her retreating form almost hungrily. She said she would wait for him! She didn't think
he was an idiot. He didn't know how long he would have to let her wait, because he still couldn't make out
his own feelings, but somewhere deep inside him a flame had started to burn. It was feeding on the words
she had spoken and he knew it would eventually purge him of all doubt and worry.
~~~~~~
Heero frowned at the Preventer dragging the ex-Preventer along, away from him and Zechs.
"Do you know what that is all about?" he asked his once-enemy.
Zechs shook his head. "I'm not sure. It could have something to do with Wufei's sudden resignation
three years ago."
"Why did he do that?"
The blond man shrugged. "I've given up on trying to understand that guy long ago."
"So, what do we do about all this?" Heero got down to business.
"Well, actually I've been tempted to call one of you five to help us out. We need someone who can
easily infiltrate the base and gather more information."
"So you want Wufei and me to spy on them?"
"Yeah, that's one way of putting it." Zechs scratched his head. "However, it will be dangerous."
Heero cocked on eyebrow. As if that ever stopped him from doing anything.
Zechs seemed to read his mind, because he grinned. "We had better get your gear as fast as we can.
You up to going in tonight?"
"Sure, let's get to it."
The two men walked over to a computer. While Zechs showed the newcomer what they had on the layout
of the enemy's camp, Sally joined them again, a slight smile around her lips.
"Where's Wufei?" Heero asked.
"Oh, he'll be here in a moment. He needs some time to think. Don't worry, we'll have an easy time
filling him in on all this."
In a short amount of time Heero had engraved the crude camp's layout in his mind. By that time Wufei
had joined them again and was also studying the map on the computer screen.
"We think that's where the commander's office is, or something like that. And this looks like a
small conference room."
The two young pilots nodded. "We'll go there," Wufei said. "That's where plans are made."
"What do you need?" Sally asked matter-of-factly.
"Camouflage clothing, weaponry, tools, climbing gear," Heero answered. They would probably have to
climb the walls to get in and he preferred doing that using rope. It would make things a lot easier and it
would take less time.
"Very well, I suggest you get some sleep before tonight. If you came straight from Cinq, you must
have a jet lag. We'll get the gear ready and wake you in time."
Heero smiled in his mind. Zechs knew a soldier's life and knew they could sleep anytime they had
to. Gratefully he walked to the back of the barn with Wufei and hoisted himself in a spare bunk. For a
moment his thoughts drifted back to the mining asteroid where he had worked. He wondered how Anton was
doing. He should have listened to the man and gone to the doctor. Instead he had been stubborn and
therefore the bacteria eating his lungs had been able to bring him closer to death than anything had
ever could.
It did not do to dwell on the past. He turned on his other side and forced himself to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed. More coming soon. Please review? Pretty please?