Disclaimer: I do not, for the gazillionth time, own Gundam Wing or the theme song…or anything…for that matter…

Chapter 4

"♪Just wild beat. . .communication, ame ni. . .utare nagara, iroasenai. . .atsui omoi, karada-juu de tsutaetai yo tonight!♪" Rachel sang to herself in perfect key as she attempted to tidy up her messy hair, combing it out with her fingers. As she closed her eyes and rocked slowly back and forth, she continued to sing.

"♪nureta. . .sono kata wo, atatameru you ni daita, furuete'ru yubisaki wa, nani wo motomesama you no? togire. . .togirete mo, tsutaete hoshii itami wo, sameta furi suru koto de, otona ni. . .nante. . .narenai. . .♪"

"Who says." Rachel snapped her eyes open and looked at her open doorway.

"I. . .I thought I was alone." Rachel said, jumping off her bed and facing her visitor. Heero just stared back calmly, not moving from his relaxed lean against the doorframe. With a blink, Rachel said, "How did you know what I said?"

"It's my native language, remember?" Heero said, almost surprised at her question.

"Oh right, you're Japanese, duh. . ." Rachel said, rolling her eyes. She turned away and stared at the wall; nervous from the cold stare Heero was giving her. She heard Heero shift his position and walk toward her, closing the door. She gulped slowly as he said, "I wanted to have a talk with you." Rachel spun around and said quickly, "I'm sorry about last night, I didn't mean to be annoying! I wasn't trying to hurt you, honest, I was just curious! I really didn't mean any harm, please don't kill me." She winced a little at those last words, turning her face to the side slowly. Heero blinked at her sudden rush of apologies as if trying to take it all in. He looked down at the gun tucked tightly in the top of his spandex shorts and pulled it out. Looking at it briefly, he tossed it onto the bed and looked back at Rachel, who had a look of surprise on her face.

"I said I wanted to talk, not kill you." Heero said snidely. Rachel relaxed a bit and shifted her cringed stance to a more confident looking posture.

"Okay. . .what do you want to talk about?" She said, trying not to sound scared.

"About. . .my past. You said some things that only I would have known and I want to know, who told you about that?" Heero said, looking sternly at her.

"No one told me, I read it from a story!"

"Story? Do you mean file?"

"No, I mean story. I said that in my world your-"

"Those idiots might believe your little 'alternate dimension' story, but I don't. Now are you going to be good and tell me or do I have to get a little more 'persuasive'." Heero said, stepping closer to her. She stepped back and said, "It's not a story, it's true! Heero, I am from-"

"I guess that answers my question." He reached for her arm and she dove for the bed, grabbing the gun and aiming it at Heero's chest.

"Look, shorty, I'm not lying to you!" Rachel yelled angrily, her eyes almost burning with insult and rage. Heero stared at her, his eyes pulled tight into small slits.

"What did you call me?"

"You. . .you heard me! Shorty! Yeah, I said that! You are short! I mean, you're only 5 feet tall!"

"5 foot, 1. . ." Heero growled.

"Excuse me, 5' 1". Still, I'm 4 inches taller than you are and you're trying to intimidate me? I also have a weight advantage over you, Mr. 99 pound featherweight. I mean, sure, you can probably kill me with your pinky but still. . ." Heero couldn't help grinning at the comment, thinking how true that was. A knock was heard at the door and Rachel jumped, yelling, "COME IN, PLEASE!" Heero growled as Duo hopped into the room, happily saying, "GOOD MORN-neh? Woah, what the!" Rachel got to her feet, throwing the gun across the room as she ran to Duo, hiding behind him as she held on tight to his arms. He looked shocked as he stared at Heero and said, "Heero, what's going on!"

"Nothing." Heero mumbled as he walked over and picked up his gun, turning and walking toward the door. Rachel backed out of the room and into the hallway, dragging Duo with her much to his confusion. She stopped a few feet from the door, against the wall, as Heero exited the room and walked down the hall toward his Gundam, not looking back for a second. Both Duo and Rachel watched him disappear into the crowd before heaving a quiet sigh. Duo pulled free of Rachel's iron grip and turned to face her, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking deep into her eyes.

"Rachel, why the heck did you have a gun pulled on Heero! Are you TRYING to get yourself killed?" Duo asked in a demanding voice, his eyes wild with shock.

"N-no. . ."She mumbled quietly, looking down at the floor. Blinking, Duo said in a little calmer tone, "Then why were you-"

"He was going to hurt me, it was the only way I could defend myself against him! Have you ever seen him fight? I could have been dead in less than a second!" She yelled suddenly, looking up at Duo with fear and tear filled eyes, gritting her teeth to hold back the lump forming in her throat. Duo leaned back a little and said, "He was going to hurt you? Why?"

"Cause. . .cause. . .because I knew something he didn't like me knowing! sob Oh Duo, please don't let him hurt me!" She fell against his chest, clutching his clothing in her fists as she buried her face in his shoulder. He stared at her for a minute, still shocked at her outbursts, but slowly he laid his arms over her quivering back, attempting to the best of his abilities to comfort her. Slowly and soothingly rubbing her back, he said, "I won't, don't worry. You've got Duo Maxwell on your side! And that's a promise." He pulled her closer and gave her a hug, not letting go as she wrapped her arms tightly around his back. He felt a little awkward trying to comfort her, since he was an inch shorter than Heero, but he did anyway. After a few minutes, Quatre came briskly jogging up to them, saying, "What happened? Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. Hey, are our Gundams ready to go? We oughta head out and find that Trowa kid that Heero was talking about, he might need our help." Duo said, keeping Rachel's little confrontation a secret, for her sake and his sleeve's.

"They're fueled and loaded up, we can leave as soon as we're ready. Rashid and a few of the soldiers here are loading some food onto the cargo planes for us to eat on our journey." Quatre said, still looking at Rachel.

"Great, we'll be right on over in a sec." Duo said, hinting for Quatre to leave. He nodded and walked back toward the thinning crowds to return to the transports. As soon as he was out of sight, Rachel stood up straight and sniffed, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. Duo watched her as he said, "You gonna be okay? Want me to go beat Heero up for ya?" She laughed a little and said, "No, it's okay, I'm fine. Thank you for being so nice, though. You're a whole lot cooler in person, you know that?" He smiled and said, "Nah, never really noticed." Taking her hand, he started walking in the direction of the planes, saying, "Come on, we don't wanna keep them waiting too long, Quatre might get worried."

"Yeah, let's go." She smiled and followed Duo into the crowds. After saying their goodbyes and thank-yous to the Maganac people, they took off on their journey to find Trowa.

"So, where do you think this guy is hiding out?" Duo said, his hands behind his head as he reclined in his seat, looking over at Quatre.

"I don't know, I was hoping Heero had an idea so I've been pretty much following him." Quatre admitted, steadying the plane as a few updrafts played around the wings, making them bounce back and forth. Duo tapped his foot on the floor in a thoughtful manner and looked over at Rachel. She still looked a little sad but at least the puffiness from her crying had gone away.

I wonder what she said to him to make him go off like that. Duo thought as he watched her stare off into space, most likely deep in thought about something. With an inward sigh, he turned his attention to a button overhead that seemed to be flashing for some reason. With a frown, he said, "Hey, Quatre, is that button suppose to be blinking?"

"Huh?" Quatre looked to where Duo was pointing and said, "No. . .that's the warning light for the cargo door. Maybe it's not closed completely."

"I'll go check." Duo said, hopping up out of his seat and strolling over to the door leading into the cargo hold. Rachel snapped out of her trance and turned to look up at Duo, saying, "Where are you going?"

"Just checking on something, I'll be right back." With a smile he walked through the door and shut it behind him. Sadly, she turned back around and sighed, staring out at the endless sky in front of them. Quatre glanced over at her from the corner of his eye and said, "Are you alright? You look sad."

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine." She said, trying to smile to reassure Quatre. It didn't fool him a bit.

"You know, even if Duo is your favorite, that doesn't mean he's the only guy who gives a care about anyone." She quickly looked over at him and said, "How did you-" Quatre smiled.

"I kind of guessed he was by the way you've been acting. Letting him teach you about gundam controls, talking with him about things you won't with me, smiling at him for no reason, riding with him in his gundam. . ."

"Now see, the last one wasn't my choice. . ." Rachel said in her defense.

"And you can honestly tell me you wouldn't have picked him if it were your choice?" Quatre asked with an innocent smile.

"Well. . .no. . .but it still wasn't my choice. And how would you know if I smile at him? Have you been watching me?" Quatre blushed and said, "I, er. . .uh, I wasn't sure if I could. . .trust you. . ."

"Suuuure. . .and I'm sure that's just a skin condition making your cheeks turn red." She said with a grin, pointing at Quatre's flush face. Looking away, he said shyly, "I have medication for it. . ." Rachel giggled and curled up in her seat, satisfied that she won the discussion. Her smile faded as she said, "You won't tell Duo, will you?"

"If you don't tell him about my 'skin condition'. . ." Quatre said with a grin. She smiled back and said, "I won't, I promise." Just then, Duo came back in and said, "That stupid door is stuck on something but I think it'll hold till we can get to a place to fix it."

"I think we're coming up on a small city where we can land and do something about it, maybe stay a few hours to catch up on the news of what's been going on." Quatre said.

"Great, sounds good to me. Tell Heero so he doesn't keep going without us." Duo said, sitting down in his seat. Quatre pushed the com button and said, "Heero, we're going to stop at the city coming up, we're having problems with our cargo bay door."

"Yeah, the darn thing won't lock shut." Duo added.

Alright, I need to check the engines over here anyway, they're giving me some trouble with the altitude we're at. Heero responded.

"10-4." Quatre shut off the link and continued his piloting.

"Oh, I hope his plane will make it. . ." Rachel said, a little worried about Heero's engine troubles. Duo looked a little surprised by her show of concern.

I don't get it, why would she be worried about him after what he tried to do to her this morning? Duo thought as he stared at the worry in her eyes as she watched the plane beside and a little in front of them.

"Alright, now we agreed to meeting back here at 11, right?" Quatre said as he landed in the city's only dock for planes, shutting down the engines and unbuckling.

"Yeah yeah, I know. Come on, let's go see what's in this dinky little place!" Duo said, jumping out of his seat and grabbing Rachel's hand. She waved goodbye to Quatre as she ran with Duo into the belly of the plane. Duo kicked on the door to help it on its opening and it fell open, thumping to the ground and shaking the plane a little. He cringed as he heard Quatre's faint yelling, "What was that!"

"Uh, NOTHING!" Duo yelled quickly to Quatre, then leaning over to Rachel, said, "Let's go!" He took off down the ramp as Rachel laughed and ran with him. As they reached the bottom, they ran into Heero who was walking over from his plane. They came to a quick halt and Duo said, "What do you want?"

"Is Quatre still inside? I need money in case I need to buy new parts for that piece of junk." Heero said, motioning to his plane.

"Yeah, he's just finishing final systems shutdown. We're gonna head into the city to get the latest news on the war, see ya!" Duo said, pulling Rachel with him as he ran out of the docking bay and into the streets of the city. Duo laughed as they strolled down the sidewalk away from the dock, saying, "I wonder which piece of junk he was talking about: the plane or his Gundam!"

"Hey, the Wing Gundam isn't a piece of junk! It's the best gundam of the five sent on Operation Meteor!" Rachel pointed out to Duo.

"What! No way, Deathscythe is WAY better!" Duo argued.

"Maybe in the looks department but when it comes to weapons and armor, Wing leaves yours in the dust."

"How do you figure that?" Duo asked, sounding insulted.

"Well, Deathscythe has better fighting and speed, but not by much. Actually, each Gundam only beats out the other by about 10 points on abilities. Except for power, you're tied at 120 points."

"Boy, you know an awful lot about their abilities!"

"Heh, I read the stats on all the mobile suits in the series. Hey, I was bored, so sue me. . ."

"So you memorized the capabilities of ALL our Gundams?"

"Yep, and make and model number and all that good stuff."

"Really. Well okay, tell me, who's gundam COULD I beat with mine?"

"If it's close combat, you could beat Heavyarms. It kicks butt at long-range combat with its huge arsenal of missiles, cannons, and guns but face-to-face. . .it's just pathetic. Really slow compared to yours, being the fastest of the Gundams."

"Sweet. Who's the pilot of Heavyarms?"

"Trowa Barton."

"Oh, that guy we're looking for? Why does Heero want to find him so badly anyway?"

"I might have an idea but it's personal, I don't think he would appreciate me telling you."

"You know, I was wondering, why are you being so nice about Heero? He tried to kill you and yet you're acting like he's your friend!"

"It's simple. I forgave him." Duo stopped in his steps and turned to Rachel.

"You forgave him?" Duo said in a shocked voice.

"It's what God says to do. He said to forgive your brother 'Until seventy times seven'. Which means I can stop forgiving Heero after his 490th sin against me." She said with a wink. They continued to walk as Duo stuffed his hands into his pockets and said, "Wow, that's a lot of times. . .what if you lose track of how many times he's sinned against you? Will God give you a reminder or something?" With a giggle, Rachel said, "I guess I'd have to start all over again. Either that or just continue to forgive him and forget about keeping track. Cause you know, if you truly have forgiven someone, you won't remember what they did and hold it against them."

"But then you'd be forgiving him till the end of time!"

"Oh well, I don't really have anything better to do." Rachel grinned. She stepped up next to Duo and put her arm around his with a happy smile. He smiled back and, changing the subject, said, "Doesn't it bother you that I'm shorter than you?"

"No, not really. Besides, you're not that much shorter than me."

"Are you kidding! I almost come up to your nose but that's about it! I'm a midget. . ." Duo said with a frown. She hugged him and said, "You just haven't hit your growth spurt yet! Give it time, before too long you'll be as tall as Zechs!"

"Who?" Duo said, looking confused.

"Nevermind." She said, rolling her eyes, "You know, you're almost as good as me when it comes to changing the subject!"

"Oh really? I thought I was the reigning champ." Duo said, flexing his muscles and making Rachel laugh. As they laughed, they came across a TV in a store window playing one of the local news stations. Duo stopped and watched the TV as a newscaster popped up on the screen and said, "And next in our news, a report of mobile suits on the rampage. OZ has been terrorizing local cities and destroying every effort made to stop them by the civilians and rebel groups posted in the areas. High fatality rate has risen significantly in the area in the past few days, more news at 12. And on to lighter news, a kitten was saved from a 40 foot tree earlier today. . ." Duo stepped back from the window with a look of anger on his face.

"While we're out here looking for some bum, people are getting slaughtered by those OZ scum." Duo said, anger rising in his voice, "I can't stand this."

"Duo, there's not much we can do right now without more help. I really think we should find Trowa, he'd be a major help if we ever got in trouble." Duo sighed and started to walk back toward the dock.

"We should head back, it's almost 11."

"Okay." Rachel said, lowering her head a little. She looked back at the store for a second and something caught her eye a few stores down. Coming out of a grocery store. . .

Could it be? Rachel stopped and ran back down the sidewalk toward the store.

"Hey, where are you going?" Duo called after her, soon following suit. As she got closer to see the person better, she confirmed her suspicions, it was who she thought it was.

Now don't call out to him, that's what they always do in shows and what does the person do? Run, of course, so don't call to him. Grab him, then say his name. Rachel said to herself as she got about 10 feet away from him. Of course, he had noticed her running down the sidewalk and had started to walk in the opposite direction toward a crowd. She noticed this and muttered, "Oh no you don't. . ." She quickly dashed forward and got about 3 feet away when he broke into a run.

"Wait, come back!" She finally shouted, figuring she'd never be fast enough to catch him now. As they ran through the crowded streets, Duo attempted to catch up to them, getting a little worn out from the sudden marathon through the city.

Why the heck is she chasing that guy! Wait, could he be. . .no way, out in the open like this? And what would the chances be of docking in the same city he lived in! Duo thought as he tried desperately to catch up to Rachel and not lose her. He quickly looked down at his watch and saw that it was 2 minutes till 11.

Uh oh, we're gonna be late at this rate! Duo thought again, looking back up to see where Rachel was. But to his surprise, she had disappeared along with the boy she had been chasing. Duo stopped dead in his tracks and looked around. Cursing under his breath, he said, "Great, where'd she go! Man, I can't waste time running around looking for her in this crowd, it would be pointless!" He decided to go back and get Heero and Quatre to help him. Running, he made it back to the dock, about 10 minutes late. Out of breath, he stumbled into the busy plane hangar and was spotted right away by the impatient Heero standing next to Quatre, who had been trying to give Heero excuses for why Duo was late.

"I guess you don't have any sense of time, baka." Heero said as Duo walked up.

"Duo, you're completely out of breath! Did you run all the way back here? And where's Rachel?" Quatre asked, looking worried.

"Yeah, I ran all the way back here, AFTER I tried to catch up to Rachel who decided to take off after some guy. I lost her in the crowds." Duo said, gasping for air as he bent over, holding onto his knees for support.

"Did you get a good look at this guy?" Heero asked.

"No, I couldn't get close enough. I guess he saw her coming and took off like a bullet. Man he was fast, I don't know how she could keep up with him!"

"Maybe we should go after them, it could be Trowa. Are you sure you didn't get a glance of him? Like did he have long brown hair that hung over his face?" Quatre asked.

"I'm not sure, there were people walking everywhere getting in the way. Have you seen him before?" Duo asked, looking up at his Arab friend.

"Yes, we met once. Quiet boy. . .I asked him what I could call him as he left and he said he didn't have a name but I could call him Trowa." Quatre answered, remembering when they had met.

"Well, I don't know about you but I'm gonna go out there and look for her!" Duo said, walking back toward the dock doors to go back out.

"Wait, I'll come too! Heero, tell the dock tenants that we'll be right back!" Quatre said as he ran off to catch up to Duo.

That girl is going to get us in trouble, running off like that without warning is like having a death wish. Heero thought to himself as he walked toward some uniformed men nearby to deliver the message.