Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. . .blah blah. . .not making money off of this. . .yadda yadda. . .don't sue me.

Chapter 14

The next morning woke the Gundam pilots late as they sleepily walked out into the hallway and slowly gathered. Rachel rolled over in bed and looked over at the slumbering Quatre. With a smile she thought, Better get dressed before he wakes so he can have his shirt back. She got up and patted over to the bathroom with her bodysuit hanging over her arm. A few minutes later, she came back out and laid the shirt neatly over the covers. She snapped her belt back on and walked over to Quatre's side of the bed. She softly sat on the edge of the bed and put her hand on his arm, slowly rubbing it to wake him. He stirred and opened his eyes, sleepily looking up at her. She smiled softly and said, "Good morning, Quatre."

"It's morning already?" Quatre said as he sat up. Rachel nodded and put her hand down on the bed to push off but felt Quatre's arms slowly wrap around her waist as he leaned against her back, sighing. She blinked and said, "Yes?"

"Thank you. . .for the song. . ." He rested his cheek against her shoulder blade and closed his eyes, giving her a gentle squeeze before loosening his grip and relaxing. She smiled and patted his arm, whispering, "You're welcome. How are you feeling today?"

"Fine, my chest doesn't hurt anymore."

"That's good." She gently unwrapped his arms and said, "I think you should get dressed before Duo bursts through that door and catches you with your arms around me." He chuckled and pulled away, crawling across the bed and picking up his shirt on his way to the floor. He slowly put his shirt on as he walked around to find his vest, looking down on the floor as he walked. Rachel leaned over and lifted the vest in the air on her finger, saying, "Lose something?" She waved it a little before handing it to Quatre. He smiled and said, "Thank you." He began to unzip his pants and Rachel's eyes widened. In mid-tuck, Quatre looked up to see her watching him. He blushed and quickly turned away, saying, "Sorry!" She giggled and stood up, walking over to him and resting her hands on his shoulders. He looked at her as she said, "I'll be outside, see ya out there. . ." As she walked away, he quickly grabbed her wrist and said, "Wait, Rachel, I. . ." He pulled her back and gave her a quick and soft kiss on the cheek, then said, "I just wanted to return the favor, so it didn't bug me for the rest of my life." She blushed and walked silently to the door. She opened it and stepped out, shutting it behind her and resting a hand on the door as she sighed. Looking up, she saw Trowa walking down the hallway looking fresh as a daisy. She leaned against the door and crossed her arms, saying, "Where's your roommate? Late sleeper?"

"He's exercising, he'll be out in a few minutes."

"Ooo, shirt off?"

"Nothing but his boxers." She cocked an eyebrow in amusement and said, "Maybe I should watch him. You know, learn a few techniques. . ."

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's not much to look at, he's. . .well, he's not me." Trowa said, rolling his eyes. She grinned and said, "I'm sure." He blinked and said, "You haven't. . .seen any pictures of me. . .you know. . ."

"Just shirtless. And might I add that you have a very nice body." She said with a wink, teasing him a bit.

"No you may not." Duo walked up just then. She giggled and said, "Good morning, Duo. Did you sleep well?"

"Not really, I couldn't stop thinking about you." He said, wrapping his arms around her waist. She smiled and said, pushing him back a little, "I see you didn't take a cold shower this morning."

"Why would I?" Duo said, not understanding. Trowa rolled his eyes again and said, "She means cool it down, dork. . ."

"It's Duo, not dork. . ." Duo said, insulted by his comment.

"Now you know how I feel, Maxwell." Wufei said as he walked up to the group. Rachel laughed and said, "Come on, get off me, Duo. You'll have plenty of time to love me later. . ." Wufei cocked an eyebrow and Trowa whispered, "Don't ask."

"Wasn't going to." Wufei said, looking sickened by Duo's affectionate 'air' about him. Suddenly, Rachel bounced and said, "What the-oh, Quatre!" She jumped away from the door as it slowly opened and Quatre peeked out.

"Sorry, I thought the door was stuck." He stepped out and closed the door behind him, smiling cheerfully to everyone, "Good morning, everyone. I hope you slept well."

"Some of us not so much as others. . ." Heero said as he walked up to the group, laptop under his arm.

"So, did you get the information you wanted?" Rachel asked as she leaned her elbow on Duo's shoulder.

"Yes, after staying up all night, I did." Heero replied, briefly giving Duo the death glare before continuing. "I found the location of where they're keeping her but I don't know where in the complex they're holding her. I found the coordinates so we can get there in about 1 day's travel speed."

"What if we're too late to save her?" Quatre said, sounding concerned.

"Well, we'll have to stop off during the trip to get more fuel, which might be a problem if they have policemen and investigators out everywhere looking for strange groupings of cargo planes flying together."

"Then how can we do this?" Wufei asked. Heero looked at Rachel just then. Blinking, she stood up straight and said, "Why are you looking at me?"

"Come here." He said. She looked at Duo for a second and walked over to Heero. He took her arm and led her away from the group, stopping about halfway down the hallway. He looked up into her eyes and said, "You can do whatever you set your mind to, right?" She looked unsure of where this was going but she nodded.

"Just about everything. . ." She said quietly.

"Can you teleport things?" Heero asked, sounding serious.

"Well. . .I don't know, I've never tried. I suppose I could but I'd have to test it out before I tried anything. If you wanted me to teleport things I could just teleport Relena here to safety."

"I thought about that already but we have to go there and see if they really have mobile suits like our Gundams. I don't want the chance that someone might be building new Gundanium armored suits to pass us by unnoticed."

"I see. . ." She thought for a moment and said, "So you want me to. . ."

"Teleport the planes to where the compound is to save on time and fuel."

"Wow. . .I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to do that but I can give it a try. . .I don't wanna end up crash landing you into the Pacific or anything. . ."

"We can't waste time while Relena's life is at stake, and our own." She nodded and said, "Let me see if I can do this in the first place." Quietly, she turned to face the group, closing her eyes and thinking hard. Suddenly, she disappeared and reappeared in front of Duo, who let out a little yelp.

"WAH! How'd you. . ." Duo stumbled backward a few feet and took a breath. Wufei stared wide-eyed at her.

"She's not human. . ." Wufei said as he stared at her.

"Good, so you can. We'll leave now and head out to the planes, we should make it there by noon." Heero said as he walked up to them.

"Do you mind if I find something else to wear? This is kinda. . .hard to sleep in. . ." Rachel said, trying not to let on that she hadn't worn it the night before.

"I suppose, it'll give the rest of us time to get something to eat before we go." Heero said.

"Great! I'll meet you guys at the front gate, okay?" Rachel said and ran off down the hall.

"Let's go, I'm starved!" Duo said, his stomach growling.

"Where's Rachel? She said she'd meet us here. . ." Wufei said, looking annoyed.

"She'll be here, chill out, Wu-" Duo stopped as Trowa elbowed him.

"Ixnay on the Wufei?" Trowa whispered. Duo and finished.

"Fei? Heh?" He hid behind Trowa, who sighed as Wufei grumbled about wanting to debraid Duo.

"Hey guys, sorry to keep you waiting!" Rachel came running up in a new outfit, her old one most likely tucked away in the bag she was carrying. Duo blinked and popped out from behind Trowa, saying, "Wow! Cute outfit!" She smiled and looked down at her Khaki cargo Capris and white tank top with 'Angel' written across the front. She toed the ground shyly with her white sneakers and grinned at Duo.

"Do I look like a normal girl now?" She said. Duo nodded and ran over to her, saying, "I shall carry you across the threshold out into the wilderness with me!"

"You'll kill yourself if you do, I weigh 130. . ." Rachel said.

"You don't look like it." Duo grinned just before lifting her into the air and running off with her, kicking and screaming the whole way.

"Duo Maxwell, put me down!" Rachel yelled, hitting his shoulder. He just laughed as the others shook their heads and groaned in shame to have known him, following reluctantly behind.

"Alright, as soon as we're airborne, you try to teleport us to the airspace around the complex." Heero said as he started up the engines, doing a quick systems check before starting it rolling. They took off and smoothly ascended into the air, gathering in a V shaped pattern. Heero glanced over at her, as if signaling to start. She looked nervously at him and said, "I. . .I don't think I can."

"But you did earlier." Heero said.

"I know but. . .I knew where I was teleporting to." Heero frowned in confusion and Quatre said, "She doesn't know what this place looks like so she can't envision it."

"Yeah, what he said." Rachel said timidly. Heero sighed and set the plane to auto pilot, unbuckling and bringing his laptop over to her. He rested the computer on her armrest and opened it, typing away at the keys as he searched for something. Finally, he turned the laptop to face her and said, "There, that's what it looks like." She blinked and stared at it for a minute before saying, "Okay, I think I got it now." Heero closed the laptop and returned to his seat, buckling in again and taking over the controls. Rachel closed her eyes and focused on the image in her mind, imagining the planes being there looking down upon it. A split second later, her visions became reality and they were within sight of the complex.

"Good, now we'll land over there in that clearing. I'll go in with Trowa to scout out the building while you all stay in contact and ready in case we need backup." Heero said over the comlink as soon as they arrived. The planes tilted and headed toward a clearing about a mile from the base. Heero landed the plane and shut down the systems, saying, "I might want to bring you with me in case we run into any-" He looked over at Rachel to find her out cold.

"I guess she's still working on the passing out part." Quatre said with a shrug, getting up from his seat.

"Stay here and watch her. If she wakes up soon before we infiltrate, send her out to follow me, I might need her help on the inside." Heero said before leaving the cockpit to find Trowa. He joined the group gathered outside and said, "Alright, Trowa, you're with me."

"And why are we staying behind?" Duo asked defiantly.

"You all have Gundams that excel in close combat, Trowa does not so it seems wiser to bring him with me so you can be backup for us."

"Oh. . .I guess that's reasonable." Heero half rolled his eyes as he walked away, heading for the complex with Trowa in tow. Duo looked back at the plane and wondered what Rachel was up to. Deciding to snoop, he walked up to the ramp as Wufei stood behind him and crossed his arms, saying, "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere." Duo said over his shoulder as he disappeared inside the cargo hold. He saw the cockpit door hanging open and snuck over to it, listening from behind the wall to see if anyone was talking.

It's Quatre. . .is he talking to Rachel? Duo wondered as he listened in.

"I hope you're okay. . .that must have taken a lot of energy out of you. I wasn't sure if you wanted to do it when you looked so nervous but once you knew what it looked like it was easy. I didn't expect it to be so smooth either, I've never done that before. . ." Quatre said in a quiet voice. Duo's eyes grew large as his mind got the wrong idea.

"Maybe we'll do it again and it won't be so hard next time. . ." Duo had heard enough as far as he was concerned as he burst through the doorway, yelling, "Why you son of a-"

"Duo! What's wrong!" Quatre was shocked by the abrupt entrance and stood up. Duo jumped on him and tackled him to the ground, trying to beat him up.

"How could you! Behind my back, too! You jerk!" Duo screamed as he pounded Quatre, who had his arms over his face to block the shots.

"Duo, stop! I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Yeah right, I heard you! I heard all of it!"

"All of what! Duo, STOP!" Quatre kicked him and shoved him away just as Wufei came running in after hearing the commotion. Duo lunged for Quatre's throat but Chang grabbed him and held him back.

"GACK, let me go!" Duo choked out as Chang put him in a headlock.

"What the heck is wrong with you, Maxwell! Why are you attacking Quatre?" Wufei asked, his iron grip not showing signs of letting go any time soon. Quatre took a breath, his eyes wide in shock as he said, "Duo, what is wrong with you! You're acting like I did something unforgivable!"

"You did, you-"

"Duo?" He looked over at Rachel as she groggily sat up, looking around in confusion.

"Rachel, how could you. . ." Duo said as tears welled up in his eyes. She looked over at him and in a confused voice, said, "How could I what?"

"I thought you loved me." Duo muttered, struggling to get free of Chang's grip. He threatened to brutally injure Chang if he didn't release him so he finally let go. Duo jumped up and ran for the door as Rachel shouted after him, "Duo, wait!" He disappeared and Rachel turned to Quatre, saying, "What's gotten into him!"

"I have no idea! He said something about hearing us or something and tried to kill me!"

"Hearing us? Do you suppose he was up last night?" Rachel asked, getting worried.

"I don't know but what was there to hear? I mean, I mentioned wanting to. . ." He looked up at Chang who's eyebrow was cocked in wonder.

"It's not what you think, Chang, nothing like that happened last night." Rachel said.

"Depends on what you mean by 'that'. . ."Chang said, walking away. Rachel sighed and thought aloud, "I don't understand, how could that have made him mad?" Suddenly, Quatre spoke up.

"Wait, I was talking to you before he came in, maybe he got the wrong idea from that."

"You were talking to me?" Quatre blushed and said, "Yes. . .I was saying how tired you were and I didn't think you would be able to do it but you did great. . ."

"Oh yeah, like Duo couldn't get that mixed up with something perverted. . ." Rachel said sarcastically. She jumped out of her seat and ran out of the plane to find Duo.

"Let's split up, we'll have better luck finding her that way." Heero said to Trowa. Trowa nodded and they crawled in separate directions through the ventilation system, climbing through many bends and turns while pausing now and then to check out the room they were crossing. Trowa paused halfway through his journey and peeked through a slatted opening. Inside it was dark but he could see the vague profile of a lump in the corner of the room.

"Psst." Trowa hissed to the figure and it stirred. He called again and it stood, saying in a low whisper, "Who. . .who's there?"

"Are you Relena Darlian?" Trowa called down.

"Yes, yes I am!" the figure moved around in excitement.

"Sshhh." Trowa hissed. She hushed herself and Trowa continued. "Is there a guard outside your room?"

"Yes." She hissed back quietly.

"Sit tight, I'll find Heero and we'll get you out of there."

"Heero?" He could almost hear her heart pounding as he responded, "Stay quiet and pretend like we're not here." She nodded and he crawled off to find Heero.

Heero's here. . .Relena thought to herself as she curled back up on the floor and awaited her rescue.

Mobile suits. . .nothing more. Heero thought as he called the kidnappers' bluff. He looked down into a hangar bay full of modified Leos and Aries mobile suits, looking similar to their Gundams. Heero heard Trowa's approaching echoes and turned to see him coming slowly up to his side.

"Found her." Trowa whispered. Heero nodded and motioned for him to show him the way. They started crawling back down the air duct.

She's here. . .at least she's not a bluff. At least she's alive. . .Heero thought as he followed slowly behind Trowa.