A/N: Yo! Fourth chapter is finally out. The action has finally started here. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC or I'd make sekushi Heero and Duo porn

Soulevement Du Mauvais

Chapter IV

By The Vampyre's Widow

&

Ourania

Duo had never much liked the cold; he rediscovered this now as they trekked along the frozen expanse in search of their stopping point. Yards of fuzzy blankets and endless cups of hot cocoa could theoretically ward off the chill, but he didn't see either of those things being offered to him in the near future, so he wisely kept it to himself.

All the little aches, the wear and tear his body had sustained both recently and in the past, were more apparent to him now as the damp and the freezing temperature settled in. His bruised side was protesting most severely, and he silently vowed to do something about it once this whole mission was over. For now, he had to focus on the task at hand.

In the moonlight the snow seemed to stretch on forever. Heero continued to trudge through the snow, breaking the path for his partner. The cold was readily ignored, even though his fingers and nose had long since gone numb.

The GPS map in his hand declared that they were only ten minutes from the target site. "We're near." He said over his shoulder.

The other pilot waved his hand wearily to show he had heard and comprehended, not the least bit tempted to open his mouth and expose any more of his body to the cold. He hoped that near meant he would soon be warm and toasty: Even the bad guys had to have heating units.

The minutes seemed to stretch by like hours. Just as his numb legs were starting to protest the trials of breaking snow, a tall fence loomed overhead. Barbed wire decorated the top and a sizzle in the air concluded that electricity was running through the metal links.

Heero kneeled in the snow, one hand grabbing the tether between him and his partner.

Duo pulled a face when the lashing between them was tugged but made no outwardly disagreeing noises. He took a spot beside Heero, nearly touching the fence when he lost his balance momentarily and had to rock back on his heels to avoid getting fried. He offered his partner an embarrassed grin before his gaze flicked out between the metal links to take in their situation.

The white building was seamless, with no windows and only one entrance. It was heavily guarded, with the guards in pairs, some had Canine units, and some didn't. Smoke billowed from the top of the building, obscuring the night sky and disguising the men that patrolled the roof.

"The gate must be nearby."

Duo nodded in agreement, squinting to see if he could find it without the hazard of splitting up to look for it. "Is that it? Down there, where there's a difference in the size, can you see it?"

After rubbing the steam off his goggles, Heero was able to make out the gate. "Guard house. Unknown number." He motioned to the small, ranch size building by the gate.

The other boy nodded, slipping a hand under his coat to see if the weapons were still there. The steel cooled the second it encountered a breeze, and Duo knew quite well where everything was located. "Alright, let's go and hope there's not a baker's dozen hiding out in there... or even the regular dozen."

"Hn."

Heero produced his magnum, loaded it and put the silencer on it. Stealth would be the best course of action for the moment.

Duo had put the silencer on previously, having already anticipated needing it in the upcoming skirmishes. He crawled along the fencing, pausing every so often to make sure they weren't being tracked by anyone.

Heero had to follow; unable to do anything else when he was tied to his partner. It was still too early to undo the rope. Freak snowstorms were common in this part of Russia and even being this close to the compound you could get lost in one of them

When they came astride of the guardhouse, Duo removed his handgun and waited until Heero was in a comfortable position. The violet-eyed boy peered into the small building, keeping his fingers crossed and hoping they weren't walking directly into an ambush.

There were four guards in the house, Heero had counted. Two for each of them. Security was very tight. If he hadn't known about what was going on, looking at this compound would have triggered suspicions. He nodded at Duo and crouched by the window, waiting for one of them to walk by.

The guards didn't know what was happening until it was too late. The pilot's accurate aim and rapid fire had two down almost instantly.

The other guards hit the ground half a second later, both dead the second the bullets had kissed their heads and laid them out to rest. Duo shuffled carefully to look around the area more seriously, deeming it safe enough to rise from his crouch with his gun still clutched in his cold grip.

Heero followed his partner, but edged around the side of the house to the door, undoing the cord at the same time. It was a simple matter to pick the lock and get in. A thorough search produced weapons, ammo, a small stock of food and identification cards.

Heero tucked one of the 22 Buckmark's into his coat and packed some of the food into his bag. The food the guards had was better then they're three-day supply of energy drinks and protein bars.

"Here." Heero handed Duo one of the ID cards when emerged from the house.

The pilot accepted the card, though he fumbled with it in his gloves. He shot a glance at Heero's bag, wondering what else the boy had pilfered from inside before shrugging it off: Heero would show him later. "There were more than I thought there would be..." he said quietly, more for the comfort of hearing his own voice again rather than to actually point out anything important.

"It's a Mobile Suit Factory, security will be heavily present." Heero stated. He offered his partner the other 22 Buckmark and some ammo to go with it.

There were no cameras on the top of the house or on the gate. This part would be easy. A simple swipe of the ID card had the gate rolling back. It was soundless, possibly well maintained then lubricated with melted snow and ice.

Leave it to Heero to make him feel like a complete moron. Duo took the gun and bullets without comment, feeling rather uncomfortable on the whole at the lack of noise produced by the gate. He mentally smacked his own uncertainties, slipping through before it closed again while keeping a sharp eye out for danger.

The brunette kept to the already broken paths in the snow. One of them would lead to the entrance; Undoubtedly guarded more heavily then the gate. All of his sense were hyper aware of his surroundings, tracking Duo's movements and breathing, the black forms by the building.

Being the Perfect Soldier let his mind wander. /How many times do I have to kill that little girl and her dog...Never...Never again will I have to kill somebody...yet...here I am again...will this blood ever disappear/

Duo's mouth was unnaturally dry and his lips were frustratingly chapped. He could feel them starting to split whenever he spoke or blew a breath against the scarf on his face to warm his nose. He filed it into the back of his thought processes, knowing that a bleeding mouth would be the least of their troubles if he skipped out in front of a guard.

Five guards, one with a German Shepard. All of them had rifles. There was no way to get past them without alerting the rest of the compound. "Thoughts, Maxwell?"

The pilot didn't like these odds in the least. "If we separate and fire at them from different angles, it'll confuse them and they won't know where to shoot. In that situation, we'd want to take the dog out first, since it'll come straight at us... plus, the barking would attract others."

Heero nodded. "Right." He moved off in that direction, trying to be as quiet as possible. It was an unspoken agreement between them both that he would take out the Shepard. He had the best night vision between them and better aim.

Far away as he could possibly get and still see the entrance, he knelt back down into the snow. A brief image flashed before his eyes: The girl, with her immaculate white dress, straw hat with the cheerful yellow ribbon...the yellow flower...her voice as she played with the puppy. An existence erased by one of his missions. A mission that repeated itself in his dreams.

Without thought the finger tightened on his trigger. A yelp floated to his ears. He would never forget that little girl, but to protect more innocents like her he would have to kill again.

Duo fired several shots in quick succession, carefully aiming for vitals so that there would be no opportunity for warning the others in the compound. If his bullets missed their mark, he made certain they did not do so by much. The entire scene was over and done with before he'd drawn in three hurried breaths, halfway fearing they might have been his last.

Duo was approached from behind. Heero knelt down again behind him, Magnum clutched in his hand like a lifeline. "Reload and move."

Duo's muscles had initially tensed and he'd been prepared to swing around when another's presence invaded his space. Heero's voice sliced through the dark thoughts just in time to avoid a fatal mistake. The boy calmed slightly, even as he quickly did what he was told and forcefully tried not think of what he had almost done.

Wing's Pilot moved away from his partner, following the path. He checked the five bodies, pocketing the ammo. They needed all they could get for later. There was nothing else on the bodies to scavenge.

He slipped the ID card into the small panel next to the flat door and listened to it whirring. His Prussian blues caught sight of a pair of guards coming their way. They hadn't noticed them yet. One hand inched towards the Buckmark.

Duo spotted them as well and he gave them a short glance each, looking to see which of the two was more alert and had a better chance of returning fire. He decided the one on the left presented a more serious threat and removed him from the equation with a bullet between those attentive eyes. The second one went slack-jawed when his friend's head exploded into a pink and red cloud and Duo took advantage of that indecisive moment to finish off the final bit of the problem. He glanced over his shoulder to see if Heero had finished opening the door, trying to ignore the damage he had just done.

The door slid open with the sound of an air lock releasing. Heero clamped the door back with his hand. "Hurry up, 02."

Duo pulled a face at the resurrection of his code name but scurried through without giving Heero any lip.

The door slid shut behind the pair. Heero pulled off the scarves, gloves and coat, pushing the goggles up. It was a comfortable temperature inside, so the layers of winter clothing would be nothing but a hinder and a nuisance.

He checked his Magnum and Buckmark. They were put back in his waistband for later use.

The change from Mother Nature's freezing cold to a heated room was pleasant to say the least. Duo slipped his excess clothing off, trying to convince blood to circulate in his fingers while he looked around. His weapons remained tucked where they were, the extra ammunition falling into pockets on his immediate person.

"We need to move."

Heero tucked his accessories under one arm and glanced down the long hallway. No one was there but that didn't mean there weren't regular patrols of the area. Without a blueprint of the building, there was no telling if there was a room on the hall where their things could be hid.

"We always need to move," Duo replied sharply, also looking down the corridor. He mulled over their options before saying: "I'll go down and see if there's anyone around. Cover me, would you?" It did them absolutely no good to stand around and wait.

Heero nodded curtly, not deigning to reply. The Buckmark was taken in hand. He narrowed his eyes against the white of the interior and glare of the lights. They would need to deal with those as well.

Duo took out his own weapon, sliding along the wall and cautiously making his way across the clear-cut distance. He was thankful that his shoes did not squeak, though they seemed on the verge of attempting once or twice. When he reached the end, Duo took a deep breath before looking around the corner, heart pumping like a caged bird in his chest cavity.

Heero watched Duo. He almost edged after him, wanting to be beside him instead of covering his back. If he was hurt...he wasn't sure what he'd do.

There were two guards, less than he had anticipated; each supposed to face one end of the corridor in case of intruders. However, these two seemed more interested in sharing a cigarette than keeping watch. Duo released his breath quietly, taking aim and squeezing the trigger down to end another life. He would have done so to the next guard as well, if the gun in his hand hadn't picked that moment to jam up and refuse to spit up another deadly projectile. He quickly reached for his other gun, pulling it out and dodging back around the corner when the sentry retaliated. The bullet clipped his shoulder, a stream of curses ricocheted in his mind at the sound a gun without a silencer made. He used the second weapon to end the fight before it started in earnest, landing one directly in the guard's chest.

Heero was by Duo's side in a second. "Baka!" He dropped the jacket and items, jerking Duo around to see his shoulder. Clean cut. It would need antiseptic and bandages.

The first aid kit was dug out of Duo's bag, and was made use of. The cleaning was done quickly and the bandages wrapped tight without a word of apology.

The braided boy winced at the gruffness of it all, mumbling his regrets to Heero and keeping his gazes elsewhere. "The stupid gun jammed," He remembered suddenly, glancing down at the weapon he'd discarded after it had proved useless. "Why the hell do I always get the lemons?"

Heero packed away the kit and picked up the gun. He dissembled it quickly, checking over the pieces. The pieces were quickly cleaned and put back together. "It shouldn't jam now." He gathered the items and went back to collect his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

Duo took the gun back warily, somehow certain that the contraption would jam again just to spite him. He rubbed his shoulder gingerly, trying to see if his movement was hindered by the wrapping job. It was still fairly easy to budge, but that didn't mean his reaction time would be as fast - something that didn't matter much anyway considering how he'd managed to get hurt in the first place.

"I will be checking corridors from now on." Heero offered his hand to his partner.

A faint blush stained his cheeks before a clearly annoyed look overtook his features. "I would have been fine..." He replied, crossing his arms over his chest in a juvenile show of his independence.

The Prussian blues filled with annoyance. Without a word, the brunette grabbed Duo's arm and hauled him to his feet. "Stop whining."

His breath caught painfully at the gesture, the skin around the bruising on his ribcage stretching and giving an angry reply. "I'm not whining," He growled back, schooling his expression to aggravation rather than hurt. "I'm tellin' you, I would have been damn fine. That's not whining, that's a statement."

"Here." Wing's Pilot handed Duo his bag and items. He stepped out in the hallway, looking down each side to try and spot a room. There was a small block on the left hand side of the west hall, probably a room.

Duo muttered and put the bag carefully over his good shoulder, watching Heero to see what the other boy would do. His ego was smarting, along with the rest of him, and he personally hoped the other pilot would be shot at as well just to even the score. Nothing fatal, just a quick graze that would bring him back down to a believable level.

It was a door, Heero discovered. It needed ID to enter though. His own had been left in the entrance door in the haste to get inside. "Duo? ID Card."

He picked the rectangular piece out of his pocket and handed it to Heero, feeling suddenly jumpy at what could be behind the locked structure.

Heero set down his coat, switching his gun to his off hand. The blue eyes narrowed as the door opened with the swipe of the card. He had his gun at the ready, prepared to fire if anything moved.

Nothing.

The Preventer did a quick one over on the room. It was a small storage room, filled with boxes of food and clothing. Nothing highly dangerous. "Clear."

Duo nodded, looking around to see if anything eye-catching was present before deciding that they likely couldn't carry much else anyway. "Well... I'm not liking this at all. Let's hurry up and get it over with."

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