Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me.

The soft wind caressed the waves against a shore, overlooked by a young man whose long hair moved ever so slightly in the same breeze. Currently, the sky reflected his mood: dark, and getting more so by the minute. This evening, he had thought of many things, all of them rather drastic. Yet no matter how hard he tried to find them, alternative routes remained firmly hidden in the depths of his mind.

Sighing, he took one last look across the now midnight blue waves before rising. His right hand went to the small of his back, unsheathing a dagger that was hidden there. He then gathered his hair into a make shift ponytail before utilizing the dagger like a pair of scissors. Moments later, when he turned to leave, the soft moonlight reflected the waves, now covered lightly with the shodden tresses of his hair, so often before bound in a braid.

Thirty nights earlier…

Sirens wailed over a partly demolished OZ base as two figures flew across the ground towards the moderate safety of the forest beyond. Behind them some forces pursued, while more ran about trying to assess and acclimate to the situation.

The two fleeing, both with dark brown hair, one with a long braid quickly snagged some small bikes on their way off base, increasing their chances of insuring a mostly clean getaway. Providing, of course, had they successfully disintegrated all of the mobile suits back in the hangar.

"Damn you, Yuy!" The braided one yelled out, "You had to insist on hiding Wing and 'Scythe far away so as not to be easily detected. We'll be lucky if we make it to them at all at this rate!"

"Shut up and drive." Came the cold response.

Fuck you, Yuy. I can concentrate on two things at the same time.

The reason came clear for the comment, however, when they had to head off-road, however, and into dense underbrush towards their Gundams.

Dammit, why does he always have to be so cold, but right almost all the time? If I talked through here I could easily get my mouth widened by a passing branch, never mind possibly launch myself over a root-

Duo quickly stopped his bike shortly before colliding with the Wing pilot who had stopped moments earlier.

"What the FUCK, Yuy! You may have a death wish, but that doesn't have to include me!"

"Oh, no." Heero said, actually letting bitter irony seep in, "It would have been much more suicidal had we kept going."

"Kept going? What the fuck are you… oh."

Duo finally followed Heero's line of sight. Not even fifteen feet in front of them lay a canyon wide enough for three of the group's Gundams to lie end to end. Then Duo sweatdropped.

"Eh… heh, heh."

"You're welcome. Now let's go." He said, dismounting.

"Go?"

"Yes. We're going down. Or did you forget that our Gundams are behind a waterfall upstream from here?"

"Oh yeah…"

The two ditched the bikes, quickly covering them with loose brush before trying to find a path down. Climbing up the area near the Gundams was one thing; they still had a bit of light at that time. Now, it was full dark, they were far from their Gundams, and had to be wary about loose gravel and rock.

Humph. You know, if Yuy fell, then he'd probably just dust himself off and keep going even if he had broken bones. Duo shuddered from the memory of the event of the hospital escape and the ship afterwards when Yuy set his own broken bone. Me, I'd be extremely lucky if I got a board to splint some bones and make it back to 'Scythe.

Yuy, you may have a death wish, but somehow, you still manage to survi-

"Ai!" he yelped a bit in pain as the ground gave way a bit, twisting his left ankle as he struggled to remain upright.

"Status." Came a hurried whisper.

"I'm fine."

"…

"Distance to the waterfall is approximately thirty yards. Can you make it?"

"Yes, Yuy, I can." God I wish you could see me glaring at you for a change.

"… Let's go, then."

A little further, however, Duo slipped a second time, leaving the Wing pilot time enough only to grab what so often resembled rope: Duo's braid.

"Ah…" Duo's eyes teared from pain, trying to resist the urge to scream, as that would immediately alert their pursuers to their location.

Ever so slowly, Heero brought Duo back to himself, finally wrapping his arms around the slightly wounded boy. "Why don't we stop for a bit?" Heero whispered huskily, and slightly out of breath, in Duo's ear.

"Ah, yeah… sure." Duo let himself be carefully guided down into a sitting position.

Even though Duo was still ired, in pain and shock of the event, he couldn't help but feel comforted by being in the Wing pilot's grasp. He couldn't remember ever being held like this before. He liked the warmth of two bodies close together,

"Ready to go again?" Yuy whispered

His head and ankle still throbbed a bit, but felt fine otherwise. "Yeah." He half sighed.

"You sure?"

There he goes again, doubting me. "Yes."

"Or would you like a little more time?"

He's certainly being cautious, though. Could Mr. Ice really care about someone? "No, I should be fine."

Even with Duo saying that he should be okay, they continued to wait a few more minutes before continuing down the steep incline of the wall of the canyon. The soft echo of thunderous water tumulting down soon turned into a deafening roar as they rounded the bend to see the waterfall behind which they had hidden their friends and weapons. What they did not expect were the group of Leos, perched to either side of the top and bottom of the falls.

"Shit!" Duo mumbled. "Now what do we do? We can't let them take either."

Because of the dark, Duo completely missed the small smirk play across Heero's lips before turning around. "Fine. You wait here. I'm going to distract them enough so that you can get to yours."

"What the hell are you thinking of doing?"

"Hn." Was all the answer he received.

That is, until he heard the faint drone of one of the motorcycles they had yoinked from the base steadily increasing in volume. Before Yuy screamed past him, Duo barely heard him instruct: Follow a bit behind me, then hide. The Leos had already readied their weapons at the sound of his approach, so that he had to weave in and out of the spray of bullets.

Damn. I have to commend him on knowing how to use that well… he –ow-- that had to hurt. Duo winced as Heero launched his cycle onto one of the Leo's shoulders, skating around the narrow rim to the other side, causing one of the others firing to dislodge the other's headcompletely. The small explosion accompanying this was good enough propulsion for Heero to go through the waterfall, and his Gundam awaiting him there.

Duo smiled. Niiiice. But you can't use your weapon through the fall, like I can.

Just leave some for me to play with. Duo could feel his urge to fight rising again, giving him enough energy to run straight through the fall, and the safety beyond. Or what he thought was safety.

Yuy was lying in a small heap, tearing small strips of cloth to bind up a few wounds from bullets that had just made it through the water.

"What are you waiting for?" He growled at Duo. "Don't worry about me. Get out while you can, and take some as you go. Just leave one for me."

Duo smiled inwardly, as his thoughts were just repeated by his companion.

"Happy to oblige." This time he let the sinister smile play across his thin lips before climbing into the cockpit of 'Scythe.

After a few more minutes of patchwork, the Wing pilot joined him on the other side of the waterfall, leaving three Leos for him to destroy.

"Excellent job!" as usual dammit…, "Can we go now?"

"Yes, Duo, we can. You need proper treatment for that wound, as much as I need it for mine. See you back at base."

A/N: Ducks behind sofa. Okay, PLEASE don't kill me! It'll be explained why Duo did it, honestly! I warned you it'd be dark!