Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

He stood in front of a mirror, carefully combing his now properly cut hair. It felt odd to have short hair again, especially with trying to make it mussed, when he was used to it being neatly kept back. His face was firmly set, as was his will, and only his eyes truly showed what loss he felt.

Twenty days earlier…

"Move your fat ass, Yuy! We only have a few more minutes before the bombs go off!"

"I know that, but if there weren't so many obstacles in this duct, then we would be able to move easier. And if you really feel like dealing with guards, then I'll happily oblige to toss you down the next grate."

'Somehow I think that he would enjoy doing that too.' "No thanks."

"Hn. Then deal with the delay as best as you can. Now shut the hell up or you'll expose our position."

'Yuy… god would I love to tell you those same words.'

Silence filled the rest of the cramped space until they could exit safely to the outside and try to further escape to their gundams. However, Duo glanced back as he thought he heard something. Pausing a moment more, he saw a few OZ soldiers raise guns and fire in their general direction.

'Shit!' Duo mentally swore. 'That's what happens when you try and move quietly quickly: you make stuff around you move as well, like bushes.'

He ducked as a few more bullets whizzed above his head. He then proceeded to crawl in the direction of their gundams. He didn't see Heero. When he was a few feet away from the cliff face, something pegged him in the back of the head. He rolled over, careful as not to disturb the leaves beneath him. Sitting up in one of the trees, bouncing an acorn in one hand was Heero. He beckoned for Duo to join him in the relative safety.

"Same thing as last time. Or almost the same." Heero's face was dimly illuminated by the blast far behind them of the bombs finally going off.

"Leos around our gundams?" Duo was puzzled, "How the hell are they finding them? And why wait next to them where we can see them? They ought to know that we would see it's a trap."

"Obviously." He extended a finger, pointing to a figure perched on the opposite cliff edge. "Look familiar?"

"That's… Relena's brother Milliardo, right? Or Zechs Merquise as he likes to be known now, yes?"

"Correct."

"So he's behind these… campers?"

"Possibly."

"So how do we sneak by him?"

"Carefully."

Duo glared at Heero.

Heero's eyes widened ever so slightly. "… You've been waiting to do that for a while, haven't you?" 'And I thought my glares were cold.' "Oh just follow me and you should be fine."

"Just don't get us shot at. But, yes, I have been waiting for a good amount of time."

The two crawled underneath the brush, and down the steep incline right up to it's edge. Along the way, they calculated just how many Leos were there and wound up with about ten apiece. And Zechs was now nowhere to be seen. He could have been in one of the Leos, or just walked away to a safer area. One thing was certain: he did not leave by plane or helicopter.

"Shit." Duo whispered

"I know. I want to know where that bastard is as well."

"You want to go first?"

"How about we go on three?"

"All right."

When the boys finally crawled into their cockpits, both were bleeding from bullet grazes on their arms and legs. They showed their appreciation for their wounds by leaving the Leos in bite-sized pieces.

"Meet you back at base."

"We have to stop leaving in bad states, Yuy."

"Hn."

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I'm trying to just slip small bits of what's going on in the present, but not give it away outright. More than likely, I'm going to be able to wrap this up within two more chapters, maybe three.