Chapter 6

The threat only seemed to get worse as the days drug on. After three weeks, Sally had lost her ability to hide them properly. Heero, Wufei and Duo decided on their own that in order to keep the enemy confused, they would have to travel on their own. They stopped staying in safe houses and starting sleeping in alley's and deserted factories. It was a rough life, but at least they were together.

Duo's stealth training came in handle while they were running, so he became in charge of finding food. His height and speed allowed him to sneak amongst crowds and steal things like bread and fruit. He didn't like stealing, it reminded him too much of when he was a child, alone in the streets, but they couldn't allow themselves to be seen buying food either. Wufei and Heero did their best to comfort the braided man, but it didn't keep the nightmares away.

Heero's marksmanship made him the perfect guard. He was constantly keeping watch over their little band, both day and night. He rarely slept anymore, afraid that if he closed his eyes they would be attacked. Wufei would often volunteer to take over his watch but Heero would refuse him, saying that it didn't make sense for two of them to be sleep deprived. If they should get attacked, Heero wanted Wufei to be perfectly rested so he could protect them if necessary. Wufei tried to argue, but he had to admit that his plan made sense.

Because of Heero's plan, Wufei became the unofficial bodyguard. He took out anything that he felt was a threat, even if that threat happened to be a defenseless squirrel. He was taking no chances. Together, their plan was working. They were alive…but was it worth it?

Their relationship was taking a downward spiral into nothingness. They rarely spoke to each other, afraid of who might be listening; and they never slept together, to afraid of the distraction. But they were together. They kept reminding themselves of that fact, but it was hard to have a relationship when no one talked, and no one touched. Duo was starting to get frustrated, Heero was beginning to callous over, and Wufei was getting irritable. Each of them began to loose hope and it wasn't helping that Sally didn't seem to be making much progress.

One night, Duo returned from his food hunt with a daily paper that someone had dropped.

"We're screwed." He said and dropped the paper onto the ground at Wufei's feet.

Heero glanced over his shoulder as Wufei picked it up. The headline read:

EX-GUNDAM PILOTS ON THE RUN!

Heero glared at it as Wufei read aloud:

"Three ex-Gundam pilots, Wufei Chang, Duo Maxwell, and Heero Yuy, are currently on the run from assassins who mean to take them out. Sally Po, the administrator of the Preventors, has refused to comment about the assassins or the pilots safety."

"We're screwed!" Duo repeated.

Wufei raised a brow to him and tossed the paper aside. "We will be fine."

"Like Hell we will!" Duo exclaimed, keeping his voice low. He sat down near the fire that Wufei had started and glared at it. "If it's in the paper then people all over the place are going to be looking for us. It was hard enough when just the experts were after us, but now the whole world will be looking!"

"He has a point." Heero voiced, staring into the darkness.

Wufei glared at them both. "I'll admit," he ground out through clenched teeth, "it will be more difficult to hide, however, we are national heroes in most people's eyes. Perhaps this will only help us. Perhaps it will give the enemy a harder time finding us."

Heero grunted and Duo glared even harder at the fire, too afraid to direct his anger at Wufei.

Wufei noticed his resistance and looked down his nose at him. "Nothing will be solved if we give up, Maxwell."

Duo flinched. Wufei only used his last name when he was upset. He looked up at the oriental man and frowned. "Who says I'm givin up?" He argued.

"Shut up."

Wufei and Duo turned to Heero. He was no longer staring out into the darkness, but was looking directly at his lovers. Wufei raised a brow and Duo's eyes were wide.

"Heero…you're…"

"Shut up." He repeated.

Duo closed his mouth and stared in stunned silence at Heero. The stoic brunette walked towards them and sat down around the fire. He looked them over carefully before speaking again.

"This isn't working." He said.

Wufei crossed his arms over his chest and grunted. "What isn't?"

Heero turned to him, his face reflecting the light of the fire. "This." He turned to Duo. "Us. It isn't working."

Duo felt a chill run down his spine. Was Heero suggesting…they split up? "Heero…"

Heero turned quickly and Duo closed his mouth. "What kind of life," He continued, "could we possibly have while we're running?"

Wufei and Duo turned to each other and then at the fire. Neither had an answer. Heero nodded and looked down.

"This enemy is ruining what we had together. And I don't know about you…" He looked up at his lovers with sad eyes. "But I don't want to loose either of you."

Duo felt a small twinge of hope fill his body. He looked up and smiled. "I don't want to loose you guys either."

Wufei chuckled. "Neither do I." He looked up to Heero. "What do you suggest?"

Heero turned to them each in turn and then turned back to the fire. "That we up the ante."

Duo frowned and Wufei raised a brow. Heero looked up at them, his face set in stone.

"I say we stop running." He looked out into the nothingness. "We've never run before, why should we start now?"

Duo nodded slowly. "But Heero, we don't know where to find them."

Heero shook his head. "We don't have to. They've been following us, right?"

Duo nodded.

"Then all we have to do is let them find us. But when they do…"

"They'll be sorry." Wufei finished with a smirk.

Duo chuckled. "Yeah…I like that idea."

Heero turned to the braided man and smirked. "Do you think you can steal us some weapons?"

Duo grinned evilly and Wufei was reminded of his former persona: The God of Death. He chuckled low in his throat and nodded. "Don't worry about that. I'll take care of it." He said and stood up, running silently into the night.

Wufei turned to Heero. "Do you think we can pull it off?"

Heero shrugged. "If we can't, maybe we deserve to die after all."

Well, there's chapter 6. I know I know, no sex in this one. But I had to get some of the action stuff started soon, heehee. Anyway, I promise the next chapter will have both action as well as sensuality. I hope you're all enjoying it! Happy Reading!