Disclaimer: They aren't mine. Duh.

Only You

Chapter 2

Firefight

Duo was on the floor before he understood that bullets were ripping apart the glass doors and embedding themselves in the walls. Windows crashed under their own weight and burst into pieces on the floor. Screams poured through the air. He could here the sounds of people falling to the floor of the store, heard the unmistakable sound of some hitting a bit too hard, too much in the wrong angle, and knew that they'd been hit. "Everyone stay down!" he shouted, trying desperately to be heard above the uproar, but he was too busy covering his own ass to check and see if the others in the building could hear him, let alone acted on his words.

And it was ridiculous, but only then did he remember that Heero Yuy was out there somewhere, thick in the middle of the crossfire, and his body tensed. It was stupid, absolutely ridiculous – the perfect soldier, injured? Ha! – but nonetheless he reacted. The counter only had a small place where no counter existed, and that little hole just happened to be on the side of the gunfire. Duo's progress around the opening was a bit slow, careful to not be seen. I shucked the hat and apron on that thought; the damn things would stick out far too much.

He slid across the once-smooth surface of the counter's sides and stopped cold when a new round of firing erupted. Bullets sank deep into the counter around me, and despite knowing better Duo cringed from the sound. Shit. Apparently a year was long enough to get used to the idea of not having bullets flying toward one's face.

He searched the room for Heero and caught a quick flash of his tousled brown hair from behind the soda counter. Heero's hand reached around the counter, a regulation-issue pistol in his hand, and fired three shots into the fray. The screams in the room rose rather dramatically.

It was a slow process, getting closer to Mr. Perfect without having the man see him as a moving target, but inch by inch he managed it. A morbid thought flitted through his mind, informing him that Heero shooting him through the eyes would probably solve a couple employment issues. Then a bullet whizzed past his face and he couldn't be bothered to care enough about the joke on way or the other.

Then Duo was close enough to see a bit more from behind the soda counter, and he could see Heero's basic profile. Another foot or so and he could see a sudden glint of bouncy blond hair. The woman. The woman was back there with Heero, and he could see Heero trying to usher the woman over toward the back entrance. But she was too petrified, and it seemed to be pissing Heero off.

He scooted a bit more and tried to get Heero's attention, but Heero's eyes were focused on the enemy and tuned me out as easily as the other civilians screaming and sprawling and flailing around him. The blond saw him, though, and he gestured for her to get Heero's attention for him. Her eyes were wide, dilated; her skin was pale. Shit. Heero's witness was going into shock.

She didn't seem to understand his movements at first, or else maybe she just couldn't take in visual stimuli, so disturbed was she, but then finally comprehension dawned in her blank blue eyes and she shook Heero's shoulder. He turned to her, annoyance bordering on rage eminent all over his face, and Duo could see something else there, too, but it wasn't on his list of Heero Facial Expressions and he didn't bother to analyze it. The woman pointed Duo's way and Heero turned. Duo could swear there was an audible click when their eyes met.

And suddenly Duo couldn't think.

Heero's eyes were still that dark, exotic blue, that same midnight sky look. And they were more expressive than during the war. Duo managed to catch a brief flicker in those endless depths before they closed off access for him again.

Duo shivered, momentarily blind and deaf to everything around him.

"Duo?"

Sound returned, and sight. There as a power in the sound of his name on Heero's lips. And if anyone other than the Perfect Soldier had said it, Duo might have thought that there could have been a trace of anguish in that tone. But this was Mr. I-can-do-anything-because-I-said-so Yuy. Mr. Heartless. He must've been imagining it.

"Duo?" Heero said again. "Is that you?"

That monotone voice mixing with those words confused Duo enough to snap him from his startled reverie. He nodded tersely and rolled across the open space, tucking himself in front of the woman and down enough to not be visible. He ignored the creepy feeling of having a bullet fly so close one could feel the wind in its wake.

It was as if he'd suddenly been blasted back to his past, to the war, and he was under heavy enemy fire. There was no fear. There was no time for it. He was Shinigami again, the cloak fitting over his form with practiced ease.

And Heero was crouched there beside him, giving him orders and just expecting them to be obeyed. "I need to get Miss Paisley out of here," Heero said.

Duo's eyebrows shot up. He took a moment to glance at the woman's pale face before turning back to his old war partner. "You mean you don't want her to stay?"

It truly was like old time, with the Glare of Death and everything. "She's vital to this case. I need her alive."

"You do?!" Duo turned to the woman. "It's like an endearment," he explained, taking in her unfocused eyes. "It means he's concerned for your welfare."

Okay, he was about ready to admit he was acting on autopilot. It had been about a year since he'd clapped eyes on Heero, and there they were, hiding behind a counter in Taco Bell. He'd admit to being guilty of imagining himself and Heero meeting again, but somehow his imagination had missed this possible plot point.

But his antics had managed to get a reaction from the woman, which was good. Duo watched her eyes flicker and focus on his face and grinned for her. Thank goodness. There would be a couple difficult moments ahead if she didn't get out of shock at least a little.

Heero seemed to realize what his joking had managed to accomplish and refrained from shooting him. "I'm going to draw the enemy's fire, so take her with you and run."

"Alone?!" he asked incredulously, and Heero took the time to send him another scorching glare. He ignored it. "I know you're good, Heero, damned good, but there are probably around fifteen guy's out there!"

"By the gunshots, I'd say about sixteen," Heero confirmed. Duo deigned to roll his eyes. Of course. From the gunshots. He had probably found all of their positions by calculating the sounds of the gunshots or something. Fucking genius.

He took his growing sense of awe and squashed it under his thumb.

"Right," Duo muttered, terse and put-out, and grabbed the woman's arm. He leaned in until his lips were near her ear. "Stay low." He glanced at the back entrance. There could be enemies back there, but they had to take the risk. There was no where else to...

But no, that wasn't right. He looked back at the cashier's counter, where he'd come from. How far until the other side of the counter, where they'd be shielded from the gunshots? It was a pretty little ways, but the rear entrance, made only for employees, was a safer bet than the rear entrance. People often forgot about employee entrances; their eyes skimmed right over them. That exit would most likely be untouched.

Duo caught Heero's eyes and nodded over to the counter, then to the Miss Paisley woman. He nodded and stood and planted his legs and pointed his gun and fired, all in one smooth motion.

One short moment was spared watching Heero's muscles contract, amazed that the interest he'd held in Heero hadn't abated in the least. Then he looked at Miss Paisley and nodded, letting her know it was time to head out. Then it was crouch time, and Duo maneuvered until he was safely in front of the woman, and then he led her out into the gunfire. A few bullets flew past my ear, but Heero adjusted his stance in an instant and shot one simple bullet. A strangled cry ended our attacker's efforts.

So he had found the enemies' positions. Fuckin' unbelievable.

Miss Paisley was shaking like hell, and Duo had to waste a precious moment to try to comfort her. "It's gonna be okay," he whispered, turning his face to her but never leaving an opening for a bullet to hit her. They safely touched the side of the cashier's counter. Duo held a hand to her stomach and pushed her back against the counter. "We're professionals." It probably wouldn't be best to admit that he wasn't a Preventor, nor that he was only a professional at killing someone, not saving them. The woman came to her own conclusions.

"You mean you were a Preventor the whole time?"

Duo smiled reassuringly at her and tugged her a marginal little inch toward the little counter opening he'd initially come through. He kept silent; you couldn't lie when you didn't say anything, right?

She relaxed visibly. "You're very different than him," she said, nodding over toward Heero. "Are the two of you partners?"

"We work together sometimes," Duo said evasively, and kept her moving forward. The bullets were getting more and more accurate. They were running out of time.

"Is he always so difficult?" Duo stopped and gave a surprised back of laughter.

"Hell, yes."

She laughed, too. Well, relaxing her had at least been a success. They reached the edge of the counter, bullets scratching up the tiles on the floor around their feet. And this, Duo thought with a grimace, was where it got tricky. He had to get the Paisley woman around the corner before him, but he had gone before her to keep her from getting shot as they made their way up to the edge. He timed the enemy's shots, pulled his feet up a little closer to himself to protect them, and looked to Heero. He nodded silently and ducked down to replace the magazine of his gun.

And suddenly all bullets were focused solely on Duo and the woman.

Paisley tensed and tried to get even closer to the counter than she already was. "Get ready," Duo told her, his words hurried so as to get everything out before Heero was done. "As soon as... my partner comes back up, you need to go behind me over to the other side of the counter. No matter what, don't hesitate. Do you understand?"

"What do you mean, 'no matter what?'"

Duo shook his head. "For once, that asshole's right. We need to move; I can't tell you." Just then, Heero popped up above the counter again. "Now!" he hissed. "Go!"

He scooted up, and she went to get behind him. The enemy saw what they were up to and ignored Heero, even when he took out two other men. Paisley screamed as the bullets all shattered the counter and floor and very air around us. "Keep moving!" he shouted. He kept his body in front of her the whole time, and finally she managed to make it to the other side. With a quick slide he followed her. Agony lanced up his arm, a sharp punch to his upper arm. He ignored it and joined Paisley behind the counter.

Miss Paisley had a hand to her throat and was panting like she'd run a marathon. Her eyes were closed, almost clenched shut. Duo took another moment to study her. Definitely in her early twenties, he thought. Her body was flushed a deep pink due to the stress and fear, and he could almost hear her heartbeat thudding and tripping over itself in its haste, mirroring his own. He looked at his arm and grimaced. It was exactly as he'd feared. A bullet had embedded itself deep into his tricep. Blood was pouring rather freely from the wound, pooling onto the tiled floor.

He caught his focus slipping and pulled it back with a rush. The woman. He had to get the woman to safety. That was his mission. He looked at her and slightly shook her with his good arm – left. "Come on," he whispered. His shaking forced her eyes open – or maybe his words – but nonetheless they were open and he stared into them as if he could force her to understand. "We need to move."

Something got through to her because she nodded and prepared to move. She stopped short at the sight of Duo's injured arm. Those eyes of hers filled with pain, but he just smiled. "It's my job," he said, allowing himself this small lie. "I'm fine."

Her look was rather incredulous, but he hurried her off and ushered her back around the taco stand and the food preparation counter and got her back into the open area that led to the freezers and the sinks. His co-workers looked up from their positions on the floor and must have seen the blood. There was a collective gasp and a couple stood to help.

"Stay down. They're still out there."

Most seemed to agree with his assessment and huddled once more to the floor, but one stayed crouched. "You okay, Duo?" It was the fifteen-year-old, the one who'd been around for about three months and had taken a bit of a shine to Duo. Her hair was coal black and cropped to her neck. It was matted now, but working in Taco Bell one had to be used to not looking too fantastic, anyway, if only because of the hats and aprons.

Duo took a precious second to nod to her. "Sorry about the mess I'm making," he said absently, his eyes searching the area around him. For once he was glad there were no windows in the back. If he was right about the employees' exit, they were almost home free. Which was a big if.

"It's not much compared to the rest," she replied, and he smiled again for her before he headed toward the exit. He grabbed Miss Paisley's wrist with his good hand and pulled her forward with him.

Then they were in front of the exit and he pushed her behind him, into the shadows of the door so she wouldn't be seen. Slowly he opened the door.

The face in front of him made him freeze.