ch 3! heh, so now you get to see if i got them caught or not :D *snickers* fufufu....

Heero awoke to someone roughly shoving their boot into his chest.

"You think they're dead?" asked a gruff voice from above. It sounded so distant to Heero's hazy mind.

Hard-earned instincts doing their job, the Wing pilot didn't so much as flinch as pain flashed through his torso. He waited until the guard removed his boot from his chest before striking.

Tightening his grip on the gun that was still wrapped in his arms, Heero bolted upright and put three bullets in the soldier before him.

The guard fell, revealing four more. They stared at the Wing pilot in shock for a moment before raising their own weapons.

But Heero was faster. He had felled two of the four men before they could even shoot at him.

With his already wounded body and the very narrow alleyway, it was nearly impossible to dodge. But somehow, the Wing pilot managed.

The bullets left holes in the ground as Heero shot forward, ramming into the legs of both guards. He knocked them to the ground.

Gunshot wounds screaming at him, the Wing pilot put a bullet in each of the two soldiers, killing them instantly. He could only hope that the earsplitting sound of gunfire hadn't been heard.

Now that the sun was beginning to rise—Heero could see the grayish light at the top of the buildings making up the alley—he was sure search parties were prowling around everywhere.

Heero turned, steadying himself against the wall as a wave of pained nausea washed over him. When it passed a moment later, he took a few deep breaths and crawled over to Duo.

Going by appearances alone, the Deathscythe pilot looked dead. His skin was a ghostly white compared to the black of his stealth uniform, and his body was terribly still.

Shakily, gently, terrified that his lover was as he appeared and hadn't made it through the night, Heero put his hand to Duo's wrist, feeling for a pulse.

A moment later, he heaved a silent sigh of relief; Duo was still alive. His pulse was very weak, but it was still there, nonetheless.

Heero couldn't hold back the soft, loving smile as he gently brushed the hair from Duo's forehead. The Deathscythe pilot's glassy, violet eyes were closed now, and his pained expression lessened slightly at the other's careful touch.

With a quiet grunt, Heero lifted Duo up and slung him over his shoulder again. The Wing pilot staggered to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall. He felt slightly dizzy and nauseas again…

Clutching his gun in his right hand, Heero limped to the mouth of the alleyway. The early morning light was blinding now, and it would make it so that the two could easily be spotted in their escape. However, they had to get out of there as soon as possible… Duo surely only had a few hours left, and Heero definitely wasn't going to last for much longer after that. This was a dangerous situation, to say the very least.

Upon seeing that the coast was clear at the moment, Heero slipped out of the alleyway. The fence that marked the edge of the OZ facility wasn't very far off.

The Wing pilot bolted to the end of the building, blending in with the small bit of shadow.

Once at the corner, he peeked around it; there were tons of soldiers. The area before him was one of the many mobile suit hangars, and by the looks of all the commotion, they were getting a new shipment of said giant weapons today… and it was at least twenty yards to the fence leading to the dense forest, leading to freedom. But it would be impossible to not get caught.

Unless…

Heero put a hand to his belt, feeling for something as he still clutched his gun. He mentally nodded. He still had three grenades that he could use.

The Wing pilot didn't waste another moment. Slinging his gun over his shoulder, he pulled one grenade from his belt. Heero yanked out its pin with his teeth and threw it towards the hangar with all the strength he had. He repeated this with the other two bombs, throwing them in slightly different directions to widen the range of the explosion.

The Wing pilot bolted from the shadows. The pain was gone now, having been replaced by a cold numbness, and Duo was still limp at his shoulder.

The three grenades created a perfect cover, causing a distraction that gave him more than enough time to get to the fence unnoticed.

Having already taken out his wire cutters, Heero snipped a hole in the chain-link just big enough for him and Duo to squeeze through. It took him hardly any time at all to cut through the sturdy fence because of his immense strength, even if it was greatly diminished.

Heero ran into the forest, finally coming to a stop once he knew it was safe.

Gently setting Duo on the ground, the Wing pilot took the detonator from his belt. He smiled softly and took Duo's icy hand in his, wrapping the other's fingers around the detonator. He pressed Duo's thumb to the button, letting him blow up the base… just like he had wanted to.

The shockwave from the explosion shook the earth with immense force, knocking Heero from where he knelt to the ground beside Duo. He instantly felt his world began to fade yet again.

"No… not yet…" Heero growled, pushing himself up onto his hands and knees. He couldn't let himself slip now, not with Duo so close to death.

Grimacing as the pain returned like a knife to the chest, Heero dug his hand into his pocket, searching for his phone. He pulled out the silvery device and flipped it open.

The phone was already switched to a secure signal, so all the Wing pilot had to do was speed-dial… his numb finger managed to hit '4' and 'Send.'

Collapsing to the ground as he held the phone to his ear, he waited impatiently for Quatre to pick up. He had instructed the Sandrock pilot that, incase the mission got messed up and they couldn't get back on their own, he and Trowa were to come and pick them up from wherever they were hiding.

"Hello?"

Heero forced the words past his dry lips, "Mission complete… hurry… please…" the last word came out as more of a desperate whisper, alerting Quatre to the urgency of the situation.

A moment later, with a strangled moan, Heero's world went black.

His grip loosened and the phone fell from his ear, slipping from his limp hand to the ground.

"Hello…? Hey, are you there…? Can you hear me?" after a moment, Quatre realized what had happened and what needed to be done. He hung up, taking the phone to his computer so he could trace the location of the call. 'Mission complete,' it was time to bring the two pilots home.

yay. so heero and duo got out of the OZ facility... but will they both still be alive by the time quatre and trowa get to them??? i sure hope so *already knows* XD

this chapter was really short, so im gonna post the epilogue for you guys now too.... :D