Author's Note: Nobody picked out last chapter's reference. In fact, nobody even attempted a guess. I am so disappointed… Well, last chapter's reference was Dorothy's comment about Heero being in a giant robot. Sure, it's a reference to the Gundam Wing anime but Heero did also pilot a Mobile Suit in The Deathdealer, for those of you who remember.

Anyway, as a warning to those of the fairer sex, I ask of you not to be offended on how Solo views girls. They are rather sexist in nature, if you can call them that, but please keep in mind that Solo hasn't seen a female in years at the least.

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language

Whose Crisis is this?

Dorothy knew that she had been craving some excitement in this boring town for some time but going over to Heero's house to find her friend tied up hadn't been something she had in mind.

But as if that wasn't all, no far from it, suddenly now she and Relena were being held in the tight grip of some mysterious criminal. The guy was big and strong, she could tell that by the fact that she could no longer feel the floor under her feet. Also, contrary to her looks, she was heavier than she appeared.

"Well this is just great. Now we got three on our hands. This is just fan-fucking-tastic!" she heard a voice mutter from behind her head and she could feel the hot breath blow against her skin, sending a shudder through her body. She began to claw at the arm that held her, using her long, manicured nails to achieve this but it was as if whoever this was wasn't even affected by it.

With all her might, she kicked her foot back, feeling satisfied as her foot impacted something soft that she had gotten their assailant in his crotch. Much to her surprise, he didn't even flinch, or wince. But how was that possible? All men became blubbering babies if their little friend between their legs got hurt!

"Hey Duo! Find something ta tie these bitches up, okay?" the voice thundered behind her without even a hint of pain in it, further baffling the girl.

---

Solo found himself leaning up against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at their three hostages.

Looks like Lady Luck didn't like them anymore.

He couldn't help but find amusement in the curiosity that Duo showed as he stared at the two girls that had joined the party. It was as if the kid hadn't seen a girl before, which was just nonsense.

He was in no way affected by the three glares that were being aimed at him by the three captives, the only guy there still tied to the chair while the two girls were hogtied with dirty balled up socks duct taped to their mouths to prevent any noise from coming from them. If Solo recalled his childhood on the streets correctly, the girls would be two noisy little things and would have called the attention of the entire town on them if they hadn't talked his ears off by the time the door was kicked down.

At least he had seen more of his own powers in work thanks to the struggle those girls had put up when he had grabbed them. He was sure that he would have been seeing lights when that one girl with the eyebrows had kicked him in the balls but he was probably more surprised than anybody else here when he felt not a single thing from it. He did not know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing even though he was leaning towards the good part.

At least he wouldn't have to worry about blows below the belt anymore…

"Solo," a voice broke through his thoughts. "What do we do now?"

He looked down at Duo and pondered. What were they going to do now? He hadn't planned his escape as far as he should have. The plan had only gone as far as getting out of that place. Now that not only he but Duo were out of there, what did they do now? Man, he needed to get some more sleep so he could think more clearly. Taking note of how the clothes on Duo were still too big on him, the spark of an idea flashed in his mind.

At least this would be a start and was better than nothing.

"We need ta get some better clothes," he said aloud so that their hostages could hear as well.

"But don't we already have that?" Duo asked innocently, picking at the oversized shirt he was wearing.

"I meant better fitting ones," Solo cleared up gently to the boy. Then his green eyes fell over the girls. "But I don't think we should be outside right now. We'll need someone else ta get some better stuff for us."

It had been years since Solo had to use his street skills but he was having to employ them right now so he could judge which one of them to send out. The dirty blonde headed girl's eyes were wide with fear still while the other blonde with the eyebrows had hers narrowed.

Bingo.

Walking casually to that girl, he crouched down and tore the duct tape off with one quick movement but then grabbed the girl's mouth to prevent her from spitting out the socks and to keep her from screaming her head off.

"I'm only going to tell you this once," he told the girl, deepening his voice to try and scare her into compliance. "You're going to go out and get both of us some stuff, okay? You're going to do that and not say a word 'bout what's going on, okay?"

The girl continued to glare at him but nodded her head in the positive.

"Good," he said and pulled the socks out of her mouth.

"You'll pay for that," the girl hissed after she finished spitting out the awful taste in her mouth.

"Let me show ya something," Solo said as he stood up and looked around the room, his eyes lighting up at the coffee table. Casually walking over to it, he put a hand on each end of it, lengthwise, and began to push it in. The cracking of wood snapped through the air and the three teenagers could only stare in awe as the blond crushed the wooden piece of furniture with ease. Due to his muscles bunching up in the effort, one of the straps of the too-small tank top he was wearing snapped and dangling limply from his chest the moment he stood back up to his full height. Moving back to the ungagged girl, he crouched back down and said, "I can easily do that to yer friends and ya don't want me to do that, right?" Getting the fearful nod in return, he continued, "Well, that'll happen if ya do blow our cover, 'kay? So go out there, get us some clothes and get back as quickly as ya can and we'll have no problems."

"Y-y-yes-s-s," the girl stuttered.

"Good," Solo said again, smirking wickedly.

---

Dorothy's hurried footsteps were the only sound that the girl heard as she raced her way back into downtown.

Never before had she ever felt such fear before. The boys that were holding them against their wills, who were they? That blond guy was abnormally strong; what the hell was he? She still had the urge to scream her head off and tell everyone around her about what was happening but the memory of that blond crushing that table into pieces and then threatening to do the same thing to her friends…it was almost too much for her.

But she needed to be strong, for Relena and Heero. She would be damned if anything happened to them on her watch.

It was a very good thing that it was still early in the evening; the clothes store wasn't even close to closing up for the day. She practically burst into the store, earning her a surprised look from the store clerk who commented, "Dorothy, what a surprise! You were just here a while ago!"

"Yeah, my mother wanted me to pick a few things up for her," she lied.

"Well, take your time, I'm not going anywhere," the clerk said in response.

In the next instant, she had dived into the racks of clothes, looking for something, anything, that might appease the boys holding her friends hostage. From memory alone, she tried to guess what size the blond would wear, her mind automatically calling up the image of him in that ruined tank top…

Much to her horror, she felt herself blushing. What was wrong with her? Could she possibly be attracted to that monster? Sure, he was handsome, strong (no doubt about that), had large feet that made her wonder if that old saying about big feet was true…okay, so she was physically attracted. She was positive that it was just a passing phase, yeah, that was it! Who wouldn't drool over that guy anyway? Yep, her reaction was normal, perfectly normal…

Nearly slapping herself to focus her mind on the task at hand, she quickly picked through shirts and pants, checking sizes and pulling out anything she thought would help. Then she recalled that blond monster saying "us." It took her a second but she remembered the braided kid with him. Now how could she forget about something like that? C'mon, no one had a braid as long as that kid had! And if she remembered clearly, he was definitely smaller than his companion, definitely smaller than Heero's parents since she recognized one of their shirts on him.

So yeah, it was simpler shopping for him. Yet she wondered what circumstances could have occurred to bring those two together in the first place. The kid had this innocent look about him and she didn't feel threatened in his presence whatsoever unlike the other.

Something was up, something else entirely now that she thought about it. What could have happened to have forced these two boys who were seemingly complete opposites to break into Heero's house and tie him to a chair? They could have demanded anything from them but all they wanted were clothes? This wasn't a robbery, at least a simple one. There was more to this story, she could feel it.

The only way to find out more was to get back there.

"Are you sure your mother wanted this stuff?" the store clerk asked, puzzled by Dorothy's selection. "I don't think anyone in your family wears a…extra large?"

"That's what I said," Dorothy jested so as not to arouse any suspicions.

"At least I'm not alone," the clerk said but nonetheless scanned the chosen items.

---

Ah, this was much better. Yeah, it was a good feeling when you weren't being choked to death just by wearing a shirt.

Solo was very surprised in how conscious this girl was. She even got them shoes, even though he did not remember asking for them. It was thoughtful, really, even though the shoes she had bought for him were a bit small but he could rob a shoe store later when they left town.

Of course, the excuse the girl had given him was that it was better to get too much than too little just so he wouldn't follow through with his threat against her friends. Funny thing about that, she was correct in assuming he would've done it. He hadn't been through all the crap he had been put through by the military and gotten nothing else out of it other than his powers.

After sorting through all the stuff that the blonde had bought, the assemble that Solo had picked out may not had been the most fashionable but hey, he like it. Khaki pants as brown as dirt and covered with pockets encased his lower body while his upper was a whole different story. He had chosen a long-sleeved flannel shirt but didn't stop there as he had picked out a polyester vest to go over that. On one last note, even though it just may fit into the "too much information" category, he switched out the boxers he was wearing for a looser fitting pair.

Sure that he looked perfect, he took a look at what Duo had chosen and smiled in approval. The braided kid had chosen a black, long-sleeved dress shirt and black pants. Yeah, definitely much simpler than what Solo had chosen but lets just see who had chosen the best when they were out in the cold, huh? Still, maybe simpler was better…

"Okay, you got what you wanted," a voice interrupted his peaceful world, "are you going to leave now?"

Flicking his eyes over to the blonde girl with the eyebrows who had her eyes conveniently averted, he smirked. So she wanted them out, did she? No, she kicked him in the balls and even though she hadn't hurt it, his pride still demanded reprisal for it.

"So soon?" he mock pouted. "Didn't your friend tell ya anything? Oh wait, he couldn't, that's right. We're spending da night! Great, ain't it?"

The girl's eyes were bulging out of their sockets comically. "But! But you said—"

"What did I say?" he teased, enjoying every moment that he was flustering her.

"You said you were going to leave!" she exclaimed.

"I don't remember him saying that," he heard Duo say aloud and if Solo looked carefully, he could have sworn he saw a streak of crimson in those violet eyes. "He said we wouldn't have any problems, didn't ya?"

Solo grinned and nodded in agreement. Hey, he was helping him out. Besides, it seemed like Duo was enjoying making the girl squirm.

"Yeah, I told yer friend that all we wanted was food, clothes, and a place ta spend the night," Solo said, his grin turning wicked as he saw the horror grow on her face. "We ain't goin' nowhere 'till mornin', ya got that?"

"You lied to me!" the girl shrieked.

"Now that hurts," Solo cried out, grabbing a hold of his chest where his heart was. "Duo, have I ever lied ta ya before?"

"Nope!" the braided boy answered cheerfully and due to the subtle changes in his voice, Solo knew that the more innocent side of Duo was back in control. Solo made a mental note to read up on multiple personalities the next chance he got.

"See!" he boasted.

"Well he's a little liar," the girl snapped.

There was a flash of crimson in those violet eyes. Uh oh, he better head this storm off before it got bad. Before the girl knew what was happening, Solo had stuck the socks back into her mouth and replaced the duct tape, grabbing a hold of the girl's hands as she reached up to undo it. A minute later she was back hogtied on the floor and glaring back up at him again. But Solo was not done with her as he leveled a more heated glare at her.

"We may be a lot of things," he said in a no-nonsense voice, "but one thing we ain't are liars. Ya got that?" When no movement of the head answered him, he roughly grabbed the girl's jaw with bruising force, squeezing unkindly with his unnatural strength. "I said, do ya got that?" he snapped.

That managed to get the nod he wanted and he pushed her away from him roughly. Lies…as if either of them would stoop that low…

His once good mood now soured, he fixed his glare onto the only male here who was tied up. The hostage (wasn't his name Hero or something like that?) was motioning with his eyes towards the hastily made gag, all the while continuing to give him a dirty look. Reaching over, he undid the gag and demanded, "What?"

"Don't you think that's going over the top?" the male asked with disgust in his voice.

"Call me what ya want," the blond snapped back, "but don't call me a goddamn liar, got that?"

"You haven't thought this through, have you?" the brunet sneered.

"What do you mean?" Duo's soft voice asked.

For the first time since they had met, the teen smirked. "My parents are going to be coming back any minute and Relena and Dorothy's are going to be wondering where they are. Unless you let us go and get out of here, you both are screwed."

Duo frowned. "What's a parent?"

While the three teens looked at the braided boy incredulously, Solo just looked down, already used to his friend's odd questions. Heh, that's funny. Now he thought Duo was his friend…

Nonetheless, he answered bitterly, "Parents are grown ups that don't give a flying fuck about you, care only for themselves, and leave you in a back ally so they don't have ta look at ya anymore."

"Huh," Duo said, "I don't remember if I had parents…"

"You're lucky," Solo said bitterly, looking back up to glare at the bound male. Then his glare turned into a smirk. "I don't think we have ta worry 'bout your parents coming back. They had suitcases on them when they left. They ain't coming back tonight."

The teen's eyes widened slightly then wider as if he suddenly remembered something. "The convention," he muttered, "Shit!"

The two girls looked up at him, surprised to hear the foul language from him.

"But," Solo then drawled, "I don't know about these bitches. If I let them go, they'll tell on us and if we keep 'um, like ya said, their parents will be lookin' for 'um. Decisions, decisions…"

The blond then looked up to Duo, as if asking for his opinion. "Why don't we kill um?" the boy asked, once again rocking the foundations of Solo's beliefs about the kid. Maybe he truly wasn't as innocent as he seemed…

"Nah," he answered, "then we'll get the whole town after us, which we don't want either."

"Just let Relena and Dorothy go," the nameless male said. "I'll be your hostage if you want, just let them go."

The smaller of the two blonde girls seemed to have a problem with this as she looked straight up at the guy and made some kind of noise that Solo guessed was the guy's name.

"Like I said, if we do let them go, what's ta stop them from squealin'?" Solo challenged, crossing his arms over his chest. Duo said nothing, preferring to stroke the end of his braid as he thought about his friend's question.

"Then you can kill me," the teen stated without hesitation. The smaller blonde screamed in muffled despair while the other with the eyebrows stared at him in shock.

"Are you sure we can trust ya?" Solo asked, eyes narrowing.

"I don't lie," the teen replied boldly, glaring into Solo's eyes.

The blond's eyelids closed over his eyes and seemed to be considering the teen's suggestion. When he opened them, he had come to a decision, one in which all the other occupants unconsciously leaned in closer to hear what he would say.

And he told them.