Again, had to put a few twists on this part of the story, but I like how it came out. I hope you agree!

Enjoy!

Trowa was just finishing repacking the belt-pouch in which he had carried their food when movement caught his attention. A glance to the side told him that G had not noticed anything amiss, but their prisoner had.

"G," Trowa said, lifting his chin in the direction of the path down which they had come.

The path down which a masked man in black, brown braid flapping, was running after them.

G snorted in anger. He reached for the length of chain bound to Heero's manacles. "I'll go on ahead. Catch up to us quickly."

"What do I do?" Trowa leaned against a nearby boulder, eyebrow raised curiously.

"Finish him! Your way!"

"And which way is that?" Trowa asked, a hard glint in his eyes.

"You've got blades of your own!" G sneered. "As soon as his head is in view, use them!"

G turned and started to scurry up the path. For a moment, the prisoner locked eyes with Trowa, and a sort of understanding passed between them. Trowa knew that the man they had kidnapped was a soldier and a consummate warrior. And both of them were acutely aware that, even chained as he was, Heero Yuy could probably escape from and defeat G if he wished it, and he would get his chance once Trowa was out of sight. But the words he had spoken back on the boat floated to Trowa's mind and he remembered – Heero Yuy wanted to die. The soldier was not resisting not because he was helpless, but because he and G had the same goal in mind.

The goal that would only be accomplished if Trowa destroyed the man in black who pursued them.

"Apparently," Trowa mused to himself as G dragged Heero along, "my way is not very sportsmanlike."

He had several minutes in which to think as the man in black made his way up the steep hill, so by the time the moment had come, his decision was made. The man in black rounded the last bend in the path and approached where they had stopped for lunch. As if perceiving the danger, he slowed down, inching forward carefully between the boulders and scraggly trees.

A brush of air was the only warning, and the man in black stepped back quickly to evade the dagger thrown at him.

"I did that on purpose," Trowa announced, showing himself by leaping to stand on top of one of the taller boulders. "I don't have to miss."

"I believe you," the man in black shook his head, obviously unsettled. "So what happens now?"

"First, a question." Trowa dropped to a crouch on the boulder, drawing another of his daggers and holding it tightly between his fingers. "Is Chang Wufei still alive?"

The man in black looked up at him and squared his shoulders. "Yes."

"Good," Trowa nodded, believing him. "Because otherwise this would be over." He smiled a little, and it was not a nice smile. But it was the real truth – if this man had killed Wufei, he would never take another step. There was no blood on the black clothing, though, and no guile in his actions.

"The fact that it isn't suggests you have something else in mind?"

"Why are you chasing us?" Trowa returned. The man in black frowned.

"That's none of your business, buddy."

"Well, the soldier you want has a death wish, so if you want him alive you're going to have to fight G as well as him. If you want to kidnap him, though, he's easy enough to manage." Here Trowa smiled mockingly. But he was watching closely. He wanted to know something about this opponent before there was no going back.

"It's none of your business," the man said, voice icy cold. "Look, are you just fiddling around with me or what?"

"I hate for people to die for no reason," Trowa answered.

"Why do you have to kill me, anyway?" the man in black asked. "Wufei said he was working for G just for convenience. Maybe we shouldn't be fighting at all." Suddenly he smiled broadly under the mask, grinning brightly. "You just say you never saw me and I'll go on my merry way, okay?"

"No," Trowa said, "but I'm not going to fight you, either. If you survive, you can continue as you wish."

"Survive what?"

"I have five more daggers," Trowa held them up. "If you beat Wufei, I'll never defeat you one-on-one with a sword, but this is my skill. Evade all five and you're free to go."

"And if I fail?"

"You'll be dead," Trowa shrugged. "Like I said, I don't have to miss."

The man in black looked at the area in which the confrontation was taking place – it was something of a natural amphitheater ringed by huge boulders, with many scattered about on the ground as well as logs and fallen trees, and Trowa was perched on one of the highest. "I think the odds are slightly in your favor," he commented lightly.

"It's not my fault we're meeting here. I can't help that the terrain lends me a natural advantage." Trowa's smile this time was more predatory than anything else. "Let's go."

The man in black rolled to the side, expecting a dagger, but Trowa held back, waiting. The moment the man stopped moving, trying to quickly gain his bearings, only then did he let one fly. The man in black must have spotted it at the last moment, for he leaped just out of the way.

"You're quick," Trowa commented.

"And a good thing, too." With that, the man dove for a nearby boulder that jutted out into the area a bit. It was a smart move – Trowa would have to give up his position or else wait him out.

Trowa jumped from one boulder to the next, light as a cat. He was in midair when he saw the flash of black cloth and threw the second dagger. This one clanged off a fist-sized rock the man had picked up and thrown at just the right instant. Trowa landed on the ground and made a running leap forward, flinging himself into the wind. High above the ground, he flipped so he was upside down and sent the the third dagger towards his target.

The man in black must have thumped his back against a nearby rock quite hard given the pained sound he made, but the dagger landed harmlessly in the dirt nearby.

"Why are you wearing that mask?" Trowa asked as he landed easily. "Were you burned by acid or something?"

"No, it's just really comfortable," the man in black actually laughed. "I think everybody should try wearing one sometime."

"Hmm." Trowa tightened his grip on his last two daggers. He had to make them count – or else decide right now not to.

Wufei's sense of honor was the clearest memory Trowa possessed. Wufei must have fought their battle to the end. He could do no less. Without any warning, Trowa threw the fourth dagger at blistering speed. He ducked around one of the rocks that separated them and raised his arm to throw the last.

Only to find it caught and immobile behind him.

Trowa turned to see that his right sleeve was pinned to the trunk of the tree that had been behind him with one of his own daggers. His eyes widened and he looked back at the man in black. The man must have caught that fourth dagger and turned it around against him with almost no time to spare at all.

"Thanks for not killing me right off," the man in black shrugged. "I've got to go now, but I'll return the favor, all right?"

Trowa felt a sharp sting on his thigh and the world swam. He was aware of himself being unpinned from the tree and realized the man in black was lying him down, easing him to the ground with surprising care.

"If you see Chang Wufei, tell him it's not his fault, or yours, that I beat you. You both fought well. I've just got something else I have to do before I can let anybody kill me."

The familiar shape of one of his daggers was pressed into his left hand as he began to surrender to the warm stupor that had claimed him.

"Don't be afraid to not-miss again. It suits you better."

-==OOO==-

"...Trowa knew that the man they had kidnapped was a soldier and a consummate warrior. And both of them were acutely aware that, even chained as he was, Heero Yuy could probably escape from and defeat G if he wished it, and he would get his chance once Trowa was out of sight. But the words he had spoken back on the boat floated to Trowa's mind and he remembered – Heero Yuy wanted to die. The soldier was not resisting not because he was helpless, but because he and G had the same goal in mind..."

"Isn't he ever going to actually do anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, mostly Heero's just getting carted around by people and he doesn't seem to care about anything. He's this big warrior and he's being led around like a dog on a leash. Isn't he, you know, stronger than that?"

"Not right now he isn't, little one. Not yet."

"Will he ever do anything?"

"Stop interrupting if you want to find out."

"Sorry."