Bishi Pile Challenge:

Major challenge response: Shadows, Trust,

Minor challenge response: Legend, Veteran, Anger

Word count: 3,415

Series: Friends 2: Friends and Enemies

Author: Karina

Pairings: Zechs + Duo, Trowa x Quatre

Ratings: M 15+ [In Australia] Rated in the event of bad language and violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters.

Many thanks to Katie for betaing this chapter.

Warnings: No apology given for Aussie spelling, but fair warning given.

Character Challenge: Trowa, Quatre and Duo

Chapter 4

The streets were mostly deserted, the snow ploughs yet to clear some of the city's roads of the accumulated overnight snowfall and Duo drove with a great deal of care. It was hours yet to dawn and the still lowering temperature of the air was fast turning the accumulated snow to ice. The last thing he wanted was to lose control of the car and end up in some ditch or wrapped around a telegraph pole.

He pulled over beneath a street lamp and angled the map as best he could to catch the light. If possible he would not use the car's interior light; doing so would make it easier for any potential enemy to identify him, and trusting to other light sources for him to find his way was less of a risk. He was almost clear of the residential areas and would soon enter the light industrial sector if he continued to follow the marked route. Had he taken the direct route from A to B he would long ago have reached his destination. As it was, he had been driving for more than an hour and he was tired, cranky and heartily fed up with his night time tour of residential New Port City.

It was all in the interests of security, this infernal roundabout of creeping around in the dark and trying to lose a tail that was not there.

He was not being followed, at least not that he could see, and he had certainly been watching for it. At the best of times he was known for certain paranoia, but this cloak and dagger stuff was getting to him. He had tried every trick in the book, and a few original ideas of his own, to determine if he had a tail, but the simple truth of the matter was there was not sufficient traffic on the roads to hide anyone who might be intent on following him.

Any and every sane person was tucked up warm and safe at home instead of being out on a freezing Sancian winter's night.

"Just goes to show how sane I am."

But he could well understand the need to be careful. He was not, either by nature or upbringing, as trusting as Quatre and, from the evidence of this convoluted roundabout of a route chosen for him, Quatre was not trusting at all.

"I want answers, Kitty Kat, and after giving me this much of a run around you had better have them ready for me."

The night was full of shadows and the shadows were full of the hints of movement everywhere he looked. A cat slinking across newly fallen snow, a dog looking for scraps in a knocked over wheely bin. He passed the occasional car on the road and found himself briefly wondering what their business was that had them out and about on so bitter a night.

But it was more than thieves and spies who haunted the night. In fact, thieves and spies were in the minority of those who were abroad in the midnight hours.

Late night workers, shift workers, undoubtedly the odd clandestine lover coming or going from a midnight assignation…. He was far from alone. They would be people who had no interest in him, who were living their lives as they always did, unaware of the dark and murky world he moved in. Ordinary, every day people with ordinary and every day cares. He would have liked to be just another one of them; ordinary, with an ordinary life to enjoy… but he was anything but ordinary.

They were the stuff of legend, the Gundam pilots. They were heroes, warriors who fought for independence and freedom for all, shining examples of humanity….

Well, they were supposed to be.

What a crock.

What a load of utter bullshit.

He knew the truth, the real truth, and so did the others even if they did not talk about it. His friends, his fellow Gundam pilots, they all knew how it really was, but for their own reasons they refused to face it. It was not a nice thing to face up to, he admitted that, but he was not afraid to stare the truth in the face and acknowledge it… or was it that he was afraid NOT to face it?

Maybe. Whatever, he faced it and acknowledged it and that was that.

He at least had the guts not to hide from himself.

He didn't try to live the life others determined he should live just to show he was not a danger to anyone and that he could fit in as others dictated he should. That was a lie and he was not one who lied piecemeal. He was not permitting himself to be tied down by the weight of 'their' disapproval and 'their' expectation that he would obey without question.

At any time he could be caught, reeled in by those he refused to bow down to and be disposed of. He was no hero in their eyes, just someone who was infinitely disposable, because he refused to play the game by their rules.

One Gundam pilot, one man, was too dangerous to be running free without some form of restraint containing him to set limits-and he was tired of it.

He wondered if Quatre was as tired as he, and if, perhaps, this was not the moment in which Quatre had decided to break free and he was about to be caught up in it. Was Quatre trying to protect himself, or was he trying to protect himself and Duo… or was it that, having made his decision to break out of the preferred mould, Quatre had decided they needed to protect the other three?

Or did it have anything to do with what had happened up on the mountain? It could be that Quatre had a burr in his engine about another recently perceived injustice only he could clandestinely right for the good of all involved. Duo had aided and abetted a number of such privately funded missions in the past, though for this run around to be linked to one of those missions Quatre would have had to know about it weeks ago and would have included him in the planning.

So…. This was something to do with what had happened on the mountain? But if that was the case, why would he get involved?

/I don't get it, he has the company to think of. There are so many people reliant on Winner Enterprises throughout the Earth Sphere that he surely would not just walk away from it and dive in head first?/

They had known nothing about Marquise a few days ago, not where he was or what he was doing… or that he would need help. No, he was not seeing the whole picture and it was surely too soon for Quatre to see any more than he did… less in fact, as his friend had not had the benefits of actually speaking to Marquise.

Still, this was Quatre and sometimes it was hard to tell what he would do from one minute to the next. Quatre had always been unpredictable, though he had an uncanny insight into how other people reacted from moment to moment. That 'thing', the 'space heart', the empathy, that marked him as being different to everyone else might have had an effect on him. It might, Duo mused, have driven him to do something that seemed insanely stupid in the eyes of everyone else but made perfect sense to Quatre himself.

Folding the map to a manageable size covering the next section of the marked streets, Duo considered the route and glanced around to check for observers. As he had expected there were no visible observers, not even a stray cat to watch him, but that 'wrong' bump still itched and Duo snorted softly as he pulled away from the curb and drove through the streets of the suburb with care. Gradually the houses became more separated, becoming fewer in number with wider spaces between and Duo entered the zoned light industrial area.

A snow plough worked to clear the roads before the morning traffic began to brave the icy conditions, a spew of dirty snow and ice flying out to form a bank along the roadside and Duo was just thankful the plough had already cleared his side of the street. The Sancians well knew their climate and were efficient at clearing away the snow, even the windfall from raging blizzards only took a day or two to clear from most of the city.

As the snow plough vanished into the night behind him he chanced a glance at the map, following the highlighted route to where it stopped just within the boundary of the heavy industrial area. It was only a few minutes from his position on this arterial route he currently drove.

His attention was drawn to an approaching set of flashing lights that marked an aircraft flying low over the buildings… flying too low. He slowed a little, peering out into the night, straining his eyesight to make out the black, unmarked helicopter. Taking a deep breath he wound down the window, slowing right down in a broad patch of shadow as he watched, listening carefully to the heavy thump of the rotors as it disappeared into the night.

It had been a heavy machine, capable of carrying a quite a few tons of weight in its extended belly, or it was, possibly, a converted troop carrier. His hands tightened on the wheel and his eyes narrowed to little more than slits as he considered the possibility it might have been a troop carrier and the events that had been taking place at the air terminal on the far side of New Port City.

But they would not have lingered at the air terminal for this long. A quick in and out; that was what the operation would have been to pick up Marquise. Might it be involved in that situation? Despite the time passed might it be sheltering Marquise? Perhaps taking him… somewhere?

Possibly to his death? Or might Marquise already be suitably 'disposed of' to placate whoever it was who had marked him as a dead man? Marquise had been sure he could deal with whatever might happen on returning to New Port City, and he was neither a fool nor a push over.

/I really don't know enough about Marquise to judge him. I don't know how his mind works or even what drove him to do what he did during the war, but… /

It was, when it came down to it, a matter of trust and Duo, despite not knowing Marquise beyond their few days acquaintance caught in a snow storm on the slopes of a mountain, thought he could trust the man.

"Shit that's a scary thought."

He did not trust easily and somehow Marquise had gotten past his guard.

Duo found his hands gripping tight to the steering wheel, his tension level rising even as his body screamed it wanted an end to the tension. He ached from the tightness of holding himself together, of restraining himself from not hitting out at something, anything. He really, desperately wanted to hit something.

Quatre was waiting for him and he would, soon enough, find out what his friend was involving himself in, and he would help Quatre with whatever it was… that was what friends did. He would watch Quatre's back and Quatre would watch his, that's the way they were, friends and comrades. It was what they did for each other, and he would keep low on the radar even as he searched out what information he could find on the organization Marquise was involved in.

He would need to be careful about what information he gave to Quatre though. The last thing he wanted was to drag his friend into this sordid little story. Quatre did not have anything to do with Zechs Marquise and that was how Duo wanted it to stay. Whatever Quatre knew about what had happened up on the mountain it was enough and hopefully whatever operation he had underway, with whatever outcome Quatre intended, Duo was determined to keep his meddlesome blonde friend out of trouble.

"You won't be happy with me, Kitty Kat, but it's for your own good. I have no idea what game you are playing, but I'll help you carry it off, whatever it might, be, and I will not get you involved with what went on up on the mountain."

Trowa certainly would not thank him for involving Quatre in the mess and given the number of people reliant on Quatre… yes it was best to keep him out of the mess. Duo was relatively sure Trowa Barton would be able to spin a decent version of events that would distract Quatre. Duo would merely have to survive long enough for Trowa to get involved.

If nothing else, Trowa could always drag Quatre to bed and distract him in a rather physical and enjoyable fashion. When was the last time he had gotten some? Damn, no, better not to go down that particular road, he had made enough mistakes in his life without adding yet another to his long list. When you lived as he lived, close to being on the run, haunted by the blood soaked past, unable to settle it within his psyche, it took someone special to understand and get close to you.

Someone very special. Quatre and Trowa had that but he and Hilde… no. No they had not been graced with that particular understanding, despite her military background and participation in the war. They were just too different in the long term to make it work, their experiences and thought processes in facing their personal pasts were too far apart. Of the Gundam Pilots only Quatre and Trowa had found that understanding.

"I hope Une's not intending to take all night to debrief them. The sooner Trowa finds out where Quatre is, and what he's up to, the better."

Which brought his mind back to his whereabouts and why he was driving the streets instead of enjoying a hot shower and snugging down into a real bed. What was Quatre up to and why was he out of the mansion they all called home at this hour of the night and not, if he had to be up to deal with some business emergency, was he not at his office?

Was he setting up a clandestine mission? And if so, why? There could not have been too many rebel groups holding orphanages for ransom in the world, or an incident of industrial espionage involving dangerous plans related to the military, past or future.

"What are you cooking up, Kitty Kat? I'm getting too old for this shit, Quatre, and you are supposed to be the respectable business man."

Entering the heavy industrial sector Duo glanced around, looking for the best spot to pull over and check the map. There had to be more instructions forthcoming, or he had missed something on the map, because he was now entering the area where the highlighter for his route finished. He jumped a little as the phone hidden in his pocket rang and, snorting softly at his own nerves, he slowed the car as he fished around for it.

"Yeah?"

"The semi ahead of you." Quatre's voice came over the phone and Duo thought he sounded tired. "See you shortly."

Duo stared at the phone as the connection was cut and he swore. "What the fuck sort of directions is that? 'The semi ahead of you.' What about the semi ahead of me… and what semi? There's no… oh."

Up ahead, from a side lane, a black semi trailer pulled onto the main road and Duo steadied his pace back a little and watched as the back of the plain trailer slowly began to lower and lower… forming a ramp as it tilted toward the roads surface. A shower of sparks marked the point where the ramp hit the road and Duo's jaw gaped as it became apparent what he was expected to do.

"You have got to be shitting me?"

It was not going to be exactly easy to match the speed of his car to the speed of the truck, but he would be expected to have the car mount the ramp, enter the vehicle's trailer and stop the car before he slammed into the far end. And there was a figure standing at the back with a flashing light, urging him to put his life on the line and get his arse in the trailer.

"No fucking way!"

One mistake, one tiny insignificant little mistake, and he would be worse than simply wrapped around a telegraph pole. Glancing at the speedometer he blanched; that truck was not exactly slowing down.

"And I thought it was a bloody long day up on the mountain."

Firming his resolve, and heartily cursing his friend for his penchant for spy movies, Duo pressed the accelerator down, steadily building speed to catch up to the moving vehicle.

He was Duo Maxwell, first rate pilot. He could ram a shuttle down the neck of a space station, he could pilot a mobile suit dodging rapid fire artillery intent on taking him out… he could do this. But his heart was in his mouth as he stared at the approaching ramp.

/Not good, not good. Not fucking good./

He really wanted to close his eyes as he felt the tyres of the car hit the ramp and he floored the accelerator, trying to gain enough acceleration to mount the ramp, his heart in his mouth as the car began to rise. Coming up over the crest of the ramp he realized the person had, thankfully, vanished and he was not about to run the idiot over.

He was not sure he was breathing as the front wheels hit the bed of the trailer and he was jamming on the breaks to try to stop his forward momentum, praying the back of the car had cleared the ramp even as he watched the oncoming front wall of the trailer with wide eyes.

It was too close!

Duo was thrown forward from the impact of the car slamming into the wall, but he had succeeded in slowing the car sufficiently to spare himself any injury. The airbag exploded in his face and the engine cut out with a ragged snarl on impact and he stared into the mass of white that cushioned his face and body and realised he was shaking.

He was vaguely aware of Quatre's voice somewhere close, but all he could see or think of was the white of the airbag and how the blessed thing had stopped him from head butting the windscreen or having the steering wheel imbedded in his chest and he had the back wall of the truck awfully quickly. Either he had been moving faster than he had thought himself to be, or the trailer was shorter than it had looked.

"Duo, are you alright? Duo, look at me!"

The airbag deflated and he slumped forward without its support, but strong hands were on his shoulders and pulled him back from the wheel, a hand seemed to search him, patting him down and the gabbling voices were just a little too fast for him to comprehend.

"Enough! Back away from the car, you too, Master Quatre. Give him a chance to catch his breath."

He knew that big booming voice. It belonged to a behemoth of a man and the hand that next touched him was huge, the spread fingers reaching almost the width of his chest.

"Rashid?" It was barely the ghost of a whisper, for some reason his heart felt as though it was still in his mouth and it was hard to get words out around it. "That… is that… you, Rashid?"

"Yes, Mr. Maxwell. Take a moment, please."

"Where… where's Quatre?"

"Master Quatre is here. You can see him in a few minutes, when you stop shaking. I will have some tea prepared."

"Nah." Duo shook himself, forcing himself to focus and looked into the dark eyes of the big man. "Just do me a favour and look the other way while I kill the son of a bitch!"

End

Karina Robertson 2010