Disclaimer: Usually I write out a very specific disclaimer explaining exactly what it is I don't own but I find myself not really interested in doing so this time as it is very tedious. Suffice it to say I own nothing that was created by anyone else and I am not making any money off of this story or any of the other stories I have written.

Warnings: Mild to moderate violence, character death, foul language, brief mentions of implied rape (no descriptions), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), angst, drama, Dumbledore and Snape bashing, implied bashing of select Weasleys (no specifics mentioned), OOC moments, and who knows what else.

AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.

CHAPTER WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of implied rape (no details have been given).

Chapter 8: A Gathering of Pilots

Duo stretched out on the couch and tucked his hands behind his head as he stared up at the abnormally smooth ceiling of the cave that was technically his prison. The past two days had been… different and more than a little frustrating as he had been pushed completely out of his comfort zone; something that had not happened very often in the past three years. He was also more than a little confused because he wasn't quite certain where he stood with his two companions… or were they his captors? There was just so much that he didn't understand and not for lack of trying.

He was also itching to get his hands on a computer because he abso-fucking-lutely hated not knowing what was going on out in the world.

Turning his head sideways, Duo watched as his fellow pilot did yet another set of push-ups; the other teen constantly pushed his body to extremes in his worry over the kid's condition. That was another irksome thing in Duo's mind. The kid needed medical help but they didn't dare take the kid to a hospital (not that they had a way to do so in any case) and they had no way of treating him here because only the kid could access his supplies. He'd love to know where the kid got such advanced security systems because for all of Duo's hard won skills, he couldn't break into any of the three trunks sitting around the house (and he'd tried; several times).

Heero swore up and down that it wasn't technology but Duo wasn't certain he could believe the explanation that the trunks were protected by magic. Magic of all things; it was hard to believe and the fact that the other teen seemingly readily accepted the explanation rankled Duo because he had a hard time accepting that magic could exist. He was far too pragmatic to believe in fairy tales, especially growing up on the street as he had. Huffing, Duo turned his gaze back up to the ceiling and frowned as he tried to focus on the problem at hand; namely the extended communications black out he was being forced to endure.

Heero had revealed that much of the circuitry on his Gundam had been fried (including the communication system and the main computer) and Duo already knew all of his systems had been fried. Duo suspected that it was a power overload that had disrupted the systems and fried the circuits which would indicate that the kid's power, whatever it was called, was energy based and either as powerful or nearly as powerful as the blast from a beam cannon (the thought that it could be more powerful was never entertained since that would have led to far more troubling connotations). Duo would have preferred to have been able to check out the full extent of the damage done to his Gundam for himself but he hadn't been allowed outside and couldn't find the exit on his own despite the number of times he'd searched.

Duo's musings were unexpectedly interrupted at that point by a piercing scream that shattered the relative peace of the cave. Instinctively, Duo jumped up onto his feet in preparation for a fight at the same time as Heero scrambled up off the floor and dash into the alcove where the kid had been sleeping off his exhaustion. Duo ran after him and skidded to a halt a moment later as he watched Heero trying to calm the kid down while at the same time gently restrain him so the kid didn't hurt himself. He was more than a little surprised at how fast the kid's arms and feet lashed out as he fought against the teen and even more surprised that not only were most of those blows landing but that Heero wasn't really trying to block them.

Duo's ears then picked up the kid's frantic words and the air around him grew cold as he unconsciously began channeling his inner shinigami as old memories surfaced from the depths of his mind. Not wanting to relive the past, Duo turned his back on the scene and moved as far as away from the pair as he could; which wasn't really that far considering how limited space was inside of the cave. He paced back and forth in front of the desk for a few minutes before he threw himself into the surprisingly comfortable stone chair (something he still had trouble adjusting to since rock wasn't meant to provide comfort – and no that was not proof that magic existed!), crossed his arms, and glowered at the desk.

Needing something to occupy his attention, he began snooping through the drawers of the desk; something Heero had managed to keep him from doing for the past thirty or so hours which had piqued Duo's curiosity. It didn't take Duo long to find a wooden box containing several rather small journals, what looked like a bunch of toys, some keys, and a small file folder and thinking he'd found the perfect distraction; Duo eagerly dove into the goldmine of information.

"Maxwell, I thought I made it perfectly clear to you that you were to stay out of the desk?" Heero growled unexpectedly from beside the chair some thirty minutes later and Duo jumped in shock before he guiltily looked away from Heero's agitated glare.

"I was curious as ta what ya were tryin' ta keep me from findin' and I needed a distraction," Duo replied as he glared down at the medical file he'd been skimming through. "Probably would have been better if I hadn't been quite so curious. I take it ya've read a good portion of what's here at some point?"

"Yeah, it wasn't the most pleasant of reads and it raised far more questions than it answered but it did shed light on the reason why Harry reacts the way he does to certain situations."

"Some of da injuries listed… they are… it implies that one of da adults he had regular contact with…"

"Yeah. I read through those reports as well. I'm pretty certain the implication is actually fact, based upon some of the kid's reactions to… certain incidents (such as the nightmare he'd just been trapped in) and his dislike of any kind of physical contact."

"What I wouldn't give ta find that man alone in a dark alley one night," Duo hissed as his eyes flashed violet in suppressed rage for an instant. "Ain't right ta do that ta a child… bad enough people on da street do that kind of shit but ta find a teacher pullin' crap like that? And gettin' away with it for years? Something wrong with a society that allows that kind of crap."

"You don't have to tell me that."

"Have ya talked ta da kid at all about what was done ta him?"

"And let him know that we've violated his privacy just as surely as those in his past violated him mentally and physically?" Heero spat back in a low voice as he swung his eyes to the bedroom alcove where Harry was once again sleeping.

"Ah… point taken. What do ya think da odds are of us gettin' inta da nearest city in order ta make contact with da rest of da world and pick up a few spare parts?"

"Less than ten percent as things stand right now."

"Can ya at least get me ta my Gundam? Sittin' here doin' nothing is drivin' me up a wall."

"I don't know if I can," Heero honestly replied. "I'm almost one hundred percent certain that Harry is the only one that can grant you access at this point but even if you could, there's no way you'd be able to access the cockpit due to the way it was stored in the other cave. On the other hand, I can bring you some of the fried system boards from my Gundam to work on instead, if you don't mind, so we can possibly get an internet connection or my radio working. There're also some spare parts from a pair of Aries and a Leo that we might be able to use but I wouldn't hold my breath since the two Aries are in millions of pieces and the Leo is in the same state as our Gundams."

"At this point anything that ya can give me ta do would help take my mind off my boredom."

That conversation (and the tentative truce it implied) set the tone for the next three days as Duo worked to repair a couple of damaged circuit boards with limited access to proper tools, replacement parts, and a reliable power source but Duo was nothing if not resourceful and he refused to let the numerous handicaps hinder him. Any progress was progress and every little bit helped; so Duo continued to do what he could with what he had.

Heero, on the other hand, spent most of his time out of the cave working on his Gundam as he pulled out the damaged system boards, dug through the scrap heap for extra parts, and hauled assorted equipment back and forth between his suit and the makeshift workshop Duo had set up on the desk inside the cave. Both teens took turns watching over Harry as the boy continued to sleep fitfully; the kid's nightmares now haunting him day and night.

Food would soon become a problem for the pair; since only Harry could access the trunk where he stored his food and they didn't wish to disturb him given how poorly he was doing health wise. The two pilots had been surviving on the supplies that Harry had given to Heero several days earlier, the bowl of fresh fruit that had been sitting on the counter, and the emergency rations Duo had carried out of his suit but despite careful rationing of said supplies they wouldn't last but a day or two longer.

It would have been a bigger problem if they hadn't had access to running water (after a fashion). They couldn't even supplement their meager stores with fish from the ocean because of the risk of being seen by the search teams Heero had seen patrolling the area beyond the wards. Despite their dwindling supplies and extremely slow progress, it was Harry's rapidly failing health that truly worried the two teens.

The kid had developed a fever sometime during Duo's third night in the cave and his wounds had actually stopped healing completely and now continuously wept blood and puss as infection set in. After another two full days of trying to bring the fever down and clear out the infections on their own, Duo and Heero were seriously thinking about taking the kid to the nearest hospital despite the potential risk of the kid's abilities being discovered or the likelihood that they would be caught before they could get clear of the patrols. Not to mention the fact that they would need to find a way to get him to the mainland since they were basically stranded a good twenty or thirty miles off the coast of Japan according to Duo's earlier surveillance scans.

They didn't think they had much of a choice at this point though, because if they didn't get Harry help soon, the kid was going to die. So Duo set to helping Heero rig up a makeshift stretcher slash raft (something made all the more difficult due to a lack of wood or other material with which to make the shafts and floats) that they could use to carry the kid to the water and transport him across the water to the mainland and made plans to sneak out of the area during the cover of night in hopes that they wouldn't be spotted leaving the protected area in the dark.

It was shortly after sunset on the eighth day since Duo had joined them (as they were making their final preparations) that their plans were dashed to pieces before they could even start when the sounds of a furious battle soon filtered through the wards protecting and hiding Harry's cave and small stretch of beach. Heero immediately ordered Duo to stay and watch over the kid before disappearing through the eastern wall.

"Damn it," Duo growled as he stared after the other teen for a minute. "I hate not knowin' what's goin' on."

Any other complaints he might have voiced died on his tongue as a particularly large explosion rocked the cave and he hurried into the bedroom to protect the kid. He found Harry completely delirious and sitting up in bed alternately talking to someone named Tom and hissing strangely. Duo ignored the kid's strange one-sided conversation as he picked him up and set him gently on the floor in a cocoon of blankets off to one side before he began manhandling the two stone bed frames so he could make a protective shelter.

He did this by tipping one of the beds up onto its side and setting it parallel to the wall in the corner of the room before lifting the second bed up so that it was propped up on the upturned bed to create a small niche that would shelter both him and the kid if the ceiling collapsed on them. Next, Duo gathered up all of the pillows and blankets he could find and made a comfortable nest beneath the bed before moving Harry into place, tucking the kid right up against the wall. Duo then curled his body around Harry so that if any one but Heero managed to break into the cave and find them, his body would offer the kid a small measure of protection.

It had taken Quatre, Trowa, and the Maganacs six days to make their way from Saudi Arabia to Japan, their movements hindered by their need to keep their presence hidden (choosing to avoid air transport since flying in on a plane would have drawn too much attention at the time). Along the way they'd worked out their plan of attack in order to take out the troops that were currently monitoring the stretch of coastline and the waters around the island that was their destination; starting with which port they would steal a barge from so they had a way to transport the downed Gundams away from the island if they were found (in case one or both were inoperable).

The fact that the Alliance (or more specifically OZ agents within the Alliance) was still so interested in the area where the two Gundams disappeared told the two pilots that there was something off about the entire situation.

They arrived about two hours before sunset on the end of the sixth day and used the time until the sun sank below the horizon to monitor the activities of the troops patrolling the area. As darkness began falling, the Maganacs slipped out of the barge in their mobile suits and made their way up onto the top of the cliff over looking the stretch of beach in question so that they could provide back up for the two Gundams. Quatre would then focus on taking out the troops patrolling the beach to the north while Trowa would do the same to the south before they would work their way towards each other to catch the fleet of ships sitting just off the coast in a pincer move.

They knew that once they attacked the troops, they would have approximately thirty-five minutes to destroy both the troops and the fleet and search the area for some clue as to what happened to the two missing Gundams before they could expect reinforcements to arrive from the nearest Alliance Base in the area. While they were searching for clues, the Maganacs would reequip both of their Gundams with ammunition so that they would not be caught without the means to protect themselves when they faced the second wave of troops and help hunt for the missing suits and their pilots.

The moment the last glow of light disappeared from the horizon, the Maganacs fired off a volley of long ranged missiles that targeted the command ship of the fleet (in an attempt to buy more time) while Quatre and Trowa headed for their nearest targets. Explosions lit the night and the enemy troops were in complete disarray as they were caught off guard by the unexpected and fairly brutal attack on what had been, up until that moment, a rather boring (if supposedly important) assignment.

As Quatre faced dozens upon dozens of enemy suits, his chest began aching but for the first time since he chose to fight for the Colonies it was not because he was taking the lives of his enemies. He instinctively knew that his heart was aching for another; for some small brave and bright soul that was hovering on the verge of death and that knowledge tore at his heart. Now most might think it strange for teen to claim to know such things but Quatre was born with a form of empathy that allowed him to connect to the world around him; specifically to the people around him.

When he was younger, Quatre had called the feelings he would feel from those around him his Space Heart; because like the empty space there was no warmth in the emotions that swallowed him day in and day out. The mistaken belief that his father saw him as replaceable because he was a test-tube baby had only made it worse since his personal feelings clouded his perception of what he felt. That all changed the day he allowed himself to be taken hostage by the Maganacs on the mining satellite his family had owned when Rashid had slapped him and told him he should have pride in himself regardless of how he was born.

He still referred to his mostly unexplored ability as his Space Heart but his reasons for doing so had changed. Now, he saw his connection to those around him as the Heart of Life in Space as he strove to provide the warmth in the vacuum of space by caring for those around him and seeking to prevent the war that would tear the Colonies and Earth apart. It was his empathy that had led him to befriend Trowa during the Corsica Base mission and how he knew that his fellow pilot also sought peace. And when he had first felt the stirrings of pain in his heart as he engaged his first opponents, he had feared that there was something wrong with his fellow pilot but he quickly realized the pull on his senses did not feel like Trowa; nor did it feel like any of the Maganac.

In fact, whoever it was that was fueling his current pain was actually drowning out everyone else's emotions in the area and it scared Quatre on an instinctive level because he'd never felt another's emotions to such an extent before. The idea that one person could overwhelm him in such a way should have been impossible and yet Quatre couldn't deny what he was feeling. Despite the near crippling pain, Quatre fought on without faltering; somehow knowing that he was fighting for the life of that bright soul and that there wasn't much time left.

Quatre inexplicably knew, in the depths of his heart, that should that bright soul disappear into the darkest night, the world and the future would grow far darker and colder for the loss. So Quatre wielded his two shotel swords with deadly accuracy and for once without an ounce of remorse as he plowed his way through the enemy. Off to the south, Trowa fought just as determinedly (though far less emotionally) as he mowed down his opponents with the numerous machine guns that had been integrated into his Gundam.

Both Zero-Three and Zero-Four were caught off guard by a third Gundam that had arrived on the scene when the offshore fleet that they were steadily fighting their way towards was unexpectedly engulfed in flames before the three ships exploded quite spectacularly. The battle ended a bare five minutes later when Quatre cut down the last four Leos that had been charging him and he quickly prepared to face the newly arrived Gundam as it made its way to the beach with the burning ships lighting up the night behind it. By unspoken agreement, Trowa and Quatre closed in on the new suit (unknowingly heading straight for Harry's unseen wards); both of them knowing they would have to work together if the third pilot attacked them.

"I suggest you both stop moving right this minute unless you wish to destroy yourselves and your suits needlessly!" the pilot of the new suit ordered, making Trowa and Quatre halt in their tracks over the unexpected command. "You are in danger of colliding with an extremely dangerous energy field capable of destroying your suits the instant they brush against it. If you don't believe me, check out the satellite feed I am sending you from eight days ago; which, coincidentally was when the second Gundam went missing."

Quatre didn't bother watching the video stream that was sent to him, his eyes were closed and he had hunched over in his chair as the stabbing, burning pain in his chest began to overwhelm him now that he was no longer focused on cutting down the enemy. Sandrock dropped down to its knees in response and Quatre blindly fought his way out of the buckles of his harness as he opened the cockpit door and crashed down onto the sand below. Quatre was completely unaware of the madness that ensued at that point as his two fellow pilots also left their suits and rushed to his aide only to pull up short when a bruised and bleeding teen suddenly appeared amidst them from seemingly out of nowhere.

Heero had stumbled to a wide eyed stop the moment he stepped outside of the cave and found another two Gundams battling to the north and the south of the small secluded stretch of beach beneath the protective wards. A spike of unfamiliar fear rushed through him as the idea that the two Gundams had been given a mission to destroy him and his suit passed through his thoughts before he shoved the thought away. He would worry about their reasons for coming to Japan later (which is where Duo had told him he'd washed up); right now he needed to find a way to get Harry the medical help he desperately needed.

Actually, first he needed to find some place to hide as stray beam fire passed through the wards to hit the pile of scrap metal and sent burning bits of debris raining down inside of the wards. He eventually took cover beneath the shield of his Gundam after raiding his weapon supply in the cockpit so he didn't feel quite so vulnerable; taking more than one hit from flying debris in the process. As he sat there, he analyzed the abilities of the two Gundams that were destroying the Alliance and OZ troops; making note that the one to the north seemed to favor close combat while the one on the south focused more on striking from a distance using heavy firepower.

He could easily tell that both pilots were good, their movements fluid and unhesitating, and Heero would certainly hate to have to face either of them in battle. It wasn't that he doubted his own abilities, because Heero knew he was a damn good pilot as well, it was just that he could see that the other two Gundam pilots were just as competent as he was; which meant that they would be difficult opponents. Just as Heero was settling in to observe the rest of the battle it ended quite abruptly as yet another Gundam turned up and destroyed the fleet sitting off the coast in an impressive display of sheer fire power (quite literally given that they'd been set on fire).

He tensed up at that point as it looked like the first two suits that had appeared were going to face off together against the third only to hear the third pilot warn the other two pilots away from the edge of the wards. Heero cursed because if the Gundam pilots could pick up evidence of the wards that meant that the Alliance and OZ would eventually discover them as well; if they hadn't already. Torn by that revelation, Heero glanced back at the hidden cave entrance before he made his decision.

Two minutes later, he stepped out through the wards and found himself face to face with three teens. There was a tense moment as the two still standing fell into defensive stances before Heero tossed his guns down on the ground and held up his hands to show he meant them no harm. The young Asian then stayed to cover him while the other teen rushed over to check on the pilot of the third Gundam as the blond haired teen appeared to be in some kind of pain.

Heero turned his full attention to the teen standing just a few feet away from him and took note of the sword buckled to the teen's waist and Heero was sharply reminded of the sword Harry had carried those first two days; a sword that had mysteriously vanished at some point after he'd obtained the kid's oath. Shoving aside the idle thought, Heero focused on the other teen once more.

"We don't have much time before this beach is once more crawling with OZ and Alliance troops due to the small party the three of you threw upon your arrival," Heero pointed out calmly. "I have a friend who is in desperate need of medical assistance; can you help?"

"I'm not a medic. Why haven't you taken him to a hospital?"

"We have been pinned down here for eight days with no transportation off the island in conjunction with the constant patrols of Alliance troops and the hospitals aren't exactly safe but we're running out of time and we're going to lose him if he doesn't get the care he needs soon."

"Are you one of the missing pilots?"

"Yes, my name is Heero Yuy."

"I am Wufei Chang. Where is your Gundam and do you know where the other missing pilot and his Gundam are? Is your injured friend the other missing pilot?"

"My Gundam and Maxwell's are here, hidden out of sight for the time being, but both of them are currently inoperable and in desperate need of repair. Maxwell, the pilot of the other Gundam, is fine or at least he was when I left him at the start of the battle. The one who needs help is just a kid really and his injuries are not healing due to the onset of infection on top of the rather nasty fever he developed several days ago. We've done what we could for him but we don't have anything to treat him with and we don't know if there is something else wrong with him above and beyond the obvious."

"I have some medical training," a voice off to one side announced and both Heero and Wufei turned to the brown haired teen that was holding up the weakened blond pilot as the two joined them. "Can he be moved? It wouldn't be wise to stay here much longer as we'll have more company in less than fifteen minutes."

"I don't know if he can be safely moved but we don't have much choice at this point because he is the only one that can key you into the security system that is protecting his home. Do any of you have a way to transport a pair of crippled Gundams out of here? As I'd mentioned earlier both Gundams are inoperable due to the inner circuitry being fried."

"We have a pair of trucks we can load them up on to take them to the other side of the island where we have a barge waiting," the blond whispered tiredly. "We have to hurry though because the boy doesn't have much time. I can feel him dying."

Heero glanced at the blond sharply and found a pair of pain filled blue eyes pinning him in place. He nodded curtly and collected his two pistols from the ground, "I'll have Maxwell bring the kid out while you make arrangements for the Gundams. If you have tow cables on hand, I can run them through the perimeter's defenses and hook them up to the Gundams once you bring the trucks around."

"I will keep watch for reinforcements sent by the Alliance," Wufei announced as he walked back to his Gundam.

Heero nodded and vanished back into the wards before he broke out into a run, heading for the entrance to the cave. He was a little disturbed to find evidence that the cave had suffered some structural damage during the short battle as the floor was coated with stone dust and dirt as well as more than a few chunks of rock. A quick scan of the main cavern showed no signs of life and Heero hurried across the room towards the alcove where the beds were.

"Maxwell!? Are you two alright?"

"We're as fine as can be, Hee-man," Duo called back.

Heero growled at the horrid nickname that Duo had given him earlier in the week but chose to ignore it this time because getting the kid out of here was far more important. Inside of the alcove, Heero paused for a moment to take in the makeshift shelter that Duo had built to offer him and the kid a measure of protection before he shook off the strangeness of his fellow pilot.

"Grab hold of the kid while I start packing up anything important; we've got company and a ride out of here," Heero ordered.

"Who is it?" Duo asked tensely even as he immediately began complying.

"Would you believe me if I told you it was another trio of Gundam pilots?"

"Actually, yeah I would. Howard was pretty certain there were five of us that had been sent down ta Earth," Duo replied as he grinned at Heero. He then frowned as he glanced down at the kid in his arms as he asked, "What about da kid?"

"One of the other pilots has medical training," Heero replied as he packed up the clothes Harry had let them borrow the day Duo first arrived and gathered up anything else he thought the kid might need, including what was left of the bruise balm and the healing cream he'd been using on the kids side and back and the box from the desk.

"How are ya goin' ta get me out of here? I thought ya said only da kid could get me through da wards."

"You're going to carry the kid; so long as you are touching him you should be able to pass through the wards," Heero replied back as he passed the pack and a pair of pistols to the other teen. "Here, I've packed up everything of the kid's that I could find that he might need. We can always come back and get the rest of his things once he's healed and the Alliance looses interest in the island."

"What if his wards thingies fail, won't his stuff be taken by OZ?"

"If two intense battles didn't drop his wards I seriously doubt anything else will. If they do manage to get in here, I doubt that they're going to have any more luck than we did when it came to budging or breaking into those trunks. Now, shut up and get the kid out of here; I left the pilot who offered to take care of him near the tide line so just walk straight towards the water. I'll finish packing up everything you were working on and will help them load up the two Gundams. I want you to stay with the kid and make certain nothing happens to him."

"Heero…"

"Shut up and go!"

Heero watched as Duo shook his head, slung the backpack containing Harry's things over his shoulder, and readjusted his hold on the kid in his arms before tentatively moving towards the eastern wall. He knew the instant Duo saw through the illusion because the other teen cussed a couple of times and shook his head again before he slipped out of the cave and Heero breathed a sigh of relief; trusting Duo to take care of the kid for him. Heero then began gathering up the various system boards that Duo had been trying to repair and tucked them into the duffle bag that had once held his spare weapons before he began using it to transport the fried system boards back and forth between the cave and his Gundam.

He glanced at his watch and cursed when he saw he'd wasted nearly eight minutes already and began taking less care with the parts he was gathering. Once he was done, he hurried outside of the cave and climbed up on top of Wing so he could drop the system boards into the cockpit and lock the door so that the boards wouldn't be lost during transport. He then ran across the top of his Gundam to drop down on the southern edge of the wards where he could see two transport trucks waiting along with a dozen brown mobile suits that he guessed were allies of one of the pilots since they weren't attacking the three Gundams.

"Toss me the cables and I'll hook up the first suit," Heero called as he stepped through the wards, making the men standing beside the transport jump in response to his sudden appearance. "My Gundam is lying perpendicular to the trucks right now, so we'll have to turn him as we bring him out."

"He needs to come out head first; it will be easier to load him that way," one of the men suggested as he passed Heero the ends of three thick cables.

"Not a problem… the second Gundam is in a bit more of a precarious position and will be easier to pull from the northern edge, if you take the second truck down to the tide line and head north for at least forty yards before turning towards the cliff you'll be able to work your way around the wards. Stop about halfway between the beach and the cliff facing the beach; we'll have to pull him out of the cave before we can pull him clear of the wards."

"Got it, let me know when the first suit is ready to go."

Nodding, Heero hauled the cables back into the wards and moved towards the head of his Gundam where he attached one cable to each shoulder before hooking the last one to the back of the suit below the head. He checked to make certain the cables were secure before he trotted back out and gave a sharp whistle to get the men's attention. When they looked over at him, he waved his hand to signal he was ready for them to haul the Gundam out. Slipping back inside of the hidden stretch of beach, Heero monitored the process to make certain there wasn't going to be any issues taking the suit through the wards (there wasn't) before he took off running towards the other side so he could get the other suit moving.

It was about the time that they were trying to free Duo's Deathscythe from the cave that the Alliance reinforcements turned up and Heero cursed their luck as he watched Wufei head them off. The blond's Gundam soon joined the Asian teen while the last functioning Gundam sat unmanned which Heero took to mean that the final teen was still tending to Harry. Once the Gundam cleared the cave, Heero told the driver of the truck to turn north and pull it through the wards without bothering to switch the cables as they originally planned; there just wasn't enough time. The moment the feet of the suit cleared the wards, Heero dashed off in the direction of the unmanned Gundam with the intention of piloting the Gundam in order to help fend off the enemy.

The suit fired up before he reached it and Heero took that to mean that either someone else hijacked the suit or the original pilot had done what he could for Harry and went to join the fight. Praying that the suit was piloted by a potential ally and hoping that Duo hadn't been separated from the kid, Heero changed directions once again; this time heading towards one of the smaller unmanned suits (that he figured belonged to the allies that came with the Gundams) after he witnessed the pilot get cut down before he could get inside the machine. Heero didn't hesitate to climb up inside and he quickly started up the suit as he spent several precious second familiarizing himself with the unfamiliar system. The first thing he did was to activate the communications system and address his new allies over their secured frequency.

"This is Heero Yuy, pilot of the Gundam Wing, borrowing one of your unmanned suits after witnessing the pilot being killed by the enemy," Heero announced crisply in order to establish himself as an ally and not an enemy. "Both downed Gundams have cleared the protective wards and should either be on their transport trucks or close to it. Can someone please confirm that my companions have made it safely to the barge?"

"This is Rashid Kurama, leader of the Maganac Crops. Both of your companions have been secured. Please provide cover for the vehicles transporting the two Gundams."

"Mission accepted," Heero replied as he headed towards the nearest truck where the shrunken Deathscythe had just been loaded in time to intercept two enemy suits that he promptly took down using the beam riffle that the suit he was borrowing was equipped with.

03-13-16: This chapter has replaced with an edited and revised edition that added ninety words to the story content and removed any unnecessary author's notes. ~ Jenn