A Reason for Living Part 12
More than Darkness in the Forest

Heero, attired in his favorite all-black outfit, stared passed the roadside into the forest's gloomy fringes. "You stay here with the car while I have a look."

"Wait a minute I thought we were in this together?" Duo refreshed Agent 01's memory.

"We are. I'm only going to scout out the perimeter. I'll be back in half an hour. Here is my cell phone if anything goes wrong call Wufei; the number is on speed dial."

Duo lips parted to protest. "I'll be careful." Heero promised running his finger gently across Duo's mouth to quiet his questions.

*********

Earlier that evening:

By the time Duo returned with the "appropriated" directions to the lodge, the quartet of IPB agents had decided that forty-eight hours didn't give them any hours to waste.

Even though it was already eleven o'clock Heero insisted that a reconnaissance of the route and the area surrounding the lodge be carried out that night. Quatre had purposed a double survey reckoning that separate teams could cover more territory.

Wufei augured that too many people roaming around increased the chances of discovery. "We can't give Dorothy any reason to become suspicious."

Trowa agreed, "If she has the slightest notion that the operation is not secure she will clear out the merchandise or, worse yet, she might destroy it altogether."

"At least let us act as backup." Quatre pressed his belief that 01 and the inexperienced civilian should not go alone.

"No, there is too much at stake." Heero stated emphatically. "I won't attempt a deep insertion, just far enough to get reliable estimates so we can plan the next phase."

*********

Now Duo stood by the tree line watching Heero disappear into the shadowy darkness. "Hurry back." he whispered. Suddenly he felt very much alone.

The nearly full moon peeked out between the junction of twin mountains. Thin shafts of moonlight filtered through the treetops producing pale pools among early spring flowers, vine-tangled underbrush and exposed roots.

Heero had decided to forego a flashlight because even a small amount of light could be seen in the dark. Unfortunately the limited light did little to illuminate the nonexistent path forcing him to prod along at a frustrating pace.

The occasional far off call of a night bird was all he heard as he moved deeper into the dense woods. Dewy dampness glistened on the leaves and soaked through his trousers then cooled quickly in the night air.

After ten minutes travel the gloom lessened. Another five measures of time and the trees thinned out. A grassy clearing materialized from the overgrown forest floor making it easier to see but it also put Heero well out into the open. The obscurity that the broad trees had afforded moments ago faded away leaving only waist-high plants to conceal the agent's presence.

Heero stood still studying the exposed space then he noticed that the clearing paralleled an unfinished gravel road that common sense told him lead to the lodge. The gray, gritty surface twisted sharply to the left then, just as abruptly, turned back on itself. The width narrowed almost vanishing behind a stand of tall evergreens but deep ruts told Heero that the road had recently seen a lot of use.

Skirting the road 01 stayed inside the large pines' protection feeling less naked in the moon's leering Cyclops gaze. The road wound around once more. Beyond the bend a hill climbed steadily and steeply and atop the flattened mound, starkly bathed in moonlight, the lodge loomed up against the midnight sky.

Darkened windows stared down at Heero with a hallow vacancy. No visible exterior lighting gave the bleak facade every appearance of being empty but two vehicles parked in front betrayed it supposed abandonment.

Fifty yards to the right showed an indention in the building's side. One dim light mounted above a set of double doors disproved the lodge's deserted image. "The mirage could use some work." Heero declared under his breath as he slipped from his shadowy concealment and employed what cover a group of lean saplings could throw up against the silvery light.

He rounded the trees careful not to disturb even the smallest branch. The lodge's high-peaked roofline, crisscrossed with heavy timbers, broadcasted a full adumbration ending where the road's last curve snaked up the hill.

This dim foreshadowing, Heero decided, would cover his route almost to the building's front door but glancing over his shoulder made him realize that his investigative inspection had carried him well beyond the perimeter's border.

His promise to Duo and his singular status made further advancement impractical, not to mention downright dangerous. Heero had been trained to handle himself in any situation and now that training told him that reinforcements and more firepower were required.

No accurate ground layout plus an undetermined count of personnel called for every available assistance to be utilized. Also the lack of a detailed floor plan opted for sneaking in rather than a headlong frontal assault. Backtracking, Heero reversed his course making for the murky center of the forest and the most direct path back to Duo.

*********

Wispy clouds drifted in no particular pattern playing hide and seek with the moon. Duo sat his hip against the BMW, crossed his arms over his chest and tried to display a casual attitude. All by himself, with nothing but dimly shaded woods and unidentified night sounds, Duo's imagination began to work overtime.

Wind rustling the leaves conjured up visions of wild beasts slinking through the forest. Amongst the trees he swore that glowing eyes shone with malice and that the skeletal branches move in an unearthly fashion. Ghost stories and tales of a headless horseman were involuntarily recalled as if his thoughts were being guided by unseen specters.

Then, if his fantastic mental fabrications weren't enough to deal with, he began to wonder what he would do if a vehicle, especially of the enemy variety, happened by. His only option would be to hide in the phantom filled forest and pray that none of the bad guys would be alerted that something was wrong.

Duo paced beside the car then stopped to study the road in both directions. He checked the time span between Heero's leaving and his returning. "Ten more minutes." he mumbled to himself and any disembodied spirits that might be listening.

*********

Flickering light brought Heero's return journey to a halt. Ahead, in the vacant space that he had traversed just minutes before, irregular shadows slipped across the clearing and danced over the underbrush. It seemed that a jeep had materialized from somewhere along the gravel road. The flame from a fuel-fed lamp sitting on the hood glinted on the jeep's windscreen and shimmered over its front end.

It didn't take a genius to know that the jeep and lantern had not come to be there on their own but Heero saw no movement and heard nothing but the wind whistling through the trees. Cautiously he made his way nearer to the mysterious machine.

Crouching among a stand of spruce he remained motionless figuring that the driver and possibly one or more passengers could very well be wandering about in the woods and that at any moment either his or Duo's presence could be discovered.

Suddenly getting back to Duo took on pressing importance but first he decided to disable the vehicle and any communications equipment. Cutting off contact with the lodge could give he and Duo the few precious seconds required to make their escape hopefully unseen and unscathed.

The Beretta slid from his holster, 01's finger caressed the trigger. Eyes and ears concentrated sight and sound into a single, sharp focus. Slowly he inched from his leafy concealment and scooted around the jeep's bumper. A Khushrenada Electronics parking permit was fastened to the windscreen and that was all the conformation Heero needed to know that the mission was indeed on the track.

In the lone lantern's limited light it was difficult to pick on many details of the jeep's interior accessory panel. Once inside he would rip out any wires connected to a mobile phone or radio device and also pop the hood latch for phase two of his disabling duty.

The stealthy spy scanned the immediate area, listened once more then reached for the door handle. Just as Heero's fingertips touched the cold metal something came down hard across the base of the skull. The stunning strike slammed his head into the side window, for a split second 01 lost his bearings and an opaque cloud settled over his senses.

A forceful intake of air dispelled the foggy images swimming inside his head. With a stagger Heero spun around leveling the Beretta's barrel at the unseen attacker.

A man dressed in a dark brown uniform was drawing back a beefy fist preparing to deliver a second blow. The automatic's trigger engaged, a loud BANG fractured the night-shrouded silence but the hurried shot went wild.

Heero took an unsteady step forward; his finger drew back for another shot. Strong arms wrapped around from behind. One forearm came up under Heero's chin pressing in on his windpipe, the other pinned his arm to his side misdirecting the bullet harmlessly into the ground.

Heero gritted his teeth and fought the choke hold but the harder he tried to wiggled free the more his lungs begged for oxygen and his legs refused to hold him upright. The arm crushed harder cutting off his air supply, the Beretta dropped from his weakened grasp. Taking advantage of the restrained stranger's vulnerable condition the brown uniformed man followed through with his punch plowing a tightly curled fist into 01's stomach.

The punch further compromised Heero's restricted breathing. The dim cloud returned dazing his perceptions and tangling his thoughts. Dots danced over his eyes and his knees went rubbery. Still the IPB agent was determined not to go down without a fight. Digging in his heels he threw back his shoulders exhausting what little strength he had left.

The cold "business end" of a 357 Magnum automatic was shoved into Heero's temple. "Move again and I'll blow your brains to hell." a hot, husky voice hissed in his ear leaving no room for misinterpretation.

Begrudgingly 01 gave up his struggle not to save himself but for Duo's sake because as long as he was the men's focal point they would not be wandering about the forest. Heero hoped that Duo would soon realize something had gone wrong and call the Lone Dragon but until help arrived his cooperation was the key to his survival.

At Heero's clear sign of surrender the Magnum's owner asked. "What now?"

"We follow orders." the brown uniform answered, "Hold him." he instructed as he seized Heero's right arm and pushed both his jacket and shirt sleeve up at the same time.

A hypodermic needle flashed in the lamplight. Heero tensed but did not resist. A sharp prick, a burning sensation, a low moan then murky numbness covered over like a suffocating curtain. The surrounding forest telescoped, each distorted image fell in one on the other as the black tunnel collapsed.

Heero's lungs heaved in painful pants against the heaviness in his chest. As the enveloping darkness won the battle shallow puffs replaced the labored expirations, muscles relaxed and joints went limp.

In his fuzzy, half-conscious state Heero's muddled perceptions vaguely recorded the jarring shock when he was roughly dumped on the ground beside the jeep. The brown uniformed man picked up the discarded Beretta and shoved it in his belt. With a victorious sneer he jabbed Heero with the toe of his boot. A faint groan affirmed 01's total incapacitation.

"I think this needle business is crap." the man with 01's gun declared, "A good knock on the head works every time."

The second sentry nodded in agreement. "But you remember what happened with the last guy, what was his name?"

"Baines."

"Yeah, Baines. He didn't have enough mind left to answer any questions. No, better to do it the boss's way. I'll call up and report what we have."

Standing inches from Heero's prone body the caller was confident that the tranquilizer had done its job. He glanced down at the captive's ashen face, unclipped a mobile phone and punched in a number. Voices floated over Heero but the distant echoes jumbled into indistinguishable bits and pieces of white noise.

"He said to sit tight." the caller reported.

The brown uniform snorted, "Well I'm sure as hell ain't gonna sit here all night."

*********

Duo squirmed restlessly in the front seat. He got out and looked his watch, more than the allotted time had passed since the Japanese agent had taken off. Nervously he paced beside the bordering tree line then checked the time once more. Heero was long overdo.

His instincts continued to nag, to insist that something was wrong. It took all of his willpower to resist the disquiet feelings as he struggled with disobeying an order that he really wasn't bound to in the first place.

A distant sound reverberated then a second keen crack bounced off the trees. "Heero!" Duo cried out loud. Now his instincts were screaming inside his head. Without pause, disregarding the cell phone and the call to Wufei, Duo started off vanishing into the forest at a frantic speed.

*********

The two sentries relaxed. Sprawling back against the same board tree trunk, encouraged by their belief that the drugged intruder would be out for some time, they had lessened their alertness. They didn't seem worried about watching and they hadn't deemed it necessary to secure Heero's hands.

One turned up a bottle allowing a full swallow of the cheap brew to warm his throat. The other took his turn wrinkling his face into a horrid frown. "Where did you get this shit?" he wheezed as the strong spirits burned all the way down.

*********

With extra effort Heero rolled onto his back. Overhead branches blurred, their leaves gyrated wildly. He shut his eyes to stop the spinning. A numbing buzz filled his head; his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. On his inside forearm a bruised welt had formed at the needle's contact point and a black crust had sealed off the blood oozing from the puncture. Stiff soreness radiated in ever-widening circles and ran the entire length to his fingers.

Again he blinked to chase away the oscillating images. "Fight!" his mind ordered.

The uniformed man and his drinking buddy passed the bottle again. The lull in their observation, their misjudgment of the drug's potency, was working in Heero's favor. Each inattentive moment, each swig of whiskey allowed Agent 01 more time to recover.

*********

Heero continued to fight. Hard gasps for air gradually gave way to less constricting breaths. The replenished oxygen levels eased his aching lungs and helped clear his head.

He forced himself to think of names, numbers, silly bits of gibberish, anything to bring his scattered senses into some order. The opaque film thinned out, his vision slowly began to improve. Concentrative inhalations then focused exhalations, over and over again in a rhythmic pattern.

However, an attempt to sit up proved futile. His muscles were too weak to bear his weight, a nauseous wave washed over and clammy sweat beaded on his forehead. As much as his condition had recovered, Heero knew that he was still a long way from saving himself. Reluctantly he resigned to the faintness and the gray haze floated over once more.

*********

Duo was becoming more frustrated by the minute. He had been wandering through the woods for what seemed like forever trying to figure where Heero might be. The thought that Agent 01 had returned to the car, found him gone and struck out again to find him kept tugging at Duo's mind.

He paused, twisted to his left then right then back down the direction he had just come. "Heero is going to be mad." he sighed. But he couldn't give up, not since the nagging had turned into urgent prodding bordering on panic.

*********

Heero's eyelids fluttered then flew open with a start. How much time had passed? How long had he been asleep? The lamplight streaked in orange reflections along the jeep's side causing Heero to squint against the brightness.

Formally numb extremities seemed more inclined to cooperate and the buzzing in his head had abated to a tolerable level. Voices a short distance away registered clearer, their clarity carried on an increasingly gusty breeze.

A reddish spot danced in the darkness as the uniformed man lit a cigarette. "Now much longer to we have to baby sit this guy?" he wondered blowing out a curling puff of smoke.

"I don't know." the second man shrugged, "The boss said he'd call when he wanted us to bring him up."

The smoking man drew in deeply then expelled a stream of bluish haze, "Why do we have to stay here anyway?" he complained. He looked up at the massive lodge and the silver-haloed moon resting between the twin mountain peaks. The fact that it was warm in the lodge and chilly in the woods didn't make the waiting any easier.

"Maybe he's entertaining some hotshot or maybe he's got a whore up there." his partner reasoned.

"It's gettin' colder. I ain't waiting forever."

"Hey maybe that blond, what's her name...Catalonia...would come down to keep us company."

"Yeah its about time she did something besides give us orders. She should haul her pretty ass down here and help us keep warm." the smoker proclaimed with a lustful grin.

Turning up his collar and the bottle against the falling temperatures, the temporary minder of Heero's Beretta rocked forward, "If something don't break soon I'm gonna waste the guy myself," he announced pulling the pistol from his belt, "and I'm gonna do it with his own gun."

Heero shifted over on his side and drew his knees to his chest. He managed to push up on one elbow to see the disembodied voice's face. "Come on and try it you bastard." he swore under his breath.

*********

Duo guessed he was halfway back to the car, if he hadn't been traveling around in circles. Muted light filtering through the trees caused a smile to bloom over his lips. The road had to be nearby and hopefully Heero would be there, too.

Hurried strides carried Duo along the overgrown "path". His anxious anticipation of a reunion with Heero precluded his usual cautious nature. His mind was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the clearing or the jeep until he was almost on top of it. Skidding to an abrupt halt Duo ducked behind a low branch and sucked in a startled gulp of damp night air.

Two men, washed over in artificial lamplight, were so near that Duo swore he could hear them breathing. Suddenly the realization of how close he had come to charging headlong into the enemy's camp sunk in. A nerve-wrenching shutter ran up his spine and his heart pounded bringing on momentary faintness.

"You almost blew it this time." he chided himself then drew deeper within the branches as one man dressed in a brown uniform stretched and stood up.

"I've had with this shit!" the man declared tossing aside a used up cigarette. "If someone wanted to question this guy they should have come on." He took the Beretta and started forward with a weaving gait.

"You'd better wait." his partner cautioned as he caught up part the way to the jeep. "The last person you want to cross is Paul Carter."

"I ain't afraid of Carter," the gunman announced, his cockiness bolstered by the liquor's false courage, "or that damned bossy bitch. I'll fix them just the way I'm gonna finish off our nosy visitor."

His partner put his restraining hand on a brown-clad arm. "But Septum is backing them up. I don't think you want to tangle with him."

The inebriated sentry reeled around jerking free, "Septum ain't going to find out, is he?" he stated tottering backwards several steps. The Beretta swayed dangerously in the air as he motioned with the weapon toward the lodge.

It was apparent by his slurred speech and rocky balance that the fermented brew had a good hold and the other man knew from past encounters that his partner's mood, altered by alcohol, could quickly change becoming unpredictable at the best and highly volatile at the worse.

Septum was a formable force to reckoned with but if it came down to choosing between a fight with the hired henchman or his drunken colleague he would take on Septum any day. Wisely he backed off and stayed in place.

Duo cautiously eased to the right putting himself in a better position to see the jeep. At first the wobbly advancing man blocked his view of the person curled up on the ground.

"Move aside dammit." Duo whispered. The same disquiet feelings had returned stronger and more imploring.

The gunman stopped by the jeep, the shadows thrown up by the lantern parted to reveal the fetal form's face. Fear triggered panic.

"HEERO! NO!" Duo screamed as he gave up his woody protection.

Now Duo stood completely exposed staring into the barrels of a borrowed Beretta and a 357 Magnum and the glaring eyes of two men who would not hesitate to fire.

TBC...

 

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