Author: Merula
Pairings: 1x2
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Yaoi, AU, songfic.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not ours.
Okay, this is our 'serious' entry to Sunhawk's Fic for a Pic contest. (Mission Improbable was the funny non-entry). For the contest you had to write a fic that went with a picture on her site.
We took the song, 'The Highwayman' written by Alfred Noyes as the other part of our inspiration for this.
The fic switches viewpoints as we go along.
Many thanks to inthefire2002 for prereading!
The Highwayman
The dream was always the same.
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding- riding-riding-
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door
I could feel the wind cutting through my coat, feel it ruffling through my hair, when had it ever been so long? When had I ever worn clothes like this?
He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!
And he rode with a jeweled twinkle,
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky.
The weapons were well used, worn to my hand, familiar companions. As familiar as the building before me.
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
I looked up at the shadowy figure above. My love... but wasn't the hair the wrong color? Shouldn't it be brown? Shouldn't those eyes be purple, not black?
Appearance didn't matter, my heart knew who sat up in that window.
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."
I would always return to my lover. No matter what, no matter who stood in my way, nothing would keep me from my love.
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
(Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the West.
The hair flowed over my hands- it should be brown!- but I didn't care. I kissed the strands carefully, gently, knowing that later I would return and claim more.
I turned my horse away, knowing that my lover watched my departure from the window.
And now the part I hated the most in this dream. I became a wraith, a ghost, helpless to stop what was coming, forced to witness it over and over...
He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;
And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching-Marching-marching-
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-
door.
RUN! I implored my lover silently as I watched the troop approach, but my voice was a silent call, my warning unnoticed.
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window;
And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through the casement, the road that he would ride.
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her.
She heard the dead man say- Look for me by moonlight;
Watch for me by moonlight;
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!
How dare they! How dare they touch my love! They would pay for this! Somehow I would make them pay!
She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
No! No! I begged silently. Not that! Why hadn't they tied the knots tighter? Why did none of them notice that finger on the trigger?
The tip of one finger touched it; she strove no more for the rest!
Up, she stood up to attention, with the barrel beneath her breast,
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;
Blank and bare in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain.
Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs
ringing clear; Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding, Riding, riding!
The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up straight and still!
I knew that it was me on the road, even as the wraith-me in the bedroom heard the horse approaching. I tried to undo more knots, tried to tear my beloved's finger off that awful trigger, but my hands were ghost-hands, useless.
Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him-with her death.
NO! NO! I screamed, unheard, watched that beloved form slump, watched the hot blood pour onto the floor.
He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.
I was wrenched away from that room, back on that horse, back on the road. My weapons were on me. I was real! I could kill them for what they did!
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with a bunch of lace at his throat.
I sat up, sweat cooling on my skin, shivering, the echoes of gunshots in my ears. I was up and out of the bed before I knew it, making my way across the hallway to stand in my roommate's doorway.
I could see the rise and fall of Duo's blankets, his braid spread over the pillows.
Alive... he's alive. He's breathing, he's here and he's alive.
And no one is ever going to take him from me!
I blinked. What was I doing? I closed my eyes and the image from the dream rose up, a slumped over figure, blood pooling at her... his feet...
My eyes snapped open. Duo was still there, still breathing, still snoring. I smiled faintly. I was being ridiculous, getting all worked up over a dream, and not even a dream from the war. But the image from the dream, the long hair, the pool of blood, the rifle shot... I shivered and stepped a bit closer to the bed.
The snoring paused, the figure on the bed sat up, blinking in the dim light. "Heero? Something wrong?"
Ah, damn it. I hadn't meant to wake Duo. I shrugged.
"Nightmare." I told him. It happened enough between the two of us that there really wasn't a more detailed explanation needed. How many times had I plunged across the hall, awakened by the sound of Duo's screams? How many times had I woken up from a nightmare and found Duo beside me? Too many times to count. Duo would understand. He always did.
"Need me to pinch you to prove you're awake?" Duo teased me and I felt myself relax a bit more.
"No thanks. Just- needed to hear you breathing." I replied and then teased back: "or snoring actually." Duo grinned at my weak joke.
"Always glad to be of service." Duo patted the bed next to him. "Come tell me about it?"
It was tempting. The damn thing had been haunting me for nights now. Besides, I didn't have to tell him all of it... Duo was looking at me expectantly, and I knew if I didn't tell him something now, he'd worm it out of me eventually.
"It's a weird-awful one." That was part of our code. Dreams were good, bad, awful or- in Duo speak- just plain weird.
"All the better. Easier to make fun of if there's some weird in there." Duo snapped on the light next to his bed, knowing that the 'awful' dreams needed light, even if they were mixed with weird. "Come on."
I went and curled up on the bed, leaning against the headboard. Duo lay flat on his back, eyes fixed on my face, for all the world looking like a child waiting for a bedtime story. This was another of our habits- started by Duo. We would talk out the nightmares, trying to see other ways to go, to mock our own fears, so if the dreams came back, the memory of laughter would cushion the horror. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Some things just couldn't be made funny.
"Okay, spill it." Duo demanded once I was settled in.
"The weird part is really weird." I warned him.
"Heero, did I not tell you about my dream last month with the square dancing hamsters? C'mon, how weird could yours be?" Duo smiled reassuringly and I settled myself more comfortably on the bed.
"I don't really remember much. I was... on the run, hiding from some soldiers." I frowned at the thought of those butchering monsters. "They weren't OZ though- their uniforms were red."
"Zechs wore red. Was it a whole troop of Zechses?"
Now there was a funny thought. Zechs ordering himself around for a change.
"No, I wish. Their uniforms were- old. Like something out of a history book. That's one of the weird parts. I had- gone to hide- but I told someone..." Do I tell him this part? Explain why I was in his room listening to him breathing?
"Do you know who it was?" He asked me and I couldn't lie. I guess he's been rubbing off on me.
"It was you. At least- I think so. You didn't look quite like yourself..." Was that an understatement or what? "But I told you that I'd come back. You were in this big building- and you said you'd wait for me by the window."
"And you let me? Waiting by a window isn't smart. Are you sure it was me?"
"Whoever it was had really long hair and..." I shook my head. I couldn't tell Duo that I knew it was him because of the way I felt about that shadowy figure. I'd know my Duo anywhere.
"Well then it was me, I'm the only person you know with long hair- other than Dorothy and there is no way you'd come back for her. Or is that another weird part?"
"No- it was just you and me and the soldiers. No one else was in the dream."
"Okay," Duo prodded. "So I was waiting by a window..."
"And I promised to be back for you." I paused for a long moment, frowning, remembering what had happened at that window.
"What happened next?" Duo prompted softly. Time for some editing here. I didn't really like remembering this part of the dream. Standing by helpless watching those soldiers tie up my love, watching that finger twist to find the trigger... No. Skip it.
"I went back, it was dark, I was on a road- riding a horse for some reason, and I heard a shot."
"Someone fired at you?"
"No- like a warning. That the soldiers were there waiting for me. I knew that when I heard the shot- but I also knew- that the person waiting for me was dead." I looked down at Duo, and felt myself grow cold. "The shot had killed you- you had done it on purpose somehow. It was your warning for me to get away."
"Did you get away?" Duo's gaze had gone dark and thoughtful.
"I woke up." I shivered, editing still.
"I hope you got away."
"I wanted to go back and kill the bastards that killed you." Duo started to smile, but something- either my face or my voice- stopped him from doing so.
"I'm sure you did." Duo reached out a hand and squeezed my forearm. "You probably went back and stomped on them with your gundam."
Duo was trying to ease me, trying to make the dream less bad, I knew. But it wasn't working. Wing hadn't been in the dream. I'd only had an ancient looking firearm, a sword and a horse. Not enough to take on a troop of soldiers. Not enough to protect my beloved.
I'd failed Duo. Left him behind to die.
"Heero?" Duo's hand tightened on my arm. "Heero? It was only a dream."
"It didn't seem like one. More... like a memory." I focused on Duo, noting his worried expression, but unable to ease it. Just thinking about the dream made me shiver. "It was so real..." I tried to explain. Duo tugged on my arm harder, pulling me down onto the pillows.
"That's it. Sleep here. You so much as breathe funny and I'll wake you, okay?"
"Okay." I didn't even want to argue. Having him next to me might help keep the dream away. I made myself comfortable. Duo tended to curl up when he slept, so there was plenty of room in the bed for an extra body, as I knew very well. When the dreams got too bad, when there was a chance of a repeat, then we'd huddle together under the covers like this.
I wanted more. I wanted to curl up around Duo, wanted to put my head on his chest and hear his heartbeat in my ear. I wanted to kiss him, feel the warmth of his mouth under mine, the undeniable life that thrummed in his veins under my fingers. It wasn't a new desire, born of this dream. It was one I had lived with for years. One that I already knew how to lock down and hide inside me.
~*~
I was getting seriously worried. Heero had made a habit of arriving at my door late at night, just standing there quietly an awful lot lately. If I woke up and said anything to him, Heero would brush it off with: "Nightmare, just making sure you're okay," before vanishing back to his own room. I wondered too how many nights I hadn't woken up, and how long Heero might've stood at my door, listening to my breathing.
When I pressed, Heero would only say that the dream about the window had come back. He refused to talk about it again despite my urging. He didn't accept any of my offers to share the bed with him after that first night either. I hated to think of him struggling on his own to beat that dream. Why didn't he trust me to help?
I had a feeling that there was something more to that dream that he hadn't told me- something he hadn't shared. Why was it haunting him like this?
At work he was the same as ever. Focused, dedicated, not betraying any weakness in the slightest. I had considered dragging him into see Sally, but Heero's work performance wasn't being affected and I knew Sally could do little without the threat of job performance being compromised to make Heero do anything- let alone get some help.
The only proof I had were those faint dark circles that lingered under his eyes. Ones that only I seemed to notice. I asked the others if they had noticed anything about Heero lately. Trowa had just shaken his head, Wufei thought I was imagining things and Noin had said that he'd seemed no different to her.
Quatre, with his spaceheart of course, was the only other one who had noticed something. But he wouldn't tell me what he was picking up from Heero, exactly. He said that he didn't believe in revealing things that he shouldn't. When I protested that Heero was obviously hurting about something, Quatre told me to be patient. I was Heero's best friend, he would confide in me eventually. I told him to talk to Heero and Quatre said that Heero was far more likely to tell me what was bothering him than anyone else. Be patient, he repeated.
I did not want to be patient. But it appeared that I had to be- until I could catch Quatre without Trowa and then beat the information out of him if I had to.
Unless of course Heero told me what the hell was going on.
So, I did the best I could. I kept an eye on Heero, lending a hand when and where I could, trying to get my partner to open up to me. It wasn't that difficult- I'd been doing it for ages. Heero and I had developed a comfortable friendship and I knew Heero trusted me more than anyone else.
I wished for more than friendship, I wanted Heero. All of Heero- his heart and mind and body. I didn't think I'd ever get it, not if he wouldn't tell me what there was about a dream that was bothering him, but I had to have something good to dream about for myself.
The situation continued for a few weeks. Heero watching me in the dark, me trying to get him to tell me what was wrong. I was ready to tie the boy up and refuse to let him go until he did talk to me- which tells you how desperate I was. Heero'd kill me for a stunt like that.
Then Une called us into her office, a grim look on her face, to give us a mission.
Someone was manufacturing weapons. Illegally, obviously, and they were also managing to sell them. The Preventers knew where the parts were being manufactured, but not where they were being sold. If they sent a raiding party in, the chances of the customer list being damaged before they got to those files was high. They needed to send a sneak team in to get the files and get out before the raid. It was a highly protected and armed facility, so Une needed to send the best sneaks she had and she needed to send them as soon as they could go.
Which meant we'd be leaving immediately.
~*~
Duo pulled on his gloves as I hid the jeep. "Ready?" He asked me with what I'd privately dubbed his 'Shinigami' smile. Missions tended to bring out that side of Duo- the side that liked this job not because we were doing the right thing, but because we might get to cause some destruction upon those who deserved it.
"Just about," I adjusted my headset. Not that we'd be able to use them much inside the complex once we split up. Still, they were our support system in case we got stuck.
"Time's a wastin'. The other team is waiting to go in."
"I know that." I finished and raised an eyebrow at him. "Do I need to remind you of the plan?"
"Oh, come on. We go in. you find the files, I find the location of the parts so the raiders have an easier time. We meet back at the jeep and call in the troops. Piece of cake."
I rolled my eyes. "Not exactly."
We approached the facility on foot. The complex was built to look inconspicuous. There were a few buildings visible, with a small grassy area between them. An industrial looking chain link fence circled the complex with guard towers spaced evenly around the perimeter. From Une's plans, I knew that the grey building on the left actually was the top of a larger underground complex, and behind it was a huge pit, lined with underground buildings. "It looks so innocent from up here," Duo muttered quietly.
"It's supposed to." I reminded him, knowing full well that he didn't need the reminder.
"I read the report, Heero." Duo's voice contained the grin that I couldn't see in the dim light. Our banter was comforting and familiar, another routine.
"Just checking." We stopped once the fence was in view. Spotlights were mounted on each corner. "The intelligence suggested that we either go through the fence or over it, then head to that gray building on the left, so we can survey the underground complex." The gates were too well guarded.
"The fence doesn't look that tall, can't you leap it in a single bound?"
"You're the one in spandex." Duo's comic books had been quite an education. At least I understood some of his references now.
"And I look great in it. Much better than you did." Duo ducked down behind a bush as a spotlight went over our heads. I hid behind a tree.
"No arguments here," I muttered, my eyes scanning the fence. I saw Duo shoot a quick look over at me. Oops. Had I said that out loud? The spotlight went over again. Time to move. I took advantage of the next moment or so of darkness the spotlight granted us and headed towards the fence.
~*~
I grimaced as Heero pulled tight on the bandage around my leg. Due to the spotlights, Heero had opted for the quick over the fence approach. I, of course, had managed to scratch myself going over. Heero, man of steel that he is, had made it over without a mark.
"Unfair," I muttered between my teeth as we huddled in the darkened doorway of a building. "Freaking Superman for a partner."
"You could always ask for a reassignment." Heero hissed back as he pulled me to my feet.
"And let someone else watch your ass? Not likely." I snorted at him.
"Gee thanks," Heero grunted as he looked around the corner of the grey building that was closest to the fence. "There's a ledge down here. We should be able to get a better view of the lower complex there."
"I'll go first," I yanked out my gun and edged around the corner. "Can't let you have all the glory."
Heero followed me down the narrow ledge. It was a little disconcerting to have the ground beside the building suddenly drop away. We were now several stories in the air. When we reached the corner, I knelt, bracing myself on the wall, as Heero kept a lookout. Around the corner were more lights, guards and most importantly- a few doorways.
I studied the set up carefully for a few moments, comparing it to what I knew about the operations here, before looking up at my partner. Heero was braced on the wall next to me, his hand a few scant centimeters from mine, his face set in Perfect Soldier Mission Mode.
I'd never tell him, but he looks pretty damn sexy when he's all grim like that.
"Looks like this is the office building. There's another doorway about two floors down that leads to the larger complex, according to the diagrams Une showed us."
"So we split up here." Heero's grim look vanished. He looked- worried? Heero never looked worried when we had a mission. Something was wrong. That haunted look was back- and we were on a wall in the middle of a mission- not the safe darkness of my bedroom.
"Heero?" I moved my fingers those few centimeters and grabbed Heero's hand. It was freezing. "You okay?" If he said no, we were going to get our butts out of here and Une could just send the raiding party in. I was not going to risk my partner.
"Yeah- just... got a shiver." Heero's fingers squeezed back. "Be careful okay? I don't want to have to find a new partner."
"You aren't getting rid of me this easily." I countered, grinning, hoping to shake him out of his mood. "You're stuck with me."
Heero's eyes met mine, teasing gone. "I wouldn't want it any other way. So be careful- for me?"
I blinked. Ah, of course, in the dream I had apparently bought it. That explained the worry. I kept my tone light and teasing, even as my fingers held tight to his.
"I'll be fine. I'll meet you back at the jeep in two hours, just like we planned. You'll be there right?"
"I wouldn't miss it." Heero's mission face was back. I hoped the crisis was over, but I was going to hurry my ass through this mission and get back to him as fast as I could. He and I were going to have a long talk tonight- whether he wanted to or not. We eased back down off the ledge and into our doorway.
"Two hours. Radio silence." I turned my voice channel off, leaving the audio open as Heero did the same. I leaned close, intending to whisper a final 'good luck' to Heero. My braid brushed against his fingers.
To my complete and utter surprise, Heero caught it gently and raised it to his lips for a brief moment.
"Two hours," he whispered as I gaped at him, and then he left.
Apparently there were quite a few things I needed to talk to Heero about. I knew I was grinning like an idiot, but I didn't care. Mission first. Heero later.
~*~
Duo's assessment had been right. It was the office building we'd been standing on. Keeping one ear open for sounds of an alarm going off outside, which would mean that my partner was in trouble, I snuck into the building and found a likely terminal. It took a bit of doing to hack into the system, but once inside I found all the information Une needed and then some. These guys had been very very busy.
I got back out of the system, out of the building and was back outside the gate well within the timeframe we had set. Everything had gone according to plan so far, so why did I feel so jumpy?
Duo wasn't at the jeep yet. Okay, that's a good reason right there. I looked at my watch and realized that I had 15 more minutes until the rendezvous time and made myself relax. Duo would be here soon.
I thought about trying to contact him over the headset, but if Duo was in a tight spot, that wouldn't be smart. I'd wait until the contact time. Duo was the master of stealth. He'd be back in plenty of time. I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, and wondered again why I was having trouble. The mission was going fine. No alarms had gone off, Duo hadn't contacted me, there was no sign that I had messed anything up.
I looked up. The moon, full and heavy, hung in the sky, gilding everything with silver, making the landscape look ghostly and haunted. It made me shiver.
I closed my eyes, leaning back against the jeep.
Then look for me by moonlight, watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way.
I sat bolt upright, nerves shrilling.
The dream.
Why was it haunting me now?
I'd kissed Duo's braid before we parted. I hadn't even thought about it, I had just done it as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I remembered the feeling of the hair wrapped around my hand, Duo's eyes wide and dark in his face.
Had something in me known that I was bidding him a final farewell?
No. It was only a dream. Duo would be back- he was the one meeting me, not the other way around. So what if the moon looked a little creepy? So what if my nerves were a little on edge? So what if I'd had that dream for nights on end?
I looked at my watch.
Duo was late.
Damn it.
I turned on my headset and said my partner's name.
There was no answer. Only static. Not an empty line- something was wrong with the connection.
I jumped down off the jeep and froze. I could not just go charging back in there. I had a duty to discharge first.
Une needed to know what was going on. The other team was ready to move on our say so. They were only minutes away, more than likely waiting for our transmission even as I waited for Duo.
I threw open the door to the jeep, hoping that Duo would appear beside me, turning my worries into dust. I pulled out the phone and called Une.
Once this was done, I'd go find Duo.
And nothing was going to stop me from finding him.
~*~
I cursed and squirmed against the bonds that held me. Sheer fucking bad luck- walking into that patrol like that. How could a group of men move that silently?
Unless they had been looking for me.
Which only made sense as they recognized me for what I am. Had they been expecting me? Was there a leak in the Preventers network?
And, if that was the case- did they have Heero somewhere?
I didn't bother to respond to their questions and blows. I was too busy listening to them, to their remarks, their conversations with their commander. Had they captured Heero? Was he safe? Or where they also beating him, trying to get him to talk?
I learned quite a few things.
There was a leak- a spy. They had known that someone would be coming to raid the facility. That was obvious.
They had been waiting for that moment to test their products. When the raiders came in they would be the first experiment. The Preventers team would be walking into a trap.
The weapons my captors were holding were the main part of this little experiment. Long range weapons that could cause some major damage to the raiders without the raiders being able to get close.
They didn't have Heero. They thought I was acting alone. They didn't know about the computer hack- thought their banks were still safe.
Heero was safe. For now.
Eventually they grew tired of trying to get me to answer them. They sat me down in a chair in front of a window, tying me in place.
"It would be a pity if you missed the show," one of them hissed in my ear as he gagged me. I would've tried to bite his hand, but who knew where it had been? Disgusting. "Don't think about moving either. We attached some explosives under your chair. You move and you'll end up in pieces."
I froze as the men laughed. I wondered about that explosive. If it was enough to take out me- then wouldn't it take out them as well? Were they that stupid? Or did they think that I wouldn't move?
The broken headset around my neck still buzzed with static. It had been doing that for a while, since they knocked it off of me. I knew that it meant Heero had been trying to contact me; he had turned on the voice channel on his end. Thank gods my end was broken, or they would've heard him.
Heero would be calling Une in by now. On his way in with the others, ready to walk into a trap.
And here I was, tied to an explosive chair with a ringside seat. There were two other windows, close to mine, both of them stuffed with men carrying the new weapons. A bit overkill in my opinion.
What was that? I tilted my head slightly to the side. Under the static, I could make out voices. Faint, but there. Was it my imagination that I heard Heero's voice? To faint to make out words, but the panicked tone was there. Was he worried?
Of course, I was late.
I remembered the way that he had picked up my braid and kissed it, the look on his face... oh gods. He had to care about me.
And he was walking into a trap. I was going to have to watch from this stupid window as Heero got hurt or worse, killed...
It was an easy thing really, when it came down to it.
I waited until the voices got louder, letting my fingers play with the knots that bound my hands to the chair.
If only I'd said something to Heero when he'd kissed my braid. Anything to show that I felt the same. I hated leaving this piece of business behind.
But I had no choice. Heero needed to be warned.
My hands were free.
The men had grown silent, heads cocked to the side and I wondered if they too heard the faint echo of voices on my headset.
Then there were sounds from outside- shouts and shots and screams. The men in the windows straightened up, the weapons coming to bear on the group of shadows that struggled near the base's perimeter.
Now.
I reached out to the window ledge and pushed myself up out of the chair, my legs still bound to it, bringing it with me. I heard the men curse as they lunged for me. I heard the small sound of the bomb being triggered.
And the larger one of it exploding as the wave of heat pushed me out the window and into the air. Pain shot through me and I heard the screams and curses and realized that my mission was complete.
Heero.
~*~
I was a mess. The team had gotten there in record time, but Duo had never come out. Quatre had made me wait for them to get there, told me that I would need them to get Duo out.
I hadn't wanted to wait. I knew something had gone wrong. I knew Duo needed me, but the team had been there in minutes and then Quatre had Wufei and Trowa's help in forcing me to stay with them as Une and the rest of her raiders prepared to storm the place.
Something was wrong. I knew that as we got closer to the facility. There were more sentries, more guards... We broke through and were inside in moments. I did my part, my eyes scanning everywhere for my missing partner.
We were expected- they must have known that we'd be sending someone in after Duo, but these guys had been expecting the raiding party- they were organized. Surprisingly, they hung back, not wanting to engage with us. What the hell was going on?
As we got closer to the buildings, one of the windows suddenly exploded in a great pulse of light. It illuminated the men with their weapons that were waiting for us in the other windows- the group of men with more odd weapons at the bottom of the base.
And we had nearly walked right into them!
"IT'S A TRAP!" I yelled into the headset, even as my feet turned me in the direction of the destruction. Duo was there. Duo had warned us with that explosion. I knew it.
"Agent Yuy! Wait! Heero! Stop!" I heard behind me, but I did not listen.
I ran for the building on the left, dropping down into the complex, guns out, knowing somehow that Duo was there, that he had done this for me... the men were milling about, confused, the explosion having thrown them into a panic.
Then her finger moved in the moonlight, Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him-with her death.
Don't be dead. Please don't be dead! Don't let me have failed you again. Not like last time. Please, be alive...
There was a body crumpled on the ground, surrounded by debris, broken glass, blood.
No.
I heard the shouts, felt the bullets begin to whiz by me, nicking my face, my arm, but I ran for that form, uncaring.
I didn't make it. Pain exploded in my leg, and then my shoulder, then my chest. I went down, unable to run any farther, only a few feet from my goal. I tried to drag myself farther, closer, but the bullets continued to rain down, and I could only reach that familiar strand of blood-darkened hair before darkness overwhelmed me.
I failed you, beloved. Again.
~*~
I cursed under my breath. This mission had gone to hell in a hand basket. First Maxwell never made it out and now Yuy had gone off like a madman. We were outgunned at the moment, despite the unexplained explosion that had thrown that trap they sent for us into disarray.
"Wufei?" I heard Quatre's voice over the headset. "Heero isn't responding. I think he went down out there somewhere close to that one building on the left."
"Duo?"
"No sign. Une has some backups coming in, but they are going to be busy with the troops here. She wants the three of us to retrieve if we can."
Quatre was sounding shaky. That was not a good thing.
And it was 'retrieve' not 'rescue'. Damn it.
"I assume you have a plan?"
"I do. We're going to borrow the jeep."
"And how are we going to get it down there?" I was on the top part of the complex on a ledge looking down.
"Trowa is going to drive it over the edge. He added some things to it. It should make a lovely distraction."
"He's not going with it I hope?"
"Of course not. He's going to jump out first and when they are all distracted, we'll make our way down."
"Where are you?"
"By the guard tower on the right. Trowa's going to go past me. Meet us at the bottom?"
"Got it."
Quatre's plan worked a bit too well. The jeep went over the side and right into a cluster of men standing at the base of the wall. Then it exploded. It was almost too easy to get down there as everyone was rushing towards the explosion, guns out.
We headed towards the building on the left, noting the blown out window and the bodies lying around.
Including two very familiar ones.
Oh gods. I was down at Heero's side immediately, even as Quatre knelt at Duo's. Trowa stood over us, gun out.
"Status?" Trowa snapped.
Heero was covered in blood. Shot numerous times by the look of it. I had to close my eyes for a moment. I looked up at Trowa and saw the same heartsick look on his face.
"Quatre?" I heard a faint, familiar voice. "Is that you?"
"It's me Duo. Status?"
"Legs broken, ribs, head hurts like hell, can't focus." Duo listed, his voice fading. "Is Heero with you? Is he okay?"
"He's fine Duo." Quatre's voice didn't even waver. "We need to get you out of here." Trowa moved to flank Quatre, to get Duo up. I noticed as they raised him to his feet, that Heero's hand was wrapped around Duo's braid. I reached out and removed it before he noticed.
Trowa and Quatre were being very careful to make sure Duo didn't see Heero. They picked him up and moved quickly.
I was not going to leave Heero here. I picked him up as gently as I could and followed a bit behind so that Duo would not see what I carried. Time for that later.
~*~
I woke up in the hospital wondering how I got there.
I remembered Quatre and Trowa carrying me out. I remembered wondering why I could hear Fei, but not see him. I remembered wondering where Heero was. I remembered Trowa handing me over to the medics who gave me some kind of shot.
The hospital room was sterile, typically ugly, and empty. I was alone. I had half expected Heero to be beside me, and if not him, then one of the others. Where were they? Had they gotten hurt too?
I started looking around for the call button so that I could summon a nurse and ask some questions, when the door to my room opened and Fei walked in.
He looked exhausted. He was still wearing his Preventers uniform and it wasn't in the best of shape.
"Maxwell," he said with a faint smile. "I'm glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"
"Like I fell out of an exploding building." I told him. "Where are the others? Are they okay? Where's Heero?"
Why wasn't he here?
Fei lost his smile and I knew something was wrong.
"What happened?" I demanded.
He sat down next to me on the bed, reaching out a hand to touch mine. Fei did not do that kind of thing. Ever.
My fingers tightened on his. "Tell me."
"Trowa had to have some stitches- he got nicked by a bullet in the arm."
"Quatre's with him?"
"No. Quatre is with Heero." Fei took a deep breath and I saw that I was not going to like this news at all.
"What happened to Heero?"
"He went in after you. He knew that explosion had something to do with you and he ran right for it after telling us that it was a trap."
No. He didn't. He wasn't supposed to do that!
"We found him beside you. He had been shot many times. They were using some kind of long range weapon..."
"He's dead?" I whispered.
"No," Fei's voice was not reassuring, it was hesitant. "I thought he was when we brought him in. He lost a lot of blood, took a lot of damage. The doctors just finished with him not too long ago. They don't know if he'll make it or not. Quatre is sitting with him, just in case..." Fei's voice trailed off.
So he doesn't die alone.
"Take me to him."
Much to Fei's credit, he didn't even try to argue. He nodded, got up and left, returning a few moments later with a wheelchair and a flustered looking nurse.
"This really isn't a good idea," she said, and her tone suggested that she'd said it several times already. "The doctor hasn't even been in to see Mr. Maxwell yet..."
I noted her nametag. Betsy.
"Betsy, I need to see my partner. He's badly hurt. Please. The doctor can see me down there, okay?"
Wufei murmured something to her and I saw her pale slightly.
"Oh, I didn't realize, of course." She undid my I.V.s and helped Fei get me into the chair. It hurt, but I didn't really care at the moment.
Fei wheeled me out of the room and down towards the elevators. Betsy promised to call ahead and let them know we were coming.
They were waiting for us. We were ushered into ICU with no questions asked.
Quatre looked up as we entered. He was sitting in a chair next to Heero's bedside, holding his hand. Without me asking he stood and moved his chair to the side so that I could take his place. I reached out and took Heero's hand in mine. His fingers were so cold.
He was wrapped in bandages, arm, shoulders... and I had a feeling there were more beneath the sheet that I couldn't see.
His chest rose and fell and I watched him breathe, fascinated, remembering how he had been coming in to watch me sleep these last weeks, worried about me.
Now our positions were reversed. He was the one breathing quietly in the bed and I was the one standing guard over him.
I hoped he'd wake up soon.
~*~
I hurt.
What the hell had happened to me?
What did I remember?
Bullets. Pain. Duo...
Duo!
I wanted to get up. I needed to go find him. But my body wouldn't cooperate. I tried to call for him, but there was something covering my mouth. I reached to pull it off and a hand caught mine.
"Heero! Stop that!"
Duo's voice.
He was okay. I forced my eyelids to open. He was there, beside me, looking beat up and all together awful. His braid was falling out of its plait, his eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, there were bruises on his face and I noticed the bandages sticking out of the top of his robe. His legs were propped up in front of him, both in casts.
He was gorgeous.
"Heero," he said again, voice calmer. "Back with us?"
I nodded, even though it hurt.
"You got pretty shot up. The docs didn't think you were going to make it there for awhile." He reached out and brushed a gentle hand through my bangs. "You scared me," he added in a lower voice.
I wanted to reassure him, but what I realized was an oxygen mask made it a bit hard to talk. I gestured to it and he smiled.
He reached out and pushed the call button. A nurse joined us a moment later, confirming my belief that I was in an ICU unit.
But what was Duo doing here? He should be in bed, not here.
Not that I wanted him to go.
The nurse removed my mask, took my vitals, and then smiled. "Doing much better Mr. Yuy! Your other friends will be happy to hear that. They've been haunting the hospital for the last week."
I turned to Duo and he nodded. A week?
She bustled away and he leaned closer.
"Don't you ever do that again, Yuy. When I warn you away from something, you stay away, got it?"
"No." I couldn't raise my voice much, but I met him glare for glare. "I am not leaving you behind, ever."
Duo glared back at me, his mouth opened and then closed. He shook his head and the glare vanished.
"Stubborn bastard."
"Look who's talking."
He laughed then. "Guess we're made for each other then, hm?"
I blinked at him and he grinned at me.
"I guess we are." I picked up a strand of hair that had fallen next to me on the bed and raised it to my lips.
"I really wish you'd kiss someplace else," Duo complained. "I can't really feel that you know."
"I can't reach anyplace else," I told him.
He looked down at himself and laughed. "Yeah, we're going to have to wait until one of us can bend a bit more." He reached out and took my hand in his, lifting it carefully to his lips.
"How long am I stuck in this bed?" I asked him as he kissed my fingers.
"About as long as I'm in this chair," he told me. "About 8 weeks, according to the doctor. Not counting the rehab stuff."
"Think we can make it seven?" I asked.
The sound of his laugher echoed off the walls in the ICU.
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding-
Riding-riding-
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door
OWARI
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