Love-child fic Part 7
There wasn't time to think.
The red 'eye' in the front swung towards me.
"Target sighted."
What the hell?
I swung the stun stick at the body of the robot, ducking under one of the arms. The sharp smell of ozone stung the air, telling me that I'd managed to disrupt the field.
"Now!" I yelled, and Heero brought the seat down.
For a moment, I thought we'd won.
Then seat cracked- broke right in two- and the robot didn't even look dented. It swung its arms out in an arc- I managed to duck the first two, but the third caught me across the midsection. I hit the wall and stars spun in my vision. Damn it. I wasn't Spiderman- how was I supposed to fight an octopus?
"Duo!" Heero's voice made me look up. The arm with the needle on it was swinging down in my direction.
I dodged, and the arm hit the wall with a clang- denting the metal I noticed. Crap- what was the thing made out of?
Heero swore. I looked in his direction- one of the arms was wrapped around his leg, but as I watched he brought his hand down on the main body of the robot.
There was a loud clang- and the robot slumped a little. Heero looked surprised- and I realized what hand he'd hit it with.
"Gundanium!" I shouted at him and saw his eyes widen.
"Duo!" He yelled again and I rolled out of the way as the needle barely missed me. "Pay attention!"
Like I wasn't trying?
His hand hit the robot again, and then all the arms seemed intent on ripping him apart. I lunged for him, my knee screaming at me, but before I reached him, two of the arms were already on the floor, bent and broken.
"Needle!" I ducked. The arm whizzed over my head, toward Heero.
His hand flashed out and the needle fell to the floor. Well, that was one problem solved.
I found the stun stick on the floor and picked it up.
The robot was struggling now. All of its arms were damaged; the main body was nearly scraping the floor.
I bent over the main body. "Open the hatch?" I told Heero. "A good jolt should disrupt the system."
He nodded and reached down with his metal hand, the glove torn, glints of gundanium flashing as he tore the panel off.
As I brought the rod down, I saw the eye case roll open.
What the hell?
Something sharp stung me in the throat as I smashed the rod into the robot's innards.
The robot sagged to the floor.
"Duo? You okay?"
I reached up to touch my throat as I looked over at Heero.
"Something-" I managed as my vision began to darken on the edges.
Heero reached for my throat and something tore. I saw the blood on his fingertips- a barbed needle in between his fingers.
"Shit!" His arms went around me as the feeling seemed to drain out of my legs. "Duo! Stay with me!"
I tried. I really did. But the darkness made it hard to see him- and I couldn't feel the deck beneath me.
I heard him shout- something about Quatre and doctors, but then the world went completely dark.
~*~
I blinked. Something white and gold was floating over my head. An angel?
I blinked again and my vision cleared.
"Quatre?" I croaked and he grinned.
"Back with us at last?"
"Why are you on my ship?"
"This isn't your ship flyboy." Quatre laughed. "You've been out for two days."
Two days? I sat up and the room spun. Quatre grabbed my arm. "Not so fast," he chided. "That stuff you got hit with was really nasty."
"What was it?" The room stopped its spin. I recognized the room and frowned. "Why am I at your house?"
"You were at the hospital, but once they decided that you had just been dosed with a heavy sedative they decided it would be better for you to wake up in a 'familiar environment'."
"Ah, recognized my name did they?"
Quatre shrugged. "You know how most people feel about the pilots. Plus, they've dealt with Tro and I a time or two. We aren't the best patients."
There was a whole host of stories behind that comment I'd have to ask about later. "Where's Heero? Is he okay?"
"He's fine," Quatre's expression turned mischievous. "Got a new co-pilot, hm?"
"Shut up. He's really okay?"
"A few bruises. He was up until this morning- it took us that long to convince him that he could really go take a shower and get some sleep. He was tracking down the person who was supposed to get that package of yours."
"Did you find him?"
"He doesn't exist." Quatre frowned. "I started looking into it right when I got your first message. There is no such person on L4- or anywhere for that matter. I sent a message to the Preventers on L2 to pick up Stan- but he vanished."
"That's just weird."
"Heero said the thing called you its target. Any idea why?"
I shrugged. "No idea. Unless someone's got a grudge against gundam pilots."
"But it wasn't set to kill you- just drug you."
"Well, what good would that have done? It's not like I could fly the ship into a port- and the safety systems wouldn't let me drift into a colony." I frowned, trying to figure it out. "I had more than enough fuel to take me twice as far- so they couldn't have been hoping I'd drift too far away to get back by the time I woke up."
"There was a ship right beside you. I checked L4's recordings of that area."
My jaw dropped open.
"I suspect it was waiting for the robot to sedate you and then someone would've been able to board your ship-"
"But why?"
"That's the question." Quatre sighed. "I couldn't identify any markings on the ship- and hell if I can figure out exactly what they'd want you for- a lot of things spring to mind-"
No kidding. I shivered and pulled the blankets closer.
"Still, it was a good thing you had Heero on there with you." Quatre's expression lightened. "I kept telling him to look you up and see if you needed a copilot- I'm glad he did."
"He didn't look me up- I found him in a bar- purely by accident."
Before Quatre could answer, the door to the room opened and the topic of our conversation walked in. He had a spectacular bruise on his cheek, but other than that he looked okay.
It was silly for me to be so relieved, especially when Quatre had said he was okay, but I was.
"You're awake! How do you feel?" Heero sat down on the bed beside me and I ignored Quatre's smirk.
"Better. Thanks for getting me out of that mess."
Heero frowned. "Did Quatre tell you that there wasn't a real recipient?"
"Yep, and that Stan disappeared too. Bastard."
"We'll find him." Heero's expression darkened. "We contacted Chang- let the Preventers know that someone might be targeting the pilots."
"What did he say?"
"He's looking into it too. Une gave him the case."
"Good."
Trowa appeared in the doorway. "Heero- we managed to get the robot's program running."
"I'll be right there." Heero told him and turned back to me. "No getting up until Quatre's doctor says okay, right?"
"Right," I muttered, well aware of the evil blond on the other side of me.
"I'll be back as soon as I can."
What happened next surprised the hell out of me.
Heero leaned closer- and for a moment I thought he was trying to see the wound on my throat- but then his lips touched mine.
I didn't have time to react- it was so fast- his lips just brushed mine- warm and gentle- but firm enough that my lips tingled afterwards.
"Rest," he said- and vanished out the door.
I must've looked like someone hit me on the back of the head with a board, because Quatre waved his hand in front of my eyes a few times.
It took me a minute to focus on him.
"Did Heero just kiss me?" I asked him.
"I was going to ask you the same question," he said, not hiding his amusement. "But yes, he did. About time too, if that's the first time he's done it."
"I think it is," I managed and looked back at the door. What the hell had brought that on?
Not that I minded.
Not at all.
"So, tell me about the rest of the trip, Duo." Quatre was still chuckling. "I think I want to hear all the details now..."
TBC...
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