Author: Sunhawk
Pairings: None
Rating: PG
Warnings: Heero POV, Violence, Language
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this series.
The date says I need to post something. I'm thinking I should pick more dates, so it doesn't look like I'm some kind of bizarre mammal that hibernates until the fall. But then... that would require I actually have the time to write and shit like that so... yeah. Maybe not.
Don't have much for today, just a weird little thing that's been floating around in the WIP folder for a couple of years. Thought I'd dust it off and toss it out here just for the hell of it. It's strange... it's present tense (why do those just come on you sometimes, no matter how hard you fight them?) in Heero's POV and probably no warnings other than the usual violence and language and lame attempts to sound all missiony and junk.
Happy dubious Thanksgiving/Thursday!
Thanksgiving 2014
'Stop it,' I growl and Duo flinches, falling quiet.
'What?' he grumbles, just as though he doesn't know.
'You're doing it again,' I tell him anyway.
'Sorry,' he mutters, not bothering to continue with the denial thing. And not sounding particularly contrite either.
'Just... knock it off,' I demand. 'It pisses me off.'
He just grins and tucks the cross back in his shirt. 'I know.'
I snort and turn back to my surveillance. Damn religious weirdness. It's his own skill that will get him through what's to come, not any mercy from an unmerciful god.
He checks his weapons again while we wait, the soft clicks and creaks more soothing to me than his damn mumbled appeals to whatever higher power he feels the need to consult. Out on the street, figures finally emerge from the sprawling manor across the way.
I key the microphone at my throat and tell him and the rest of the team at the same time, 'The target is on the move.'
I hear him slide his berretta back in the holster and he's gone from my side without a word.
'Good hunting,' I tell the empty air, and am rewarded with the sound of his snort as he leaves the room we've been stuck in for the last two days.
'Who's indulging in rituals now?' he asks, but I let it go.
'Alpha Team, move out,' I command, watching as the convoy of three cars pulls out of the drive. 'Agent Dark will be on the grounds at his mark...'
It takes barely three minutes before Duo's 'Mark,' comes across the line.
'Hold position,' I order, and get a grunt of acknowledgement. The minutes tick as the target exits the street and somewhere out there, Alpha Team falls into pursuit.
'Alpha on schedule,' Marco reports and I know where they are by the numbers.
I count to fifty and tell Duo, 'Dark; move.'
'Gone,' he says and I try not to strain my eyes watching for him, I know I won't see anything.
'Bravo Team in position,' Julius reports, his gravelly voice an eerie whisper in my ear.
'Hold,' I command unnecessarily, scanning the street one last time before making my own exit. The tiny apartment that has been our prison for the last few days has out-lived its usefulness. I take my gear and head for the roof.
'Target has cleared section one,' Marco informs me. 'Alpha in position.'
The position of quiet, unobserved shadow. Probably all the way to the coast villa, if I didn't miss my guess.
I'm set up on the roof before Marco reports again; 'North on 9.'
I don't bother to stifle the triumphant quirk of a grin. I love a target that's predictable.
'Dark; report,' I prod, giving the grounds a quick scan with the night goggles and finding nothing of merit.
There's a long pause before Duo breathes out a barely audible, 'Patience.'
I pull out the heat sensors while I wait for some elaboration. He should be in the house by now, and at that point the numbers went out the window, since there was no telling what he would encounter. I have to admit to myself I'd been hoping against hope that the estate would be completely empty for at least the next few hours.
'House staff,' he informs me a full five minutes later, and I mutter a curse to nobody. I refrain from telling him to be careful, he's well aware the entire operation depends on his making it through undetected.
I really hate that he's so damn good at stealth and infiltration... it makes him the point man more often than not.
'Position?' I query and there's another long silence before he replies.
'Second floor.'
I leave him to it, scanning the building he's in and watching intently for anything out of the ordinary. Duo would tell me my Spider sense is tingling, and while I didn't have a clue what in the hell he was talking about, I equated the feeling with having a spider crawl up my spine, and had to agree. Something is making me anxious, but then... I always feel anxious when my partner is in a dangerous position.
'Captain,' Julius calls, voice low and sounding almost hesitant. 'Something's off... where's the traffic?'
It is a valid question. Where is the neighbor who leaves for work every night at precisely eleven? Where is the lady who brings her dog out to do his business before going to bed? Something isn't just off... something stinks.
'Alpha,' I snap, 'execute plan B! Go!'
Somewhere out on Highway 9, the target was about to get pulled over by what would appear to be a local law enforcement vehicle for a tail light infraction. I wanted a head count and visual confirmation of the presence of certain individuals. It's a risk, but one I am willing to take under the circumstances. I bite my tongue and don't ask for Duo's status.
It is a painful wait, though not long. I'm not even clear which comes first, Marco's cry of 'It's a decoy!'
Or Duo's sudden shout of 'We're made!'
'Abort!' I order, and take the fast way down, leaping from the roof and making the two story drop to the ground. The command of 'Extract!' coming with the grunt of impact.
Somewhere in the house, shots are fired and I'm running hell bent, damn whoever gets in my way.
'Bravo! By the book! Standard formation!' I shout, wanting this as picture perfect as I can make it and I can hear the team moving around me in the dark, all need for stealth long gone. My men would spread out and comb their way through the mansion until the place was nailed down tight.
'Dark; report!' I demand, even as I'm kicking through the front door, Julius moving in on my right and Olzon on my left. Another shot is fired above us somewhere.
'Section 14!' Duo tells me, his words almost drowned out by the sound of his own gun. I leave Bravo to secure the first floor, heading up the stairs.
Damn man will be the death of me one day when I finally have the heart attack.
The three would-be henchmen on the second floor never know what hits them.
Section 14 is on three; Duo had been damn near to his target, and I take the second set of stairs with little regard to my own safety; trusting my men to mop up behind me. I'll hear about it from Julius later, but I don't much care at the moment... the firefight above me is my only concern.
I almost make it, but almost doesn't count when you're talking about a Preventer mission. It is little consolation that I kill the man who brings Duo down before he has a chance to enjoy his victory. I'm by my partner's side before the body hits the ground.
'Shit, Yuy,' he coughs. 'What'd you do... teleport up here?'
I take solace in the fact that he's still able to joke, but ignore the remark. 'Agent down!' I bark into my microphone. Medivac to section 14!'
'Chill, man,' he says, and the cocky grin he tries for is more of a grimace. 'I think I'm going to pull through.'
'I'll let somebody with actual medical training be the judge of that,' I growl, and he subsides while I cut away fatigues to get a look at the wound in his side. There is an entry point, but no exit. I'm unable to judge the damage; the location could involve a lot of different organs, or none at all. I concern myself with the bleeding while we wait for evac.
'Damn, Yuy,' he grouses. 'Not so freakin' hard!'
I don't bother to point out the inanity of the comment. 'Just lie back and stop moving around so damn much.'
He snorts, but does as he's told. Julius appears in the doorway of the room, looking the scene over and sparing me a frown of censure for my own ignoring of the book I'd held my team to. 'Building is secure, Captain,' he says. 'But the targets have flown the coop.'
I could not, at the moment, care any less about the targets, the coop, or the state of either. 'Where's my medivac team?' I demand and the damn man actually chuckles at me.
'On their way up,' he tells us, giving Duo a sketchy little salute and moves off to go back to work before I have to tell him to.
'Somebody's itching for some extra time on the obstacle course,' I mutter darkly, not seeing the humor in the situation at all.
'Calm down, Heero,' Duo says, managed a breathless little laugh. 'I'm fine.'
'Fine does not involve extra holes in one's anatomy,' I disagree, and he doesn't bother to try to refute it. On the stairs, I can hear the clatter and cursing of the evac team... finally.
Duo's hand rises and I see him feel for the lump of his cross through the fabric of his shirt. His lips move with the hint of what feels like an offer of gratitude. I can't help glaring at him.
'Stop it; your stupid deity isn't listening,' I growl and he gets the damnedest funny little smile.
'Shinigami is always listening,' he tells me.
'He may be listening,' I concede, 'but it doesn't exactly seem to have done you any good.'
His funny little smile spreads into something that wants to be smug. It might have more impact if he wasn't starting to show the strain. Wasn't starting to look pale.
'Are you hurt?' he suddenly asks me, changing the topic completely.
'I'm fine,' I inform him, returning my focus to his wound. 'You're the only casualty.'
'Then it seems to me I got just what I asked for,' he says and I jerk my head up to meet that weirdly smug gaze, but the med team chooses that moment to finish wrestling their gear up the three flights of stairs, and I'm suddenly in the way. I give ground to their greater expertise and watch as they prepare Duo for transport. I can't help an exasperated sigh as the implication of his words really sink in.
It kind of pisses me off in a way I'm going to have to think about for awhile.
'Damn lame deity, Maxwell,' I call out as the med team begins the job of getting him the hell out of that place, 'that can only handle one at a time.'
All I get back is his breathless laugh from the top of the stairs.
Damn man is going to be the death of me one day.
OWARI
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