Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Half Cocked ❯ Five ( Chapter 5 )

Five

The only problem with flying giant humanoid robots was that they were kind of easy to spot.

Granted, the cloak helped radars from detecting anything, but human eyes worked just as well—and Gerrange's crew'd had experiences with Deathscythe and Demigod before.

Duo snarled as he moved is machine as quickly as he could to the left.

"Bastards," Wufei grumbled, leaning down...and knocking over one of their vehicles. The time it had taken them to get from the city they'd been in—Borde del Rio, had given the men time to head back for their base. Completely aside from catching up at all, they'd found the road-side bombs the men were leaving behind and set most of them off.

They'd gotten the call of another late-night raid on some poor random city, and taken off from the city in the borderlands of Peru. Trowa was behind them a ways, because he'd been closing Heavyarms up when they'd received the alarm.

"I'm dropping my cloak," Wufei grumbled, hitting a few buttons. "The heat is getting too high..."

Duo hit his own button.

They were going to catch hell for this. Heavyarms and Deathscythe were supposed to be so much melted space-metal. It wouldn't take long for all the people to demanded where the remaining three were—and he doubted anyone would believe that Shenlong had been destroyed.

It didn't matter, though, because they had to do what they had to do, and attacking stores for food was not a proper way to act.

Another large shot came flying at Deathscythe, and Duo dodged that as well. He moved in to take out one of their vehicles, but whoever was shooting was definitely a bastard and shot again.

"You're getting too far to the left!" Heero snapped. "You're separating!"

"Shit," Duo muttered, starting right again...and getting shot at again.

"Maybe they are separating us," Wufei noted grimly. "And if that's the case, I'm going to take a moment to teach them better manners."

Duo wanted to respond to that, but didn't really have much to say.

"Duo?" Heero demanded. He was in a humvee behind them.

"Busy," Duo snapped back. "Deathscythe wasn't meant to be a dancer..."

"Doin' a pretty good job of it so far," Wufei retorted.

"Haha!" Duo decided to stop trying to use the hands, initiating the scythe.

He could see the men fleeing.

He snickered slightly...and swiped at a vehicle.

"Take out the launcher!" Heero snapped at them both.

Duo snarled something back at him that probably made even less sense than he thought, and launched forward...as his machine slammed back from the blow.

Well, one couldn't penetrate, right?

He moved again, getting nailed a second time—but at this point, there was nothing left to do but take it out.

"Fuck!" Wufei snarled as Demigod fell backwards. "Fuck!"

"Wufei!" Duo swiped the rocket-launcher as his screens zeroed in on the multiple enemies around him...behind him.

"It's not responding!" Wufei snarled. "It's not..."

Demigod landed hard on the ground.

Oh hell no!

Duo ignored the men shooting at him and went for the ones who thought to swarm the other machine. It didn't take him long to clear them away, and Wufei used that time to maneuver his machine up.

"Retreat," Heero ordered darkly. "Get out of there before they exploit this..."

Duo moved in front of Demigod as Wufei cursed and snarled.

The machine groaned as it started to take a step.

"Fly it!" Duo ordered. "Just get out of here!"

There was a lot more cursing involved in the next few moments before Demigod took to the air like a half-dead...flying...insect.

"I hate prototypes!" Wufei snarled as the machine started to splutter.

"Just go!" Duo didn't want to hear anything as he watched the path for more enemies. They'd been fleeing, but that noise from Demigod and the fact that they were going in the opposite direction would leave an impression.

They limped back along the way they'd come before Wufei started snarling...

"And there they are!" Duo snapped. "What are you doing, Chang?"

"I'm trying to keep it flying, Maxwell," Wufei snapped back. "Any brilliant ideas? I'd love one!" He cried out as something popped...and his machine launched...to the left.

They lost radio contact.

Duo started snarling, as the machine landed in the trees. He considered his options briefly as Heero shouted almost incoherently at...probably him. He decided to turn his shield back on instead of chasing after the other machine. There wouldn't be much he could do, and his gundam would definitely be spotted above the tree-line. The other machine was on its last leg anyway, and Trowa wasn't far behind.

Duo took off into the trees, going in low and dropping to the ground. The trees weren't tall enough to hide Deathscythe, but he went behind a low hill. "I've got my radio," he snapped. "I'm going after him on foot!"

"Watch yourself, Maxwell," Heero snapped. "How far away were the enemies?"

"I should be able to make it across the road before they get up here," Duo snapped back.

Heero started bitching about bad plans, but Duo ignored that. He jumped out of his cockpit, wishing he had more than his pistol. That pistol could do damage, but one pistol against how many humvees? His last count had been sixteen.

He had no idea how many men there were per machine...and didn't really intend to find out.

He left the communications on inside the machine—that way his comrades would be able to find it digitally, but the other men would have to flounder through the jungle to spot it—at least until the shield overheated.

If he had any luck what-so-ever, he'd be back to it before or as the shield turned off.

Unfortunately, his last visual on the enemies had been too far behind. As he came up onto the road...he had to dive for the other side, because they were shooting at him.

He was going to hear about this from here to November!

He darted through the jungle as best he could. Without anything to do but run and pray, he found himself wondering if 'under eighty feet of jungle' was even an apt measurement. Those trees were a hundred feet tall...at least...

"Fuck!" he snarled as a shock tore through his lower-leg.

"Duo?" Trowa sounded alarmed.

"Grazed my leg," Duo returned, panting as his head cleared a little. He turned, climbing up onto his feet...then rolled to his left as shots peppered the area to his right.

He could hear them...they were gaining on him...and could obviously see him.

"Tell Quatre I love him," he instructed his friends.

"Duo!" Heero protested.

"I love you...I do," Duo returned, yanking the headset off...and crushing it in his hand. If he let them get it, they'd have a lock on his friends, Deathscythe, and Demigod when it came back online.

Too close...he had to do something with the remains...

What could one find under eighty feet of jungle?

He threw the thing as far as he could, watching it arch away into the trees...hit a branch...and fall out of sight.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, staring at it longingly...then opened the Pax options.

Emergency fry.

You had to love Pan.

He killed the phone. It was all backed up on his laptop anyway, all he'd have to do was get a new one...Quatre'd love that...

What else did he have?

He darted off into the trees, wondering how likely one was to find a venomous reptile on a blind-run. He didn't even want to find Wufei...he just needed away.

- -

Heavyarms landed, behind Wufei, and he glanced back at the machine irritably. It was hot out, and he had to figure out what the hell had happened to the link between his power source and both halves of the machine—because he'd be damned if he knew which one had fucked up.

"Please tell me Duo's here," Trowa muttered, the hatch opening and his head popping out.

"Here?" Wufei turned to stare up at Trowa in horror, then turned and sprinted for the forest.

- -

"Well, hello..."

Duo blinked up at the familiar face above him blankly a long time, realizing he'd been concussed. He could feel the strange sensation through his head...all the way down to his stomach.

"Look...what...the cat...dragged in..." Gerrange's hand was tracing his jaw-line almost lovingly.

"Look, Marsh," Duo grumbled, closing his eyes. "I told you, I don't wanna fuck you."

His head reeled.

Gerrange laughed coldly, petting his face again. "I was told," he said quietly, "that you were running in the jungle, but you had your gundam...so I'm a little confused..."

"I'm a little concussed," Duo retorted, trying to focus through the sickening sensation. "Can we talk about this later?" He pulled at his arms...and felt cuffs around his wrists, heard the chain clink against the metal chair he was on.

Wow...this seemed familiar, didn't it?

He smirked.

"I'm so glad you're happy," Gerrange purred. "Because you're going to be with me a while..."

"Quatre's so going to kill you," Duo muttered, raising his eyes to meet the other man's. "He's going to bleed you dry."

When the pain of that blow receded, Duo could only groan, his stomach churning and his head reeling.

"Unfortunately for you," Gerrange muttered, kneeling down in front of him. "We want you alive...so we're going to keep you awake a while, huh? Wouldn't do for you to fall asleep...who knows when you'd wake up then? Or even if, huh?"

Duo stared at the man's face a long moment as his head pounded.

He had a feeling he'd just entered hell...and the devil himself was there to play.

- -

"We assume Gerrange got him," Heero summed up quietly, rubbing at his face. "Which means we're going to have to take the base on."

Matty started crying, folding forward to cover his face.

"I'm coming down there," Jinli snapped, rising to his feet. "I can't sit here if Duo's been grabbed...you need another man."

"We need you there," Heero snapped.

"Bullshit!" Jinli snarled back. "We were only left behind so we weren't grabbed!"

Heero blinked at him.

"Yeah, Wufei said," Jinli spat the words, turning to look at Blake. "You hear him out. I'm getting our tickets."

"I don't have enough money to..." Blake started.

"I'm using Fei's," Jinli spat...and disappeared.

"You can't come down here!" Heero protested. "You can't..."

"I think my dad could handle anything that happened here," Blake muttered quietly, studying Heero's face. "I honestly think he can...him and Patel."

Patel, who was standing off to one side with his arms crossed, nodded his head in acknowledgement of the compliment.

"You guys can't come..." Heero was at a loss. "I..."

"If you order it," Patel said quietly.

"Shut-up," Blake snapped.

"You're not espoused of any of them," Patel retorted. "I don't have to obey you...I have to obey him," he indicated the screen.

Heero was obviously torn, looking to Matty again before looking around behind him. "I told you not to come," he informed them...and ended the call.

Patel snorted.

"Come on," Blake suggested to Matty. "We need to get packed."

"What use will we be?" Matty whispered back.

"If Jinli is leaving," Blake spat back, "do you intend to stay behind?" He pulled out his phone as he headed for Trowa's room—he'd been staying in the apartment and had a bunch of his clothes there. Trowa had a duffel-bag in his closet.

He wasn't too surprised to hear Matty move into his and Heero's room.

He had no idea what they'd do once they got to Peru...but being there would be a little easier than being in LA.

It was all he could do.

- -

Quatre moved off the ship and into Heero's waiting arms, wordless. He clung to Heero for an eternity, not sure what he was feeling, just glad to have his friend at hand.

They had to find Duo...but before they could do that, they had to gather enough forces to do it...and they couldn't fully trust the Brazilian officials in the area of the base, because they'd obviously let Gerrange set up shop.

It wasn't good...at all.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Quatre muttered, wondering about the distance between his words and his mind...between him and Heero. "I'm...I'm okay."

"We'll get him back, Quatre," Heero said firmly. "It'll just take a few days..."

"Or one shot between the eyes to kill him," Quatre returned quietly.

Heero blinked at him.

"He's far too valuable," Wufei muttered, moving up to take Quatre from Heero. "Gerrange is far too fond of hostages to get rid of him at this stage in the game."

"But he knows I'll kill him," Quatre met Wufei's eyes. "He knows that I'm going to hunt him down and tear him apart. He's got nothing left to lose now...he gave it all away."

Wufei blinked at him.

Quatre smiled slightly at that and hugged the man, then turned to Trowa.

"Blake, Jinli, and Matty are coming," Heero said quietly, studying the man.

"Ooh, that will be nice," Quatre returned, looking back to Heero. "We can get Jin to show us exactly what he means by...under...eighty feet of jungle." He blinked a few times. "That's what he says, right?"

"Since I've been sick," Wufei lied, worried, "the doctors want to check you out, too. They did everyone else already...I think they might want you to take a pill."

"That's fine," Quatre muttered, focusing toward the forest. "We can do that now."

"How's Fasiha? And Ethan?"

"Ethan was just born," Quatre smiled fondly at Wufei again. "He's nothing but hungry or sleeping."

"And your sister?"

"Hungry or sleeping," Quatre started laughing, then looked back toward the jungle. "How far are we from that base?"

"Why?"

"Because we're not far from Sandrock," Quatre explained, turning to look back at Wufei with a slightly perplexed expression on his face. "I'm going to kill Marsh."

"You said you didn't want to give him any power," Trowa cut that off quickly. "We can..."

Quatre laughed slightly at that, meeting Trowa's eyes and shaking his head. "That was before they took Duo...same thing that happened with you. You weren't going to use Heavyarms until they nearly killed Tim...you can't tell me I can't, not now."

"I can and I will," Trowa stated firmly. "Remember? The AI of your machine?"

"It'll know how to help me get Duo," Quatre reassured him, looking back to the forest.

"Let's...go see the doctor," Wufei suggested quietly, pulling at Quatre's arms. "We can talk more after that."

Quatre didn't say anything, he just followed along after.

Heero and Trowa exchanged a nervous look.

Sandrock needed to stay off, and with what Quatre was saying, they'd probably have to sedate him...

Wonderful. They got to sedate their tactician to keep him from going on a murderous rampage.

...just peachy. Just fucking peachy.

- -

Trowa watched Blake move from the airplane, licking his lips nervously. He could tell Blake'd been crying, and as he looked back to Matty, there was something in his eyes...

Matty met Trowa's eyes, but his were tired, drained. They swept past him to Heero...and locked on to Heero.

Blake didn't bother speaking as he moved forward, wrapping his arms around Trowa's neck.

"Hey guys," Quatre greeted them in a slightly vacant voice. His eyes were out the window. "Good flight?"

"Pretty good," Blake muttered quietly.

"You okay?" Jinli asked Quatre hesitantly, stopping in front of Wufei.

"I'm okay," Quatre agreed in that same light voice—his focus was still out the window, though. "Just...a little..."

"It's okay," Heero muttered quietly. "You don't have to talk."

Quatre moved away from them wordlessly, staring back out at the forest.

"Is he okay?" Blake whispered.

"No," Trowa returned quietly. "He's not all here."

Blake blinked up at him.

"Not here," Trowa returned...and kissed him. The stress they'd been feeling since Duo's disappearance had tripled when Quatre'd arrived. They'd have to fully sedate him at night to make sure he slept instead of going after his gundam. He'd realized on some level that they were keeping track of him, and was just watching for his moment to go.

They had to get something to snap him out of it soon, because if they didn't, he'd get around them. He was far more intelligent than he usually let on—especially when there was something he wanted to do. He'd figure it out, around the obstacles.

It was how he worked...and they didn't need that on top of finding Duo...but there wasn't a whole lot they could do.

If he got too bad...they'd just sedate him constantly. None of them liked the notion, but Quatre'd pulled some shit under the influence of Zero. No one knew for certain if he'd lost a bit of his sanity from that—at least, not entirely.

He wasn't exactly acting sane.

"I'm glad you're here," Trowa muttered, kissing at Blake's temple. "But you are not leaving the base."

"I don't need to," Blake reassured him, looking back around to Trowa. "I just...wanted to be here...for you."

Trowa hugged him again, then pulled away to offer a hand to Jinli.

It was just as well that he'd shown up.

Things were about to begin.

- -

Duo wished he was still concussed, because they hadn't hit him so bad then...not that they were particularly hitting him now. Gerrange actually had a number of specials left, Ranger aside, and the one man seemed to wander into his cell randomly throughout the day.

He hurt.

As far as he could tell, it'd been two days since he'd gotten caught, and from the bitching he did hear from Gerrange, they couldn't find hide nor hair of any of the machines.

He slid down the wall, which lost him his view of the grimy base and the surrounding jungle. The only thing he really liked about looking out the window was the light anyway. And that didn't disappear when he lay down.

The door slammed open.

Duo jumped, forcing himself to sit up, trying to launch to his feet.

"Oh, don't stand up for me," Gerrange purred happily, tilting his head as he considered his captive. A young woman scurried behind him with a plate of food, setting it on the shelf—half the room was raised three feet—with him before darting back from the room. The specials man who accompanied Gerrange every time and played with Duo at will smirked slightly as he watched her run off, then moved into the cell and closed the door behind himself.

"You paranoid in your old age?" Duo asked sweetly.

"Brigadier," Gerrange returned sweetly, setting a cup of water beside the food, "we've been looking at your phone...but it won't turn on."

Duo smirked at that.

"I've told Tennit," he indicated the man, "that we really want into your phone," he set the machine down by the food. "So here's what we're going to do...you're going to eat, and then you're going to turn it on. I was very clear on that...you eat first...and none of the dawdling nonsense, either."

"I killed my phone, Marsh," Duo returned easily. "As soon as I realized I'd miscalculated the distances involved I destroyed my com and fried my phone."

The man gave him a skeptical look.

"I'm serious," Duo returned. "I keep a backup back home, so all I have to do is buy a new one...it's gone. There's nothing here."

Tennit moved forward instantly...and grabbed his arm.

Duo laughed in his face, but couldn't help the scream as the man decided a change of pace was called for...and gripped at Duo's thigh. He was thanking whatever god was paying him mind, because there were some more sensitive parts down there that could have been grabbed.

Gerrange laughed coldly, moving to sit next to the food as he considered the phone. "You know...you're probably not lying to me at all."

Duo panted, watching the hands nervously.

"But I don't get why, Brigadier Maxwell."

"I have some specialized programs," Duo panted instantly. "Not just Pax...but a few that Yuy made that we can't let fall into anyone else's hands."

The hands moved on his thigh.

"There's nothing I can do!" Duo panted instantly. "I can't..."

"Tennit," Gerrange gestured the man off as he thought. "You know how to get into the military database, don't you?"

"I didn't bother learning," Duo returned, glad he hadn't taken the time.

"But you could, right? With your badge?"

"You took everything I had when I came in," Duo retorted, relaxing fractionally. "Did it look like my badge was there to you? I left it in Deathscythe."

"Where is Deathscythe?" the man returned.

"Long gone," Duo smirked at him. "If you didn't find it right after grabbing me, then they took it."

The hands ripped at his leg again, and Duo choked the cry of pain off.

"I think you're telling me the truth," Gerrange noted in mild disgust. "I have no further need to talk to you...but I suppose we can't kill you quite yet."

Duo started laughing again, realizing his last chance of stopping the torture had slipped away. Part of him was grateful he didn't have the knowledge they wanted, and the other part wanted desperately to deal that he could get it...if only the pain stopped.

Gerrange sneered at him in utter disgust, then moved across the room to the door. "Don't kill him...or dismember him," he ordered...and disappeared.

Duo looked up to Tennit, feeling his stomach churn as the man smiled a rather charming smile.

Occasionally in his life, Duo wondered about his own sanity, his piece of mind...but there was a thrill in that smile. There was a thrill in knowing that no matter what he did he was fucked. He was pretty sure he could hack into the database with no issues at all, and Marsh had to be in an altered state if he didn't realize it...so that left him with this.

He grinned back at the man as his stomach churned.

This was going to hurt.