Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Price They Paid ❯ Gearing Up: Part I ( Chapter 37 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The Price 37

Gearing up. Pt I

Betaed by Skippyscatt

~ * ~

The next morning was interesting in a frantic sort of way. Heero started gathering intel. Never
mind that Une had sent him everything she had. He was doing the job again himself. Duo
disappeared for most of the morning and no one wanted to know what he'd been doing. Zechs
spent the morning soothing ruffled feathers and Wufei helped him as best he could. They also
made arrangements for their transport to the site. Heero called a short meeting just before lunch.
He asked for reports from everyone and was satisfied with what he heard.

"Zechs, I'm making you liaison between us and the on site authorities. Wufei. Will you please
research the local laws? Make sure we don't violate some obscure regulation. We don't need the
hassle. Duo . . . just keep Shinigami on a leash. Let's get going."

They packed one duffle bag each and headed for the airport. Duo found it amusing that airplanes
were still the preferred mode of long distance travel.

When they entered the airport, they hit their first snag. Heero wasn't allowed on the plane until
he was strip searched. No one would explain exactly why.

Heero followed the men into the small strip search room and waited for them to decide what
happened next.

"I'm not touching him. You do it."

The smaller man shook his head. "Do I look nuts to you? I don't know who set this up, but I'm
not putting my foot in someone else's shit."

Heero cleared his throat. "What is going on? If you explain it to me, maybe we can figure out
something that makes us all . . . at least a little less miserable. What do you say?"

The bigger of the two put his back to the door. The smaller sighed and rubbed his head.

"I say . . . let's go for it . . . ok, here's the skinny. Some asshole has decided that all you
Gundam pilots are persona non grata. The airline higher ups, not ESUN. And that's in direct
conflict with ESUN regulations. You've all completed your various sentences and have clear
records. So . . . it's my job if I don't search you. But I really don't want to do it and neither does
Charlie. So . . ."

Heero just shrugged. "You're supposed to look for weapons? Or contraband?"

"Don't know. No one said what we're looking for. Just to search you."

Heero nodded. "It's just harassment. I'm used to it. Here."

Heero started stripping by putting his hand gun on the table at one side of the room. Then he
took off his shirt, weapons harness and t-shirt. He bent to unzip his boots and heard a soft gasp.

"Something?"

"Jesus, fuck me, boy. What the hell happened and why didn't you have repairs done."

Heero looked over his shoulder at the taller man, whose name tag said 'Josephson.' "Remember
I self-destructed and we didn't have access to hospitals and full medical facilities. I'll get them
fixed someday."

Charlie grimaced. "I got a text. Hang on."

Charlie read the text then grunted. "You're supposed to be in some sort of uniform?"

"Not anymore. It was a requirement of my parole."

Josephson snorted. "So . . . we get the shit patrol because some ass hole can't read paperwork.
And . . ." he focused on the things on the table. "Hell on a half shell."

Heero shrugged. "You should . . . or maybe shouldn't see what Duo keeps in his hair."

He started to unzip his boots again but Charlie stopped him. "That's enough. We know what we
need to know. You're not carrying any contraband. Nothing you're not supposed to have. Get
dressed and get out of here. I've got a report to make . . . to some people who 'need to know'."

Heero put his clothing back on and tucked things away. He nodded to the two men and went
back to Duo.

"What was that all about?"

Heero explained watching as Duo turned white with rage, Wufei alarmingly red for the same
reason, and Zechs dialed his phone.

After Zechs completed his call, they hurried to the gate for their departure. It would take
approximately fourteen hours to get to where Relena was being held. Unless they missed their
plane.

At this rate they just might. Their next hold up was at the boarding gate. They had e-tickets but
there was no conformation. So they had to wait while the boarding guard checked in his
computer to see if they were paid, they were. Then he asked for their carry on and check through
bags. They didn't have any check through, only carry on.

This seemed to upset the man for some reason. He made a quick call to someone who told him to
hold them.

"Step aside, please."

Zechs ground his teeth ready to argue, Wufei pulled at his arm.

"Come aside. We'll do something else."

Heero snarled at the man then clutched at Duo.

"Look, we got to get to our destination soon. You let us on that plane."

"See here, young man. I don't care where you think you have to be. You're not boarding until
I'm sure you're safe."

Duo shook Heero off and got in the man's face. "We're not safe. We're Gundam pilots. We have
business to take care of and you're holding up production."

Wufei sighed. That was all it needed, Duo in a confrontation with some bureaucratic tight ass.

"Duo, no. we don't need this. We'll find another way. Come away from him."

Duo narrowed his eyes at Wufei. "We have to be on that plane. We'll lose at least six hours if
we're not."

Duo turned to the guard. "Look, if we miss that plane, we're all screwed. And I'll take it out of
your hide. Seriously." The guard stepped back from Duo like he was hot. The look on Duo's face
promised quick and deadly retribution if the problem wasn't corrected at once.

"My supervisor is on the way. You kids won't get anywhere by making that kind of threat."

Heero whispered to Zechs. "Not a threat." Zechs shuddered. Duo sounded so cold, not at all like
the laughing prankster he was used to.

The supervisor came up just then, took one look at the group and had a fit. "What the hell is the
hold up. They need to be on that plane and ready to take off in two minutes. Get going."

The guard stuttered about them only having carry on and was told that he was about half a hair
away from losing his job.

"Those kids as you call them are Gundam pilots on their way to some where for some thing I
don't know about and I don't want to. Just board them and get that plane in the sky."

The guard checked them through, stamping their boarding passes with shaking hands. Zechs
took a moment to insist that their tickets be cleared through to the other airport at once. The
supervisor promised to take care of it himself.

~ * ~

The steward showed them to their seats in first class. As they settled in there was some
grumbling from a few people. No one seemed to be too upset, it was just the general grumbling
of people when such things happened.

Zechs took their carry ons and tucked each bag into the overhead nearest to their seats. They had
been seated together at Wufei's demand. Which he was beginning to regret. They needed to be
spread through the plane, in case something happened. But then again, if one of them had an
anxiety attack they needed to be together. Wufei hugged the sudden pain in his stomach.

The stewardess started her safety demonstration which distracted the others. Duo snickered
softly through most of the demo while Heero made rude remarks just loud enough to make Zechs
smack him in the head.

"Stop that. You'll scare the civilians. We don't need an incipient panic on our hands."

Duo grumbled and settled back in the seat. "I will say I like this seating arrangement."

Their seats were facing each other two by two. They were very wide and comfortable. There
were blankets and pillows, cup holders and convenience trays. Which were all in the appropriate
upright and locked positions. Duo hissed to Heero that it wouldn't make much difference if they
really crashed as the latches were 'cheap plastic shit'. Heero rather grimly told him to shut up.

But Duo was nervous and when he was nervous he chattered. Wufei groaned and burrowed his
face into Zechs.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Motor mouth Maxwell. I hate this. Really. You know I have control issues.
I wish I was flyin' this tin can. I hate being in someone else's control. This sucks so big time.
The suckitude is . . . well sucky. Damn it all. Heero . . . I think I'm gonna barf. Really."

Heero just handed Duo a barf bag and gritted his teeth. Wufei asked the steward for some white
soda. When he told Wufei that no drinks were available until after take off Wufei glared at him
and announced that he was not cleaning up after Duo. The steward eyed Duo and got the soda.

Zechs gave Duo an astonished look and hissed, "We haven't even taken off. We're only on the
approach. What's he going to be like on takeoff?"

Wufei sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily. "Stone cold silent. He'll probably bend the arm rest.
Then he'll be fine. If I don't kill him first."

"Well, how the hell did he get here without a scene."

"We came in by shuttle. He's not bad in a shuttle. The shuttle pilots will let him sit in the
navigator's seat."

Zechs bit his lip. "Really? That's not good. Is it?"

Heero flinched as Duo rounded on Zechs. But Duo just snarked at him.

"What? I'm too young? I'm a freekin' Gundam pilot. I can figure orbitals in my head. You got a
problem?"

Zechs shook his head. "Not yet. But if you don't calm down, we will . . . stop acting like a
spoiled brat."

Duo's mouth fell open then he started laughing. "Well, I guess that told me." He took a sip of his
soda and settled in the seat again. "Sorry. I guess I was getting a little out of hand."

The steward, well aware that Duo was beginning to get too loud, came to their pod and asked, "Is
there a problem here? How may I help you?"

Zechs drew himself up to his impressive height. "Not yet. But this holding is getting on Colonel
Maxwell's nerves and I might add everyone else's. What's the hold up?"

"I do apologize, sir. The traffic is bad. We're in the approach lane and readying to taxi any
moment. Please be patient."

Duo snarled silently, he needed to be moving, now. The others set themselves to comforting and
calming him. Heero thought Wufei had to be some kind of saint to have put up with this while he
was gone. Wufei thanked his ancestors that Heero was here to bear the brunt of Shinigami on a
rampage. Zechs did his best to help both of them help Duo.

Finally they took off and Wufei was right. Duo bent the armrest up by a good two inches. Zechs
felt a cold chill, Duo wasn't as strong as Heero, but he was a great deal stronger than he had any
right to be. He silently cursed the scientists who'd created soldiers out of children.

After his agitation, Duo was exhausted and fell asleep with his head on Heero's shoulder. Heero
soon followed with Wufei nodding in his seat.

"'Fei? What?"

Wufei yawned, "Mission mode. You'll find us all falling asleep at a moment's notice. There
were times we didn't sleep more than two or three hours for days at a stretch. So we'll sleep
whenever we can. Oh . . . really watch Duo or he'll eat everything he lays hands on. He'll get
sick, puke and be a bear. Heero is the other way around. Make sure he eats. And gets enough to
drink."

Zechs stroked a wisp of hair out of Wufei's eye and thought, 'What about you, my love? What
do I do for you?'

~ * ~

The first class steward leaned against his station, watching as Doris, the second class stewardess,
pushed her cart up the aisle toward him. She was new and looked very perky in her uniform. She
smiled at him over the cart and then handed a business man his drink. When she reached the end
of the aisle, he helped her park the cart in its lockdown.

"Here. Fill two bins with bottled water. Lots of people don't really want juice or soda, but if
that's all there is, they'll drink it. Then we got traffic to the pot." He handed the girl bottles and
she stuffed them in the bins. "Did you see that long haired guy? He's nuts. Better keep your eyes
on him. Jumpy as hell. Then just falls asleep."

Doris nodded, "Yeah, I saw him. Didn't get a really good look. But he's so young, it's probably
just nerves. Hasn't flown much. You know, Frank."

Frank shook his head. "Something about that guy. I don't know what it is. He just . . . seems
familiar somehow."

Frank reached out and picked up his seating chart. He flipped through it and eyed the names next
to the seat numbers for that pod.

"Oh, shit! Duo Maxwell, Heero Yuy, Chang Wufei and Zechs Merquise? Fuck me."

Doris gave a little squeal. "Really? Let me see. Really? Oh, my. War heroes." She got a stupid
look on her face. Frank shuddered. War heroes, or criminals? He didn't know, but he decided to
keep a special eye on them.

After they finished refilling the cart, Frank took it into the first class section. As he made his way
to the front of the plane, he checked on his charges. Most of them were either reading or
watching the in-flight movie. A few were doing work on laptops. Some accepted drinks or
snacks.

"Can I get you . . . oh. Excuse me."

Frank realized too late that three of the four men were asleep, furious sky blue eyes silenced him.
Instead of trying to decide what they might like, Frank simply put a selection of drinks in the
holders and went on. That look had nearly frozen his blood.

Heero opened one eye and glared, at what he wasn't sure. Zechs whispered softly. "Go back to
sleep. I've got it."

Duo murmured softly then settled back. Wufei woke totally and Zechs patted his hand where it
lay on his chest. "Go back to sleep, Mausi. I . . . I'm sorry."

Wufei sat up and took a thermal cup of tea from its holder.

"Why do you call me that?"

"I always called my girlfriends that. It just seems to slip out. I'm sorry."

Wufei sipped at his tea for a moment. "I see. I hope you'll work a little harder. I really don't
want to give Duo more ammunition than we have too. You'll see a change in him, not for the
better. Unless Heero can get him in hand. On missions sometimes I seriously considered
breaking his jaw just to shut him up."

"That bad?"

"You have no idea."

Zechs shuddered. "Well, damn."

~ * ~

Duo nuzzled his head under Heero's chin, moaning softly. "Noooo. No no. Heero please."

Heero stroked Duo's cheek. "I'm here. I'm here. What do you want?"

Duo grumbled softly. "Don't go. Stay. Please."

Heero realized that Duo was still asleep and dreaming. Not a very pleasant dream either.

"I can't do this alone. Please."

"Duo, Wufei . . ."

"Nononono. Don't wan' Wu' wan' you. Stay."

Wufei realized what was happening and touched Heero on the arm. "Wake him up now. He'll
have a screaming nightmare if you don't."

Heero shook Duo gently. "Wake up. Duo, wake up." Duo mumbled, but Heero shook him
insistently until he opened his eyes.

"Holy shit! I hate that dream. Heero, don't you ever go away again. I can't stand it. I couldn't do
that again. Never again. Please, swear. Even if you're lying through your teeth."

Heero hugged Duo hard. "Nothing short of death will make me leave you again. Nothing. I
swear."

Duo hugged Heero hard back and then pushed him away. "I feel like crap. Is there any coffee? I
need caffeine bad."

Heero reached out blindly and Zechs put a cup of the coffee the steward had left into it. Wufei
handed over several packets of powdered creamer and sugar. Duo tried to open the coffee but his
hands were shaking. Heero dosed it up for him and handed it back to him. He had to help him get
the cup to his lips.

After gulping several steaming swallows, Duo handed the nearly empty cup back to Zechs
gasping 'more'. Zechs plucked another cup from the holders and fixed it, then handed it to Duo
who sipped at it.

"Man, I hate that dream, you're just slipping away. Fading into nothing and I can't stop it. Fuck.
Give me something I can shoot any day."

Heero twined his fingers with Duo's. "I'll never go away again. Our love is too precious a jewel.
I . . ."

Duo eyed Heero. "Um . . . Heero? Where the hell . . . I mean it's nice but . . ."

Heero flushed. "I'm so not good at romantic stuff. Fuck it."

Duo grinned. "Oh, sweet as our love. And . . . never mind. Thanks for trying, but don't. Ok?"

Heero grinned back. "Ok. I thought it would be nice, but I'm not good a that sort of stuff. At all."

Wufei smiled at Zechs then whispered softly. "Wondered what he was doing. That bit with the
whistle nearly cracked me up. But he's trying. And he's getting much better." He yelped when
Zechs pinched him on the thigh, causing both Duo and Heero to stare at him.

Duo spoke first. "What the hell? 'Fei, you ok?"

Wufei rubbed his offended limb, "I'll be fine. As long as my great lump of a lover doesn't do
that again."

Heero snickered into Duo's hair. Duo swatted at him. Heero waggled his eyebrows in a
comically lecherous way and stage whispered. "Wanna join the mile-high club, little boy?"

Duo moaned "Oh, god. Heero, there's kids here."

Heero looked around. "Where?"

Duo pointed to himself with a thumb. "And stop that. You'll make me snort my coffee."

Zechs was severely tempted to smack Heero on the back of the head, but decided it would only
add to the chaos.

When the steward came to ask them to keep it down, he made the mistake of leaning into the pod
before anyone knew that he was there. He wound up facing three guns and a very large knife. He
retreated quickly and went for the air marshal.

The air marshal asked for the seating assignments and when he got it, he took one look at the
names and sighed. "I'll go talk to them. But if I was you, I'd just be really careful to make a
noise before I stuck my face in theirs."

The marshal cleared his throat softly before he squatted in the aisle. "Hey, guys. How's it
hangin'?"

"To the left, man, to the left. What's up?" Duo took over the contact without a thought.

"Well, hate to bring this up. But you're scarin' the staff. Not good. You make that steward any
more nervous and he's gonna forget to make coffee. That'll piss me off, big time. Ya know?"

Heero looked grim, but Duo just nodded his head. "Yeah, man, sorry. I'm all freaked out. I don't
like not flyin' myself. Gives me the fidgets. Captain Whoever is a good pilot, I'm sure. But . . .
not in my control and it makes me all twitchy."

The marshal nodded. "Yeah, me too. Um . . . name's Chester. Last not first. You got to marry
me to find that out. Wanna see if the captain will let you into the cockpit?"

Duo though for a second. "Naw, just bug him. But thanks. It's a personal problem more than
anything. Say, we could scrooch around and tell each other lies. How 'bout it?"

Chester thought about it for a second. "Sorry, better not. I'm on duty. But thanks. My kid is
going to have fits. Got to meet some Gundam pilots and can't prove it. He'll be disappointed."

Wufei shifted around until he could get into his pocket. "Do you have a new data chip?"

"Sure thing. I keep several. Sometimes I need one for reports and such. I keep fresh ones so I
don't wind up giving the department my personal files and pictures by accident. I. . ." he fished
around in his own pockets for a moment. "Yeah, here."

Wufei inserted it into his camera and took pictures of the man with Duo, Heero, and Zechs then
let Zechs take pictures of him with the smiling marshal. He looked so happy Duo couldn't help
but ask about his son.

"The kid's mecha crazy. I keep telling him that mecha aren't needed anymore. There's no reason
for them."

"Oh, there's plenty of reasons for mecha. Outer space construction depends on them. Retrieval
operations. And there's so much unexpended ordinance out in space that we'll be finding stuff
for centuries. And there's mine fields too. You better do your research or you'll have that kid
going into the wrong field just to get into a suit."

Chester looked startled, then sad. He sighed, got up, and shook hands with them all. "Thanks. I
got work to do now. I'm glad I met you. Just . . . um, keep it to a dull roar. Ok?"

The nodded and gave him assurances that they'd try to keep it down.

~ * ~

The other passengers weren't taking all this fuss lying down. They called the steward,
complained, glared and threatened to talk to the captain. The steward wasn't as rushed as you
might think as there were only 20 seats in first class arranged in four pods of five seats. There
were two pods on each side of the plane with a wide aisle between. After the pods was business
class then economy. With partitions and galleys between each class. This body style had been
designed in AC 009 and hadn't changed much since. It was functional, cheap to build, and easy
to maintain. All the planes came from WEI.

The pods held a total of 20 people but that didn't mean that there were 20 people in the pods. On
this flight there were a total of seven other people; three in one pod and two in each of the
remaining two pods. All were older, business men with companies of their own or just rich
people traveling for various reasons.

The First Officer came back to check out the situation, he was waylaid by a fat man who insisted
that the plane be landed at the next airport and the four men put off. He began by asking "do you
know who I am.' and spent several minutes rambling and making a nuisance of himself. The
First officer finally told him to return to his seat, that he would be told what was going on when
he, the officer, figured it out himself.

He was stopped again by an elderly woman who started in whining that if she'd wanted to put up
with juvenile behaviors, she'd have brought her grandson. She was given the same answer as the
fat man; a polite version of 'sit down, be quiet and let me do my job.' She sat and continued
complaining to a meek looking woman, obviously a paid, and much put upon, companion.

Heero fielded the officer neatly by asking if there was a problem, but his look said there'd better
not be. The first officer was a man made of stern stuff he didn't quail from Heero's glare.
"I don't think there is. All I need to know is if the young man is going to freak out and try to
open a door or something equally stupid."

Duo made a rude noise. Heero just poked him in the ribs. "Shut up, this is your fault after all."
Heero turned to the officer. "I doubt it. He's spacer born and Sweeper trained. Not to mention
being Gundam 02. He's got lack of control issues. He's not flying this bus, so he's
uncomfortable. That comes out as loud and obnoxious. Sorry for the trouble. I'll sit on him, if I
have too."

The first officer smiled. "Oh, I see. Well, I'll tell you what. Why don't we have Captain Maxwell
come up to the cockpit and look around?" he turned to Duo. "Maybe you'll feel better up there
where you can see what's going on. And we'd like to be able to say we had a Gundam pilot on
board. Good barroom gossip."

Duo considered for a moment, he knew he was getting out of control. He also knew that Wufei
wasn't above sedating him if necessary. He didn't want that, he'd be groggy for hours, hours
they couldn't afford. So he accepted the invitation to the cockpit with a grin and a poke at Wufei.
Zechs snorted and caught his hand before it connected.

"Watch it there. My boyfriend."

Wufei couldn't help the small self-satisfied smirk he gave Duo. Duo just winked and followed
the first officer.

~ * ~

When the man opened the security door, Duo automatically memorized the code. He didn't even
remember he'd done it.

The captain turned around leaning over the arm of his chair. "I hear you have a problem with me
flying this bus."

Duo gave the captain a shame faced grin. "Not you particularly. It's just that you're not me. I . .
."

The captain raised his eyebrows. "Son, you're a little young to be wanting to fly this crate."

The copilot turned around just then and gave a decidedly girly squeak. "Oh, shit. That's Duo
Maxwell. He's probably more qualified than we are."

Captain Daniels turned to stare at the copilot. "You're kidding. That's Shinigami? That skinny
kid?"

Duo grimaced. He was really getting sick of that, but he didn't say anything. He wanted to sit in
the cockpit too much.

"Um . . . can I sit in the navigator's chair?"

"Sure. We don't have one this flight. The first officer, Mr. Flay, is sitting two seats."

Duo pulled down the Navigator's seat and absently checked the instrumentation. "You sure
that's a good idea? I mean, it's your flight and if the company allows it I'm sure . . . but I
wouldn't do it."

The captain turned his attention back to his instruments while the co-captain smiled and replied.
"Well, this is a commercial flight not a combat mission. We have plenty of time to take care of
things. And auto pilot helps a lot. Oh, here, have some cheese puffs, my wife made them."

Duo eyed the things with a very jaundiced eye. "Um . . . no thanks. I don't want to spoil my
appetite for . . . supper? What the hell will we be eating?"

"It's technically lunch, but with the time zones, it's more like supper. Beef tips in burgundy
sauce over noodles. I don't blame you. I wouldn't eat those things either, but Gloria will ask.
She's a good gal, puts up with that nut job. Wouldn't want to hurt her feelings. So I'll have one.
Or four."

The captain laughed as his friend handed him four of the things on a paper napkin. He put them
on his knee and held the makeshift plate with one hand and ate with the other. Duo grinned at
Captain Daniels.

"Better you than me, buddy. I don't like trying to eat and fly at the same time. Never worked
very well for me."

"Yeah, but no one's shooting at us." Co-captain Adams settled in to trade war stories.

While they gossiped and traded stories, Captain Daniels and Captain Adams finished off the
cheese puffs between them, Mr. Flay dropped in to get his share before 'those snack snatchers'
finished all of them. Duo was glad, as the soggy looking treats didn't appeal to him at all.

Finally, the steward came in to tell Duo that he was about to serve. Duo thanked him, made his
excuses and went back to his seat, most of his fears soothed.

~ * ~

The food was served and they all agreed that while it wasn't five star, it was very good. The
noodles were just a little over done, but the beef was tender and the sauce excellent. They
discussed the food, the weather, Wufei's haiku, Heero's music, Zechs's split ends (he insisted
that he didn't have any) and Duo's recipe for fudge. Anything to keep Duo's mind off the fact
that he wasn't flying.

They examined the offerings of in-flight movies and rejected them all. Duo sneered at some,
Heero refused to watch 'chick flicks' and Wufei and Zechs agreed that the classical ones
weren't. That quashed that rather quickly. They wound up falling asleep, Zechs and Wufei in one
set of seats, and Heero and Duo in the other. The single seat at the back of the pod wound up full
of oddments of clothing and shoes.

~ * ~

They slept for several hours. The flight lasted fourteen hours, why they hadn't taken a shuttle
was easy. The logistics hadn't worked out. They'd actually have lost time waiting for one,
clearing atmosphere, entering low orbit, reentry and landing. It was faster in flight time but all
the other stuff made it take twenty hours instead of fourteen, and they'd be out of
communication for longer than they liked.

Zechs woke several times and checked on the others, never realizing that each of the others did
the same thing. Heero was awake when he felt the odd change in the flight of the airplane.

"Huh? Wa'? 'Ro? What's goin' on?"

Heero patted Duo on the shoulder. "Don't know. May be nothing."

Wufei blinked himself awake and poked Zechs. "Something's up."

"You sure?"

"No but Duo is. He wouldn't have woken up other wise."

Zechs got up to use the facilities. As he made his way down the aisle, he felt the plane buck in an
updraft. Not good.

Heero, Wufei and Duo eyed each other, there was no way the steward was going to believe them
when they said something was wrong. Wufei shrugged. He was the calmest of them all. Zechs
wasn't jittery like Duo, but he was tense, and having Heero try was such a bad idea that they
didn't even contemplate it.

Wufei approached the steward carefully, he didn't want to come off as some sort of nut.

"Excuse me. Is there a turbulence warning that I missed? The plane feels . . . off."

The steward shook his head. "No, but you're right. I'll check with the captain. Just a moment."

He picked up the phone mounted on the wall and punched the call button. While he was waiting
for an answer, he offered Wufei something to drink. Wufei refused, just shaking his head. The
steward waited impatiently for an answer, when he didn't get one after an appropriate interval he
hung up the phone.

"I don't like that. They're really good about answering fairly quickly. And it's not time for a
course correction or anything."

Wufei felt a line of ants march up his spine. He didn't like this.

Heero loomed behind Wufei, he needed to know what was going on. "Report!"

"No one is answering the phone in the cockpit."

"Hn" Heero frowned at the steward, who wondered if he should say or do something. What he
wasn't sure.

"Is the entire flight crew in the cockpit?"

"Yes, sir."

Heero dipped his head to hide his eyes. This wasn't looking good at all.

Suddenly the plane dipped, it had hit a micro burst. Things were thrown to the ceiling then the
floor, people were dumped from positions of ease onto the floor, into the aisles, and on each
other. Women screamed, men shouted, children cried, chaos broke out all over the plane.

"Get control of these people. We'll go up front and see what's going on. Get cracking."

The steward rushed to obey Heero, he knew something was badly wrong, the flight crew was
much too responsible to allow something like this to happen.

Zechs, meanwhile, was picking himself up off the floor in business class. He could hear
screaming from economy so he went through the curtains to see what was wrong. He found the
stewardess laying on the aisle floor with a screaming woman kneeling over her.

"Here, you." Zechs pointed to a man "Get her off." Zechs scooped the screamer up and dumped
her into the man's arms. "Keep her quiet. I don't care how. She's upsetting the rest of the
passengers."

Zechs knelt to feel for pulse in the stewardess's neck. It was strong and regular, slightly elevated,
but so was his. She made a soft sound in her throat. "Stay there until I check you for breaks."
Zechs felt her arms and legs, then ran his hands over her rib cage. She grunted in pain but when
he felt more thoroughly he decide she was just badly bruised.

"Not broken, just bruised. Can you stand up? I can't see your eyes. I want to check for
concussion. If you feel ill, let me know."

The stewardess stood up, Zechs checked her eyes and declared her bruised and scared, but not
concussed. She started to check on her passengers and moved slowly down the aisle under
Zechs's watchful eye. He was going to stay right here until she was done, in case someone
wanted to start something. He needn't have. It took the woman only a few minutes to calm
everyone down.

The passengers in business were another matter all together. There were several indignant
business types. And they were causing an uproar. The steward was doing his best to calm them
but they were adamant. They all wanted to talk to the pilot, now. Never mind that the captain
was, under the circumstances, very busy doing something else.

As the poor man tried to get his uncooperative passengers to return to their seats, they tried to get
around him to go to the front. Every time he cut one off, another would try an 'end run'. He was
rapidly losing control of the situation.

Zechs slipped by and positioned himself in the aisle between business and first class. He crossed
his arms over his chest and waited. The steward got all but two of the men to sit down by
promising to go check and have the captain come back to talk to them asap. But the others
weren't dissuaded so easily.

"Step aside, young man. I want to speak to the captain at once."

Zechs looked down his nose at the shorter man. "I'm sure you do."

"Well?"

"But does he want to speak to you? That seems to be the important question."

"Do you know who I am?"

"No. And I don't particularly care either."

"Excuse me?"

"There's no excuse for you, sir. Sit down."

The man drew himself up to his full height, his compatriots closed in behind him for moral
support.

"I will not. We have rights. I demand to see the captain and I demand to know who you are."

They all nodded their heads looking as fierce as four fat business men could.

"I see. My name, sir, is Milliardo Vincent James Steven Peacecraft."

"You're . . . you . . . but . . ."

Zechs put all the arrogance of over two hundred years of noble breeding into his expression.

"Yes. Sit."

They sat.

The steward headed for the front, calling all the wait staff to meet in the forward galley.

After a short meeting, they appealed to Zechs to do something. He nodded and gathered the
pilots.

"Ok . . . what's going on?"

Heero looked at Duo, then Wufei. They nodded at him. "Something is wrong with the flight
crew. Duo will get us into the cockpit. Zechs, you keep the passengers under control and find the
flight marshal. He should be here. Wufei, you check the passengers for injuries that need more
than first aid, then come to the cockpit. I'll back Duo up."

So Duo and Heero headed for the cockpit. Wufei started checking passengers and Zechs
followed him passing out soothing words and genial smiles.

~ * ~

Duo knocked on the door and called to the crew by name. No one answered, but he heard a
groan. He knocked harder and called again. When he didn't get an answer, he turned to Heero.

"You hear that? You try knocking. You sound like Oz coming through."

Heero pounded on the door until it shook. No answer, except what sounded like another groan of
pain.

"Ok, that's it. I'm kicking it."

Duo caught Heero's arm. "Better not. The navigator's chair is really close to the door. You might
kick the door into someone. Let me think. I . . .well, shit."

"What?"

"I saw the first officer open the door. Let me see . . . u m . . . the first number . . . ." Duo tapped
at the key pad and the door opened on the second try. "There. On my count . . . "

They both drew their weapons and bracketed the door. "I'll go up." Heero grunted. Duo pushed
the door open with his foot and stepped into the cockpit. He pressed the door to the wall with his
shoulder and waited while Heero knelt in the aisle checking quickly for any assailant. This took
only a second.

There was no assailant or terrorist hijacker, but all three men were nearly comatose in their
chairs.

"What the hell? What's wrong with them?"

Duo shook his head. "Don't know."

Heero went to get Wufei while Duo got the plane under control again.

Wufei took one look at the crew and sighed. "Anyone have any idea?" Everyone shook their
heads. Wufei checked each member of the crew. They were all comatose, sweaty and feverish.
He had them removed to one of the pods. It required moving people around and they objected.
Loudly.

Wufei looked down his nose at the whining man. "Would you rather have two of them with you
and one with someone else? They could be contagious. I'd rather have them all in one pod with
the possible contagion contained. But it's up to you. Do as you please."

The man moved.

After the flight crew was settled in with the economy class stewardess to watch them, Wufei
went back to the cockpit. Zechs was left in charge of keeping the passengers calm, Frank silently
applauded.

~ * ~

Duo got on the radio and called dispatch. This started a small riot in the tower.

"Listen here. No playing on the radio. How did you get on this frequency?"

Duo patiently explained what was going on. He was surprised when the air traffic controller
came back on after a short wait.

"Who are you?"

"Duo Maxwell, and, yes, I am that one. Gundam Pilot 02. I'm flying this bird now."

"All the crew are ill?"

"Yes. We've put them in first class with a stew to take care of them."

"Well, damn. Do you have anyone who can fill in the rest of the crew?"

"Sure do. Gundam Pilots 01, 05, and 06."

"Good. I'm familiar with 01 and 05, but who's 06?"

"Zechs Merquise. Got a problem."

"Fuck yeah. I got a multimillion credit airplane with a down flight crew. I got three minors and
one barely legal as a replacement crew. Where do I start?"

Duo held down the mic. button and laughed. Heero poked him and ordered him to pay attention
to the business at hand.

The controller gave Duo instructions on course changes and suggested he reset the auto pilot
until he was contacted again. Duo dutifully set the auto pilot and then pulled up the pilot's log on
the onboard computer. He checked the flight plan, looked for any personal entries that might tell
him what was wrong then sighed.

"Well, that was a bust. No notes in the log. Nothing."

Heero rubbed his face. "I'll check around the cockpit. Maybe I can find something. Where's
Wufei?"

"Still settling in the crew? Buzz the stew and find out."

Heero buzzed the steward and got an unfamiliar voice.

"Yes? This is Doris speaking. How can I help you?"

"Is Chang Wufei there?"

"No, he's back in business trying to calm some of the passengers down. Mister Merquise is there
too. I'm afraid someone started the rumor that the flight crew is dead and the plane doesn't have
a pilot."

Duo thanked the woman and looked at Heero. "Well, shit. Now what?"

Heero took a deep breath. "I go out and calm them down."

"Heero . . . oh, shit. Not that look. You'll give them all heart attacks."

Duo smiled at Heero to take the sting out of his words.

Heero shook his head. "Better that than have some fool try to open the door."

Duo muttered 'fuck' and went back to poking around in the onboard computer.

~ * ~

It didn't take Heero long to get the mess straightened out. He went into the class and glared at
the worst offender. The man recognized him, made a funny squeaking noise and sat back in his
seat. Heero glared at the rest of the passengers, suggested that the next person to be out of their
seat without a good excuse might find their relationship with duct tape closer than they'd like
and went back to the cockpit taking Wufei with him. Zechs slipped into the lavatory and
laughed.

~ * ~

Heero settled into the copilot's seat and started familiarizing himself with the controls. Wufei
started searching the cockpit. When he found the Tupperware container he sniffed at the greasy
papers inside and snorted.

"Don't these idiots know what a refrigerator is for? Smells bad."

"So the things stink, so what?" Duo didn't have patience for this.

"So, the food is spoiled. It can be spoiled enough to make you sick before it smells."

Heero leaned over and sniffed. "Cheese. Cream cheese. Duo, call in."

"'K. . . . 02 to control."

"Control to 02. What's up?"

"Got an idea what might be wrong with the flight crew. Bad cream cheese. Is that possible?"

"I'll have it checked out. How's everything going?"

"Not too bad. Got the passengers under control. Flight crew is in the hands of someone with
some first aid training. And I'm re familiarizing myself with controls as is 01."

"Good. We'll be back to you with info on that cheese."

Duo settled back in the chair and sighed. He'd wanted to fly, but not like this. He wasn't worried
about his ability to land the plane, it was all the fuss after that had him worried.

Heero reached over and took Duo's hand.

"What's wrong? You look worried. Is there something else?"

Duo shook his head. "No. We're good here. But there's going to be hell to pay when we land. I
bet we run into all kinds of reporters and shit."

Heero shook his head, rubbing his thumb over the back of Duo's hand. "Bet not. Une will take
care of it or I miss my bet."

"Hope so. I don't feel like answering a bunch of stupid questions."

Heero shrugged. "I don't either. We'll figure out some way around it. Don't worry. If nothing
else we'll all just glare, snarl 'no comment' and keep moving."

Duo grinned at Heero. "Well . . . ok. If you can't dazzle them will brilliance, baffle them with
bullshit. Right?"

Heero curled his lip at Duo. "Glare them into submission and if that doesn't work . . . blow them
up."

Duo choked on the sip of soda he'd just taken.