"The Rovers"

Written By: Kaeru Shisho

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story.

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: AU, Romance, Adventure

Pairings: ?

Summary: The characters from Gundam Wing find love amid the perils of war, oh… and they save the world while they're at it. The story is set in an alternative universe on earth. Part One is told from Heero's point of view. We meet the roving people with a hidden agenda, and the men hunting them. In Part Two, things go wild and…well, let's just get through these first four chapters and see how it goes.

Thanks to Waterlily for reading and offering her advice not just once but twice—and when you get through part two you see just how long a story this is and just how much I owe her! Hope the exchange rate is in my favor…

"The Rovers "

Part Two

In review: Captain Heero Yuy of the Sanc Elite Guard and Colonel Zechs Merquise, the crowned Prince Milliardo of Sanc, are captured by Rovers while on the road looking for the prince of L4, Quatre Winner, and an ambassador to L5, Chang Wufei. At the Rovers' camp, the Sanc captain and his prince quickly become sympathetic to the Rovers' cause. Zechs is informed that his father, the king, is near death and he is to return to Sanc. Because the southern pass is closed due to winter weather, he chooses to go by way of the northern route and over-winter at Duke Dermail's palace.

At the same time, news reaches the Rovers' camp that the L5 colony is under attack. Ambassador Chang Wufei wants to see for himself the despoiling of his home colony by Khushrenada. While living at the Rovers' camp, he and Zechs have become attracted to one another-unexpectedly- but nice for both of them. Zechs promises to provide an escort, if Wufei agrees to accompany Zechs to Sanc when the weather permits. And then the couple formulates their own secret plans for revenge against Khushrenada, while becoming involved in the secret arms movements of the Rovers.

Chapter 5 - A Long Cold Winter Sets In

(o) Wufei's pov

After an uneventful trip, traveling the near-deserted King's Way leading out from the Rovers camp, past a few outposts, farms, and waysides, Wufei, Zechs, and his two Sanc guardsmen turned to a side road and into land neglected or unclaimed by any modern kingdom. There were no inns, no villages, no signs of civilization. They were well off the beaten path.

At least, Wufei thought, he was away from the Rover camp, away from Yuy's smirk. There at the end he seemed to be on the verge of laughing at him! Yes, he'd been bridling himself and, Wufei had to admit, he'd probably been a little techy at times, but he had had good reasons! He had wanted to leave, go to L5, be a part of the uprising, for he was sur it was his colony under attack. And he would have gone; no man could have held him back! But, he couldn't return to his homeland empty-handed. He had to possess those new weapons. He knew for certain that armed with that wondrous technology, his clansmen would make short work of Khushrenada's troops. He was a realist and knew that it would be the only way L5 would win in a fight against over-whelming odds.

"Let Yuy sneer at me now," he thought, wearing his own grin of satisfaction. His patience had won out. He had his arms, not many, but some and the promise of more-the knowledge as to how to acquire all he would want.

He did miss his favorite tea, taken in his favorite spot by the carp pool with the waterlilies...

"Wufei! Come take a look at this!"

Wufei shook off the daydreams to concentrate on the handsome man calling to him. He'd never before seen such a tall, pale, yet lordly man as Zechs Merquise when he marched into the Rover camp. He'd not been able to take his eyes off him after that, and now he provided a delightful interruption in the irksome ride.

"Ducks," he said, identifying five of six different kinds on the water.

Luckily, game was plentiful. They stopped at the ox-bow admiring the waterfowl. Water cut off from the main river and a mild temperature made perfectly suitable ponds for overwintering birds.

"This isn't so unlike late fall in L5," Wufei said. "We have mild areas in the higher plateaus where I can shoot duck."

"I have a taste for duck," Zechs said, "when served to me. I can't get them with a sword-"

Wufei chuckled, imaging what that would look like. Not a big laugh. He rarely laughed at all, but this interesting man from Sanc lightened his heart like no other ever had.

Zechs smiled at him and went on, "- and I've never claimed to be accurate with the bow and arrow."

Nor had Wufei. "I used a rifle with shot-there are applications for gunpowder beyond making large scale explosions." Wufei watched a pair of pintails swim in close.

"Khushrenada's been training the Sanc men in the use of rifles, but from my experience, they have proved to be highly unreliable. I hardly used mine at all."

"Perhaps this is as good a time as any to test these magical beam rifles from Howard's people?" Wufei had been dying to show off his skills, which were far better honed than he had let Duo or Zechs believe. His mentor, Master O, was one of Howard's "people", one of the inventors Duo spoke of. Twice he had been allowed to test one of the weapons in L5 and had been very proud of the praise he'd earned for his excellent shot.

Zechs flashed a look over at his guard. "Do you think we should trust them?"

Wufei considered his answer seriously. Both he and Zechs had kept the weapons hidden, not sharing the farfetched technology with the two guardsmen, something they had promised Duo, so the question was applicable.

"I trust you," he said at last, "and I think we can do our shooting without an audience, if you order your men to remain with our horses while we hunt. I believe that we are in complete agreement: these weapons must never fall into Khushrenada's hands?"

"Indeed," Zechs replied, arching an eyebrow.

Wufei took that to mean he should say more. "I wouldn't have come with you if I did not have that faith. You've earned it." Wufei smiled a knowing smile.

"I am privileged to have your trust in me."

You are, Wufei thought silently. "Do you know that in order to get these weapons, I had to promise Howard that I would kill you, should I find that you betrayed us?"

The Sanc prince lost his smile and shook his head "no".

"I'm afraid I may have lost the ability to do that, however much I honor my word." The proud man from L5 fought back a blush and turned away before observing the other man's reaction. That was as close to an admission of affection-love, if he were being totally honest- as he had ever made, or would ever make, he believed.

"Thank God for that," Zechs murmured and strode off to speak to his guards.

He and Zechs left the men to watch over the horses. Zechs had a good eye and steady hand, but it was Wufei who could not seem to miss. After the third duck, Zechs stopped the proceedings.

"You cannot have acquired skill of that level in only a day. No amount of acuity -" Zechs began.

Wufei chuckled at the man's irritation-another chuckle. "-You are right. I trained with a weapon like this while in L5-with a master and one of the inventors."

"You have these... doctors in L5?"

"Just the one and even he had departed the colony before I left. Part of the reason for which I had been sent away was to find the Rovers, who we knew had contact with Master O."

"But how did you know to find him through the Rovers?"

"Master O, he told us, gave us, my father and, so, me, instructions as to how to communicate him."

"With weapons like these, you could overthrow..." Zechs' voice trailed off and his brows drew together in a frown. "You have been planning an insurrection in L5 for some time."

Zechs sounded, he thought, a little too accusatory. "That was quite a leap in logic you made, from testing inventive arms to revolution. I have no idea that is true," Wufei declared.

"For how long?" Zechs pressed.

"I said that I don't believe there were plans, not actualized ones. L5 has been cooperating with Master O for some time, creating applications for gunpowder, and other inventions. And certainly there has been resentment of the treatment we've received from the larger kingdoms."

"If L5 dealt with one of these," Zechs hunted for the word, "inventors, it is possible the other colonies have had connections with the doctors as well. All fomenting war."

Wufei hadn't wanted to enter a political argument, but wouldn't back down from one. "Defending one's assets is not war; it's half of it. Khushrenada's attack is the other half." His eyes flashed with the dangerous fire of an unleashed dragon inside. "And this from the self-proclaimed pacifist kingdom!"

"And we are at peace... and have been..." Even Zechs sounded less certain of his facts given the current events, stumbling over his words. "The reign of Peacecrafts means something... has embodied something to that effect."

Seeing that Zechs was having some doubts meant he was achieving a modicum of success. He was an ambassador. If he could turn the tide of war and change Sanc's policy toward the colonies, L5 in particular, by argument, logic, and diplomacy, then it was worth trying, wasn't it?

"I like to think you symbolize that which is right and just in the Sanc Kingdom, even if that general in charge of your armies moves in contradictory directions." Wufei felt a tiny smile flicker across his lips. He hadn't intended to sound quite so arch. He was serious now. "You promised to help me, but you may now have second thoughts. The time for you to decide which side you take has come."

Wufei knew how stuffy he sounded. He hadn't worded that as he liked, but it was too late to change what he'd said. In the end, Zechs represented his kingdom, while he was there standing for his colony's interests-they might not be compatible.

But they were companionable in other ways!

He banked the fire building in his chest. This was not the time for engaging in romantic passions. What had he been thinking? No, not what-with what! Certainly not his highly educated-possibly overrated-mind!

And then Zechs smiled; he pushed aside his long bangs and looked down at him. His grey eyes sparkled, and Wufei's pulse sped up.

Zechs said, "Oh, that time has come and gone, as you well know. I wasn't having second thoughts; I was just surprised at how involved your colony has been with these inventors while I had never heard of them at all before arriving at the Rovers camp."

"I-I see." Wufei hated how his words caught in throat, his suddenly parched throat.

"You should," Zechs said sharply, at first, then laughing quietly. "I have no love for Treize. I want my kingdom back. I don't want him directing our future. I can understand the colonies wanting control of their future as well. The unfair trade agreements can't last without sucking the colonies dry. Parity should no longer be a vague notion dangling out of reach. I believe we share a vision, Prince Chang Wufei."

Wufei rolled his eyes at the title. "Really, Zechs, that's totally unnecessary. Clans use no titles like that."

Zechs reached out and touched the other man's chin with a fingertip, running it up and across his lips. "I know, but it sounds terribly sexy, don't you think?"

The question so caught him by surprise that Wufei had no mind left for tamping down the rising flush of blood to his face.

Now, Wufei had not started out planning to seduce the next king of Sanc, he wouldn't have known how to start, but apparently that was exactly what he'd gone and done. His ancestors would turn in their graves-were, in fact, very likely twisting and agitating at his unseemly behavior! But, one studied look at the smartly dressed, tall and handsome man looking at him as if he were the most interesting person in the universe, and remembering just how far away he was from those judgmental ancestors, wore away at his inhibitions.

Besides, the prince was a pretty good catch so a few of those dearly departed might forgive the inability to breed and approve his choice. "To hell with those stuffy old ancestors," he murmured.

"Ah-" Zechs began was cut off from further comment, when the shorter man drew a hand up into his hair and pulled his face downwards.

Their lips brushed together ever so lightly and then Wufei stepped back and walked away quickly. The voices of men and horses drawing near carried on the wind. He did not wish to be seen kissing Zechs, and the experience had been so stimulating, parting lips would have been less and less possible if he'd drawn out the contact. His fingers touched the spot still warm from the contact.

"Oh, my," Zechs whispered just loud enough for Wufei to hear and know what his move had been duly noted.

At night, they sat apart from the guards, but that was all the privacy they had, which was too bad. They had a lot to talk over, but intimate matters would have to wait.

(o) Heero's pov

Now that Duo had had sex with him, he felt they had a special bond. Duo must have as well because he opened up about and revealed some of his secrets- his missions transporting arms to colonists. Heero thought it was about time for him to be included. He imagined the two of them saddled up for their ride out of the Rovers' camp and out into the disputed Free Lands. They would be true outlaws, arms dealers, moving the new weapons from the stashes of the inventor-doctors to Rover outposts in the colonies. For some reason, that appealed to Heero, not least was that he'd get his hands on those marvelous guns, but, first, Duo had a transaction to make, and Heero didn't like how he'd been avoiding any discussion of it.

Trowa was making his own preparations to exit camp, which included having a loud dispute with the prince from L4.

"The little sheikh-ster will get his way," Duo told Heero. "Mark my words. He will leave with Trowa if that's what he has set his mind on doing. He's got Tro' wrapped around his little finger."

"I can sympathize with him," Heero said. "I would follow you just about any place, if that's what you wanted."

"I can understand Trowa's reasoning just as well," Duo said with a sigh. "Just saying, 'Ro. He's got a predicament making things different from us."

"Which is?"

"If he agrees to take him along, he'll have Rashid breathing over his shoulders the whole time."

Heero wondered at that. "He's worried if the Maguanac be trusted not to take the arms to his king?"

"Not that I think that's gonna bother Tro' more than the sheer lack of privacy, heh, heh," Duo said, snickering. "Rashid won't leave his sheikh-to-be, so Tro' will have to take him along-no question of that. As far as testing his loyalties for his prince versus his colony? Not sure. From what I've seen, the man may be strong, but he can't fight off both Trowa and Quatre. Besides, if he holds out long enough, they'll bring the arms directly to the desert colony anyway."

"Not to the L4 sheikh." Heero knew Duo didn't mean that.

"Right. Not Trowa. He wouldn't let the doctors' weapons get into the hands of anyone in the grip of Sanc-or even siding with them occasionally. Don't worry 'bout it. They'll work it out."

Heero smiled knowing how he and Duo had worked out their differences. There was nothing they couldn't put past them after a roll in the hay. "Zechs has his two elite guardsmen; Quatre has Rashid for his personal bodyguard. Don't we get a chaperone? Someone to protect your honor."

"My honor?" Duo laughed. "Right, heh, heh. No, we are so lucky to be commoners."

"Nothing common about you." Heero meant it even though it elicited a funny look from Duo, and then a blush. He loved how he looked that way.

"O-kay." Duo cleared his throat and tossed his braid over a shoulder. "So, um, wanna help me on some of my jobs?"

"Been waiting for you to ask."

"Right. Okay, so then... for today we have lot of prep work to get done."

"Whatever you want," Heero told him, deliriously happy on the inside. "I've been released from duty and have total freedom."

Heero felt Duo's eyes on him, studying him. He waited patiently for what the clever, energetic man had to say, hoping he'd choose to be open with him about his plans. As commonly ensued, what Duo said wasn't what he had expected.

"Have you ever been free to just do what you wanted? Go where you wanted on your timetable?" Duo asked.

"Not exactly," Heero said uncertainly. "I get hired to work for someone else, like most people, in fact."

"Hmm, well, how about now you work for me?" Duo asked.

"I thought we were equals," Heero said. He knew he was frowning. This wasn't going as he had envisioned. "You said 'no top, no bottom'-and if it works in bed, it goes for the rest of our...relationship."

"Yes!" Duo punched the air and danced a jig. Sometimes, I didn't understand him. "You got gumption. I just wanted to make sure it was in there someplace. All right. Right! You are absolutely right. Equals, shwequals and all that. Hooow-ever-"

"What now?"

"As a heads-up warning, I may be making a lot of the calls, seeing as I know what's up and all."

"At first. That's okay. I learn fast."

"Right on target! So, here's what we gotta do. In order to move product round the country, going cross kingdoms and colonies, we need valid transport ID. Road marshals have been stopping Rovers in particular."

At last! Heero felt a wave of relief. This was what Duo had been withholding from him. "What about Zechs and Wufei? Would they need special authorization?" I asked.

"Now, Zechs and 'Fei, should they choose to be arms dealers, well, he's royalty and can do pretty much any damn thing he wants, especially if he's got artillery to back him up, which Wufei is good at. So, to answer your question, no."

Heero wasn't done with the questions. "Trowa and Quatre? Does Quatre have clout we don't?"

"Yes, he does, but he doesn't have enough on his own. Let's face it, I like him loads, but he ain't intimidating to look at, even with that hunk of Maguanac glaring over his shoulder. He's just too damn nice. Tro' on the other hand carries a trader's license from L3."

That was news to Heero. He'd been trading for a living? Him? Trowa Barton? Killing, yes. He had the look of a paid killer. Those eyes. Eye.

"Before joining us, he really was a clown or something in the circus. He went all over with them and got the license to drive wagons full of equipment, tents and animals and what-all. Later, he joined the Archer's guild."

"Busy man." Heero thought Trowa looked the part of a mercenary, and the Archer's sold their services all over. Explained everything, except the clown part. That was too strange to comment on. He thought about what Duo had told him and came to a conclusion. If there was a difficulty, Heero must have been the cause. "So, it's me who has the problem."

"You'd think, but, actually, you can get a license to port products as part of the Sanc Elite Guard."

"Which I no longer am," he reminded him.

"But no one we'll meet on the road will know that your ID isn't legit, which it is since you just have Zechsy's word for it that you are free. I'm sure your prince isn't announcing it, so, having valid Sanc military ID, you should have no trouble getting a transport license."

"Fine, then. Let's say I get a permit somehow. Why do I need one if I'm with you? Aren't you already dealing arms?" Heero asked.

"Howard or Trowa go with me. I can't get a license with nothing but my out of date L2 card,"

"I don't follow you," Heero admitted. "Why not just get your own papers?"

"I can't... I have this past... in L2 and L3... maybe L1, too."

Duo acted so troubled Heero didn't press him for details. "All right. We'll use my ID and get a license for trading. I suppose you have some dive down a dark alley in mind for a meeting place? Oh, and which one of us will be forced to give blood money for one?"

Duo brightened and even smiled, which had been Heero's intent with the joke. "Not so bad. A bar in Bordertown. And we can get a good meal, too."

Heero looked forward to that good meal, too, as he and Duo collected their horses and rode out on their errand. When they reached their destination, Heero noted that he had been partially right about them visiting a seedy hangout. The bar was off the main street, way off, called Bar Nunn. From the look of the hooded lowlifes occupying the darkest corners, the place surely had earned the classification as a dive.

The barman came over, Duo ordered a Polish vodka, and, when it arrived, offered the barman a cigarette and lit it for him. He was a short, compact man with narrow eyes deeply lined at the corners, from laughing, maybe, or squinting into the distance. Beneath his red jacket he wore a shirt washed so often it was the pastel of an unknown color.

"Are you Boris Nunn?" Duo asked.

"Now and then."

"Well, Boris, I have a friend . . ." A little cloud of irony hung over the phrase and the barman smiled appreciatively. "He was in trouble; he came to you for help."

"When was that?"

"Last year, around this time. He hurt himself in a circus act and needed a doctor."

The barman shrugged. A thousand customers, a thousand stories. "I can't say I remember."

Heero understood what the man was saying: a bad memory was a good idea.

"Now, it's another friend. A different kind of problem."

"Yes?"

"A licensing problem."

The barman used his rag to wipe down the zinc surface, then paused, and had a good look at Heero. "You?"

Heero gave a single curt nod.

Boris asked, "Where are you from, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Sanc, currently."

"Emigré?"

"Not really. I went there after the war, after a time as a mercenary. I'm in service there."

"You were in the war?"

"Yes."

"Where was that?"

"L1 colony. Up into northern colonies and into the bordering parts of the Sanc kingdom for a time, Lombardia as well."

"Then there was L2-" Duo added this for reasons Heero didn't understand, but he didn't try to correct him.

The barman was laughing as he finished Duo's sentence. "Oh yes," he said, "that shithouse."

"You were there, too?" Duo asked.

Heero wasn't sure if it was sincere or part of his act, but he appeared interested in hearing his old homestead referred to that away.

"Mm. Likely we shot at each other," Boris said with a sigh and lifted the bottle. "Then, after the fall of colonial sovereignty, my regiment took a walk. Same again?"

"Please."

The clear liquor came exactly to the rim. "Will you join us?" Duo asked.

The barman poured himself a vodka and raised his glass. "To poor shooting, I guess."

"To Nunn the wiser," Duo said. Funny man.

Boris grinned and drank in the Russian manner-with grace, but all gone.

From the nightclub tables, rhythmic clapping, growing louder as the patrons grew bolder, some of them yelling "Hey!" on the beat. The male dancer, squatting on the stage with his arms folded across his chest, was kicking his legs out.

"Licenses for trafficking," the barman said, suddenly gloomy. "You can get into real trouble, fooling with that. They lock you up, here, if they catch you. It goes on, of course, mostly among the refugees, the colonials and the political exiles. Once you get run out of Bordertown, you aren't legal anywhere, unless you've got a military classification. That takes time, and money-you can't afford to be in a hurry.

Duo nudged Heero. "Now show'im the ID."

Heero withdrew his papers and insignia from a satchel, thankful once again that Zechs had not confiscated the emblems of his position when he'd freed him of his obligations. "I'm with the Sanc Elite Guard. I'll need to transport a wagonload of goods from time to time."

Boris smiled widely. "Why didn't you say so from the first? This will not be so difficult to obtain. Ho, ho! For that, you get the special tonight-venison sausages with potatoes gold with butter."

"Sounds delish!" Duo said with a lick of his lips.

Heero wouldn't move until he knew the fate of his license. He had a tough knot of stubborn inside him and the strength and fighting skills to back it up. "When will I get my license?"

"Don't worry! It will be ready in two days. It takes that long to get the wax seal." Boris recorded Heero's ID number in a worn little book, returned the papers to Heero, and then stuffed both the book and graphite stick into a grubby apron pocket.

"And the cost?" Heero continued to press, since Duo didn't seem to mind his participation.

Boris scratched his head. "Could be expensive."

Duo did join in on those negotiations. "Since it's not so hard a job, it shouldn't cost much."

With a quick give and take, they settled on a sum (half now, half when the license was in Heero's hands) and a date to complete the transaction. Boris shook hands and led them to a table. As promised, it was a feast. And a show of lively dancing and music. After the third number, and another drink, Heero joined in the clapping.

The plates of food were gone and Heero and Duo lingered over their beer. Heero thought Duo was a little sad. He'd urged him into talking about himself, thinking that might help, but Duo's past hadn't been cheerful.

"Sometimes, a guy's gotta do whatever it takes." Duo frowned and looked at his hands. Heero knew he was telling his own story now. "So you sneak out. Now, you're a 'Stateless Person.' You slip into some colony, hide out for a week if you know the right rooming house, then they catch you and send you across the border. After a week or two in jail, the customs officers walk you back across the frontier, at night, in the woods, and the whole thing starts again."

Heero shook his head slowly, in sorrow. "How did you manage?"

"Joined up with the Rovers. I was running with a couple others. We were lucky.

"Why did you run?"

"Because they were chasing me," Duo said, laughing again. Heero waited. "I was a poet. Controversial and political. Also, to be honest, a criminal. When they came after me, I was never really sure which one it was."

Heero laughed with him. "With the Rovers it's better."

"That's right. If you stay out of trouble, they don't care that much, unless you try to avoid work, heh, heh. Ready to go? We got our usual rounds to make today before dark."

Heero had gained Duo's trust enough to be given his freedom to travel at will, but he had no will to go anywhere. Mostly, he felt happy simply trailing Duo around when he could. There were times when Duo asked him to meet him elsewhere, while he reported to Howard. Heero offered to go with him, but Duo really preferred he not. For some reason. Heero could wait until Duo felt comfortable to explain. Pressuring him for information would just make for conflict, not friendship.

So, after riding a circuit of villages all day, Heero was now back at the camp, waiting for Duo. He stared at his tent flap as it quivered with a passing breeze. He had time to think and he recalled a certain Sanc saying: "One should never voluntarily enter a room the door of which cannot be opened from the inside." Good advice and could be applied to countries with restrictive emigration laws. It came from a land where people closed themselves behind solid wood doors. He like the Rover tents with cloths flaps. He liked that here folks were free to come and go.

His eyes remained glued to the cloth serving as a door. He willed it to open and for Duo to appear. Open... now!

If only Duo would come, Heero thought as he stared at his flimsy door.

A shadow appeared first, then a couple fingers waving at the opening. "Yoo-hoo! Can I come in?"

"Yes!" Heero answered.

Duo entered Heero's tent smiling. "I brought wine."

"Okay." And then Heero knew what he wanted most of all. This time Heero asked to see his hair down.

Duo refused. "It's not as wonderful as you might think," Duo told him. "It gets tangled and in the way and icky if it gets, um, you know. Wet. And it hurts when it gets yanked rolling on it. Really it's not fun."

"Just the once?" Heero begged. "I'll help you tie it out of the way as soon as it's a bother, please?"

"Geez, all right... Hey! Not there! Start at the bottom and work your way up from there or it will become one gigantic knot. This is so... I'm gonna regret this... I already do."

"Duo, shut up. Let me enjoy this."

"Ouch!" Duo cried out. "Get off... ugh!"

Heero finally gave in and helped Duo contain the monster and tie up his hair on top of his head. "There, out of the way."

"I hope you are satisfied."

Heero smiled. "Not on your life. But that's enough of your hair for the time being. I'm interested in your ass now."

"And when you can say that without blushing," Duo said, "I'll know you mean it."

"But I do!" Heero blushed scarlet now that Duo was making such a big deal out of what he'd said. Sex was new to him, sure, but he was not shy about it.

"Heh, heh... yeah, okay. Me, too, which is why I brought this," Duo pointed at his parcel of ointments.

"What are those?" Heero asked.

"Well, some are flavored. You can guess what we do with those," Duo said, waggling his eyebrows and making Heero smile. "Some are medicinal for after, 'cause things happen. All are buttery smooth, smell delicious, and make parts glide in and out-Ah!"

"Enough talk!" Heero shouted, laughing with Duo as they fell into a pile of pillows.

(o) Happiness is a Warm Gun

The next day, Duo announced that Heero was going to begin his advanced weapons training with Quatre.

"I impressed you last night?" Heero asked, glowing with pride and accomplishment at having brought Duo to breathless ecstasy.

"You did. You navigated the ins and outs of what's important, that was for sure." Duo kissed him quickly. "C'mon. This'll be a treat for you."

Duo had been right about the treat part. Heero particularly liked the buster rifle and showed a gift for shooting. He was, in fact, so good that he was offered an exceptionally powerful beam rifle, capable of taking out a large group of enemy forces or good for breaking down walls in a single shot.

He familiarized himself with as many weapons as he could, everything they might expect to be transporting and demonstrating to the colonists. These included: hand-carried beam rifles, beam cannons, and the smaller laser guns. Machine cannon would be mounted on the wagon they'd be using.

Duo waved around a deadly-looking blade of pulsing light, the beam saber. "Wufei and Zechs really took to this one," he told him.

Quatre surprised them all with his agility and quickness. He wasn't the strongest, but his judgement was so keen he wasted little energy on the wrong moves.

The weapons lessons extended over several days; Heero and Duo's nights were free and illuminating as well...

The training was interrupted one afternoon when it was time to go pick up the license. Trowa and Quatre accompanied them. They'd all become fast friends over the last few days and, now, things were about to change. The time to split up, take on important missions, and go their separate ways was coming soon. No one knew what the future would bring and when they'd be able to enjoy an afternoon out again.

They all joined Boris in a vodka salute to good fortune and long lives. Money changed hands, as did papers, and Heero became the proud owner of a license to haul goods and materials throughout the Sanc Kingdom and those entities with contractual trade agreements.

They gorged on delicious sausages, roasted potatoes with globs of soured cream, and liters of heart-lightening beer. When they spoke, though, they all knew to keep their voices low so they couldn't be overheard.

"I'm sorry to see everyone go his own way," Quatre said. "It was magical, all of us meeting here, forming friendships and committing to a grand new world view."

"Yeah," Duo agreed. "I'm missing 'Fei's arrogant face already."

"I can't believe Zechs relieved you of duty," Quatre told Heero. "He was taking quite a chance travelling without trusted backup."

"He's has Chang with him," Heero pointed out, "who is more than capable of watching his back."

"When he's not on his back," Duo said sotto voce.

"You didn't strong-arm him, did you?" Trowa asked Heero, a quick smile on his lips.

Heero mentioned his last conversation with Zechs, ending with, "We parted on good terms."

Duo nodded. "Uh, huh. He wants you free to roam around now, but the second he has need of your sure aim, he'll be calling for you."

"There's nothing wrong with knowing there's a place for me, when this is over."

And he looked up to find Duo studying him. "I thought you liked the Rovers' camp?"

"I do. A lot."

"You'll be welcome back here, you know," Duo said.

But will I, Heero wondered, by you? "Then I'll be back."

"It may be a while though," Duo said.

Everyone had bought into the Rovers' plan to move arms all winter. When possible, they would ride the low-trafficked Kings Way, carting arms from secret caches of the Doctors to appointed Rover lookouts.

Heero and Duo would haul wagon loads to L2. Not exclusively, but supplying and training the colonists of L2 was their primary goal.

L3 they left to Trowa and Quatre. "Way to much snow for me," Duo said.

L5, or what was left of it, Wufei, in theory, would handle. "No one counted on Zechs," Duo said.

"I'd trust him to assist," Heero told him. "He means to take control of Sanc from Khushrenada."

"He won't survive if tries to cross Wufei. Tough little bastard, heh, heh." Duo chuckled.

Heero said, "I would attempt L1."

"And I L4," Quatre joined in.

Trowa and Duo took turns explaining how L1 was too close to the Kingdom of Lombardia and Duke Dermail's army, and L4 was too involved with Sanc for either colony to be safe for Rover goings-on.

Heero and Quatre took turns assuring them that it was still possible.

"Maybe we will get to arm both," Duo said as a conciliatory offer, "if we end up going to Sanc when Zechs does."

"And he will," Heero said. "To defend his crown, if for no other reason."

"Sure as shootin'," Duo said with a chuckle.

"And Princess Relena in in L4," Heero said to Quatre. "She's done nothing to deserve the situations she's in. I'd like to see her safe return home."

"I would, too," Quatre agreed. "I promise to do what I can to help."

On returning to camp, both Trowa and Quatre decided to take off immediately. They were prepared, Rashid was anxious, and they had the furthest distance to go. Heero and Duo agreed to leave the next morning, so they shook hands and wished each other well and then parted ways.

Full of hope and purpose, the future looked bright.

TBC...

Chapter 6

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