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"Halfway to Sublimity"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, male/male pairings, language Pairings: 1x2x1 Summary: When Duo moves to a new town on the river,
he meets a young man running the river and a rich boy who seems nice.
Maybe he'll settle down for awhile, or maybe not. "Halfway to Sublimity" Chapter Twenty-Three
A/N: Thanks to waterlily and snowdragon for the invaluable advice and edits and to snow for "Hazardville", another real town name. The cave escape described in the next few chapters is based on personal experience. Let me know if you've ever been caving. Trowa and Quatre danced with surly Weiridge and the depraved Tsubarov, sybarites both, continuing their lies about their sexual conquests over the past week, and ignoring their dance partners, who just as thoroughly but more silently ignored them right back. Treize marched into the room followed at a distance by Heero, Wufei, and Duo. He wore his pants loosely buttoned under a long flowing robe, untied, and an angry expression. "What is going on? I see no disturbance!" He came to a standstill in the middle of the room, hitched his belt, and worked his neck muscles with impatience. The dancers waltzed to a stop. All eyes turned to him. "Winner, what are you doing? I thought you'd gone. Isn't that carriage of yours repaired yet?" "I thought we could talk." "Talk. I see. Very well. Hello, how are you, now goodbye. Does that count? You can go now." Quatre stepped a foot closer and smiled with his most innocent look. "I'm sorry to have missed seeing your wife, Lady Une." "Yes, too bad. She is out of town." Treize said shortly, nettled at the topic's exposure. "Oh, now, you can do better than that, can't you? Try, oh, let's see... I know! I ordered a partner of mine to shoot her. How does that sound, you did do the ordering?" Quatre's voice dripped with scorn, his eyes accusing. Treize sputtered out his denial. "You lying little fag -" "Eh-eh! Watch the name-calling! And watch who you call a liar. You know it's the truth. I have proof. Oh, yes. Better than that, I have Lady Une herself recovering in a sanatorium. Where you ask? Well, that's a secret." Treize shot a glance Tsubarov's way. Tsubarov dropped his head, his thready, mouse-brown hair curling limply to his chest. "Those Maguanacs are persuasive," Tsubarov muttered. "They are like my eyes and ears," Quatre began. "Then you've gone blind and deaf!" was the governor's retort. "Don't you say on L4 that 'He who peeps at the neighbor's window may chance to lose his eyes' ? Now, you should forget what you don't understand and take my advice-" "Not hardly." Quatre smiled. "Since you are familiar with the L4 sayings, then you must have heard this one: 'A friend advises in his interest, not yours.'" "How is your use of the swarthy Maguanacs any different from my use of Barton's mercenaries? We both pay our private armies for protection and service." Before Quatre could supply his explanation, a clamor of voices, war cries, and what might have been falling wooden blocks interrupted him. "Whoop! Whoop!" A truly huge man-monster charged down the hall from the entry, hollering and carrying an axe. "NO! Not my collection!" Treize wailed as he dove toward the rider. "Holy Tumultuous!" someone cried. The giant of a man riding bareback on a horseback swung an ace twice at the nearest display table, making two sharp reports very much like gun fire. His face paint glowed white and black striped with bold dashes of red and yellow and turned his visage into a gaudy mask. The native then turned to heave the axe at the fast approaching governor. To avoid getting an axe through the skull, Treize veered into the nearby curio cabinet, cracking through the glass doors, and sending a tinkling of trinkets spilling onto the hard floor. A blood-red, wild-haired Midi, AKA Ivy Shruggs, and Great Eagle provided the perfect distraction. Trowa, despite his shiny, effete livery, applied his skills to move without detection and disappeared from Winner's side. He joined Wufei, Duo, and Heero in the hall and led them into an unoccupied room. There wasn't time to argue or over analyze the situation. "We have de layout of de mansion and its grounds to examine for all possible escape routes. Quatre an' I studied it some." Duo jammed a finger here and there. "There's the front gate and the back. This at the side, where does it lead?" Wufei followed the faded wiggly line. "The stables and that's it, although, there must be horse trails." Trowa jabbed at the side. "Here. Deez grey lines. Dere's one dat leaves the compound here and here." "So we could ride out of here. Clean getaway," Duo concluded. "What is this?" Heero asked. Wufei examined the drawing carefully. "Yes, the horse trail changes to dots and dashes in the rocks. Then it intersects off the property line near with the horse path from the stables." "Cave." Trowa pointed to a rectangle where his hand had been resting. "According to de legend." Duo pounded on his shoulder. "You were hiding that?" "No, Quatre noticed it, w'en we were looking." Heero and Duo studied the drawing further until Heero had all the drawn-in landmarks memorized. "Yep!" Duo cried. "Now I see the tunnel I found. It leads from the stables right back to the side of the house where the office is. I found the entrance. I knew it! And it was filled down there with kegs of beer and wine and stuff." Trowa agreed. "Quatre was sure dey moved contraband in and out dat way. You should use it. Quatre wanted more o' de brand marks, de ones from de Nor'd are illegal to have since we are at war wid dem." Duo nodded. "Got it." Wufei glared at them. "No caves for me." Trowa went for the save. "Dat's okay. Splitting up's good. Chang's got part o' de papers, a y'all got de rest. So, w'at if Duo an' Heero take de house tunnel to de stables an' Chang finds his own way. Meet dere and if someone doesn't show an' dere's hot pursuit den ride wid de remainin' horses to de cave exit off de property." "Chang," Heero put in, "Should you get to the stable and the horses are gone, that means we got there first and had to retreat fast. You will have to take the cave entrance over there. We will meet up where the cave opens out, and ride to here." Wufei looked unhappy. "That will not be an option. I will get there first with my part of the documents and wait for you." "As long as possible, but it you are followed then go and take the horses," Heero repeated. "We'll take the cave route and meet you at the cliff opening." Wufei agreed and asked, "What about Trowa and Winner?" "We'll get de test engine out in de carriage." "And all meet up in Hazardville," Yuy said, "with all the plans and more evidence of bootlegging." Wufei winced. "Unfortunate name." Duo tugged on Heero's sleeve. "Let's hit the road, buddy. While we still gotta diversion." (o) Trowa sauntered back to the party in no hurry to get caught up in his circus friend's fiasco. As happy as he'd been at their timely appearance, he wanted to avoid getting underfoot; in particular, getting trampled by the horses. Quatre, he knew, could take perfectly good care of himself. He hadn't been born a gambler, but he came by it naturally and grew into a good player. His cool demeanor and sharp, calculating mind were the perfect combination. Blessed with natural balance and sharp eyes, his skill with knife throwing and acrobatics fit into the circus life that had become a large part of his growing up. What in his past, in his makeup, had prepared him to become a gentleman's companion, his lover, his partner? He had no answer to that one, unless he'd come from a wealthy family. He leaned in a doorway, watching the thundering horses knock into priceless furniture and listening to the homeowner have a fit. Who would have thought Yuy would run into an old river gang member? As he told it, Dekim Barton's gang abducted or killed all the rest of Odin Lowe's men. Heero hadn't been in the house nor had he ever been associated with Odin, so he had been overlooked. The only other survivor had hidden away, observed the attack, and waited to inform Heero before running off. How he'd ended up as a guard in Treize's household was a long story, but what was important was that he'd held onto the guilt he'd felt, leaving a young boy alone with nothing but the carnage of his dead father and smoldering ruins of his only home. When Yuy met him in the servants' quarters, he recognized him at once. Michael Planter. Planning the diversion, getting Ivy's cooperation, that had been Quatre's handiwork. Letting down the guard and allowing entry to the two horsemen had taken most of the risk out of the plan, and the man had done it all to gain Heero's forgiveness. A man with a conscience- what a rarity and what luck! Yes, if anything, luck had been with him all his life, and for that, Trowa Barton was very thankful. Treize shouted for his guards, his bellows echoing up and down the halls. "Guards! What is the meaning of this?! Who let you in!? Guards! Get these dirty savages out of my home!" Here they came at last, looking bedraggled and tipsy. Planter must have boozed up his fellow guards, Trowa mused. And this gave him a fantastic idea for the finishing touch to their escape plans. He slinked around to the backstairs and dashed to the servant's quarters, where he had stashed his personal belongings alongside Heero and Duo's. Their things were still there. Where they were headed, they wouldn't be able to carry them. He rummaged through his bag until he found the paper-wrapped Chinese herbs he would need, and silently expressed his thanks to Wufei for sharing his supply. He gathered up all their belongings and carried them out to the stables. There, he hid their things under heaps of straw and checked on the carriages in the shelter next to the barn. Sure enough, in the back of one lay a gigantic copper and brass object. He straightened his satin jacket and smoothed his knee pants, thinking he looked good in livery, and then found the groom. "Ah, Mr. Tsubarov wants dis rigged up wid des horses." "Those aren't his horses." "Dat's right. He traded horses with Mr. Winner." Trowa grinned. "Lost a bet." "Oh, sure, whatever you say. Okay." Trowa patted the herb-pack in his pocket and stepped out into the sun. He left all the bags out of sight in the straw, just in case something went wrong, and moseyed on back to the party. He caught sight of the big native and waved. Ivy wheeled her steed around and waved as they let out war whoops and reared their horses. Show offs. Trowa smiled and watched them ride away. Time to join the party. In fact, the dust was only just settling when he stepped into the L3-themed party room. Weiridge and Tsubarov were huddled together in a corner. Quatre stood his ground front and center. The governor veered around, a calculating gleam in his eyes. "So it comes down to you and me, Winner. How much do you want?" Quatre appeared taken aback. "Do not buy either the moon or the news, for in the end they will both come out." "Preserve me from more L4 homilies. Winner, how about a title? I have loads to spare." "Have you really?" Quatre asked, feigning amazement. "No thank you, governor, although that's rather generous of you, considering." "Considering what? I tire of your games and wish to put an end to this evening's foolishness." "I hear you are shopping for a Dukedom yourself." Quatre smiled. "No, I do not like or keep titles. I was often warned as a youth: call someone your lord and he'll sell you in the slave market." "Ha!" the mirthful sound, if that was what is was coming from the unhappy looking governor, was a dry chuckle. "I haven't heard that one. Your Maguanacs teach you that one?" "No, but Rashid used it in a joke one time. My father taught me the saying I live by, and that is: 'It's all borrowing and owing until the two men settle accounts. The time will come when you must pay finally for how you live.' Your time, Treize Khushrenada, has come." Trowa used the awful pause in the conversation to offer everyone a drink. As he prepared the mixture in a pitcher, he added the substance from his pocket to all but 2 cups, and set his own aside. Starting with Quatre, he passed out the drinks. "A 'pick me up' for you, sir," Trowa said. He gave his lover a hooded look, as if he were signaling something, and a silent communication seemed to pass between them. (o) "So, you wanna tell me how Great Eagle and Ivy got in?" Duo asked as he and Heero darted around a corner. "You looked pretty smug back there." "Later. Hold up." Heero collected the lanterns and matches from behind the, thankfully, undamaged, credenza then chased Duo into Khushrenada's office. "Here's the cellar hiding place." "Right," Heero said. "Take one." He handed over a lantern and climbed the narrow wooden ladder. "The stash is this way." Heero let Duo lead the way. "We're to collect more keg labels for evidence later. I gave Winner the ones you got." "Okay." They ripped for a few minutes. "We should get the hell outta here, 'Ro." "Agreed." "This is the tunnel we saw on the map. With luck, the stable's at the other end." "You go first," Heero urged him. The cold, damp air on his face was unwelcoming. Duo gave the opening a wary glance. "Yeah, this whole day's better looked back on than forward to." That got him the chuckle he had hoped for and with that reward as motivation, he dashed into the bowels of the estate. Small halos of lantern-light reflected off a few shiny rocks before being absorbed by the velvety gloom. "Looks like there's some wet spots," Duo warned. Moments later, he slipped on the slime-slicked slate underfoot, and roughed up his palms stopping his fall. "Damn it all!" Heero cursed from murk when his shirt snagged on the rotting wood siding, tearing a chuck away. A cascade of loose shale and caked-on mud littered the path and nearly closed it off. "There's no going back," Heero shouted. "This had better open up where you say." Duo detected a note of rising panic in his friend's voice. He hoped Heero was not going to panic in a cave, because more likely than not, their label collecting had wasted precious time so that Wufei would easily have beaten them to the horses and been forced to leave without them. He just knew a cave loomed large in his future. "I see light up ahead!" Duo called out. He felt Heero's hand on his back, pushing, urging him faster-as if he needed any added incentive. The narrow confining space didn't bother him, but the thought of the rotting wood walls collapsing and trapping them terrified him. Thin rays of moonlight sliced the darkness through a metal grate. Below the metal bars hung a short iron ladder, which they nearly flew up they were so eager to see the sky again. Heero crammed in beside Duo to push the covering up and off. Duo grabbed his shirt and yanked Heero back into the tunnel. "Guards," he hissed. "Lemme check it out first. Keep the lantern back." Heero didn't like Duo taking the risk, but Duo was already poking his head out of the opening, and then he was gone. Duo kept to the deepest shadows, listening for guarded breathing or voices. All was silent. As he crept nearer to the stable, he found a discard revolver, torn piece of fabric from a shirt, he deduced, and other signs of a skirmish. "'Fei?" With stealth acquired from years of surviving the dangerous cities alone and with no money, Duo searched the stable for their friend and comrade and the horses. The stable contained what he expected, except a shortage of horse flesh. He found Quatre's coach and Tsubarov's with his sheeted, demonstration model steam engine. He noted movement from between a gatehouse a tree. He could make out the groom and other servant running toward the stable. "Time to go. What's that? Rope-handy." He tore a couple coils of rope from a hook, and scanned the space for any last minute changes. Revolver. He snagged that, figuring Heero would carry enough ammo to fight a brigade. Mission fulfilled, he backtracked to the tunnel opening using the same caution as before. "Wufei's already taken the horses." "Shit." "I know, 'Ro, I'm not excited about going through a cave either." Heero dipped his chin in a curt nod. Whatever his problem was he was dealing with it as best he could. "He has a head start, but we could take other horses and catch up." "Something strange about that. There are only Quatre's horses left in there. Either Wufei's being followed by a posse or he's cut the rest free to stop pursuers." Heero pursed his lips in frustration. "'Ro, he has a long ride and he had to fight off someone to get out. That took time and he can't go fast trailing at least our two extra horses. If the drawing was accurate, the cave route should cut off miles." "Okay." Heero must have come to terms with his cave demons, Duo thought. Heero pointed to the pistol Duo had confiscated, asking, "Find that?" Duo offered him the gun, which he accepted with a grim smile. "While you load it, I'll refill the lanterns with the last of the oil so we can ditch the excess crap. I got rope, too." "Smart." Heero shared a warm smile that bolstered Duo's spirits. They repacked their small knapsacks, jettisoning everything deemed useless. "Okay, grab the lanterns and those ropes and let's get out of here." (o) Treize determined that Winner was a better game player than he'd given him credit for. "You have been taking lessons, young Master Winner. Is that what you've brought on that Cajun servant for? Oh, pardon me, I mean, amongst other things." "Are you ready to negotiate?" Quatre wanted to know. "For what?" "Missing wife, attempted murder," Quatre waved one of the labels Duo had torn from the governor's cache below ground, "Illegal use of funds...bootlegging -" Treize tore the paper from his hand and tore it to bits, which he flung into the fire. "You can't prove a thing," he said watching the paper curl and blacken in the flames. "I have more." "More what?" Treize asked uneasily. "Evidence, reasons for you to cooperate with me." Winner smiled sympathetically. "I've become friends with an old chum of yours. He has shared a few stories." His voice hardened. "Of how you seduced him when he was younger, or attempted to. He's not sexually attracted to males, you know that don't you?" Treize gritted his teeth. "I asked before, what do you want? Get out with it!" Quatre took an envelope from his inner jacket pocket and opened it to read. "His new secretary wrote this up. As you can see it is a ruling repealing the anti-homosexual laws." "What do you want me to do with this?" Treize asked suspiciously. "Merquise has the power to put this to a vote." At that, a broad grin spit Quatre's face. "So, you know of whom I was speaking. I have witnesses who just heard you admit to seducing a boy who turned out to be an underling of yours in the military. I wonder how many of Sanc's laws you've broken." "De tally's at fifteen, I dink," Trowa put in helpfully. "Fifteen and counting," Quatre said, passing a disdainful look over everyone in the room. Treize face purpled. "My guards won't let you past this room, any of you, alive that is." "Sixteen. Listen, Governor Khushrenada, I do want to make a deal. First, I want your signature approving this measure and your vow to see it pass the Duke's veto, if it should come to that. Second, I want you to denounce Dekim Barton and stop any agreements you have with him. Third, I want you to declare him an outlaw and have him and his followers brought to justice. I'll think of the fourth later." "And you will drop all charges? All charges?" A hush fell over the room. No one stirred, cleared a throat, sniffed, snorted, or coughed. "Yes. Forgive and forget, I say," Quatre said with a resigned sigh. "Signature first, though." Treize fell into a chair, the weariness of defeat washing over him, his shoulders slumping. "Give it here, then." With a flourish of feather-tipped ink pen, he autographed the document. "Now, you will leave my property," he said. The command lacked authority; the imperious tone was gone. The conquered man dropped his head to the tabletop, trounced. And knocked out, in fact. "Thank you, I think I shall be going." When Quatre turned around the quiet room. "Trowa? Why is everyone asleep?" "I spiked de punch wid sleeping herbs. Chang was kind to share wid me." Quatre wrapped him in an embrace. "And I thought I was so clever. What a jewel of a conspirator I have in you. When I'm emperor, I'll make you my chief tactician." Trowa pressed into him harder and crushed his lips over those of the shorter man. He pulled away and whispered, "De scheme I have is to get outta dis place, find a private room in an inn, an' listen to you scream my name into de pillows." "Ummm, love your plans. Is everything ready to go?" "Dis way." Trowa and Quatre escaped into the night. Trowa collected the last of their things and stowed them in Tsubarov's waiting carriage. He told the groom to lead the carriage out onto the lane, and then dashed back inside the barn housing Winner's coach. He removed a couple pins holding a wheel in place, loosened it more with a kick and watched the transport list to one side, and then ran back to Quatre. When he settled into the driver's seat, Quatre asked where he'd gone. "Breaking your carriage so it can't be used to follow us, though I didn't see any horses to pull it anyway." "Oh! Well, I did say ours broke down." Quatre laughed, and the two drove off in the night. (o) "Wufei really studied the map and drew lines and did some math I didn't understand but he called it geo-metrics? Something like that. He came up with a distance of two miles in the cave, not counting the ups and downs, er, the climbs and descents, and 15 for him, plus some hilly places and mountain cliffs. That means about two to four hours for us and about an hour or two for him, depending." "It all 'depends', doesn't it?" Heero said. He didn't like the way Duo made light of the hours underground. Those would be hours of his life he would never get back. "He said the elevation lines showed the cave takes us through a mountain and goes down most the way." "It's liable to be wet and cold." "No wetter or colder than outside, 'Ro. It feels like it might start raining, or snowing." "Here!" Heero found the cave opening behind a thick gnarled pine. "Doesn't look too bad." Heero and Duo slid down a muddy slope to get to the entrance, and then stepped into a dusty opening. "At least it's dry inside." Duo stepped past the rocky outcropping and into the dank, shadowy interior. "Euww! Slimy would be hell." "You have a strange idea of what Hell's like, you know that, Duo?" "Well, if we're stuck midway through this cave tunnel-" "Then we'll back out and run the 15 miles to meet Wufei," Heero snapped back with conviction. "That doesn't sound too bad right now." "You really don't like caves, do you?" Duo asked. "Wufei refused to even consider going this way, but he's prissy enough to snub anything dirty. What's your problem?" "River rats need the feel of fresh air," Heero was quick to say. He felt embarrassed having to admit the weakness and wouldn't meet Duo's eyes. "I'm not meant to live in a cave." As if he needed another excuse, he revealed, "I would say I have every phobia one could associate with caves: loss of sight, tight places, silence, and bats." "Well, can't help you with the first two, but I can sing to keep you company and this one has no bats. It smells too good. I'm not kidding! Bat shit piles up and smells bad, believe me." "You are experienced with caves, then?" Heero asked. The escapade wouldn't be so bad if Duo was comfortable with caves, he thought. "Yeah a few and lots of underground tunnels so I got the tight-places and dark covered." "That's good because you're going to take point on this job." Heero kept the rest of his mixed feelings to himself and stepped away from the entrance. In the absence of artificial light, the inside of a cave wrapped him in total, absolute darkness. Cut off from the sounds outside, Heero could hear dripping water, and that sounded very far in the distance. He shivered with revulsion. "Okay. Hey, 'Ro, you can do this," Duo said as he gave him a reassuring part on the back. "Hn," Heero grunted. "We'll have to climb?" "Yeah, probably." "I'm good at that." "Then you can help me." Duo winked and Heero kissed his cheek. "That's nice for starters." "For luck." They lit the lanterns and began their adventure. At the start, the walk was just low ceiling with the left side open. They scrambled single file up a mud-slick rock, then duck-walked through a low corridor. Their clothes got wet, dirty, and muddy after crawling and climbing up and down the slippery terrain. The end of the duck walk opened into a most beautiful site. Stalactites suspended from the ceiling reached down to stalagmites below. Some rock formations dripped cold water that seeped from the ground above the cave. They raised the lanterns and walked about spellbound by the extraordinary sight. "Wow," Duo gasped. The colors ranged from the deepest rust and grays to a pristine white covering the active flowstone. "Beautiful," Heero whispered. "Like freshly fallen snow when the sun hits it." "Fucking awesome," Duo agreed. "Look here!" Heero shined his light toward the wall. There was a red salamander. It was so small and easily missed. "There are pools over here!" Duo shouted with excitement. They took turns throwing loose rocks into the brilliant pools just to hear the gentle plunk reverberate through the cavern chambers. "Duo." Heero's lantern showed two openings in the cave wall-- two, not one. They were at an impasse. "Which way?" Duo decided to try the lower first. He scooted on his back into a small cavern that led to another niche. Being slender and flexible was definitely useful for getting through some of the tight spots. Heero folded himself into the opening, pushing the lantern ahead, and rolled onto his back. He reached the first small cave when Duo's voice came back to him. "Dead end. Go back." Relieved, Heero scooted out, dragging his things behind him. Even for a limited time, he hated the confined space. He grasped Duo by the shoulders when they appeared and helped drag him out and to his feet. "You got wet?" Heero asked. "Yeah, well next time I'll go for the upper route," Duo told him. "All I could see was a stream running through most of the lower level. I tried to stay out of it and keep dry, elevating myself above the water by pressing my knees and elbows against the sides of the cave, like this." He demonstrated on the upper tunnel opening, and then dropped back down. "But when I got as far as I could, the stream emptied into a hole too small for us and that was it." "Just as well," Heero said. "I didn't like the feel of an underground river." "Yeah, looks like whenever we get a choice between an upper and lower tunnel in this cave, we outta remember that water always seeks the lowest level, and go high." They chose the upper route next, and after over three grueling hours and a series of rough, near-death experiences they agreed that caving built the mental skills to overcome self-doubt, traumatized you, or outright killed you. Heero chose to forget it all, pretend it never happened, and move on. He'd let Duo tell the entire story later, when they were safe and comfortable again. When at last they staggered from the cave into the moon lit night, the bracing air of the out-of-doors smacked their faces, stinging the numerous abrasions, torturing them at the same time as waking them up. Heero tried to shake off the nightmarish cave experience. "That was too close." "You're telling me? I think my tongue is bleeding," Duo said. "Lemme see," Heero said, leaning forward and sharing the warmth of his body with Duo. After no human contact and too much chilling rock, this little movement was sending ripples of pleasure through his body. Duo stuck his tongue out and Heero inspected it briefly then sucked it into his mouth. When Duo moaned, he groaned, too, enjoying the kiss; that is until a faint voice filtered up from far below. "Maxwell! Yuy! I hear your voices! I don't see a path up. You'll have to climb down here." "Chang? Wufei?!" Heero and Duo shouted together. "He's here?" Duo sounded astonished. "Man, I can't believe the plan worked!" "It very nearly did not," Wufei continued to bark up at them. "I hadn't time to free all the horses, which was a mistake I paid for. I was followed. I had a messy fight getting here. Still, I've waited an hour or more for you. What--?" "Don't ask," Heero said. "We're both injured, but not seriously. Duo has a head wound so I want him down first." "But why--?" "We will fill you in on our escape from the tomb of terror later," Duo put in. "Tomb? Oh, forget it. I see your silhouettes, now. My determination is that you are 50 feet or more from where the horses and I are standing." Heero shook his head, even though Wufei wouldn't be able to see him. "We don't have that much rope." "I have 20 or 30 feet of rope," Wufei shouted. "You can't throw it that far, 'Fei," Duo pointed out. "I need to see what the climb is like." Heero tied a lantern to the end of one rope and dangled it over the edge. He let out the rope, illuminating the steep cliff along the way. "That's it for that rope." "Yuy! Can you go down another few feet or so? I think there's a ledge," Wufei said. "Just a minute." Heero handed over the rope to Duo. "I'm going to secure the other rope to a rock or stump or something that will hold us, and then attach it to this one. If it reaches Wufei's ledge, then I'll lower you to that point." "You'll leave me on the side of a cliff?" Duo's fuzzy brain didn't like that. "No. Wufei can probably throw his ropes that far. You'll get them and I'll haul you back up, tie them together, and then we'll see if it's long enough." "What if the rope's still too short to get down?" Duo asked. Heero locked eyes with his dearest friend. "We'll get down tonight, somehow." Duo sat at the edge and sighed. Heero agreed that the scariest part was getting over the edge. "Trust me." "Always, 'Ro." He successfully lowered Duo to the very narrow outcropping. "Just don't let go!" Duo shouted, his voice betraying his fear. "This could break away at any time and it's really small!" "I won't let you fall," Heero assured him. "I'm tying a stick to the end of my ropes. I tied them together in a square knot, which ought to be secure," Wufei told him. "My point being, I don't want to hit you, but it should make the rope more visible and my aim more accurate." "Go for it!" The first two tosses were wide and Duo nearly lost his perch reaching for them. The next attempt hit the rocks over his head. On the fourth try, he caught the stick and held on. "Got it!" Heero hauled him up, sweating from the effort in spite of the cold air. Duo unleashed himself from one rope, and sat back against a rock, looking exhausted from all the effort and injuries he'd sustained while climbing through the cave. "Rest there while I get the rope fixed." "'Kay, 'Ro." Using bowman's knots perfected after years on the river, Heero attached Wufei's rope to theirs and re-tied Wufei's two ropes as well. "You all right?" Heero asked. "You kidding? No, ah... I'll make it. Just tired, 'Ro." "This is the last of it," Heero said to reassure his friend. "After this we ride to an inn. I'll rope you to the saddle if need be." "You might have to," was Duo's weary reply. Heero affixed the free end of the rope to Duo's waist, and gave him an affectionate squeeze. "Okay, legs over the edge, turn grab the rope and-" Duo blinked at him. "I'm gonna puke." "No you're not. Chang's down there. Now, take it slow and I'd talk you through this." "O-kay." "I cannot believe you actually got me hanging here by a rope, walking down a cliff!" Duo shouted out to Wufei below and Heero waiting his turn above him. "My stomach is doing flips just thinking about it." "Keep going." Wufei stood beneath him and calculated how far he had left to go. It was dark, but Duo was visible in the moon light. "You are about one third of the way down." "Too late to change my mind about this, huh?" Duo asked. "Relax, you are doing everything right," Heero called down to him. "Who decided it would be fun to end the night rappelling down a 60 foot cliff in the dark?" Duo quipped. A minuet or so later, Duo remarked, "You have to snake your way around sharp rocks, just so you know, 'Ro." "Thanks." "You are two-thirds of the way down," Wufei yelled. "I just want to get down. At least it's not real dark. I mean, after that fucking cave, the silvery moonlight seems brilliant." A few minutes later, Duo announced, "I'm at the end of my rope! Heh, heh... Gimme a minute now..." He had to release the knot around his waist and drop the last ten feet, but Wufei was there to steady him. "Yuy! He's down. Your turn." "I'm sending our gear first, then I'll come." Heero could hear Duo and Wufei talking below. First, it was Duo complaining. He must have been so drained that he could not get up and Wufei was helping him, or trying to. "What are you doing, 'Fei? I didn't think you liked guys that way." "Forgive me for being concerned for you welfare. I'm conducting a cursory body check." Heero shouted, "Good. How is he?" "The head wound isn't deep. Tears, gashes..." "Hey, I'm right here. Talk to me!" Duo demanded. "All right. Your clothes are disgusting. You can't enter the inn in this condition." "Sorry..." Heero cut him off. "I untied the rope at the top to give us a few more feet. Was it enough? Can you reach it?" "Yes!" Wufei replied. He unknotted the bags and remaining lantern. "Yuy? Rope's clear!" Heero dragged his end of the rope and re-secured the end, and tested it with a firm yank. He was ready to make his own descent. "What happened to the rest of your gear?" he heard Wufei ask Duo. "Sacrifice to the cave demon," Duo explained. "We saved one lantern and the plans, though." Heero didn't think that would make sense at all to Wufei. Hopefully, he would ignore the slip, chalking it up to the head injury. As long as their part of the steam engine plans were safe in the battered bag that was all that was important, right? Heero rappelled with practiced ease down the cliff face until the rope was fully taut. "You'll have a 10 foot drop at the end," Wufei told him. "Thanks for the warning!" Heero dropped like a cat and gave the rope one last look. "I wish we could take it with us. It's excellent quality." "You can cut what you can reach," Wufei said. "I'm riding back a few hundred yards to where I hid the bodies of three of the guard that followed me." He winced. "I don't think they're dead." "It was in self defense," Heero reminded him. "Yes, thank you." Heero saw what might have been a grateful look in his eyes, and then Wufei went on to say, "I'll see what clothes of theirs I can salvage for you and Duo to wear. You look as disreputable as him." Heero sank to his knees near Duo. "Good idea." "I won't be long," Wufei said. Heero embraced his dear love, wrapping his arms around Duo for warmth and with affection. "Good idea," Wufei said in a low voice. "Try to stay warm." Heero's eyes flew open at the sound of approaching footsteps. He and Duo had lapsed into a doze: he had failed to protect Duo! He looked around for a weapon and tensed into a crouch. "Here, there are slacks and jackets. The shirts were...too bloody." "Chang!" he tried not to sound as frightened and angry as he felt. "Well, it was the best I could do!" Wufei snapped. "Sorry, I didn't know who was coming. You startled me." "Oh. It's probably good to be alert. Someone will come looking for the men." Heero fingered the jackets. "These will be all right, but I'll need a hand getting Duo dressed. I think he's losing consciousness." "Don't let him sleep," Wufei warned. "Not with that head injury." "I'm awake." Duo shook off his stupor, and actually did most of the work himself, changing into too long clothes, and rolling back the cuffs and sleeves. "They're warm." "A soon as we get to the inn, I'll order you both hot bathes and treat those cuts and gashes before you come down with some nasty cave fungus or disease," Wufei said. "Sounds good--"There was a strange noise at Heero's feet, which distracted him. "Bath, clean wounds, bed," Duo repeated. "Now that's a winning plan. LOOK! The rope!" Wufei's pulse quickened. He looked up at the rope only to discover to his horror that the rope was disappearing up into the darkness. Heero screamed," Something is pulling the rope. Get the hell outta here!" SOMETHING WAS PULLING THE ROPE BACK INTO THE CAVE!! "Dear Buddha! Get the horses!" Heero looked back one last time. He half expected to see some creature from deep within the earth poke it's head over the side of the cliff. He wanted to wait there and watch the rope for signs of anything bizarre. Could his heart take any more stress, he wondered? He couldn't have been more wired. His brain had reached sensory overload. "Move, Yuy!" Wufei yelled. Duo grabbed the priceless bag of plans, and then he and Heero climbed upon their horses as fast as their battered bodies could haul up into the saddles. If luck was with them, and Heero hoped it was, Duo wouldn't slip and fall. Compounded with what he'd already gone through, a fall from his horse racing away at full gallop would be fatal.
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