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"Friends "Written By: Karina
Series: Friends Pairings: 2+6 Ratings: M 15+ [In Australia] Rated in the event of bad language and violence. Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing or the characters. That’s the way it is. Warnings: Not a death fic despite how it starts.
Aussie spelling and unbetaed. Summary: When Milliardo Peacecraft is abducted
and left to die a solitary death Duo Maxwell decides to take a hand
in the proceedings.
Chapter 32 “You were in my dream.” Duo could not see the man but he could feel him, their close proximity marked by body heat close at hand. Marquise was within inches of him-he could feel the caress of long hair against his hand. This did not feel like a part of his nightmare. “We have company, Duo.” There was no time; no time for answering questions that were not safe to ask, let alone answer. He could feel them, out there in the snow. The shadow within him would stir; it always stirred if it determined he was in danger. He was neither alone, nor undefended, and he was on his guard. He would not again be taken unawares. Duo was here and he did not want to rouse the Shadow again in the presence of the younger man. There was entirely too much he could not afford to explain and Duo had already witnessed too much. Someone would pay for the intrusion into his only sanctuary. To be on guard all the time was to give the Shadow license to rule him and he had determined he would not permit that. He needed to find another place he could call home; a place he could be assured he would be undisturbed. Not even his controllers would be entrusted with its location. They would not like it, but they would answer for their betrayal. Any who survived his quest for answers would simply have to accept it. No one would be given security clearance to his safe house once established. There had to be one place at least where he could afford to let down his guard. “Zechs. I want some answers.” “There is no time. If you are awake enough to be obstinate, then you are awake enough to listen. We have company.” Duo hesitated, staring into the darkness. It was so dark there was no hint of a shape for him to orient to. His hands clutched material and he could hear breathing, his own and that of the man beside him. “Company?” “We have company coming.” For a long moment Duo strained to hear. The walls of the pantry insulated sound but he could hear the wind howling beyond the building. He wondered how deeply the cabin was now buried by snow, as he must have been asleep for a few hours and he doubted the snowfall had abated any. “I can’t hear anything.” “Never the less, we are not alone.” Duo would have no means of knowing to trust his instincts. Duo was unaware of his capabilities; they had not worked together in any real capacity since the Mariemaia incident and that had been in mobile suits. It had to lead to more awkward questions he should not answer, but Duo Maxwell was already a walking dead man as far as his controllers would be concerned. Because he had witnessed an assassination attempt, Duo was a marked man. The murder of a supposedly dead man would lead to the murder of another. They intended he remain dead; he was of more use to them this way, but some of them wanted him truly dead. He kept telling himself it was worth it, trying to make himself believe that Libra was worth the hell he lived. It was to ensure peace, but some days the thought of ending the torment was tempting. But such was not to be. He had survived this attempt on his life and he would ensure the perpetrators would regret their methods. It would be a contest of wills, a contest of survival instincts and, warned, he would not be found lacking. He would win and go to ground, become dead once more; hopefully this time there could be a peaceful and unremarkable life to be lived. He had had quite enough of the world. No doubt the world had had enough of him. “Zechs, talk to me. What makes you think we have company?” “I can feel them.” Duo blinked in the darkness. He could feel them? Why was he moving, fumbling for the zip and intending to investigate in these conditions on the strength of a feeling? //It’s just a feeling? Damn, I’m insane to be getting out of a nice warm bed, practically naked and intending to stomp through a snow storm.// Beyond the tent a few glowing deep red points marked the embers of the fire. Fumbling around in the sleeping bag Duo found his companion’s leg, empty sleeping bag, his companion’s feet, more empty sleeping bag and, finally, the torch. The advent of light was greeted with a profound sigh of relief and a grunt from Zechs, who ducked his head away from the light shining directly into his face. “Sorry. You say we have company?” A tired sigh accompanied the flash of icy blue eyes before the fall of hair shadowed his face as Zechs ducked away from the light. “Yes.” “And you know this because you can feel them?” “Yes.” Duo sniffed, reaching for his clothes and wincing at the damp icy cold of his trousers and he pulled them on. “How close, can you tell?” For a long moment there was silence then Marquise seemed to relax a little. “Close. Coming closer.” Duo rolled his eyes, determining as distances went that was as informative as mud was clear. He resisted the urge to demand more accurate data, opting instead for pulling on his shirt and reaching for his woollen pullover. He wanted to start the fire, but to do so would mark the location of the pantry cave and he could not afford to do that. “Don’t suppose you can tell which direction they are coming from?” A long elegant finger rose and swivelled to indicate direction before vanishing back under the warmth of the sleeping bag. “Right.” For a moment Duo considered what he was doing and called himself three kinds of idiot. He had been having a nightmare, so what the hell was to stop Marquise from having a nightmare too? He had probably dreamed this supposed incursion into the area. The man had to be spooked by the near successful murder and he was bound to be paranoid. “It was not a dream, no I am not paranoid and we do have company.” And now he was omniscient? Duo stared. Marquise looked back at him. “So how did you know what I was thinking?” Marquise shrugged, choosing to contemplate his fingers twisting around a strand of pale hair. “Because it was obvious you would be thinking along those lines. Because it’s the middle of the night on a mountain in the middle of nowhere and we are stuck in a chapter of the Twilight Zone.” Duo gaped. He had been thinking of the Twilight Zone and he was sure as hell Marquise would not have knowledge of his hobby in collecting classic books to just throw the name around to spook him. “Okay. We need to have a talk and you need to come clean with me. You have nanobots running rampant in your body, but that doesn’t give a person the ability to read minds.” “There is no time for this, Duo Maxwell.” “Yeah, I’ve noticed there is never enough time to discuss the really importing things. But we are going to make time, you and I. You are going to come clean with me and tell me what the hell you can do. Everything you can do.” “You would be a dead man if I did.” Duo considered the quiet voice and shrugged. It was, after all, nothing new. “Hell, I’m already marked; you’ve warned me to lie low, remember? Now cut the crap and brief me. Where are they, how many are out there and do you know who they are?” The wind sounded loud in the silence and Duo almost did not dare to breathe. That shadowy presence hovered around Marquise again and briefly he felt it threaten him, but it seemed to pass over him and Duo felt its attention focus out, beyond the pantry, beyond the building. “Two… three. Three of them-there.” A finger speared decisively at the wall and Duo guessed it to be in the approximate direction of the helicopter. Not overly pleased to have anyone tinkering with their flight out of the mountains, he grunted and pulled on his boots and heavy parka. “So do you know who?” “I’m not omniscient.” “But you are at least a partial telepath, right?” He felt a moment of satisfaction to see Marquise start. “Yeah, I thought so. I know an empath so it’s okay. Not weirded out, you know. There’s more to you than that, but it will have to wait. Here. Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes. It might be me coming through that door.” He tossed a gun to Marquise and after a moment handed him the lantern and a cigarette lighter. He would keep the pantry in darkness; but Marquise would have light if he needed it after the fireworks were over. If the worst should chance to happen. “I’ll need the torch, but I’ll dim down the light until I get across the outer room and try to get a look outside. If the wind has not changed direction I’ll have to dig my way out before I can take any action, so whoever is out there might not even know a cabin is here.” He would not hold his breath, but you never knew. The amount of snow that had accumulated earlier in the day had suggested he would be digging his way out come morning. The wind sounded as ferocious as ever, if muted. It suggested the cabin might have a substantial insulating layer of snow. Marquise rested the gun in his lap, settled the lantern at his side and the lighter beside the gun. Maxwell had succeeded in surprising him yet again. They indeed needed to have a long and very candid discussion. If they survived the night they were going to have to make the time to talk. Duo wished he could don his heavy gloves, but he needed a good grip on his gun and the heavy wool lined gloves simply did not allow for it. Covering the beam of the torch with a light piece of material, he was left with barely sufficient light to see the floor in front of his feet. It was enough to see him safely out the door and he took the time to return the door to its propped position, effectively obscuring the pantry entrance. He did not need to make it easy to reach Marquise. //Right then, what do we have here? If this is a false alarm I will pound that man into the middle of next week for getting me out in this weather.// Slipping and sliding his way across the iced over floor of the cabin, Duo made his way to the window, peering out into the night. He grunted, sighing in resignation. The window was buried under snow. Frustrated he made his way to the door, pausing to listen, straining to hear beyond the wind. //Not a sound. As if I could hear anything above that howl.// He grasped the door and pulled, staring as the portal remained stubbornly closed. Setting himself for a second try he heaved, stumbling backwards as the door handle broke off, dumping him unceremoniously onto his rear. “Shit!” He hissed, disgusted. The door had frozen shut and short of making a great deal of noise, he was not about to open it in a hurry. In a way this was good, he decided. Anyone who wanted in had to dig their way to the door and then batter it down, or dig their way to the window and break it to get into the cabin. Either way, he would have plenty of warning of company. Considering his options he scratched at his head, resisting the urge to stamp his feet in an effort to warm them. He needed to stay focused if the door was now iced shut and the window was covered by snow. He needed to consider another matter of importance which had not been a problem until the cabin had become snow bound. They needed to light the fire at some point and if there was not adequate venting for the smoke, there would be a build up of toxic fumes. They could all too easily gas themselves. //Wonderful. I’m going to have to dig us out and check the chimney at least is clear. It was a small sound, a whisper, something that should have been covered by the howling wind, but coincided with a momentary easing of the wind. He turned slowly; aware he dared not stumble or fall now. The other room. He had forgotten about the other room. It had collapsed and there was both entry and exit to the cabin through what remained. Someone was moving there. He had propped the warped door closed to cut off the draft and was that a flicker of torch light? Removing the cover from the torch he buried the head of the device against his chest, inching to the side so he would not be an obvious target. Yes, there was the flash of light again. They did, indeed, have company. Crouching to one side of the fire he spared a glance in the direction of the pantry, pleased the room was pitch black. Whoever was about to enter would see only what was revealed in the light of the torch and might miss the pantry entirely if he could keep them occupied. The door shuddered under the first attempt to open it and he smirked. It appeared to be frozen shut, but after a moment a heavy blow splintered the wood and beams of light became visible through cracks. A second blow set the door to splintering and then it was open and a torch beam probed the cabin, a dark shape behind it. Duo, not in the direct beam of the torch, stepped further to the side; gun raised and flashed his torch directly into the eyes of the intruder. His finger tightened on the trigger as the intruder cursed and the torch beam sought him out, but it was too late. He had already gotten a look at the intruders face and instant burning anger drove away the chill. “What the fuck are you doing here?” ~ * ~
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