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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. Many thanks to Katie for beating Friends.
Chapter 33 “Oh wait. I know what you’re doing here. You came to recover the corpse, didn’t you?” Trowa raised a hand to block the light shining in his eyes, aware of Yuy and Chang moving to either side of him. At the initial flare of the torch, he had felt his heart constrict and he was almost certain if he had not been blocking the door one, or both, of his companions would have sprayed the room with gunfire to take down the torch wielder. “Guess you found out Maxwell wasn’t just blowing hot air, didn’t you?” He had to wonder why Duo was wandering around in the dark, but even as the thought occurred to him Trowa knew the answer. Duo was a survivor and instinctively he would have sensed the proximity of intruders and come to investigate. “Couldn’t you even trust me to come back to town with the guy no one believed needed help in the first place? Did you think I was dead too?” “So he’s dead then?” Yuy’s monotone came from Trowa’s right and Duo’s torch beam skipped to illuminate him fully before returning to highlight the doorway. “He would have been if it had been left up to you to act.” Duo, Trowa decided, was not in a good mood. “So where is he?” Chang’s no nonsense business tone filled the cabin and Trowa was sure he could feel the temperature in the cabin drop a further ten chilling degrees. Maxwell sneered and Trowa noted his braid was disordered from sleep, wisps of hair surrounding his face, but he had a gun drawn and the torch trained on them was steady. He looked as angry as he sounded and ready to shoot. //Nightmare again.// Trowa had witnessed the aftermath of nightmares often enough, as Duo had stayed with Quatre for lengthy periods of time. For a good thirty minutes, sometimes longer after a particularly bad dream, Duo would be a little less than rational and Trowa knew he would need to tread a careful path until Duo calmed down and grounded himself. “What’s it to you where he is? You didn’t give a shit when it actually mattered.” He did not want to be here, in the middle of this confrontation with a strung out Duo Maxwell and Yuy sniping at each other. He only hoped Yuy had the sense not to broach the subject of wanting Duo to fill in for him. This was neither the right time nor the place to raise the matter. “We have a mission, Maxwell, kindly get your head on straight and allow us to do it.” Chang pushed past Trowa and stepped deeper into the cabin. “Ah yeah, the mighty Preventers have arrived-late as fucking usual-but we won’t mention the time, will we? You arrive and everyone else has to shut up and piss off ‘cause Preventers will take care of everything.” Duo sneered, offering his index finger to further demonstrate his view. “Back off Chang, I don’t give a shit about your badge.” They were certainly not handling this meeting well. It was just their luck to have disturbed Duo during a nightmare, when his hackles would be well and truly raised and everything and everyone in the world would be against him. Trowa sighed and held out a hand to lightly touch his partner’s chest, forestalling his return snipe. “I think we need to calm down, people.” Chang’s grunt was not promising and Yuy took a wider step to the side. “We need to rest and tomorrow transfer Marquise to New Port City. The helicopter is a reasonable hike from here, so we will need an early start.” Heero motioned about the cabin. “I take it there is another room with better shelter.” “Not for you there isn’t and he won’t be hiking to your chopper in the morning.” Duo snapped. “You know shit about what is going on, but you are on a mission and you intend to complete it, no matter what. That’s the way you work, isn’t it, Yuy? The mission is everything.” “Duo.” Trowa glowered at the torch illuminated young man. “All of you! It’s been a hard night for everyone. Can we keep this civil, please?” “Then get mission man to back off and go back to your bloody chopper and get some sleep. I might feel more sociable after I actually get some quality down time.” That was the problem, Trowa knew, lack of sleep and no one to talk to about the night horrors which disturbed his sleep. Quatre had a way of getting Duo to talk, but Quatre was not here. “We are not traipsing back through this storm without Marquise.” Chang glared and snapped on his own torch, beaming it about the room. “Well you sure as hell are not taking him anywhere. Get yourselves gone and leave it to me to take him back at a sociable hour.” “Your machine is buried in the snow, as undoubtedly ours will be by the time we return to it. It will take some time to dig them both out and make them flight worthy. We will require daylight for that.” Yuy eyed the door against the nearest wall. “That leads outside?” “Yeah. Its iced shut, but you can dig your way out if you want, or go back through the collapsed room, your choice, but don’t bother us any more tonight. The man needs his rest and I’m not in a talkative mood.” “You are seriously screwed up, Maxwell, and you need to see about your problems.” “Fuck you, Chang. I’ve seen my shrink and I’m designated sane, if somewhat temperamental. She says I’ll find my smile again when I find what I want to do in this shit arsed world full of people who think they know what is best for me. I’ve got patience enough to wait to find out what that is, but no one else seems to have.” “You would find you would fit in well with Pre…” “Not now, Heero.” Trowa groaned. “Shut up all of you!” He was surprised when they did and could feel their eyes on him. Unfortunately it placed him as the spokesperson for his group and he did not like being the focus of attention. He far preferred to fade into the background and observe. The silence stretched uncomfortably and outside the wind howled, filling the night with its eerie wail and he had no idea what to say to defuse the situation. “God, you lot make me sick.” Duo shook his head, his braid twitching across his shoulder with the movement, tumbling down the side of his arm to swing behind him. “You flew out in darkness, in this wind, the exact same thing you were grousing at me for doing not so long ago. Why didn’t you wait until morning when the wind drops and you could bloody see where you were going?” “We fly when we are instructed.” Yuy glowered at him. “Une is not amused by this entire incident and wants the matter dealt with speedily.” “I’ll just fucking bet she does.” Duo snorted. Trowa wished fervently for Quatre, or at least his ability to deal with difficult people. For some reason, a nightmare he was sure, Maxwell was spoiling for a fight and after the trials of the mountain hike, both Yuy and Chang were only too willing to give him one. Quatre would have known how to get them to work in accord. “Duo, is this really the time or place for this? It is late, we are tired-all of us are exhausted-and when the sun comes up we have to dig out the helicopters and see about returning Marquise to New Port City. Let’s just settle in for the night and get some rest.” “And who says he is going to New Port City?” “Commander Une assigned us to locate and return Marquise; with discretion.” Chang growled. “Oh yeah, I bet she stipulated discretion was paramount.” “Yes, Maxwell, with all due discretion. The man is supposed to be dead after all.” Heero glowered at Duo. “Well, Mr. Mission-is-all-Yuy, answer me this. How discrete can one be in broad daylight moving around a dead man?” //Quatre, where are you when I need you? They will end up killing each other.// Trowa restrained the urge to reach out and smash his fist into both Yuy and Maxwell’s faces, deciding he was not quite suicidal at the present time. Chang was no better, taking every opportunity to snipe at Duo, who was not at all averse to sniping back. Not even during the war had they been this aggravated with each other and if Heero wanted a favour from Duo he was going the wrong way about it. “Enough already!” He wondered when the last time was he had raised his voice? Life would have been so much easier if they could simply get over themselves and their differences and concentrate on survival. “Yo, Tro man. Kitty Kat rubbing off on you?” “Or something, Duo.” He ached in every bone and joint and simply wanted to rest. “We are here; we can not trek back to the helicopter tonight. So… shelter?” He glared at Yuy and flicked a warning glance at Chang, who sniffed and thankfully remained mute. “Well, you either have to pitch a tent outside or in here, because there sure ain’t enough room for anyone else in the pantry.” Duo stomped over to the wall and glowered at the three, silently ordering them to remain where they were. After a moment, assured they would remain clear of his back, he returned his attention to the wall. “Yo Zechs! Just me, okay?” Yuy scowled and glowered at Trowa. “You are too soft with him.” “Quatre does not think so.” Trowa returned. Maxwell reached out to one side and in the beam of the torchlight they saw him move back a section of the wall and walk it carefully to one side. “We got us company for the night, Zechs; a bit snarly but not dangerously rabid. Guess I better get the fire going and make us something warm to eat while they set up camp.” “Pantry?” Chang murmured. “Yeah, pantry.” Duo glanced over his shoulder.
“There sure as hell isn’t enough room in here for five and
I’m not plannin’ on given up my warm bed. Pick a spot out
here or out there in the snow, I don’t particularly care which.”
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