"A Really Cold Case"

Written By: Yanagi

Disclaimer: I don’t own the Gundam Boys. I just borrowed them

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Adventure/Romance

Pairings: 1x2

Summary: Heero had to walk away from Duo at the end of the war, now he's back and hunting bounties and Duo. When he finds him, things aren't what he might like. The story is now continued with Duo and Heero bounty hunting together.

" A Really Cold Case"

Duo grumbled at the coffee maker to hurry up. He wanted some coffee, now. He'd just woken up, it was late morning and he had research to do. He and Heero were looking for a job. They'd recovered Quatre's yacht months ago and they had done the requisite 'sit and rest' then gone back to work, now they were both bored and looking for something to do.

Heero wandered in, scratching his ass.

"Nice." Duo scowled at the coffee maker. "We need a new coffee pot. This one is too slow."

Heero shrugged. "When's the last time you descaled it?"

"I don't remember. Before the yacht, I'm sure. I'll get some descaler next time I go to the grocery store." Duo pulled the pot out from under the spigot and stuck his mug in place of it. He waited until it was full then replaced it with Heero's mug.

Heero eyed it for a moment then sighed. "Back of my neck is crawling. Find us a job, ok?"

Duo slurped coffee as he wandered in the direction of the office. "On my way." He didn't even make it to the stairs before the phone rang.

Heero snatched the handset off the cradle. "Yes?"

Duo couldn't hear what was being said as Heero didn't take time to punch the speaker button.

The expression on Heero's face said it wasn't something good.

When Heero hung up, Duo jumped him. "Well! What?"

Heero sighed. "It's Buck. He's in bad shape. Had a stroke and he's in the hospital. He'll be there for at least three weeks and he'll be in rehabilitation even longer. He turned the business over to Jason." Duo made a face. Jason was a very nice young man, but didn't have a clue as to how to run the bail bond business.

Duo sighed. "Well, fuck. So ... what's the problem?"

"He's got a runner on his hand ... and he's a bitch."

Duo read between the lines. "Ok, when do we leave?"

"Pretty soon. Asshole already has a jump on us. Finish your coffee then we'll go down to the office and get the paper files. Jason doesn't have it online for some damn reason or other."

Duo snickered into his mug, "Boy's a damn Luddite. Likes paper."

Heero grunted into his own mug, downing the last swallow with a loud sucking sound.

He put the mug in the dish washer and headed upstairs to dress. "Just keep him away from me. He's going to run Buck's business into the ground, or I miss my guess."

Duo made a sad sound. "I know. Buck worked all his life to build that up then that little shit runs it to ruin. I give him about a year before he's totally in the red."

Heero silently agreed with this. He grabbed two duffle bags from the floor of the closet and found his working clothes. These consisted of a pair of BDU pants, t-shirt, BDU shirt and combat boots; all black. Duo's clothing was the same except he preferred navy blue.

Both duffels contained the same things; a bullet proof vest with a reflective stripe on it, a variety of weapons from hand guns to throwing knives, and survival rations. Duo's also held explosives, instant coffee, Milk Duds and an iPad. Heero's also had an iPad, extra cellphone and his mini-laptop. Duo refused to keep one in his duffel, saying Heero's was enough, he used the extra space for socks.

Duo finished his coffee, poured the rest of the pot into a thermos and headed up the stairs to get into his own working clothes. He finished tying his boots as Heero finished checking their bags.

"You sure you don't want to bring your laptop?" Heero would nag Duo about that every time they went out on a job.

"Yes, I'm sure. We've never needed two before, why should this time be any different?" Duo rummaged for a moment, doing his own check. "Everything looks fine here. We ready?"

Harry zipped his bag. "Yeah, let's go." He shouldered his bag and tromped down the stairs, grumbling about 'idiot son's' and 'bail jumping shit bags' as he went. Heero followed silently.

.

Jason was glad to see Heero and Duo saunter in the door. He knew he wasn't capable of really handling the business. He just wasn't a good judge of character but he was the only one of his family that could take over.

"Thank God you're here. I'm in trouble, big time. If Uncle Buck comes back to see the mess I'm in, he'll have another stroke. So ... here's the file, here's the most current picture. And here's your contract. This guy is real bad news. Ex-Oz, White Fang, a terrorist in the real sense of the word, kidnapper. You name it, he's done it ... twice. But it's all in the file." Jason sat back in Buck's chair and squirmed uncomfortably. He was uneasy around Duo, who looked right thought him and seemed to find him lacking somehow. Heero didn't even look at him much. He was also distant and cold. Jason just didn't understand that he had so little in common with two men who were younger than he physically but so much older mentally that they just couldn't connect.

Duo glanced at Jason then back at the file. "I'll scan these into your computer, if you like."

"Um ... thanks. I'd appreciate that. I can't figure out the scanner. The PD sent me a file but I can't get it open. I sent one of the guys around to get a paper copy."

Heero just rolled his eyes, grunted, "Move." and rolled Jason, chair and all out of his way. Duo stepped up behind him and watched as he unzipped the file then plugged in a jump drive. Heero copied the file to the jump drive then moved the file. "Here, the file is in your documents now. It was in the email download folder before. Open it with Scriptorium. It's the only program you have that will handle both the text and pic, keep the file as a complete document. Got that?"

Jason just blinked once at the cold blue eyes then nodded. "Yes. Thanks. Are you going after my guy?"

Heero nodded absently from where he was, sitting in front of Buck's computer, reading the file. Duo glanced over his shoulder and snorted. "Your man is a real prize. I even know him. Kinda. Real asshole. Heero, how much of a head start does he have?"

Heero checked the discharge date. "Six days. But we're in luck in one way." Duo made an inquisitive sound from where he was now sitting. Buck kept a comfortable couch in the office and Duo had sprawled all over it. "He won't go into space. He's exiled from every colony. On the downside, he's a survivalist. The real deal, not some wild eyed nut job. My best guess is Canada or Russia."

Duo just kicked the wall idly. "Well, fuck. I hate Canada, mosquitoes the size of sparrows, I swear."

Heero grunted as he stood up. "And I hate Russia. Cold, even in summer. And the Russians hate me. I did Kandalaksha, you know."

Duo just looked at Heero for a moment. "I'd forgotten. You and Wufei really did a number on them."

Heero nodded. "Flattened half the town. Russia has a long memory. I hope this guy heads for Canada. I'll live with the mosquitoes."

"Ok. Me too, I guess." Duo's doubtful expression made Heero snort. "Well, lets get moving. What first?"

"First, we see if we can trace anyone who knows ..." Heero glance at the file still displayed on the screen. The list of AKA's was impressive. "What the hell is this guy's real name."

Duo scowled. "I knew him as General Marcus Trask. I have no idea what his real name is. We ought to find that out for sure."

"Right. Ok. Oz files are at home. We need to go back there first and use our main frame to get a hook on this shit."

Duo nodded, stood up and tried to smile at Jason. "Tell Buck that we're on the job. If he needs to see us, we're only a phone call away. At least for the next two days or so. See ya." And with that, he walked out the door, followed closely by Heero.

They drove back home in silence, each one thinking about the job ahead. This was not going to be an easy hunt. Their quarry was well trained in survival in both city and wilderness. He was evidently some sort of high ranking officer in both Oz and White Fang which meant he was well versed in physical combat and weapons. His training in strategy, tactics and espionage was going to give them real trouble.

Duo rolled his head to look at heero's profile. "You think he's going to head for the wilderness, right?"

"I do. I'm just not sure if it's going to be Alaska, Canada or Russia. Those are the areas he's trained in. That's what he is most familiar with so that's where he'll head. I'm just glad we don't have to search space. Imagine trying to figure out where he's gone if he had a small ship. We wouldn't have a chance."

"I know. That kinda scares me. What if he gets off planet? No one will ever catch him."

Heero smirked a bit. "We would. We found Quatre's yacht, didn't we?"

"Yes, so we did. But still."

Heero had to agree with that one. "True. Jack in and see if you can't find a reservation somewhere."

"Ok." Duo rummaged around and found the lap top. He opened the screen out and tapped in his request. It didn't take more than a second to find that there was no reservation in any of their quarries AKA's and the request by picture came back empty as well. "Well, he didn't fly. I'll bet anything that he drove. And, roads being what they are, we're going to have to follow by car."

Heero sighed unhappily. The wars had wrecked havoc on the highway system of the entire area. Even now not all roads were back to their pre-war condition and they probably never would be. Earth's population had taken a nose dive during the first rush to the colonies in -75 PC, seventy five years before the new numbering system of AC began. Then it had taken another in a second wave which started about 10AC. Then the wars had started and Earth had been a battle ground. The population had dropped from over 12 billion in the year 2100 to a bit less than 5 billion. This meant that areas that had formerly been populated were now empty wilderness again. And their quarry was going to disappear into that wilderness.

"Well, did he own a car?" Duo grumbled as he started yet another search.

Everyone thought bounty hunting was so glamourous. Duo knew the hours and hours he would spend on his computer, searching for a single clue to where Trask would go. And how he might get there. On top of more hours spent in contacting any and all of his acquaintances that they could find.

Finding acquaintances wasn't as easy as it sounded, you couldn't just walk into a bar and yell, "Anyone here know Marcus Trask? Used to be a General?" stupidity like that could get you beaten up at the least, killed at worst. But that was exactly what Jason had done on his second pickup. Duo shook his head in remembrance.

Heero noticed the movement and asked, "Something?"

"Jason. On that pickup of ... um ... Betty something. Remember?"

Heero snickered. "I do. His eyes nearly fell out of his head when that ... femboy tried to kiss him. I thought I'd have a snicker attack right there. We're really lucky everyone in the bar didn't like Betty what's-her-name or we'd have been in a world of hurt. I'm really glad he didn't decide to come with."

Duo moaned. "Do not jinx us. Please. I'd kill him myself in about two days."

Heero laughed out loud. "No you wouldn't. I'd beat you to it. I don't think I could stand him for more than an hour. And that's really sad. He's really a nice guy. Just ..." Heero trailed off, trying to come up with something that didn't sound plain mean.

"He's a baby in a big boy's body. He wants everyone to treat him like an adult but help him out like he's two. Buck must be worried sick."

"Or ready to chew nails and spit bullets."

Duo agreed with that. "Right. I think we really ought to go visit Buck."

"Or at least give him a call." Heero made a mental note to call and ask if Buck wanted a visit. That seemed like the best idea, that way they wouldn't intrude if Buck didn't feel like visitors.

When they reached home, Heero handed Duo's duffle to him and put his own over his shoulder. They never went to Buck's Bail without their bags, they'd needed them more often than not.

"Well, that was a dry hole. You want to call Buck or should I?" Duo opened the door and tossed his keys on the door side table. This was the only way he could keep track of them. Heero had gotten tired of hunting them down with in six months of finding Duo. But they both had to laugh at the time he'd lost them and they'd found them in the freezer. Neither one of them had ever figured that one out.

Heero thought as he collected their bags and boots to take up stairs. "You call. I like Buck but you'll have to admit that my bedside manner leaves something to be desired."

"Ya think? Please. I'll call him as soon as we eat. Ok?" Duo made a bee line for the kitchen. He was starving and knew that, once Heero got any information, they'd be up until all hours and running all over LA, San Fran, and anywhere else their leads took them.

Heero laughed as he lugged their stuff up the stairs. He was hungry too, they'd forgotten to eat breakfast in their hurry to get to Buck's Bail and find out what the problem was. It was near lunch now. He blinked in startlement as his stomach gave out a loud growl. "All right. Shut up, food soon." He wondered what Duo was going to fix. He hoped tuna salad, he was craving it.

"Duo! Hey, Duo, make tuna salad. OK?"

Duo jumped at the shout from over head then laughed and yelled back, "Ok, ok. Scare me to death, whydon'tcha?" He dug out the makings and started opening packets of tuna. He couldn't believe the ancients used to pack stuff in cans, they were so wasteful of metal it was unbelievable. He turned to his mixing, Heero insisted that it could only be called cooking if heat was involved. As he worked he thought about the few clues they had. All they really had was a list of AKA's and one contact. He was sure this was going to be some slimy little narc with no real clue.

"Heero! Toast? Or plain bread." Duo turned just in time to run right into Heero.

"Don't need to yell." He grinned. "I'm right here and I'm not deaf."

"Ass. Do you want bread or toast. Lettuce, tomato, or sprouts." Duo knew what Heero liked but he also knew that Heero hated having someone just anticipate him. It reminded him too much of the way J had treated him. He only tolerated Duo serving him when he was sick. And that, only because Duo didn't give him any choice.

"Um ... toast, tomato and sprouts. Extra mayo. Thanks." Heero picked up the flat ware and went to put it on the table. Duo insisted that sandwiches were fine but they needed more than that, so he usually fixed some sort of fruit as a side. He hoped it was melon and yoghurt.

Duo ambled into the dining area with a tray in his hands. On the tray were two sandwiches, two bowls of the melon and yoghurt salad Heero had wanted and two glasses of smoothie. Heero grimaced at that, Duo was on a health kick and the smoothie, while very good for you, looked like congealed vomit and tasted like grass.

"Duo, you know I love you but that ... smoothie is ... just no, not drinking it. I'm sorry, but ... no." Heero waited for Duo to get his feelings hurt, or get mad, or something. Duo was definitely not the kind to hide his feelings.

Duo just shrugged. "Ok, it's really good for you." He gave Heero a look. Heero just scowled back. "Fine. I'll drink mine. The cat can have yours."

Heero snickered. "That cat's smarter than that. I tried him with some last week. He tried to cover it."

Duo let out a whoop of laughter. "Cat doesn't know what's good. Or, at least, good for him." He took a drink of his smoothie and swallowed thickly. Heero could tell he was struggling not to make a face.

"Oh, hell. Give me that, before you heave." Heero just took the smoothie and went into the kitchen to dump both glasses down the sink. He got two bottles of juice instead.

"Here, V8, all sorts of veggies and good stuff. And it tastes good too. Hand me the Tabasco." Heero had to admit that V8 was one of his weak spots. He loved it, but it had to have Tabasco in it, and imitation hot sauce wouldn't do. Duo made sure to have a 6oz bottle on hand at all times.

Duo took the bottle with a grimace. "Thanks, but I'll take a pass on the hot sauce." Duo liked hot, but not incendiary; Heero, on the other hand, liked it so hot only he could drink it. "How many searches do you think we'll have running by the time we're done with this?"

Heero picked at a bread crust until Duo ordered, "Eat it, don't mutilate it."

"Sorry. It's really good. Searches? Probably at least a couple hundred. I'm running a search on every AKA, that might turn up known associates. Then we run them down and put them through the ringer." Heero took a bite of his sandwich.

Duo wrinkled his nose at the thought of all the work before them, "Yay, fun. So not. Think asking Wufei to help would do any good?"

"If he's wanted by Preventers under any of his aliases, maybe. You know Chang, keeps his info close. And don't ask me why. Who the hell cares who catches the bad guys as long as they're caught?" Heero poked at his salad and found that there were strawberries and grapes layered with honey and cinnamon under the yoghurt. "Strawberries. Great!"

"Yeah, I'm starting to clean out the fridge. We're going to be gone in a few days, or I miss my guess."

Heero grunted his irritation. He hated having to leave home now, sense the yacht job. They'd been gone so long that the yard was a sea of weeds and the whole house had smelled stale. It had taken them three weeks to get the smell out. And Duo had hired a yard crew to come in for the lawn and small garden.

"You've been doing a lot of grunting the last four hours. What's up?"

"I just don't want to go off again so soon. I'd like to have at least time enough to get really bored before I have to hare off into the ozone again. Call me grumpy."

Duo snickered then replied, "Ok, Grumpy, I don't blame you. And, if it was anyone but Buck, I'd say just turn the job down. However, it is Buck, so suck it up, soldier. We're probably going to have at least another two weeks here, just running down leads. I hope not but ... we probably will."

"I know." Heero took another bite of fruit. "This is good. But ... If you know we're going to be here at least two more weeks, why are you cleaning out the fridge?" His forehead furrowed in puzzlement.

"Because, love, we still have stuff in the freezer. I'll buy fresh fruit and stuff like that two to three days at a time, instead of a week's worth." Duo patted Heero's shoulder on the way to the kitchen for more juice. "Don't worry about it. I know you love shopping for groceries but you do tend to get too much at once. Go check your searches."

Heero finished his sandwich and took the fruit with him. He wandered down to the office and started checking his searches. He found more information than he'd hoped for. He now had a list of twenty contacts from thirty different names. "Shit this guy probably doesn't remember his real name himself."

Duo walked in just then. "Who? What?"

Heero pointed to the screen. "Look at this. This guy probably doesn't remember his name himself. Wonder what his real name is? I'm going to run a search to see if I can't find out. He's got nothing buy AKA's in this file."

Duo settled at his computer to try to see whether he could find a rental record of some sort. He could only query by picture as there were too many names for the rental systems to handle. As there were only four rental companies in town, even though they had numerous sites, their systems weren't set up to handle the hundreds of entries Duo would have to make to search all the names. All four took pictures of each client when they rented a vehicle. Duo wondered if their quarry would avoid renting for that reason, but he had to do the search to make sure one way or another.

They silently worked on their searches for the next four hours, drinking coffee by the mug full. Finally Heero stood up, stretched and groaned.

"Man, I'm tired. I'm also about to float away. Be back in a sec."

Duo leaned back, rubbed his eyes and returned, "Me too. Got to drain the main vein myself."

They separated to use the facilities. There was no trouble as there were two half baths on this floor and a full and half bath on the main floor. Each bedroom in the house had its own bath to further avoid conflicts. Duo had laughed when he first moved in as the water heater was beyond small. They'd installed three on demand heaters so there was no way anyone would run the tanks dry as there were no tanks to worry about. And they were all solar.

Duo finished his business and washed his hands. He took a moment to look around the half bath. He was proud of their house and kept it clean and neat, with Heero's help. They hoped to live in it for many years.

Duo returned to the office just in time to hear the 'search ended' chime. He sat down to read the results then squawked in surprise as Heero plucked him out of the chair and sat down himself.

"My chair, get your own." Duo swatted him on the shoulder. "Ow! Mean." Heero wasn't really hurt as Duo hadn't swatted him very hard. "We've got a big fat nothing here. His birth certificate was filed on L2..." Duo groaned. "Exactly. The only way they actually know it's his is it was filed with a DNA profile. And that's the only identification that's on it. His DNA. No name given, only a citizen ID number." He fiddled for a moment. "No parents names either. He was surrendered at birth. Fuck! No wonder he's messed up."

Duo agreed. "I was actually considered lucky to be living on the streets. Those 'Surrender Houses', read work houses, were death traps. The kids who lived to make it out, at the age of fourteen, are considered the worst of the worse. So, we got nothing?"

"Just the DNA. That'll be some help. At least we can get his records all justified against his citizen ID. We'll probably find a list of unsolved crimes as long as my arm." Heero frowned at the screen for a moment.

Duo rubbed his cheek as he thought things over. "Well, maybe that'll be a lever to pry some info out of Chang." Duo didn't look too hopeful. Wufei was well known for refusing to show favoritism to the two. Friendship was one thing, work another, as far as he was concerned. But Wufei also helped them, when it was within the parameters established by Preventers, then he was more than lavish.

Heero sighed, stretched and returned to his key board. "I'm starved, it's almost 7pm. Were you going to cook something or are we having take out?"

"I'll cook. Stroganoff ok?" Duo eyed his own searches and realized that the engine was going to chug for half the night. He abandoned his station, sit his cell to sound an alarm if the computer came up with anything and headed up the stairs.

Heero thought for a moment. "Yeah, Stroganoff sounds good. Burger or steak?"

Duo called back down the stairs. "Burger. That's what's thawed."

"Ok. I'm sticking here for results. Call me when it's time to set the table." Heero returned to manually sorting some of his results, trying to find a pattern that wasn't there.

"Fine. Just don't wear yourself out this early in the game. I got a feeling we're in this one for a long haul. There's twenty contacts to talk to, you know that's going to give us an average of three more. So, sixty plus the original twenty. You figure it out. It's making me tired already." and with that sour comment on the state of things, Duo went up to make dinner.

.

Dinner eaten and research ended, Heero and Duo sat down in the living room to go over their options. Those were few, flail around in hopes of finding something, go to Wufei, or give up. Since giving up was not an option, they decided to make an appointment to see Wufei asap. Heero sent off the email and got an answer almost immediately, the time difference being what it was, Wufei was in his office working. His answer was that they should hang on for another day, he was to be at LAX at 10:20 tomorrow morning their time.

"Ok, that's good?" Duo sounded doubtful. "I think."

Heero was equally doubtful. "I don't know. Why is he coming here. He's stationed in Sanq at HQ. He doesn't do investigations himself anymore." He smirked a bit. "Especially after losing his temper at that trial last year. Calling the judge a horses ass wasn't ..." Heero couldn't finish his sentence for snickering.

"Politically correct? In good taste? Smart? Temperate? So Wufei?" Duo cackled loudly, holding his sides.

"All of the above." He glanced at the clock on his desktop. "It's nearly 11:00pm, we'd better get to bed. We're going to have to go get Wufei, you know. We can grill him in the car."

"Then take him out to lunch. He's sure to be starved, you know he hates airline food."

Heero made a face. "Well, it is based on fat, starch and sugar, none of which Wufei likes much. Except for rice."

Duo agreed, grumbling, "I know. And how you can fuck up rice that badly is beyond me."

"What do you expect, it's instant. Who ever invented instant rice should be shot." Heero made a disgusted face, which made Duo laugh.

"A bit extreme, don't you think?"

Heero gave Duo a half-hearted glower. "No. Rice is sacred. It's a staff of life and should be treated with respect."

Duo was unsurprised by this, seemingly off the wall, comment. Heero had definite ideas now and wasn't afraid to state them. Foods seemed to be a particular peeve of his, adulterating natural foods with additives of any kind bothered him a great deal and he went to extremes to avoid them whenever possible. Duo catered to this as much as possible, in fact he felt much the same, although he tended not to be as adamant about it.

"Well, we'll take him out for ... Thai?" Duo was a bit doubtful about that. The best Thai restaurant that they knew of required reservations.

"No, too hot for him, I think. Why don't we just take him to Chen's Garden? It's close, we know the food is good and they speak his dialect." Heero only spoke Mandarin but he could recognized several dialects from the colonies.

"Ok, that's good. We don't need a reservation and, like you said, we know the quality of the food."

They headed up to bed wearily, dropping off within minutes.

.

Since their morning routine included a workout they were up bright and early. Breakfast was eaten in minutes as Duo made smoothies, not the one Heero had dumped, instead this one contained strawberries, bananas and protein powder as well as other things.

Duo rinsed the glasses while Heero got their bags. They'd kept them near the door for quite a while, but visitors kept tripping over them, or worse, opening them and rummaging. Now they kept them in the corner of the closet and secreted guns here and there in the house – just incase.

Heero took his time, picking up boots and bags, as well as his messenger bag. He ambled down the stairs just as Duo was done cleaning the kitchen. "So, you about ready to leave." He glanced at his watch. "Traffic being what it is, we better get a move on soon."

"Ready in five. Don't forget tonight is your turn to cook. I don't mind doing breakfast every day but I'm not a maid or a cook." Duo knew that Heero needed reminding of this fact from time to time.

"Sorry. I just get involved. Give me a poke if I forget." Heero had the good grace to look shame faced at his neglect of their deal about cooking. Neither one of them liked getting stuck with the same chores day after day so they traded off cooking and cleaning chores. Both of them did have a tendency to forget the chore they didn't like. Neither one of them took umbrage if the other reminded them of forgotten chores.

"Consider yourself poked. We better get to gettin'." Duo took his bag from Heero and headed out the door, grabbing his keys on the way.

Heero followed, absently, planning supper in his head.

It was Duo's durn to drive so Heero went around to the passenger side and slid into the seat.

The drive was as uninteresting as any drive in rush hour traffic, the highway system within LA, San Fran complex was in good repair but the outlying areas were spotty. This made for horrible traffic jams and crazy drivers. Duo drove like he was driving a tank. Which, in a way, he was. The SUV was armored, had bullet proof glass and push bumpers welded right to the frame. If they actually hit someone the SUV wouldn't have a dent, the other vehicle would be totaled, or nearly. As Duo put it, "We've got bad attitude and great insurance."

Heero ignored the lane changes, honking, audible swearing and general mayhem with aplomb. He was a great deal more worried about what Wufei was going to tell them. This hunt was rapidly swirling down the toilet. He spent the drive collating his data in his head.

.

Duo saw Wufei first and waved wildly. "Fei, there you are. Man, these crowds are murder. Where's you baggage?"

Wufei held up the single carry on in one hand. "I just brought a few things. I won't be staying long. I assume you have a washing machine?" He smirked at Duo's astonished expression. "What? I'm well aware that you'd kidnap me if I said I was staying in a hotel. Frankly, not something i really want to do in San Fran. I hear you have a wonderful view of the bay."

Heero snickered a bit. "Like Duo has never bragged about it ... or sent you, and everyone else, a million pictures of it. Come on." He took the bag and poked Wufei in the shoulder to get him moving.

Duo just followed after snickering softly. Wufei hated hotels almost as much as Quatre did. He wouldn't take advantage of their friendship for any other reason. The fact that neither he nor Heero considered him staying with them taking advantage was neither here nor there to him.

"Wufei, do you like Thai?"

Wufei shook his head. "No, I hate the taste of lemon grass. Real lemon is one thing but lemon grass is just ... not to my taste."

Heero snorted. "It's too hot for you, admit it."

Wufei got on his dignity. "It is not too hot. The flavor of lemon grass overwhelms every other taste in the dish. I much prefer Japanese. Except for Chinese, of course." He eyed Duo suspiciously. "Where are you taking me for lunch?"

"Chinese eatery near our place." Heero let Wufei take shotgun and climbed into the back seat, fastening his seatbelt firmly.

Wufei had actually never experienced Duo's driving under civilian circumstances, only on a war time footing when wild driving was to be expected. No one would expect someone escaping from pursuers to obey traffic regulations.

Now, he was regretting his ignorance. Duo drove home the same way he drove to the airport. All rockets blasting. And loud music. Heero had always ignored it but Wufei found himself wincing and flinching.

"Fei! Something wrong?" Duo turned the music off.

"Thank you. Do you always drive like this, or is this some special torture just for me?" Wufei jumped as Duo dodged between a semi and a minivan. "Ancestors!"

"No, I didn't plan anything special for you. You want to drive? Heero never complains but Po throws a tizzy and makes me let her."

Wufei considered this for a second, but changing drivers meant getting off the freeway then finding a place to make the exchange. "No, just take it easy, I'd like to get to your place in one piece."

Duo snickered while Heero managed to hide his laughter. It wouldn't do for Wufei to think both of them were laughing at him, he was too easily insulted and they did need his help.

.

Duo pulled into the driveway and parked the SUV. "Here we are. Come on, Wufei, I want to show you the bay. Our views are all nearly perfect. And the one from your room is really nice."

Wufei followed Duo, glancing out the windows they passed. The house was beautiful, modern and well appointed. "Lovely home, Duo. You and Heero have done well. And the views are marvelous."

"Thanks. Here's your room. I thought you'd like the Danish modern style. If you need anything, just ask. I'll leave you to unpack. But make it quick." Duo grinned and patted his stomach just as it gave a loud growl. "Sorry."

Wufei bowed slightly. "Thank you for your hospitality. I'll make it quick. I'm hungry too."

Duo left Wufei to his unpacking which he did quickly. There wasn't much to unpack, just two pair of jeans, a silk button shirt, three t-shirts and some underwear. He also had pajamas and slippers.

"I'm done. Food now?" Wufei smiled at his friends. Heero had his arm around Duo, their heads bent over something Duo was holding. They both looked up, Duo smiled while Heero just looked at him. "Sorry, I'm really hungry. They didn't have anything fit to eat on the flight. Cardboard chicken in something white and ground soybeef in something brown. Disgusting."

Duo sighed his sympathy. "Sorry the food was crap. We're trying to decide whether to order ahead or not." He held up his pocket computer. "What do you want to do?"

Wufei thought for a moment. "I think I'd rather order after we get there. How far is it?"

Heero shrugged lightly. "About ten – fifteen minutes. Here's a sample menu. Look it over while I drive."

Duo protested half heartedly. "Hey! My driving isn't that bad ..." He gave Wufei a mock pleading look. "Is it?"

Wufei shook his head, making his short ponytail dance across his shoulders. "No. It's worse. If I was the nervous sort, I'd have had an embarrassing accident. Come on, food, now."

Heero agreed, "or at least soon."

Back in the SUV, Wufei relaxed as Heero drove in a much more sedate manner than Duo. Little did Wufei realize that Heero could be even worse than Duo, if need be. He didn't need to on these quiet neighborhood side streets. They were soon at the strip mall where the restaurant was located.

Heero parked right in front of the restaurant and led the way in.

The darker interior of the place caused them all to step to one side of the door and pause for their eyes to adjust to the dimmer light.

A cheerful voice called from inside. "Ah! Come in! Come in! No need to wait to be seated."

Wufei muttered something in the argot of his colony. He was startled when he got an answer.

"You from L5-Chang? Welcome to my humble establishment." the lady then changed to English. "What is a nice Chinese boy like you doing with these two reprobates?"

Wufei bowed to the lady. "I'm sorry to say, I keep low acquaintances, Elder Lady."

Duo said, "Hey!" while Heero just watched, amusement plain on his face. The old Chinese lady was something of a character.

"You got a girl? Nice girl, I know." She gave him a twinkling look.

Wufei chose not to take offense. "I'm sorry, Elder, I'm a widower. Some day, later, I think." He gave her a somewhat strained smile.

"Ha! Good manners. Forgive a meddling old woman. Come, be seated." She led them to a table in a corner and handed menus around. She called a young boy over to bring tea, water and rice. Then left to go into the kitchen and supervise.

Wufei looked the menu over again. He'd looked at it on the drive over and discussed their choices with Duo but he saw something on the menu that he hadn't seen on the sample. "They have Hou Gou why don't we have that?"

Duo nodded. "I forgot about that. I do like it. Heero?"

"It's the same thing as Shabu-shabu. Fine by me. We can get separate bowls of noodles and have soup from the broth. Sound good?"

Duo licked his lips. "Yum. Sounds great. Wufei?"

Wufei thought it sounded delicious and said so. Their order was taken and the waiter went away to return with a smile. "Lady says that she has a special tea. Next pot." He bowed then switched to L5-Chang dialect. "Elder Sister says welcome. Please excuse my English, it is not good yet. I'll bring you the Monkey picked Gold tip Pousong for your next pot." He bowed again and went away.

Duo watched all this with obvious curiosity. "What was that all about?"

Wufei explained, "The old lady has a special Pousong tea she wants us to try. It'll be the next pot. Now, I don't want to discuss business over lunch so what do you need?"

Duo goggled at this, "How ... Chang? Damnit." He then laughed, shaking his head.

Heero took this in stride, he didn't care how Wufei got his intel, as long as it didn't interfere with their work. "We need to find a skip. Tracing him is hell as he's more AKA's than all of us put together, during the war. Here," He handed Wufei his handheld. "There's most of what we've got. The important stuff anyway."

Wufei glanced over the names then settled on the picture. "I know this man. He's wanted on all the colonies, most of the stations, the moon and now here on Earth. I'll send you everything we have as soon as I get into an office. And good luck on your hunt." He handed the handheld back then asked, "What I really want to know is why anyone would bail that ... person out."

"Jason is ... young. To be polite." Duo snorted rudely. "Duo, he is. He's never done more than go on a few pickups and those were shoplifter and check kiters. He's been managing the office for the last few months. Buck thought he'd catch on from that end at least. No go. So we got a perp with an attitude to find." Heero tucked his computer back into his pocket.

Both Heero and Duo had rather odd personal electronics. Duo had started out with a generic iPad device. No one remembered when the term iPad had referred only to a device sold by Apple Inc. Now anything of this sort was an iPad or a handheld. Duo had gutted them then he and Heero had stuffed them with gear from Winner Enterprises, all experimental. They made a bundle being beta testers for all sorts of things. These iPads were just as good as their PC's in the office. The only problem was when they couldn't get signal.

Heero keyed his files so he could download them the second Wufei asked for them. "There. And here's our food." He smiled as their waiter put the hot pot in the middle of the table. He also put trays in front of each dinner. Each tray had meat, vegetables and noodles on it. The noodles in a small bowl so they could make soup with them.

Wufei thanked their server with a slight bow then picked up a slice of beef with his chopsticks. He dropped it into the pot and stirred it a bit then took the paper thin slice of beef out again. He dipped it into a sauce and expertly popped it into his mouth.

"Mmmm, very good. Tender and savory."

Duo laughed. "It is good. Try the mushrooms, if they were any fresher they'd still be in the ground." He plucked one from his tray and put it in the pot.

Heero smiled. "They don't use plain water here. I know they put something in the broth. I just can't figure out what."

Wufei dipped a noodle in the pot and tasted it. "Five spice powder and fresh ginger, soy sauce, of course. Something else. I'll figure it out. But it is really good."

They ate, talking of everything but the case before them. Quatre and Trowa came up, their relationship analyzed and approved of. Sally Po was announced to be unmarriagable, with her profession and commitment to it being the reason.

Wufei frowned a bit. "I don't see any reason she couldn't marry well. She's dedicated, that's all. She's a wonderful doctor now and a beautiful woman."

Heero raised an eyebrow at that but Duo kept quiet. He didn't want to embarrass Wufei and was sure that mentioning his obvious affection for the woman would run him away from her. Heero glanced at Duo who looked at Wufei and turned his glance to his food at once. Wufei didn't notice but Heero knew to drop it.

"Tofu?" Heero placed the piece of tofu on a small plate and offered it to Duo.

"Thanks. You know I can never get it right." He explained to Wufei. "I always mash it. It falls apart." He drizzled a bit of sesame oil on the tofu and popped it into his mouth. "Mmmm, Good."

When they were finished eating Wufei did the honors of making the soup. The fresh pot of tea that had come half way through the meal was now empty so he signaled for more and, when the server came, asked for a ladle.

While they waited he added soy sauce to the stock, he also added a bit of spring onion. He put the bits of cooked beef he'd saved on the noodles along with tofu, cooked onion, mushrooms and carrot. When the ladle was brought he poured the soup down the side of the bowl so as not to disturb his arrangement.

Duo took his soup bowl with both hands, bowing slightly. "Thank you, Wufei."

Heero followed suit also thanking his friend.

They finished their meal with slurping of noodles and soft hums of delight.

"Fei, that was delicious. I've never tasted anything like it. What did you put in it?"

Wufei smiled, "The secret is the sesame oil and fresh ginger. Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it." He stood up. "Shall we find my office now?"

Duo nodded. "I hated to hear that you were only going to be here a few days. But we have this skip to trace. We'll take a vacation together next summer." He glowered at Wufei. "Or else."

Wufei held up a hand, palm out. "Peace, Duo. I really fear your or else's. When you get back from where ever you wind up, we'll make plans. I can't promise you that Preventers won't interfere but I'll do everything in my power to see that they don't."

Heero finished paying while Duo and Wufei were visiting. "All paid up. Come on." He made it to the SUV before either of the other two, slide behind the wheel and started the engine.

The drive to Preventers HQ in LA was as boring as you'd expect. Wufei and Duo played anywhere but here and wound up deciding that they'd rather be in the Bahamas. Heero just groaned.

"What's up? Why that groan?" Duo reached out to touch Heero's cheek.

"I'm ok. But you do know that you've doomed us to wind up somewhere freakin' cold on this job. Right?"

Duo sighed. "Fuckit! You're probably right. What do you want to bet that this freak heads for Colorado or something."

Wufei would deny he had a snicker fit with his dying breath, if asked.

.

Heero parked in Wufei's parking space. Wufei checked in with the information desk and was directed to the correct floor, which was the 20th.

They went up in the elevator, remaining quiet as the elevator was full. Duo eased to one wall while Heero edged to the back. Wufei eyed them with amused indulgence. They always did that. All the pilots had habits, quirks, that they would never break. Most of them were harmless. Some not so. Wufei himself couldn't sleep without a tanto under his pillow.

Wufei mulled this over idly as he signed in, got his assignment, key card and credentials verification. He led Duo and Heero to his guest agent office.

"Here we are. Nice." He looked around at his office. It was what Duo called Modern office horrible. The furniture was functional but nondescript, so as not to offend anyone, which Wufei found offensive in and of itself. The view was nice, sun shone in the windows, which were clean. But as a place to 'be' it was, not exactly depressing, but surely not something to get excited about.

Heero went straight to the computer, connected his and transferred his files for Wufei. They exchanged places and Wufei copied everything he had to Heero's computer.

"There. I hope that helps. Now I better get to work on my own assignment."

Duo settled in a guest chair in front of the desk. "What are you working on? Maybe we could help?"

"Sorry. If I told you I'd have to shot you. But I've got it well in hand. Thanks anyway."

Heero snorted at that bit, remembering Operation Meteor.

Duo, realizing where Heero's thoughts had gone, snickered, "Don't say that around Heero, he might think you mean it."

Wufei sneered at both of them. "Go! Shoo! Busy man here." He waved a hand dismissively.

Duo laughed. "Ok, ok. Going, going, gone. You need us, call."

Heero seconded that with one of his odd grunts.

Wufei smiled at both of them. "Thanks. Be careful, this guy sounds like a bad one."

Duo gave Wufei one of his Shinigami smiles. "We're worse. Bye."

Wufei turned to his work and the two bounty hunters left to return home and start their hunt.

.

The next three days were spent at their computers, trying to run down some sort of lead to any of the thirty contacts they had.

They finally ran down ten, getting current addresses that checked out. Phone numbers were also available for three, the rest had contact numbers that checked back to either bars or flop houses.

They were going to have to start pounding pavement soon. Duo hated it, Heero wasn't thrilled either; but, if they wanted to find their man, they had to do it.

Heero printed out a sheet and handed it to Duo. "What do you think. The GPS coordinates are all here. If we enter them, the GPS will take us right to where we need to go."

"Oh, damn. I do so love paper maps. I feel deprived already." Duo's sarcastic tone made Heero snicker. Duo was well known for hating paper maps with a passion. One of his worst Earthly missions involved a paper map that was not all it should have been. He'd wound up a hundred miles off course, running from White Fang and totally lost.

"I'm sure you'll survive." Heero consulted his iPad. "The first place is only about a mile away. You want to try for this afternoon or wait until after dark."

Duo made a face. "You know the cockroaches only come out after dark."

"True. Nap?" Heero was really wanting a nap. He knew they'd be up until all hours and he hated trying to question someone while he was sleep deprived.

"Sounds good. I'll even let you have some of the covers."

"Bed hog." Heero eyed Duo's ass as they climbed the stairs.

Duo shook said ass in Heero's face. "You know it."

They necked a little but were soon asleep as they knew they were going to have a long night.

.

It was nearly 4pm when they woke, rolling out of bed on opposite sides. Heero wandered into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Duo followed and stepped right in it.

"Hey! My shower! You shower thief." Heero's indignant tone made Duo snicker.

He soaped up a wash cloth and handed it to Heero. "There you are."

Heero threw it at him then stepped into the shower with him. "Scootch up. There's room for both of us."

They showered, groped each other a bit then grabbed bread and cheese sandwiches, some pickles and tea. It didn't take them more than thirty minutes to be on the road. Unfortunately, most of the addresses were on the other side of the bay from their home. This meant that they had a nearly two hour drive just to get there. The iconic Golden Gate bridge had been closed to traffic nearly a hundred years before. It was now a tourist attraction with only tour busses run by the Golden Gate Company allowed on it. The busses actually stopped at mid point and let people off to take pictures. The project to build a new bridge had stalled out at the beginning of the colonial settlements as the population of the area dropped by nearly half.

So there were two ways to get from one side of the bay to the other with a vehicle, ferry or drive around. Duo hated the ferries with a passion and Heero wasn't fond of them either. Neither on of them liked the loss of control that being trapped on a boat enforced on them.

The third way to get from their place to where they wanted to go wasn't even considered. BART went under the bay, but they needed things that they couldn't take on public transit.

So they drove.

The neighborhood they finally arrived in had never been good, it had started out as a place of tenements for sailors and shopkeepers in the 1800's OC. It wasn't much different now. The tenements were still there, a bit more modern to be sure but still depressing, grey and sullen.

Duo looked around. "Blah! Depressing. Where's our address?"

Heero consulted the GPS. "Somewhere down that alley. Come on. Let's get this over with."

Duo sneered at the ally opening. "Ally? That doesn't even count as an alley way, it's just a ... path into poverty. This whole place gives me the creeps. It's like L2 only ... dirtier, if that's possible. But, you're right, let's go."

They made their way down the alley into the middle of the block of tenements, stepping over and around all sorts of trash and filth. This included liquor bottles, beer cans, used syringes and paper containers for fast food. Heero walked like a cat in a sewer, Duo beside him. The stench was unbelievable, a combination of sweat, vomit, garbage and who knew what else.

Duo stepped over a man sleeping in the doorway and pushed the door open. "You sure this is the place. I really don't want to have to explain ringing the wrong bell."

"It's 1-34, first floor, apartment 34. Right?" Heero eyed his iPad for a moment.

"Right. The first numbers are the floor the second set the apartment number. What's the building again?" Duo was as versed in finding dwellings in the maze of tenements, colonial living quarters and station modules. Almost all the numbering systems were the same.

"Building C." He checked the numbers again. "This is it. Ring."

"As you wish, master." Duo's fake Transvelvanian accent made Heero snort.

"Just ring, please. This place is getting on my nerves."

Duo sobered and rang the bell. Sometimes his joking helped, sometimes not. This time it wasn't helping either of them so he quit.

The bell was answered by a voice coming from the small speaker next to the button. "What is it?"

"Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell to speak to ... Marie Toms, please."

"The Maxwell and Yuy?"

Duo agreed that they were and repeated his request to speak to Marie Toms. The door opened with an electronic click/buzz and they quickly went through, making sure that the door shut completely behind them.

"Down the hall, to the left then ... what?"

Heero consulted a small map of the building that he'd called to his handheld. "Four doors down on the left."

They hurried to find the proper door, knocked and were admitted by a frazzled looking woman who had three small children clinging to her pants.

"Come in." She turned and moved into the tiny main room. "You kids go into the bed room and play. Quietly. If you're not, I'll smack all of you and no ice cream. Git!"

Heero watched as the kids gave him and Duo a big eyed look then scampered away, down the hall and into a room at the end.

"We're sorry to put you out, but we're looking for ..." he glanced at his handheld. "Taz? Your husband?"

"We're divorced. What I ever saw in that ... ass, I couldn't say. If you want him, he's in jail. At least the last I heard. Go to LA Central and check there. But you'd be better off to see his brother. If Taz knew it Manny does too. I'm not even going to ask what this is about."

Duo pulled up a picture of Trask on his iPad and showed it to her. "Do you recognize this man?"

"Yeah. I never knew his name but he'd come around asking for either Manny or Taz. He'd give me money for the kids and stuff. But ... I never liked him. The look in his eye when he saw my older daughter made me nervous. I told her never to be alone with him." She noticed Duo looking around. "She's in school right now. The other three are my sitting job. We got a combine here in this building. I can't work cause of my legs, but I can sit kids. Their mothers pay me to sit them so they can work. It's a good arrangement. People who can't work a regular job, get employed by those who could, if they had sitters."

Heero nodded. "I see. That's a great idea. Congratulations. We're looking for Trask, jumped bail. Could you give us an address for Manny?"

"Be glad to. And when you see him, tell him he still owes me $60 and I want it. Do not loan him money or trust him farther than you can throw him." She bit at her lip for a moment. "Would you mind talking to the kids for a sec? They're good kids and I'd like to keep it that way."

Duo grinned, he loved kids and liked talking to them about what they did. "Sure. Heero?"

"I don't mind. If we can help keep them on the straight and narrow, I'm all for it. Bring the little monsters on." He grinned too.

Marie smiled back and called the children from the bed room.

They came back in with dragging steps eyeing the vests with FRA on them doubtfully.

"You cops? You gonna take Miss Marie away?" One of the children clutched her hand while the other two hid behind her.

Duo shook his head. "Why would we do that? She's just helping us find someone."

Heero stayed quiet, watching as Duo worked his usual magic. The kids were soon reassured that Miss Marie hadn't done anything wrong, it was alright to tell skiptracers things and that ice cream fixed a lot of hurts.

The last bit of knowledge was accompanied by money to get a treat at the commissary in the building.

They shook hands all around and Duo and Heero left with three more addresses and names to check out.

They only had to walk down a block and around the corner, but they moved the SUV anyway. It wouldn't do their tempers much good to come back to a stripped frame instead of a vehicle.

"I'll set the alarm this time." Heero gave Duo a sheepish look.

Duo snickered, "Man, tell me you didn't forget to set the alarm."

"I did." Heero laughed, at himself as much as anything. "I'm getting senile in my old age."

"Yeah, old, right." Duo poked him in the ribs then led the way to their next destination.

This was another small apartment down a filthy hall, studded with discarded trash and drink containers of all sorts. They didn't have to buzz in as the door was propped open, the buzzers obviously broken intentionally.

So they just walked right in, found the apartment and knocked. Hard. Heero's knock had been know to flatten the more flimsy of doors. In this case it produced a booming sound reminiscent of blast doors.

"The door is steel. And heavily barred. What's that about, I wonder?" Heero gave Duo a knowing look.

"Me too. If they don't open in another minute. I'll knock." Duo started fishing in his braid. Duo didn't knock with his fist.

Just as Duo was about to begin his 'knock' the door popped open.

"What do you want? You're not regula..." The man shut up, eyed them for a second then tried to slam the door in their faces. Heero stuck his foot in the door, forced it back and walked in. Duo followed, tucking his things back into his braid. He didn't usually carry much with him except when they were on a trace for a really bad sort. They both thought Trask counted.

"No, we're not regular customers. We don't care what poison you're selling. We're Fugitive Recovery Agents and we're looking for someone. Name's Trask, we think. Know him?" Heero stuck the picture under the man's nose while Duo kept an eye on the two women sitting on the couch. One was obviously stoned out of her mind. The other eyed him with shrewd eyes in a thin, weary face.

The man eyed the picture. "Nope, don't know him. Not really. He's some sort of friend of Taz's. That's my brother, in case you didn't know. He comes around once in a while asking for him. Haven't seen him in a couple of weeks. Heard he got arrested, or didn't show for a trial ... something like that. Now. I've answered your question ... get out. You're ruining business."

Both Duo and Heero were immediately suspicious, this guy was answering questions too readily. What was he trying to hide? Why was he so anxious to get them out?

The guy evidently realized what they were thinking so he sighed, rubbed his face and said, "Look, my boss is coming in about half an hour. If you're still here, he'll get mad. He's crazy, anybody will tell you that, and he might just shoot me for the hell of it. So, just go, ok?"

Duo glanced at Heero, who nodded. "Ok, buddy, we're leaving. Here's our card, call. Or we'll be back."

The man nodded, "Ok, ok, don't get your shorts in a bunch. I'll call if I hear from Taz or Trask. I don't get it though. Trask is just a punk."

"Trask is ex-Oz. General." Duo shrugged. "And we're not sure that that's really his name. He was a torturing asshole then, don't think he's changed much since. He's jumped bail on a torture, rape, murder of a twelve year old. Nice company you keep."

The man paled. "No! No way! I just push a bit ..." Duo rolled his eyes while Heero snorted. "Ok, ok. A lot. But it's just grass and pills. Nothing harder than that designer shit that kids like. Plenty of money in that. And a couple of whores now and then, when they don't dip too deep into the merchandise. I'll send Charlie out to see what she can find out." Heero gave him a blank faced look. "I got a kid of my own. Lives with my old lady. Don't go for that sort of shit. You promise to pay a bit, and I'll see what I can do. No promises. Now, go away."

Heero shrugged, eyed the two women then walked out the door. Duo eyed the women, jerked his head at the door then gave the weary looking one a raised eyebrow and followed Heero.

They took their time about walking to their SUV, but got there in about ten minutes.

Duo slipped into the drivers seat. "Settle in for a bit, Heero. I think the conscious one might have some intel."

Heero pulled open the passenger door and plopped down in the seat. "I hope. This is just depressing. I read over his wrap sheet. Reads like a laundry list of high crime and low dealings. I really want this guy and not just because losing that bail will really hurt Buck. He's not fit for human consumption."

And so they settled in to wait.

Duo played some game on his iPad while Heero did research on their target. Then Heero played a game while Duo did research. They alternated between the two activities and visiting for over four hours. They had every intention of staying for the night but the weary looking woman tapped on the passenger window just as the sun was setting.

Heero got out at once and had the woman get into the passenger seat. He got in the back seat instead.

"You the guys who wanted info on Taz?"

"Yeah, but we'd really rather have info on Marcus Trask. Help us out?" Heero watched her in the rear view mirror, which he'd adjusted to show the passenger seat to him.

"No. But I know a guy who knows something ... maybe. I won't lie to you. But ... if I could get $200 credits together, I could go to my sister in Washington state. I'm tired, I'm sick and Lester; that's my pimp, won't let me go. He takes all my money, except for enough to feed myself. I want out."

Duo made a sympathetic sound. "You got anything you're really attached to?"

"No. got everything important in my pack. It never gets out of arms reach. Why?" The woman looked worried for a moment then shrugged. "Never mind. Whatever you want."

Heero asked the next question. "That guy we spoke to your pimp?"

"Gus? No, he's just a jerk, small fry. I was there 'cause of Connie. She's on the twitch and went there to get something to ... ease her withdrawal. It won't help and whatever it was knocked her out too. He called Charlie just after you left but she's ... not bright. She won't find anything out. Sorry. But ... I got something for you, don't I?"

Duo agreed that she did and said that they'd check it out right now. "Do you want to come with us or stay here?"

"I'll come with. Even if you don't give me any money, a new neighborhood would help. Oh, my name's Lorena, by the way." She settled in for the ride with a satisfied expression.

Heero nodded to Dou, who readjusted the mirror and drove off, thankfully, taking it easy on their passenger.

They followed Lorena's directions to a small store about four blocks away. Heero stayed with Lorena as Duo went in to talk to the shop keeper.

.

Duo walked in with a firm stride, pushing the door open with one hand while he kept the other close to his pocket. His gun wasn't there, it was in the back of his waist band but this would fake any opponent out.

He walked directly to the back where the proprietor stood behind a counter, watching the other man in the store. He flicked his eyes to Duo then back to his other customer. Then he zeroed in on Duo.

"I don't know you. How can I help you?"

Duo scratched his chest, showing the man the 100C note he had folded in to the palm. "You know this guy?" He showed the picture. "You're Galen, right?"

"Right. I know the sucker. He's bad news. I hope you're going to tell me that you want him for something."

"I do. Skiptrace." Duo glanced at the safety mirror over one corner of the store. His informant seemed very interested in the other customer and he wondered why. "What's the prob?"

"Guy's a lifter. I don't want him in here but I can't get the cops to give me a paper on him."

Duo thought for a moment. "You want me to do something about him?"

Galen thought for a moment. "If you can, I'll find you info for free for a month."

Duo grinned. "Right on it." He slipped up behind the man and whispered in his ear. "Shinigami doesn't like you." The man turned, took one look at glowing purple eyes and ran. Duo shouted after him. "And don't come back!"

He returned to Galen, smiling in a friendly fashion.

"How the hell did you do that? Make your eyes glow like that. I saw it from clear over here." Galen stopped himself from shivering, barely.

Duo showed the man a small box, about the size of an old fashioned cigaret lighter. "CGI." He tapped the white lining of his cap bill. "A little reflection and ... ooooo, scary." He tucked the device away. "Now. Trask, Marcus. General, Oz and a bunch of other stuff. Got a pic if you need to see one."

"I do. I know a few people who claim to have been a general in several different armies and four Marcus's, two Trasks and a bunch of guys who have too many names for me to keep track of."

Duo showed the man his picture without comment.

Galen took the handheld and examined the picture. "Ummm. Maybe. If I could see the pic with a goatee and glasses. Well, I'd be surer."

Duo fiddled with it for a moment then handed it back. "That's from an identikit, so it's kinda awful, but there."

"Yeah, that's him. I heard from a guy who didn't like his attitude that he took off before his trial. How the hell that asshole got bail is beyond me. Who ever gave it to him was stupid. Anyway, he rented a crap car from this guy's pal and took off. He was supposed to have brought the thing back a couple of days ago and didn't. So, pal and this guy came in bitching about it, bought a case of beer and left. That's all I know about it but I got a name."

Duo pinned him with a look. "What kind of name?"

Galen grinned at him. "The name of the guy who owns the car that he took off with. Guy's really pissed. He'll give you the plate number for sure. He might ... might, maybe know where the guy is headed. Or ... where he said he was going at any rate. Good?"

Duo handed over a bill. "We'll see. Cough it up."

The shop owner wrote down an address, name and phone number. "I wouldn't call in advance, if I was you."

Duo chuckled darkly. "Thanks. This proves out and there's another bill to keep the first one company."

Galen just shrugged. "Like to keep the trash out if I can. This store belonged to my Dad, my Granddad and his Dad. But, if things keep going the way they are, I'll be out of business in a year. The lifters are ruining me. I'd be better off to burn the place down, claim the insurance and retire to Florida."

Duo watched the expressions flitting across the man's face for a moment then asked, "Why don't you?"

"Because the people here, the honest, hard working one's need me. They'd have to go twelve blocks just to get the necessities. I'm expensive because I can only buy small quantities. But, without me, kids would go without milk. Old folks would do without too. But the young thugs just don't care. This whole area ... it's bad and getting worse. So. You need info, you come to me. I'll do what I can." He held out his hand to shake with a tentative smile.

Duo took it, shook and fished a card out of his pocket. "You have problems, call that number. Even if no one answers, leave a message. Someone will come help. Ok?"

Galen looked at the card. "Thanks. Good luck on your hunt."

Duo waved over his shoulder as he left.

He walked to the SUV, leaned in the window and asked Lorena, "You up for one more set of direction?" They didn't need them, the GPS would get them where they wanted to go, but this way they could give Lorena money without it seeming to be charity.

"Sure. I know this whole neighborhood. Who are you looking for now? Do you have an address?"

Duo handed her the piece of paper. "Here. After this, we'll take you to the airport, get you a ticket and give you some pocket money. Ok?"

Lorena smiled. "That would be great. You don't have to give me pocket money though."

Heero climbed into the back without comment.

Lorena pointed the way and they drove the eight blocks to the address in silence except for her directions.

The address was a small, rundown hotel that had been converted into some sort of studio apartments. Heero opened his door. "I'll go this time. I think a little cold threat will work wonders."

Lorena chuckled. "You don't really need much. Frank is a little piss-ant with a big head and an attitude. He's always letting his mouth write a ticket his ass can't cash. Just scare him, he'll babble like crazy."

Heero added 100C to her pocket money. "Thanks. I'll crack my knuckles at him."

"He'll fall apart like a house of cards." Lorena settled back to play rock, paper, scissors with Duo.

.

Heero found his quarry's name on a slip of paper thumb tacked to a bulletin board in the entrance. The apartment was on the second floor so he eased up the stairs and put his ear to the door. There was something on TV, a game of some sort, and three voices cheering the favored team on.

He didn't bother to knock, he just twisted the door knob, the cheap cylinder broke at once, allowing him to open the door.

"Hello!" Heero just walked over and turned the TV off. The yells of indignation cut short when Heero glared at them. "I have questions. The quicker you answer the quicker you get back to your game." He turned to look at Frank. "You know this guy. And that is not a question." Heero held up the iPad for all of them to see. "Anyone else have any info, cough it up now."

All three men looked at the picture, then the two unknown men turned to the third. Frank shook his head. "I got no info on him. He's took off. He took my car. That's all I know. You hunting him?"

Heero nodded. "I want to know where he went. And I want the tag on the car. You two?" He looked at Frank's companions. "You know anything?"

One man shrugged. "Not anything about Trask." Heero raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, I recognized him. He's trouble. But I do know that piece of crap car. It's got maybe another thousand miles in it. Maybe. If he nurses it, which he won't. Frank, I told you not to loan him your car."

"I know, but ... he just sort of took it. And you know I ... he scares me. He gets that look and you just know he's going to do something bad. Bastard. He said he was going to bring it back three days ago. But ..." Frank shrugged, picked up a clean napkin from the coffee table and wrote. "Here's the tag number and I hope you jug 'im good. He took my car." Frank didn't seem to be able to get past that but Heero didn't care. They now had a tag number which they could flag in the system and put out a BOLO.

He just picked up the remote and turned the TV back on. As he left he heard Frank ask, "That was Heero Yuy, right? The gundam pilot, right? Did you see his eyes? Creepy. Gimme beer."

As he walked down the hall, Heero smirked to himself. Duo called it the Glower of Doom, he called it insurance.

He returned to the SUV to find Lorena asleep and Duo softly drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He got into the back seat and picked up his computer. "Got a number." He entered it into the system and waited.

The search didn't take much time, during which Duo started the SUV and headed for the airport. Even if they didn't take a plane somewhere, they were putting Lorena on a plane to her sister.

They were half way to the airport when Heero's computer dinged with a message. The car had been found abandoned by the side of the road. It seemed that their quarry was headed for Washington state.

They parked at the airport and saw Lorena onto a plane for her sisters place. They were never to see her again but would get Christmas cards from her for years.

Duo waived to her at the gate then they returned to their vehicle.

"You want to chase this guy all the way to Washington?"

Heero thought for a moment. "I'd rather drive. We can carry more equipment that way. What do we already have in the back?"

Duo led the way to the back of the SUV to check their equipment. "Well, full hiking gear, survival style. We'd do a ranger proud. Explosives, weapons from long and hand guns to knives and an axe. Boots, warm clothing. MRE's." He shuffled things around for a moment. "That's about all but it's plenty. Let's go."

Heero took the wheel and drove off to head for Highway 1. Dou pulled up a map on the computer and eye it with sour disfavor.

"Mind tellin' me why R-one is the only highway left that goes directly, more or less, from here to there?"

Heero rolled his eyes. "Oz thought it wasn't worth destroying. You know that either them or White Fang destroyed most of the free ways everywhere to make it harder on the resistance."

Duo grumbled, "Well, it didn't really, just made it harder on the ordinary Joe. And us, but who's complaining?"

"You are." Heero laughed at Duo as he glared at the screen.

"Damn right! I know they're fixing as fast as they can but, damn, it's taking ... how long?"

Heero shrugged. "It's projected to take at least 20 years to get the system back to what it was before the first war."

Duo goggled. "Fuck! They did that much damage?"

Heero switched lanes to pass a truck. "Yes, they completely destroyed all exchanges outside LA, San Fran, St. Louis, Chicago ..."

Duo interrupted, "Please spare me the list. It's depressing."

"It is. And it didn't do that much good. Most of the rebels used secondary roads, gravel even or went across country. Do you have a GPS for where the car broke down?"

Duo checked. "We do. It's about ... seventy miles up the highway. Cops may have already towed it, but I'm sure they'll let us search it."

Heero agreed with that then said, "Take a nap. I'll drive there then you take over. I'll bet you anything he's headed for Washington, just like you said."

Duo settled back, put his feet on the dashboard, kicked the seat back and went to sleep.

He woke again when Heero jiggled his shoulder. "We're there. GPS says this is the place. The car's gone but there's some trash here. I'm going to take a look at it."

Duo got out and helped him. After putting on gloves and fishing through the black bag full of carry out wrappers, cups and candy wrappers, they got a break. There was an envelope with an address and a return address. The address was one of the one's they'd gotten for him. The return was in Portland, Oregon.

Duo sighed, pulled off his gloves and ran his fingers through his bangs. "Ok, that's good. Here," He held out the bag. "chuck your gloves in here and let's go to the cop shop. See what they've got for us."

"Ok. But we got an address and a name. So that's good, right?" Heero knew they were still in for a long haul but they were making progress. He had to give a small snort.

"What's that for?" Duo's puzzled look made Heero chuckle.

"When does the romantic part start?" It was always a sore spot with them that the general public didn't understand that bounty hunting was usually a grueling grind of phone calls, computer searches, boring stakeouts and hours upon hours of talking to everyone and his dog. Picking through a garbage bag at the side of the road wasn't the worst they'd done by a long shot.

Duo snorted in his turn. "When we get the fuck back home." He glanced at the GPS, "Cop shop is about four miles away. Go up to the next exit and take a left." He settled in, fastened his seat belt then mused, "I wonder if they'll be cooperative."

"No idea. I hope so. They can either make the job easy or truly shitty." He started the engine, put the SUV in gear and headed off.

.

They drove to the police station, parked in visitor parking by the front door and went in to speak to the desk sergeant.

"Hello. How can I help you today?"

Duo smiled at the sergeant. "We're tracking this guy." He showed their picture to the sergeant. "We think you towed his car off the side of the road. Here's the tag." He handed over a bit of paper with their info on it. "Help us out?"

"Let me see."

Duo peeked at the name tag on the man's chest. "Thanks, Sergeant Lewicki. We appreciate anything you can do."

"Don't sweat it." The sergeant smiled at them. "We appreciate anything you do for us. You're the guys who usually bring our really bad guys back to us. So ..." He pecked at his keyboard for a moment. "Yeah, here we are. It's in impound, right around back. I'll call ahead and tell them to let you go through it. You won't be allowed to take anything away with you, but you can copy any papers or what not you find."

Duo grinned. "Thanks a lot, Sergeant."

Heero started back for the front door but was called back.

"This way. You don't need to walk all the way around the building. That's a bitch as the gate is clear around to the back. Just go right through. When you're done, buzz and the gate officer will let you back in. Good luck on your hunt."

Heero smiled at the man. "Thanks."

They walked through the booking area to cat calls and rude remarks. Both Heero and Duo ignored this with dignity. The sergeant glowered around then finally bellowed, "Shut up! You animals just stuff it." The locals all quieted down to grumbling and snickering.

They went on through to the back door and out into the afternoon sun. The sergeant pointed, "Right around there. Just let Bill point out the car." He went back through the door, which he had held open so it wouldn't lock him out.

They found Bill just around the corner sitting in a chair at a desk in a tin shed. He was happy to show them the car.

He tested the door, found it unlocked and opened the door. "There you are. I suppose you know the drill. You can take out the seats and what no, but you can't break anything. And you put them back in again. I'm not a mechanic or what not all. Do I know you guys? You look really familiar."

Duo shrugged. "Duo Maxwell. He's Heero Yuy. Might have seen us on the news or something."

Bill shook his head. "No, that's not it. I'll figure it out in a minute. Go ahead and do your thing."

So Heero climbed into the compact car and handed the back seat out to Duo, first the back then the seat. There was a handful of papers on the floorboards which Duo put aside to go through. Heero fished around under the front seat and found more papers, a small log book and a paper back. The glove box yielded more papers, a note book and a journal. The trunk had a suitcase in it which they pulled out.

"Ok, that's that. I bet most of these papers belong to Frank. I don't think our guy would leave anything with writing on it behind." Duo poked at the suitcase with a toe. "This, on the other hand. I wonder why he left it?"

"Too heavy. I bet he took a duffel, or something like it. We might luck out with the journal or the log book." He sighed. "Ok, let's get started."

They took everything into the shed and used a long table at the back of it to spread the stuff out. It took them nearly an hour to sort through all the papers and figure out what belonged to Frank and what didn't.

It turned out that Heero was right. The log book was Trask's and so was the journal. Heero sat down to read the journal and Duo the log book.

They were still reading when Bill announced, "Yes! I got it."

Duo looked up. "Got what?"

"I found the posters. I knew I knew you from somewhere." He looked at Duo then at a large book he held. He closed it with a grimace. "Not something I'd like to see if I was in it. Sorry."

Duo knew that the only poster ever issued on him showed a bruised faced defiant 15 year old kid. He'd never seen a poster on Heero. He was sure there was one and one on Wufei. Trowa had never popped his head above the line and God forbid that anyone put out a wanted on The Winner.

"You got one on Heero? Show me. I don't mind that poster too much. I'll autograph it for you if you like."

So Bill showed Heero and Duo the wanted posters which they autographed. Heero's poster picture had been taken right after Duo had shot him, in the hospital. It didn't look much like him. He'd been drugged out, relaxed and looking like an innocent kid. Heero said that he didn't think the poster ever made it beyond a few larger police stations. Bill agreed. Heero autographed it with a flourish then went back to his reading.

Duo autographed his poster then, after asking permission, he paged through it. He laughed at the poster of Wufei. The picture was a formal Chinese pose with Wufei wearing traditional robes with a little cap on his shining hair. He looked about nine. The picture of Sally Po made him snort. She looked fierce, dressed in BDU's and very young.

"Man, we were really kids back then. All of us. How the hell..." He shrugged.

Heero commented absently from where he was reading. "The doctors were all mad. Here. Read this and see what you think." He handed the book to Duo who obediently read the indicated passage.

Duo read the passaged. "Well, he's got a sister in Portland. I wonder why he was careless enough to leave this behind."

"Habit. I bet he kept both books in the glovebox. When the car broke down he only had a few minutes to get organized and thumb a ride before his break down was reported."

Duo nodded. "Now why didn't I think of that?"

Heero just shrugged. "You don't have to come up with all the ideas. Anything in that log book?"

Duo shook his head. "No, not yet. Trade back. His numbers are tiny."

Heero snorted, "Nu-uh. I checked for a code of some kind, there isn't one as far as I can see. Not trading back."

Duo growled. "It's no use to us then. I didn't find one either." He put it down on the long table and settled back to wait until Heero was done reading the journal.

Heero smirked at him a couple of times. He'd been bored silly with the log book, especially after he'd made sure it wasn't coded. So he'd just asked Duo to switch with him and check to see if he could find a code. Duo had fallen for the ruse. He knew Duo would get even but he'd worry about that when the time came.

Heero finally finished with the journal. He turned to see Bill happily examining his book. "You want help boxing all this up?"

Bill put his book down and smiled at them. "No, thanks. It's not my job. The stuff is supposed to be boxed up by the auction house and held there for 90 days for the owner of the car to pick up. If the owner doesn't show to pick up their car. We sent an email to the address attached to the tags. But ... now, like I said, I'm not a mechanic. But in my humble opinion, that car isn't worth coming for. It's ... like, twenty years old, got a ton of mileage on it and the tires are bald as my old man. Cost more than the car is worth to get it running again."

Duo wandered over, raised the hood and took a look. "Man, this thing should have been put out of its misery miles ago. I'm not even going to pull the dipstick. I can smell burning oil and the belts are shot. Good luck with it." He slammed the hood down and wiped his hands on a rage Bill gave him. "Heero, we done here?"

Heero put the journal on the table. "As far as I can tell. Let's go." He put his hand out to Bill to shake. "Thanks."

"Welcome." Bill shook with Duo. "Come on. I'll buzz you back in." He grinned. "I got a key card. You're supposed to ring the bell but I'll let you in."

They followed Bill around to the door and he buzzed inside then used his card to let them in. Heero and Duo thanked him again then went into the building.

They were met as they walked out of the side corridor that led to the back door.

The officer greeted them genially enough. "Hi. Did you find anything worth the work?"

Heero shook his head. "Not really. We got an address that we think might be his sister, maybe. I wish we knew if he really has a sister. This is all fucked up."

The officer made a commiserating sound. "Yeah, I know exactly how it is. Between the colonies trying to hide as much as they could from the Alliance, and people moving from colony to colony, it's a mess. If you've got anything useful, I'll put it in the system."

Duo gave the man what they had, but it was all already in the system.

The desk sergeant took them back to the front and shook their hands. They left, climbing back into the SUV and heading north again.

.

Duo let Heero drive. They were both bored out of their wits, bounty hunting was, as Buck said, 90% boredom, 10% adrenaline overload. They were used to it but that didn't mean they weren't always in search of relief.

In this case, Duo decided to check their email and answer it. He spent most of the rest of the drive catching up on a back log of email from the last three days. He read Heero's to him and typed up the answers.

Finally he closed his laptop. "Done! Good lord, I wonder why I never remember how much mail we get."

Heero shrugged. "Probably because we get mail on our handhelds and answer it as we get it. The last few days, we've been ignoring it. Quatre and Trowa sure are enjoying that yacht."

Duo laughed. The email from them had been enthusiastic, to say the least. They were living on the yacht for the next several months as Quatre visited some of the more remote WEI locations. It was much more comfortable than living in hotels. The crew was small and made up entirely of Magunacs. "Yeah, I'm glad we could recover it for him. And I really liked flying. We're going to take a vacation on the moon soon and spend it flying. Right?"

Heero agreed. They still had their gliders packed away. "I liked it too. So ... as soon as we catch this guy, we'll go. Ok?"

"Sounds good." Duo packed the computer away with a sigh. He loved his iPad and tended to use it for quick checks and keeping records and pictures on hand but nothing could beat a 'real' computer. "I wish circuits were small enough to make and iPad a viable alternative to a full sized computer. Having the screen separate from the rest makes it hard to use on the fly."

Heero smirked at that. "I'm working on it." He saw Duo's drop-jawed look. "No, really. I swear. Quatre has a team working on the newest generation of printed circuits and he's going to send me some to experiment with. Printed to my specs. I'm really excited about it."

Duo bounced a bit in his seat. "Great." He made grabby hands. "Prototype! Yes! When can I get my sweaty little hands on it."

"Soon. The circuits should be here sometime next month." Heero smiled in anticipation.

Duo sighed, "Heero, tell me again why we're bounty hunters?"

"Because someone has to do it and we're good at it."

"Yeah. Ok." Duo banged his head against the head rest. "We going to be doing this forever?"

"No." Heero knew what Duo was getting at. They had money, more fame than they wanted and skills way beyond man hunting. "We'll retire, sooner or later. Just not right now. You ..."

Duo grinned. "No, just feeing a bit ... put out. How the hell could Jason give this yotz bail? I mean, the boy's not stupid, I don't think. So now, Trask; or whatever his name really is, is on the run. He's dangerous in a way that makes my skin crawl. He shouldn't even have been offered bail. I'm shutting up now, or I'm going to say something totally inappropriate."

Heero clenched his teeth for a moment before saying, "The judge is one of those bleeding heart types that gives second, third and fourth chances to people who don't deserve them. And Jason is just stupid. I swear, that boy'd give bail to Jack the Ripper. In fact, I think Trask would qualify as his heir. And I'll say something inappropriate ... If we happen to kill this ass, totally in the line of duty, it won't hurt my feelings a bit."

"Me neither." Duo fiddled absently with the end of his braid. "Did you know ... in the 20th and 21st centuries, it was illegal for a bounty hunter to bring anyone back dead? Even people who'd already been condemned to execution?"

"No kidding? That's just lame. And stupid. Someone who hasn't got anything to lose ... they're going to do anything they have to to keep from getting sent to the chamber. Or spaced." He shook his head at the concept. "I'm glad the laws have changed." He sighed. "Not that I want to kill anymore. But ... I'm not risking my life to bring in trash. If I have to shoot, I shoot to kill. And you better too, or I'm smacking you good."

Duo laughed gently. "Don't worry. If it comes to that, Shinigami is coming out to play. And I'm picking up some extra fire power in Portland. I have a contact from the Sweepers there."

"Good, just ... be careful. Some of that stuff is ... volatile." Heero always worried about the stuff Duo kept in his braid. Some of it was not only explosive but contraband. Anyone without proper papers who was caught with it in their possession was liable to arrest.

"Heero, remember? I told you I've got papers, credentials that certify me to obtain, possess and use most explosives. Q got them for me. I'm as legal as it comes." Duo was sure he'd told Heero about this ages ago, but Heero had brought that up a couple of times recently.

Heero shook his head firmly. "No, you didn't. You told me you were trying to get them but never that you'd managed. You're getting crazy in your old age." He smiled gently to take the sting out.

"Oh. Well, shit. Fait accompli, dude. Relax. I'll show them to you later." Duo felt bad about not actually showing the credentials to Heero.

"Don't need to see them. You said you have them, that's enough. Check the map against the GPS. We're getting close to Portland and I don't want to be driving around all night. Find us a hotel. And make sure it's not a rat trap." Heero remembered a few times when they'd just taken the closest lodging and wound up in what Duo had called a roach motel.

Duo saluted, smacking Heero up aside the head in the process. "Right on it, Boss." Heero snorted. "I'll find something within about an hours drive?" He made that a question, to which Heero nodded. "Ok, hotel, or motel?"

"Hotel with enclosed parking. Or motel where we can park where we can see it. I'm not interested in coming out to find our ride stolen or stripped."

They'd had that happen once, early on, and never forgotten it.

Duo worked for a moment then entered the location into the GPS. "There! I found a nice place with underground parking. It's a bit expensive but, as we'll be there for several days, I booked a week and got half off. It's the tail end of the tourist season and they're trying to make every last penny they can."

Heero shivered suddenly. "Gah! Sudden chill."

Duo patted Heero on the shoulder, looking over with come concern. "You ok? A chill? Where'd it come from." He looked around quickly. "All the windows are up."

"Don't know. I just ... have a bad feeling about this job. I don't like it." Heero wasn't superstitious; but, as a gundam pilot, he'd learned not to ignore 'feelings'.

"I don't like it either. We're going to chase this guy until we catch him, but ... it's going to be a nasty job, no matter how we do it." Duo suddenly shivered too. "Urk! Now you've got me doing it."

.

They found the hotel easily enough, it was visible from the highway and all they had to do was take the next exit and then the access road.

Heero drove down into the underground garage and parked in their alloted spot. Duo had confirmed their reservations on the computer so all they had to do was get their keys at the front desk. Duo asked the check in clerk for a luggage cart and was given one of the big, four wheeled ones with an over head rod for hanging things.

He thanked the clerk for it then pushed it over to the elevator and they went back down to the SUV. It didn't take them long to empty the vehicle. They went up, taking all their luggage with them. Neither one of them wanted to think of what could happen if their stuff got into the wrong hands.

There was a bell boy hanging around in the all near the elevators, he told them that the concierge had told him to come up and help with their things. Duo handed him some money, told him they could manage and sent him on his way.

Duo opened the room with his key, then tested Heero's just to make sure. They pushed the cart into the room and into the alcove between the main room and the bathroom. There was no reason to unload the cart, they'd only do that if the establishment asked for it back.

Heero checked the room, automatically, for bugs, finding none, he settled in a chair at the small table in one corner and got his computer out. He would check on the various searches they had running and start another for connections to the person at the address they'd gotten from the car. It didn't take him long.

"Hey, Duo." Duo stuck his head out of the bathroom, hands busy with re-braiding his hair. "Searches. So far, no info on any AKA's other than what we've already found. I shut that search down as a waste of resources. The name we got from the car seems to be either a sister or half sister. Maybe. But it's valid as far as I can figure. I emailed the locals with a query. We're going to have to do some healthy foot work on this one."

Duo's head disappeared back into the bathroom, his voice floating out to Heero. "Well, shit. I like the easy one's, go out, grab, go home. We're going to need more clothing, and a visit to the laundromat. Hate that. But we can do some more research while we're there."

Heero nixed that. "No, we'll find somewhere we can leave our stuff and come back for it. We'll use that time to get your supplies. Just don't blow me up, I had enough of that already."

Duo cackled rather maniacally. "Don't worry. I won't blow you up. But you're right, waste of time doing our own laundry." He ambled into the room, shirt dangling from one hand. "But we need to get it done tomorrow. I'm already wearing my cleanest dirty shirt. We should have done laundry a couple of days ago, we wouldn't be in this mess now." He sighed. They both knew better than to put off laundry too long. They'd had to pack 'semi-dirty' things in order to have enough clothing. "Wonder if the locals will be friendly here?"

"Probably. Most are, you know. Their ranks were thinned by the draft, deaths in the line of duty and arrests for profiteering and graft. They're grateful for any help they can get."

Duo sighed. "And new enrollments are mostly for Preventers. You ever notice that a lot of the cops we come in contact with are older?"

Heero looked sad. "I have. What's going to happen when they all get too old. Something's got to be done and no one seems to be doing it." He went to his computer. "I think I'll send a memo to Une. She might not be aware of the problem."

Duo snorted softly, then flopped on one of the full size beds. "When you get done with her, she'll not only be aware of the problem but have at least two solutions to it."

Heero nodded, pecking at his keyboard all the while. He summed up on idea for Duo. "Well, I don't see why people who have washed out of Preventers but still want a career in law enforcement shouldn't be encouraged to go local. And a universal drive should yield some results for the locals. Perhaps an if not Preventers, try local sort of thing appended to Preventer recruiting adds?"

Duo grumbled about thin pillows then said, "Sounds good. Something's got to be done." He pulled off his jeans, folded them and put them on the end of the bed. "I'm done for the day. Wake me when food comes." He then fell straight to sleep.

Heero eyed him with amusement then went to order Chinese.

Duo woke, nose twitching, the second Heero put the takeout bag on the table.

"Wakie, wakie." Heero's sing-song had Duo up and scuttling back into his jeans. "Here. Shrimp Fried Rice, won ton soup." He sniffed. "Pork, I think. Chicken and veggies, pot stickers, also pork. Rice. And ... um ... some sort of free noodle thing. There's also a thermos of tea."

Duo snapped his chopsticks and reached for the small container of soup. "Thanks, 'Ro. I'm already in combat mode."

Heero shrugged this off, muttering, "So? Me too. Just don't slug me in our sleep."

Duo sucked noodles into his mouth with a loud slurp, chewed then returned, "I won't. You're the one with that habit, if I remember correctly." Helping himself to half the chicken and veggies, he returned to his meal, a sly grin at Heero's red face gracing his lips.

They finished eating then took turns in the shower. Duo refrained from washing his hair as he was too tired to wait for the heavy mass of hair to dry. Heero used the blow dryer to dry his hair before bed. He really didn't need to have to deal with trying to semi-tame it before they left in the morning.

Sleep came quickly, at nearly 11pm, it had been a very long day. The driving had been exhausting enough without the stress of going through a mass of paper on hope alone.

.

Duo woke first. He'd set his internal clock so that he could get up and take his shower at his leisure. He could get through the whole process, including washing his fantastic mane of hair, in twenty minutes, if he had to. He just didn't like it.

He was rubbing his hair with an extra towel when Heero wandered in, belched loudly and started the shower again.

"Heero, you are just gross sometimes, you know that." Duo fanned one hand, pretending to wave away some noxious odor.

Heero mumbled absently. "Yeah, but ... I trust you not to get grossed out too much. Where's my shampoo?"

Duo savored the warm feeling that remark caused then looked around. "It's still in the shower. In that bottle holder on the back. And there's samples here if you're out."

Heero stepped into the warm water as he said, "Nope, I'm good. It's right here. The shower curtain hid it. Where do you want to go for breakfast?"

Duo ran a comb through his hair as he directed the dryer's heat into a wet lock. "I don't care. Is there a pancake house around? I'm in the mood for waffles."

"We can take a look at the map in a minute." He stuck his head out of the cubicle. "You didn't use all the towels, did you?"

"No, Mr. Grumpy, I didn't. There were extra so you've got three for your very own." Duo laughed at Heero as he pulled his head back into the shower like a cuckoo back into the clock.

It didn't take them long to finish cleaning up and dressing. Duo was disgusted to find that Heero had clean-clean clothing. Heero admitted that he'd done some laundry the day before they left but hadn't done any for Duo as he hadn't expected to be leaving for an extended length of time.

Heero apologized, trying hard not to laugh, but Duo caught him at it and demanded make up snuggles before they left for breakfast.

Breakfast was good, plain honest pancakes, bacon, OJ and coffee. They ate it in the hotel dinning room and were on their way to the local police station.

They checked in at the desk and were shown to a real liaison officer who smiled, shook hands and got them coffee.

Over that coffee he explained that the Portland PD had established this office to help them keep bounty hunters under some sort of control. He admitted that they were spread thin, 'like scrape over bread', as he put it. So he was expecting them to call in before they did any 'forced entry' or picked any fights with the less cooperative sorts.

He also asked for all the information they had and used that to give them a blanket warrant to pursue their quarry, one Markus Trask, and arrest on sight. This was a great help as they didn't have to get a warrant for every residence they needed to search. All Officer Friendly really asked was that they keep property damage to a minimum.

They promised not to trash anyone's home just because they could and also promised not to beat up anyone who didn't start trouble first. At their parting each party had the feeling that they'd gotten the best of their dealings.

Heero checked to make sure they had coordinates for their address then they headed for their first contact.

This was located in a bad neighborhood, Duo's grumble that they never got to stake out a good place made Heero snicker. After they spent ten minutes knocking on the doors of the small house, they settled in their car to wait until someone came home.

They waited all morning. When lunch time came around Duo walked to a quick stop about four blocks away and picked up sandwiches and chips. He also got Mountain Dew for himself and juice for Heero. He got a bottle with a wide mouth.

When he got back to the SUV Duo handed Heero his sandwich, chips and drink then settled back to eat his own.

"I got you egg salad, after I checked the date. I've got tuna. You want to split?"

Heero peeled back the end of one half of his sandwich. "Only if you do. This is fine, even has some lettuce on it." He opened his juice. "Good juice." He swigged down half. "You go at the quick shop?" One of the things that most people didn't discuss about bounty hunting was the bodily functions that had to be handled somehow. As Duo said, "Taking a leak in the bushes is bound to cause all sorts of trouble."

"Yeah, you going to walk over?"

Heero thought about that for a moment. "No, I'll drink all the juice then use the bottle. We've also got a couple of those P-bottles with the absorbent crystals in them. We need to get more of those."

Duo mumbled something around the tuna sandwich in his mouth, downing a swig of Mountain Dew he cleared his throat then said, "I've got a dozen in my stuff." He looked up and down the street and realized that people were beginning to take notice of them. This wasn't good as it sometimes led to 'vigilante' type behaviors by neighbors. "We're getting noticed. You think we should move?"

Heero glanced around at the nearby houses. "No. If someone comes over, we'll talk to them. No one looks like just jumping us. Bet they think we're cops."

An hour later an older man, in his early 50's, tapped gently on Duo's window. Duo obediently rolled it down.

"You going to stay here much longer?" His face twisted in concern.

Heero looked at him for a moment. "As long as it takes. We're looking for Hanna Adams. We want to talk to her about someone."

The man shook his head. "Name's Joe. That's going to be a problem. She ... she don't like no one much. Real unfriendly sort. She's got two sons, at least I think they're sons. They're protective and sorta unfriendly too. You've probably got a fight on your hands. Wish you'd convince them to ... move. Don't take to their attitude ... nor their dealing ways. We got kids around. Neighborhood ain't much but it's what we got. Don't take to people shitting in the nest, if you know what I mean"

Heero nodded. "I do. Duo?"

Duo had leaned back when Joe started speaking so that Heero could see his face too, now he leaned forward and said, "Yeah?"

"Do a want or warrant on her." He turned to Joe. "You got names for those boys?"

"I do. But one's at least 23, the other's around 20. Names are Ed and George. I got a social on Ed. Got it when I loaned him a 100C. Got him to sign an IOU cause he ... well, let's just say I didn't trust him. Gimme a sec, got it here in my wallet." Joe fished it out of his pocket and extracted a piece of paper. He looked at it for a moment then handed it over. "Yeah, here it is." He pointed at a number with a gnarled finger

Duo copied it into the computer and came up with a warrant on the social he'd been given. A further search from that warrant to known accomplices turned up a warrant on George too.

If both of the 'boys' showed up at the same time, there was going to be trouble.

Fortunately, they lucked out. George showed up first, strutting up the street like he owned it. Heero and Duo were quietly warned by a small boy who sneaked up to the drivers side and hissed at Heero. Heero just looked around as if he was stretching his neck, spotted their first target and eased out the door.

He sent the boy back to his front porch and flanked George. Duo accosted him head on and the fight was on.

"Fugitive Recovery Agent. You George Adams?" Duo blocked the way.

"Yeah, what's it to ya? I got no warrants." George tried to push his way by Duo.

Heero grabbed his arm and applied pressure to a small bundle of nerves in his inner upper arm. Not much but George stilled.

"You do. We're taking you in. And we want to ask you some questions. Come on."

Instead of going along, George took a swing at Heero. Heero ducked it and squeezed George's arm harder. Duo watched critically as George fell to his knees with a whimper. But the fool wasn't done yet. He tried to kick Heero in the groin. That didn't work either, Duo blocked the kick with his own foot, kicking George over backwards.

Duo took charge after that, rolling the man over onto his stomach and cuffing him. Then Heero dragged him to his feet and draped him over the hood of their SUV and frisked him while Duo call 911. The frisk produced a knife, a glass pipe, some very old fashioned ice and some pot. Both drugs were pre-colony but had never gone out of fashion as both were cheap and easy to produce. Heero was happy to see that the idiot didn't have a gun.

"Ok, you know ice is bad for you. Pot ... I'm wishy-washy about that myself. But it's still illegal in the amount you've got on you. You know the law states no more than three 6mm by 63mm joints and two roaches in possession at any one time. You, my man, are busted. A wagon will be here to get you in ..." he consulted the dispatcher. "ten minutes. Heero we need to call Officer Friendly too."

Heero settled George on the kerb, hoping that Ed or Hanna didn't show up too soon. Or that the neighbors didn't call one of them with a warning. They lucked out and the van appeared, collected George and left. Heero got a chit that enabled them to collect their bounty on him. All they had to do was wait until he was booked in then enter the number on the chit and collect by direct deposit.

Duo chortled in glee as they settled back in the SUV to wait some more. The bounty on George Adams was 6000C, their 10%. Heero waited until he was sure they were in the clear then he motioned the boy who'd warned them over.

He slipped up, darting from his hiding place on the porch to a bush then to the side of the SUV. Heero praised him for being a good citizen and gave him 100C. The boy was ecstatic, thanking them profusely then going back to the porch by the same route he'd used to get there.

They settled down to wait again and were rewarded at nearly 7pm by Hanna coming home with Ed.

The old car pulled up in front of the house and parked. A ratty looking woman, in jeans, t-shirt and flannel shirt got out. She bent in the door to speak to the driver for a moment. While she was doing this Duo just darted across the street, snatched the keys out of the ignition and smacked Ed in the side of the head.

"Get out the car! Now!" Duo grabbed him and dragged him out of the car, tossing him to Heero to wrestle with. Duo then went for Hanna. He didn't have far to go, several ladies of the neighborhood grabbed her as she attempted to scuttle between her small, trashy house and theirs.

Duo jogged after her and pulled her out of the grasp of a pretty young black girl. "Easy there, miss. I need her in one piece."

"Well, I'll leave her nasty ass in one piece. But you make her leave us alone. Them two boys of hers ain't worth the dynamite it would take to blow them up. Hum!" And with that, the girl let go of the handful of hair she had and stepped back.

Duo kept hold of the fighting woman, struggling to keep her from scratching, slapping or kicking him. Heero had his hands full and couldn't come help Duo but help came from an unexpected source. A large woman just plucked Hanna out of Duo's grasp and shook her like a rag doll.

"You calm down and shut up." The woman held out a hand. "Name's Jezebel. Give me your cuffs." Duo handed the cuffs over and watched in baffled amusement as she cuffed Hanna. "I'm agonna search her now. You turn your back, boy, you hear? No peeking." Duo bit his lip for a moment but turned around. Various rustlings and yelps, and a couple of smacking sounds let him know that Jezebel was searching Hanna and Hanna wasn't too fond of the idea.

When Jezebel was done she dragged Hanna over to the SUV and shoved her into the back seat. "Siddown." She turned to Heero and shoved a handful of stuff at him. "Here's the stuff out of her hope chest." Heero took it but looked at Duo and mouthed, 'hope chest?'

Jezebel noticed and used her hands to jiggle her impressive bosom. "Hope chest, honey. She had a bunch a' stuff in there. Most of it ice and money. Here." she handed it over and marched back to her front porch where she settled in her rocking chair and pinned her eyes on the bunch of them.

Duo sorted through the pile and sighed. " 'Ro, we got ice, maryjahoony and three pipes." He picked up the roll of bills and counted it. "Got 4000C here in big bills. I'll inventory all this and turn it over to the cops when they come."

Heero handed Duo the stuff he'd taken off Ed and said, "Inventory this and log it too, ok?"

"Sure. Ed know anything useful?"

Heero shrugged. "I just got done frisking him. I'll work on him in a minute."

Duo nodded. "You want me to wait on the wagon? The dispatcher gave me a non-emergency number to call this time."

"Go ahead and call. And run Hanna by picture, will you?"

Duo did as Heero asked while Heero kept an eye on the gathered neighbors. It wasn't that unusual for neighbors to interfere with a hunt or even get into a fight with them. This bunch didn't look hostile but it was nearly 20 to 1 and neither Heero nor Duo wanted a fight with a bunch of civilians who had no idea what they were getting into.

"Ok. No want or warrant on her by pic. We ran her by ID yesterday, nothing there either, I double checked. Ed's wanted out of state and I put in for that bounty too. He's going to bring us another 7000C. Nice doings."

Heero nodded, keeping his eyes moving. "Good. Now ... you wanna question Hanna or Ed?"

Duo stared blankly at Ed for a moment, then directed, "You go stare at Ed for a while. I'll talk to Hanna, then see what Ed knows."

Heero smirked for a minute then moved to stare at Ed who was still standing by the SUV. The neighbors, seeing that all the fun was over, started to disperse. Except for a couple of older ladies. They stayed around watching and giving Duo suggestions on what he could do the Hanna. He finally convinced them to go back home.

"I don't think the neighbors like you, or your boys, much. What'd you do them?" Duo leaned against the side of the SUV watching Heero muscle Ed down to sit on the kerb. They'd decided that having Ed and Hanna in the vehicle together was counter productive. Especially after Ed hand threatened to bust Hanna's head if she said anything to them.

Heero eyed Ed with acute disgust. The boy had just threatened his mother with some serious physical harm. "You know... I usually try to be nice to my quarry, but in your case, I'm making an exception. You tell me everything you know about Marcus Trask or I'll thump you. Got me?"

Ed sneered, never equaling Duo's ferocity, "You can't do that. Cops can't ..."

Heero interrupted him. "I'm not a cop. I'm a Skiptracer, and I can. I know ways to make you hurt without leaving so much as a scratch." Heero pinned him with a look that had made braver men than Ed quail like children. "I want to know what you know about Markus Trask. Now."

Ed gulped. "oh ... um ... ok ... um ... he some sort of half brother or something of Mom's. He stayed here a day about four days ago. Maybe five. He bought a truck, some camping gear and headed north. Said he was going to put himself on ice for a few years. That's all I know."

Heero eyed him for a moment then smacked him on the back of the head, hard.

"Hey! What was that for? I told you what I know." Ed's indignation didn't faze Heero in the least.

"I don't like the way you treat your Mom. Be good to her." Ed opened his mouth. "Or move out. Your choice. If I hear of you mistreating her, I'll come back. And I'll let Duo have you. He's a little odd about people being mean to their Mom. Got me?" Ed nodded, gulping.

Ed wasn't really stupid, just lazy and greedy. He knew very well exactly who Duo and Heero were and he knew that they'd do what they said. He resolved that, once he got out of jail, he was going to move to St. Louis and go straight.

While Heero was terrorizing Ed, Duo was taking a different tack with Hanna. "Look, Hanna, I can call you Hanna, can't I?" Hanna just nodded a bit dazedly, when Duo poured on the charm it could be a bit numbing. "Thanks. Smoke?" Duo offered her a cigaret.

Hanna took the smoke and allowed Duo to light it. She was, she realized, sick of the whole thing. Her boys were more trouble than ever, and old enough to be on their own but they hung around sponging off her and causing trouble. Marcus had left two days after he'd arrived and she blamed it on them. She didn't realize that she looked as weary as she felt.

Duo watched as Hanna smoked and frowned. "What's the matter, Mama. I'm sorry we roughed you up, but fighting with me really wasn't smart. Heero and I, we're Fugitive Recovery Agents. We're after Marcus, he's your half-brother?" Hanna just nodded. "I know you thought he was here for a long stay but ... he's running from a list of charges I won't burden your heart with. We need to know what you know." He gave her his best soulful, big-eyed pleading look. "Please?"

Hanna gazed at him for a moment. "Oh, put that away. Bet it got to your mom every time."

Duo looked immeasurably sad. "I wouldn't know, ma'am. I don't remember her. I grew up in the streets of L2-159."

Hanna looked horrified. "Aw, honey, that's awful. So ... you think Marcus was just using me?"

"I know it. I'm sorry." He patted her knee. "Can I get you a drink? Soda? Coffee? You look worn out. Maybe a sandwich?"

"No, I'm going to treat myself as soon as you're gone and eat out. You picked George up, didn't you?"

"Yes, I forgot about him. Sorry about that too." Duo really did feel bad. This woman seemed to be more a victim than anything else.

Hanna shook her head, sucked a half inch off the cigaret and sighed the smoke out. "Well, I can't say that I'm all that broke up about it. Both of them at once, gives me a chance. They both take after their Dad. Too lazy to work, too nervous to steal. So they sponge off me, make me their mule and, in general, make life miserable. But ... well, seeing what I saw. The whole neighborhood turned out against us. That's really unusual around here. We're ... they're poor but clean. I guess I just ... don't fit in. See Marcus, he even told me my sons are worthless. I don't love them any less but ..." She stopped to sniffle.

Duo handed her tissue and let her ramble. "That's ok, Mama, take your time. I won't think any less of you, no matter what you say."

Heero came over with an envelope. "Excuse me. The PD kept the drugs but they said that the money was found on the lady so it's hers." He smirked at Hanna. "I sort of added in what Ed had on him. You've got about 5000C there. Make good use of it, ok?"

Hanna nodded, finished off her cigaret and crushed the butt against her shoe sole. She stuck the butt into a pocked and shrugged at Duo's look. "Neither of you smoke and I bet that ashtray is virgin. I'll keep my stink to myself." She fingered the envelope. "thanks for the money. And don't come back here looking for me. I won't be here. I'm going to pack up what's mine and move. I got some clothing, a rotten job and someplace else to be. I'm young ... wouldn't know it to look at me but I'm only 37, had Georgie when I was 15. It's time I stood up for me. Those two can take care of themselves, I'm done. Got a job offer somewhere else and I'm takin' it. So ... you wanna know about Markus? Here's the deal. He's got a bit of land somewhere in Alaska, near the Canadian border. I have no idea where exactly but he named it. Cold Case. Don't get the reference but ... I really don't care either. So ... can I go now?"

She looked hopeful. Duo nodded. "Sure, I'm going to give you my card. If you remember anything else, call me?"

Hanna took the card and stuffed it into her back pocked. "I will, I promise. Now, if I can go, I'd like to pack and get going."

Heero shrugged. "You want to say good-bye to your son?"

"Yeah, I guess. Cut clean and all that." She went with Heero to talk to Ed. "Well, son, you're in it now. I thought you'd gone to court, you borrowed 20C to go down."

Ed hung his head. "Ma ... I was gonna go ... but this guy had a deal and ... well, I spent it, then I sorta got drunk and forgot. I got a letter but I burned it so you wouldn't see it and get on my ass about it."

Hanna just sighed. "Well, kiss me bye. And don't come back here when you get out. You get your stuff together, you can come see me in ... three years. Three, after you get out. You hear?" She gave her youngest that look that no son wants to see from his mother.

"Yeah, I got you. I'm gonna have to serve some time on this one. I'll let you know after the judge gets done with me. Ok?" Ed hung his head. He felt bad, now that he was caught.

"Email me. I'm not accepting any phone calls, bills sky high as it is." Hanna bent over, kissed Ed on the cheek and walked away.

Duo watched her as she went up the stairs to her porch, head high. "There goes a good woman." He smacked Ed on the head.

"Ow! All right, all right. I'm a shit. It's just ... well, it was always easier ..."

Heero just pulled him to his feet. "Shut it. The buss is here." He hauled Ed to the pickup van, signed him in and collected their chit.

Duo looked after the van as it drove away. "Fuck! I'd love to know who my parents are and they treat theirs like trash. World is really a fucked up place, you know?"

Heero nodded. "I do. But I think Hanna will do ok. We got some good intel from her and I really think she'll call or email if she finds out anything else."

Duo gave Heero a knowing look. "5000C? Really? That wad didn't look like it had more than a K and an half in it."

Heero laughed softly. "So? Shot me."

"Already did that. Didn't help. I'll go halvies with you."

Heero gave Duo a self depreciating sort of look. "You don't have to do that."

Duo poked him in the ribs. "No. I don't. But I will. Come on."

They got in the SUV but sat for a little while. They weren't that surprised to see Hanna carry a duffle bag out to the porch then go back inside. She was inside about 30 minutes then came back out again.

She looked a lot different than the straggly haired, tired woman they'd dealt with. She was now wearing a nice pair of slacks, neat blouse and cardigan with slippers on her feet. She carried a small purse and a huge suitcase. It seemed that everything she owned fit in the suitcase and duffle.

Duo whistled. "You think we should go help her with that?"

Heero watched her for a moment. "No, we'd just embarrass her. She can get the cabbie to help her. She's surely not taking that on a buss."

Duo settled back. "Ok. Let's just sit here until she's gone."

Heero leaded back and nestled his head on the head rest. "That was always my intention."

They watched as the cab pulled up. The cabbie got out and walked up to the porch. They couldn't hear what was being said but they could see Hanna hand the suitcase the the drive and start to pick up the duffle. The driver said something over his shoulder which caused Hanna to put the duffle down and follow the driver to the cab. She got in, the driver put the suitcase in the trunk and returned to the porch for the duffel. They then drove off, ironically, into the sunset.

"Welp that's that." Duo consulted his iPad. "Not a bad day. We got 13k out of the sons and gave Mama 4500C. So we're in the black by 8500C. Not a bad day, all in all. Let's get back to the hotel. I want to be in one place when I start the search for Cold Case. Ok?"

Heero started the SUV, saying, "Sounds good to me."

.

The next morning they were up early, searching the internet for any link to or even trace of Cold Case.

It took them four boring days to find it. Heero had suggested driving in the general direction of Alaska but Duo had pointed out that Alaska wasn't actually attached to the continental US, they would have to drive through Canada. He suggested making sure they knew exactly where they were going so that they would know whether they needed to take a ferry from Seattle to Ketchikan or drive through The Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

Heero snarled, "If we're going to have to drive, this SUV won't survive. The terrain is way too rough. We'll have to get a hummer or a jeep."

Duo rubbed his face. "Well, start looking for one. Just in case."

"I would but you've been hogging the computer for the last four hours." Heero grinned lazily, knowing that Duo was just frustrated because his search wasn't going any where.

"You think Hanna fed us a line?" Duo really hoped not.

"No, I don't think so. But lots of people name their lodges unofficially. Why not run a search through local stores and delivery services?"

Duo nodded at that. "Good idea." He initiated the search then suggested they go eat while the search ran.

They inspected the sample menus for several restaurants within waking distance and settled on a Japanese Sushi place called the Golden Lotus. Heero remarked that the name was a bit problematical as it could be taken in several ways, depending on how you retranslated it. Duo thought about that for a block before he started snickering. Heero just kept walking.

They settled at the counter where a conveyer belt carried various dishes by them. It was easy to tell what was in the dish by it's color and the shape indicated the price. All they had to do was take the dish off the conveyer belt, eat what was on it and put the plate on the table. The server came around with tea and water, counted the plates and wrote down their charge. He'd come by about every 15 minutes to bring water, tea and count plates. After verifying the bill with Heero, he'd take the dirty plates away.

While they ate they discussed their hunt.

Heero took a plate off the conveyer belt and eyed the tuna, deciding it was acceptably fresh he ate one piece then handed the other to Duo.

"Thanks. Look, we're going to have all kinds of trouble. The roads from here to Vancover are good. But after that ... well, not so much. In fact, there are few roads of any kind for miles. They're worse than they were a couple of centuries ago. Bombed out, torn up, or trashed from neglect."

Heero nodded. "I know. If we were sure exactly where this place is, we could hire a plane and jump in." He got a distant look for a moment then asked, "Oh, hell. What if his property is in Canada?"

"Not a problem. I checked. Since he's a rapist, murderer, war criminal and accused of torture, they'll let us have him. I'll get papers on a provisional status when we get back." He plucked a plate from the belt. "Mmmm, tako. I wish we could get some good takoyaki."

Heero took his share. "I'll make some when we get home. The shrimp is really fresh. Here, tempura."

Duo took the shrimp, licking his lips in anticipation. "Thanks."

Heero thought while he ate some California roll. After he swallowed he remarked, "Maybe we should get some topographical maps of the whole area. That's be ... about eight?"

Duo nodded. "Good idea. There might not be signal where we're going. GPS is supposed to be universal but ... remember when we went to Colorado and got out in the middle of ... I forget the name of the area but we didn't have signal for about sixty miles. Sucked. We got lost and wandered around for a whole day."

Heero grimaced in disgust. "Yeah, and we lost our man. Had to chase the asshole all the way to Chicago. Maps are a must. Oh! Here. Seattle roll. You gotta try this." He sniffed it. "It's got smoked salmon in it."

Duo tried it and admitted that the smoky salmon combined with avocado and cucumber was delicious.

They ate their way through ika and inaga, ibi and three kinds of eel. Tuna roll made three ways with the three different types of tuna and other things that made both of them drool. Duo was especially fond of the Oshizushi made with oysters, conger eel and sweet tamagoyaki.

They discussed this and that, argued amiably and ate. The server came by once to tell them their bill. Heero just paid him, flashing his wallet as he did so. The server went away to tell his boss not to worry, they had enough money on them to buy the place.

They returned to their hotel well satisfied with themselves. Duo declined to check his search saying he wanted a good nights sleep before being disappointed. Heero just kissed him on the cheek and they went to bed.

They had a firm rule of no sex on a hunt. They'd either be distracted or tired and that could get them killed. Not having sex wouldn't.

Morning came and with it a bunch of bitching. Duo's elastic had broken in the night. He woke up with tangled hair, which put him in a mood.

"Here. Give me the brush and relax by checking your searches ... and mine." Heero maneuvered Duo to sit between his legs on the floor. He put the computer on the coffee table and pulled it in front of Duo. "Here, and see where we can get topographical maps while you're at it. Ok?"

"Ok, but I'm not happy. This sucks. Bad omen. I hate it when the elastic breaks."

Duo sulked all the way through brushing, braiding and searching.

Heero finally finished brushing the tangles out of Duo's hair. Duo had been leaning back against him after he'd gotten to the point where this wouldn't be an annoyance. Now he scrambled to his feet and reached for a cup on the sideboard. "I have to have coffee. Then we have to go to a strip mall, I down loaded the directions into the GPS. They've got ready printed topo maps on hand. We'll need them. Canada sent extradition papers without demur, they didn't want anything to do with him."

Duo consulted the reference he'd pulled up last night. To his disgust, it showed that they would have to buy double maps, one for the Alaska side of the border and one for Canada.

"Well, fuck. This sucks. We're going to have to refer back and forth. I just hope the GPS works. Paper is not good. If it gets wet, we're screwed and you know it's going to rain on us at least once."

Heero nodded, this was a fact of their lives, if they were on a hunt in the 'great beyond', they were going to get wet, very wet.

"I'll get a big can of waterproofing."

Duo grumbled. "Too bad it doesn't work on people."

Heero laughed, grabbed his backpack and keys, and headed for the door. "Come on, Mr. Grouch. Let's get this over with. Maybe our target got maps there and we can just get the same."

Duo's sour expression and snarled, "We should get so lucky." made Heero laugh even more.

They left the hotel and walked into a rain squall. Duo muttered miserably about that, complaining that he knew this area was rainy but couldn't it wait a day.

Heero sighed, the north west was well known for it's damp and chill. As this was late autumn, it was even more evident. They had been lucky, the three or four days they'd been here had been dry and sunny and a bit warm for the season. Now they were paying for it.

Heero cautioned Duo, "Duo, it's only going to get worse. This time of year is rainy, cold and foggy. Within the next two or three weeks we can expect snow. And we're going even farther north."

Duo had a well known aversion to being cold, so did Heero. He bitched all the way to the parking outside the front door. Since they had all their ordinance in the room, with proper safe guards in place, they'd let the parking attendant bring the SUV around for them.

"Duo, we'll get winter gear at the store when we get the maps. Top of the line. Better than anything we have at home. Stop moaning."

Duo growled, "I'm not moaning. Yet. But, if I have to tromp all over hell's half acer chasing this bastard, you'll hear about it every step."

Heero sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of. I'm not fond of this idea either. But, if we don't get this prick, Buck's out of business. I'd like to smack Jason a good one."

Duo unlocked the doors with his remote. "I'm gonna. When we get back, I'm gonna turn that little ... twerp over my knee and spank him til he cries."

"Duo! That's a little harsh, isn't it?" Heero wondered where Duo was coming from.

"I'll admit it's a bit harsh, but that kid has to grow up, or give up. If he's going to act like a child, I'm going to treat him like one. I've tried to call him several times, his phone message says that he's turned his phone off and isn't taking messages for any reason. He's left us out in the cold." Duo looked like he was about ready to go home, hunt Jason down and blister his ass.

Heero contemplated this news with disgust and dismay. Jason really was acting childish. He'd made a major mistake, dumped the clean up onto Duo and Heero, via Buck and now was incommunicado. He was probably hiding out somewhere, hoping that the other hunters wouldn't take him to task over this mess. But that meant that they were without a contact back home. One they just might need.

Duo decided that he was too upset to drive, even though it was his turn so Heero got behind the wheel again and they headed for The Outdoors Store to get typo maps, warm clothing and whatever else they might decide they needed.

They spent the drive in silence, both of them brooding over the mess Jason had made and his annoying cowardice in refusing to take responsibility for it. Duo was used to being able to call Buck for wants and warrants. Buck had contacts built up during years of working with police forces all over the continent. Without him, or Jason, they were just lucky to have gotten all the papers they needed. They could have been blocked by bureaucratic red tape for day, or even weeks. Heero just hoped their luck held.

He pulled into the parking lot and found a space just as Duo tried Jason again. He swore furiously as he got the message which said, "Jason Buchanan is not available at this time and is not accepting messages. Please try again later."

Heero just said, comfortingly, "Give up, Duo. We'll deal with him when we get home. And, believe me, he won't be happy. Now, come on, shopping time."

Duo followed Heero into the store, which turned out to be a very pleasant, prow front building made of real logs. The girl at the front desk called a young man over, told him what they were looking for and turned them over to him.

"Hi! So you're heading into Canada, or maybe Alaska? Can I ask why?"

Heero read the boy's name tag. "Well, Clark, we're skiptracers and we're after a man who's headed that way. We were wondering if he'd been in here." Heero brought up a picture of Trask. "Do you remember seeing him?"

Clark dutifully looked at the picture, thought for a while then admitted that, while he saw forty to sixty people a week, he did remember Trask.

"He was the rudest man I've waited on in ... well, ever. He snatched stuff off the racks then threw it on the floor. He wanted cross border maps but didn't want to wait on them. We told him to either buy what we had or give us an address where we could mail them. He took off the shelf. And I was glad he did. Much more and we'd have refused him service."

Duo snorted his disgust then remarked, "I really don't call that keeping your head down. And I should know."

Heero had to agree. He told Clark, "If you have records of what he bought, we'd like to see them. And we'll buy the maps he wanted, if you remember which one's they were. We might get a better handle on where he's headed with them."

Clark led the way to the back and called out to someone in a back office. "Hey! Jackie! Come out of that hole in the wall and talk to these guys." He grinned at them over his shoulder. "She'll be out in a sec. She didn't like that Trask guy either. He stared at her and she hates that."

Duo understood when Jackie came out. She was a very pretty girl, in a wheelchair. There were very few spinal injuries that couldn't be healed in this day and age but a total severing was one of them. Heero just smiled at her.

"Hello. You recognize this man?" Heero handed over his picture.

"Yeah, I do. Idiot couldn't keep his eye or his mouth off the chair. Or my boobs. What'd he do?" She scowled at the picture then handed the iPad back to Heero.

"You really don't want a run down. He's got a rap sheet longer than both my arms. Jumped bail and my partner and I are tracking him. He wanted maps and, since you're map girl, Clark thought you might have an idea. Help us out?" Heero tried a woeful look.

Duo thought he'd done a pretty good job of it but Jackie just waved a hand at Heero. "Oh, put that away. I'll help you. He was wanting maps of the new highways, cross border ones but he didn't want to wait until I could print them out. He heard that a couple of real heavy duty hunters were on his trail. I'd like to know how he found that out. But ... anyway, I loaded the data in my printer but he'd done a runner before I could print them out. The old maps are on hand because they're good enough and cheap to print. So, what do you want?"

Duo thought for a second. "How long to print the cross border maps out?"

"A couple of hours. They're printed with a plotter, pens. But they're way better than the laser printer ones. And they come with free waterproofing. That's why they take so long. And ... I'll mark Cold Case Camp on by hand and a few other things that might help."

Duo smiled cheerfully and thanked her, then turned to Heero saying, "I'm going to look around a bit. You?"

Heero grinned at him, "I'll be alone in a minute, I want to ask a few more questions."

"Fine." and with that Duo headed into the store to browse.

Heero turned back to Jackie. "Thanks for all the help. You don't have to do this."

Jackie smiled up at Heero. "I know. But both you and your partner are really nice. You haven't once stared at the chair or my boobs. I got eyes, ya know?"

Heero did and smiled into them. "And very pretty ones too. I was hoping that ... do you know anything else? Think about it while you do the maps. Tell us when we pick them up? Ok?"

"Ok, but you better hurry. I heard that Yuy and Maxwell are after him. If they are, he's dead meat, which serves him right. But you've been so nice, I hate to see you get cut out."

Heero laughed gently. "I'm sorry, both of us forgot to introduce ourselves." He held out a hand. "Heero Yuy. Of Y & M Bounty Hunters. The long haired one is Duo Maxwell. Thanks for everything."

Jackie took his hand, shook it and grinned at him. "Ok, foot – mouth, say hello. You're awfully young."

Heero shrugged. "About your age, I'd say."

She chuckled a bit. "Oh, well, don't go falling off any mountains. I better get to printing. See you in about two hours. I'll have you paged?"

It was a question. Heero just shrugged. "I don't care. If that's what you usually do, that's fine."

"Ok, page you when they're done." and with that, Jackie popped a wheelie, spun in place and went into the back to start the job.

Heero went to find Duo. He was trying on coats.

"Heero, I found a great coat. Waterproof, warm, lined. Really nice. And it's got a double lining, the inner one comes out. And it's not really bulky either. Here, this one's your size."

Heero took the bright orange coat and put it on. This store only sold coats and other outer gear in bright, nearly florescent, colors.

"It's really orange. I feel like a fruit." Heero turned in front of the mirror.

Clark, who was still helping them, snickered. "Not really. God forbid anyone call you a fruit."

Duo snorted his soda while Heero just leaned against the unbreakable mirror and said mildly, "Well, it depends on tone of voice whether you get away with it or not."

Clark goggled for a second then laughed heartily. "Still wouldn't do it."

None of the three were aware that Jackie had spilled the beans about who they were. All Portland would know by dark that the famous gundam pilot bounty hunters were in the area. Not many people actually knew what they looked like but this made the presence of strangers attract unwanted attention from the wrong quarters.

Heero and Duo spent their time picking out jackets, thermal underwear, thermal coveralls and just about anything else in the way of warm clothing they could think of. They even bought flannel lined jeans.

They also picked up camping gear. Duo insisted on solar powered self heating sleeping bags, extra blankets, quick dry towels and hot packs. Heero added cooking gear, dried foods, a tent and two hand axes.

They both agreed on a small stove that had been around since before colonies. It was usually called a backpackers folding stove now. It was just a simple thing, stamped out of sheet steel. It used small tablets of compressed fuel and could only handle about 8 oz of water per tab, but it could save their lives. They decided on one for each of them and bought three boxes of fuel tabs for each stove.

They finished up with wax coated matches, flint and steel type spark strikers and freeze dried everything.

Clark was astonished at the amount of stuff they intended to carry.

In fact, he voiced his objections, a bit hesitantly but he did. "Um ... guys. That's a lot of stuff to carry. You're talking about seventy pound packs, at least. Maybe you should ... cut down on something."

Duo smiled at him kindly as he examined a pack. "Don't think so. I'm used to carrying a full military pack at a full run for miles. Heero's even stronger. We'll be ok." He put the pack back on it's hook. "Do you have anything that will stand up to the strain of carrying a hundred pounds? External frame rather than internal."

Clark nodded. "We do, but it's in a different part of the store. That area is intended for guides so it's over there, behind the boot display. The guides don't tend to want some newbie asking them questions they get paid to answer. Come on, I'll show you."

He led them to a brightly light area neatly hidden behind the footwear department and a staircase that went up to the offices on the mezzanine.

"Here we go. There are several packs that I think will do, but ... I'd really like you to pack everything in them and try them out fully loaded before you buy. It would make me feel a lot better."

Heero smiled at Clark. "That's good because we were going to insist on doing exactly that. We could always get our stuff in Seattle." He grinned at Clark who clutched his chest dramatically.

"Oh, man, don't do that. I'll have a heart attack." But he grinned at them as he knew they didn't mean it.

Duo smacked him on the shoulder in a companionable manner and went to take a pack off the wall. As he looked he commented, "You have to remember that, due to the war, packing technology has taken a huge leap. Like this pack. Its frame is made of carbon rods composed of buckyball technology. The rods are nearly unbreakable, won't cut or burn and weigh in at about 2 oz. The whole pack weighs just under a pound but it'll carry ..." He stopped to look at the tag. "Says 150 lbs. I'll believe it. Not that I want to carry that much but ... better overkill than a broken pack."

Everyone really liked the fact that all packs were now supplied with a total weight capacity as well as a cubic capacity. You could stuff a lot of light weight things in a pack and not overload it, but if you put a few very heavy things in it, even though they fit it wasn't a good idea, a broken pack strap twenty miles from the trail head was a very bad thing.

He and Heero were examining several packs and trying to make up their minds about which one to try first when a group of guides wandered in. One of them was just saying, "I don't care. I bring enough of certain things that all my group will have enough. That's why I carry a huge pack. I mostly carry water purification and safety stuff, extra food and a full med kit. With plenty of foot care products."

There was a general snicker at that but they all nodded their heads or announced their agreement.

Duo retreated to Heero's side and both the men watched the group as they scattered to find their purchases. The guides were all attracted to the bounty hunting pair when their purchases were brought in so they could load their prospective packs and try them out with weight.

"Whoa, man! You're going to break down in the first mile." The bold, blond man eyed the pile of goods then Duo. He held out his hand and said, "My name is Tom Evans, I'm a guide."

Duo shook hands then smiled. "We're going to need every ounce of that stuff or I miss my guess. We just have to figure out which pack is best. Any ideas?"

There was a general trade of looks in the group then a tall, willowy girl with curly hair announced, "Ok, we put our collective foot in this one. Let's help them. Come on. Everyone pick their favorite."

The group of guides all went off to find their best pick while Clark grinned happily. "This is great. This is a group of the best guides in the area. They all get along, there's not much competition between them as they all cater to a different demographic. You'll get advice worth tons."

Heero watched as they all brought up packs. But it turned out that, of the group of six, three had chosen the same one in different sizes. That made it handy as they put back the ones that weren't up to the weight demands. All of the guides tried to talk them out of some of the weight until they started looking at what they were carrying and were told what they were going to be doing.

When they found out that they were planning a long haul bounty hunt in unknown conditions and terrain in the far north, Alaska/Canada border territory. All the guides demanded to know who they were looking for. Heero explained about Buck and the skip.

This lead to a lot of interest and some questions, mostly about how they carried what. This lead to one pack being put back at once. It was a full body pack, one without any pockets. This was good if all you were doing was carrying supplies up to a cabin for pay, but not for what they were doing. They needed access to things on the fly so they needed pockets.

After picking two of the four, they loaded both with half their stuff. And,again, there was a lot of advice about where they should put what. Duo liked the pack with pockets on the padded waist belt and the ventilated back panel. Heero liked the one with the built in hydration system. This was solved by the simple device of mounting a hydration pack on top of the back pack, called piggy-backing for obvious reasons.

Then all the guides wanted to see someone actually carry something. Duo picked up the hydration pack and put it on. He buckled the chest and waist belts and walked around with it on. He grimaced a bit. "I don't like this one. There's something sticking me in the back, right under my shoulder blade." He shucked the pack and traded with Heero.

Heero didn't like the pack that Duo didn't like, claiming that something was poking him too. They looked at the padded panel that was supposed to keep the contents of the pack from poking them and realized that it was extremely thin. Duo started unloading it at once.

"I'm not nursing bruises and blisters on my back ... or my feet. Heero, did we buy laundry soap?"

Heero nodded. "I got several bars of that cold water all purpose soap. And powdered tooth ... er ... paste." Heero snickered at that. "And I bought a huge bag of that trail mix you like. We need to divide up a bunch of other stuff too. It's all packaged in bulk. I got a box of those baggies. Come on, let's get started."

Duo started packing the backpacks while Heero repackaged their supplies so that each one of them was carrying half of everything.

One of the guides asked, "While we're hanging, why don't you get military packs? There's a great surplus store in town."

Heero just shrugged. "I used that stuff when I had to, but for this, I really prefer civilian. Military could cause us a great deal of trouble if we have to go into Canada. We want to look like what we are, not an invading force." He grinned at the expressions on their faces. Evidently their fame hadn't made it to this group yet.

Clark choked a bit on his drink. "Man, I never ... wow! Wouldn't that be something?"

Duo agreed with a sour expression. "Something. Yeah, something I don't want to deal with. We're going to be carrying enough fire power to start a small war. That's why these are still only about two thirds full and we wanted access to the bottom. I'm going to turn the whole pack over and load ammo and explosives that way." He looked up at a small gasp. "Yeah, explosives. I'm not going after a guy like this without 'em. There's no situation that can't benefit from a judicious application of high explosives." He grinned around for a moment then went back to packing.

Clark laughed happily, evidently thinking Duo was making some kind of joke.

Duo smirked at him a bit. "Think I'm kidding? Not. Not a bit. I've carried explosives of one kind or another on me since I was ... twelve."

"Well, shit." the voice came from a short black man of about thirty. "I thought I recognized you. You're Gundam Pilots. Yuy and Maxwell. You're bounty hunters now? Wow."

Heero smiled. "Yeah, we might as well do some good with our skills while we can."

The guides all hefted the packs and admitted that once balanced right they weren't that bad. Not good but not too awfully bad.

After paying, for everything they heard their page. Jackie had sent the charges ahead so they could check out when they felt like it. The took their packs out to the SUV asking the clerk to tell Jackie that they'd be back in bout five minutes.

They passed their group of friendly locals on their way and took a moment to thank them for their help. They got smiles and 'good luck' wishes in return.

Duo waved one last time then hurried after Heero.

"I like that bunch. They were really nice. Oh, and let me run find Clark. I know he'll get a commission but I'd like to give him a little something extra."

Heero slipped Duo a 50C note and said, "Add that to it. I'll go see Jackie so she doesn't think we've forgotten her."

So Duo hunted Clark down in the employees lounge, chugging soda. He stood up when Duo entered.

"Is there a problem? If there is, just give me a sec and I'll fix it." His frown of concern made Duo smile.

"No, no problem. Just ... here. This is for you. And don't say you can't take it."

Clark knew he wasn't supposed to take tips but he really wasn't interested in upsetting the best customer he'd had in months. He took the tip and smiled. "I know exactly what I'm going to do with this. One of those guides is my girlfriend, we're meeting in a pub. I'll buy a round and tell them it's from you two. Thanks. Be careful out there."

Duo grinned, slapped his shoulder then left.

Heero, meanwhile, was gossiping with Jackie.

"So, there we were, in this crevasse, stuck. Duo was yelling like a banshee and Wufei was so stiff with anger that I thought he'd break. And everyone was looking at me for a solution."

Jackie goggled at him. "Well, what did you do?"

Duo interrupted. "He grabbed Wufei and hauled him out by the back of his jacket. Then he got hold of me and did the same. I had to shuck my pack but we got out. And, to this day, that instructor gets whey faced every time he sees either one of us. Who knew bounty hunting classes included climbing instruction by a Preventer."

Jackie laughed heartily at that then said, "That's awful. Well, enough stories, here's your maps. And ... I really hate to show you this. I found Cold Case. It's ... well, it's in the middle of some of the worst terrain ever. It's in an area that no one is sure of. Canada doesn't want it and neither does Alaska. It's on the border between the two and just outside of the north border of the Yukon-Charlie International park. It was originally established by the US in 1900 something old calendar. It was extended about 200 years later. Now ... it's a no-man's land. Between war and what not, it's like Old Texas in the 1800's old calendar. Cold Case was intended to be a hunting lodge but ... it's a ruin most likely." Duo grumbled something about earning this bounty. "Yes, you will. There's no way to get there except by foot or air drop. You could parachute in but no one will land. The last three pilots who landed lost their planes and one lost his life. So good luck, be careful and email me when you're safe."

Heero snarled silently. Duo just sighed. There were several places on Earth that had reverted to an old west mentality and were more dangerous than any law enforcement body wanted to admit.

They thanked Jackie and Duo hopped over the counter to give her a hug. She hugged back and told him not to be a complete stranger. Heero smiled at her and they left.

After they were settled in the SUV and on their way back to the hotel, Duo announced that they were going to have to find a plane to do an air drop. Heero agreed and said that they were going to have to find some one to drive their SUV back to their place.

Duo consulted his iPad then announced that there was a Preventers HQ in Seattle. "Let's go there and see what they can do for us."

Heero nodded. "Ok, we'll drive up in the morning and see if they'll take care of the SUV and maybe give us a ride to our drop point. We'll have to figure out about where we want to go in. I dont want to walk forever but I don'w want to land right in their laps either."

Duo winced. "This is getting more and more like one of our missions. I don't like it."

Heero honked irritably at a motorcycle who had cut them off then grumbled, "Me neither but we took this job, we'll get it done."

"Right, but ... I got a really bad feeling about it." Duo huffed his bangs out of his eyes.

.

Duo crashed early as he was driving. Heero had done quite a bit of the driving recently. It had just wound up that way. But they both agreed that Duo needed to take up the slack now.

Heero stayed up a bit longer, trying to decided where to establish their drop point. He decided on four, he'd talk to someone at Preventers to see which one was best. Or if any of them were. He was worried and he knew that Duo was too. This job was turning out to be way harder than they'd expected. He was going to insist on 20% of the bail for this one.

After putting everything away so they could pick up and go in the morning, Heero retired to bed pulling Duo into his arms to sleep.

"Mmm. Ro? What is it?" Duo woke when Heero cuddled him.

"Go back to sleep. I just need to hold you. This job has me worried." Heero nuzzled Duo then tried to go to sleep. He forced himself but he was restless all night.

Duo woke up with Heero wrapped around him like cling film. "Ro, wake up."

Heero sighed, rolled over onto his back and rubbed sleep out of his eyes. "I'm up. Shower?"

Duo agreed, saying, "Me first. Pack up your stuff. Ok?"

Heero smirked at Duo from flat on his back. "I did that last night. Want me to pack your stuff?"

"No, I'll do it. There's no need for you to do everything." Duo scrambled through his shower in twenty minutes and braided his hair damp. In this weather, it didn't make any difference as it was drizzling sullenly.

Heero grumbled at the weather as it was going to make the whole trip more difficult.

Duo looked out the window as he finished stuffing his things into his small pack. "Ugh! Drizzle. Oh, well, what do you expect. This area is known for drizzle, fog and crappy weather."

Heero picked up his pack. "But lots of people love it. You're just a sun dog."

"You know it. I want to go somewhere warm after this and refuse all calls. Every single one. Except for the guys. Ok?" He shouldered his pack and followed Heero.

Heero thought about that for a moment. "Sure. I bet Quatre has a sea yacht we could borrow."

"Oh, man." Duo moaned. "That sounds so nice."

"Yeah, or we could just catch a ride to his next stop and join him and Trowa. I'm sure there's plenty of sun where ever he's going." Heero took duo's pack and tossed it into the back of the SUV where it joined its big brothers. He added his to the pile and went around to the passenger side, climbing in he said, "I'm still looking for good places to go in. I've got to find someone who knows more about that area to help me decide."

Duo agreed with this. "I really don't fancy blind HALO. Too much chance of winding up in a tree or on the edge of a cliff."

He started the SUV and pulled out.

They drove, occupied by their own thoughts, until Duo announced that he had to have breakfast. "A real breakfast, not that free continental shit. I'll start looking for somewhere."

Heero closed his computer and agreed. "I'll help. I'm starving. I want pancakes, sausages and eggs. Toast, coffee, juice."

Duo moaned then demanded, "Heero, shut up. I'm dying here."

Duo pulled off the highway and drove down the access road, looking for someplace to eat. "There." Duo pulled in and parked on the lot of a small truck stop. "This looks clean."

It was a nice place. Well kept, even the parking lot, and freshly painted. The windows were clean and the walk swept.

"Nice." Heero glanced around then pushed the door open. He sniffed carefully. There was no off smell or heavy air freshener. "Clean."

Duo wondered if he could get a peek into the kitchen. One case of GI's early in his career as a skip-trace had made him a bit leery of strange mom-and-pop places.

The hostess saw them hovering and hurried over. "Hello. Would you like me to show you to a table or are you waiting for someone?"

"Table. We're just ..."

Tammy just sighed. "Honey, if you want to see the kitchen just ask. We've never had any trouble but ... there's been some else where."

Duo decided that the offer was enough. "No, that's ok. A booth is fine."

So Tammy led them to a booth, gave them menu's and went away.

Their server showed up about two seconds later with coffee and water. "You want juice now? OJ's on the house from 4 to 7. One small glass." She grinned. "I know, but some people just don't have any couth. Ya know?"

Duo smiled. "I do. I'll have the Truckers special. Toast, whole wheat; eggs, over easy; bacon, well done; sausage patty, hash browns. Anything I missed?"

"Nope. Except, cream. Want, or not."

Duo craned his neck a bit to read her tag. "Cream, Phyllis. Thanks."

Heero ordered the same. "And bring a bottle of ketchup."

Duo made gagging noises then told Phyllis. "Tell the cook not to worry about getting his right. He'll just drown it all in ketchup anyway."

Phyllis just laughed, wrote and went to turn in her ticket.

She dropped around with a hand full of creamer cups and told them they were backed up a bit and the wait would be about twenty minutes. Heero glanced around at the crowded tables and just remarked, "Well, at least you're busy. Some places on the highway looked deserted."

She sighed, shrugging a bit. "The war just about ruined this area. Never mind that it's been over for .. what? Six, seven years? Never mind, we're still recovering. And that big blow out over people getting sick didn't help. One place, the owner is in jail for ... something or other. Something to do with quality control and pests and a whole list of shit." Someone hollered at her good naturedly and she excused herself and hurried off.

"Well, it looks like we picked a good place." Duo looked around at friendly faces and smiled.

"Yeah. And this is probably the last really nice meal we'll get for a while, unless we can't get a ride quickly."

Duo sipped his coffee thoughtfully. "Guh! If we don't, I want steak. You?"

Heero agreed. "Yeah, steak for sure. And a big baker, huge salad and pie."

"Apple." Dou loved apple pie.

"With ice cream." Heero flushed as his stomach growled dismally.

A soft laugh had them leaning back in their chairs so they didn't get in Phyllis' way as she put their plates in front of them. "There you go. Feed that puppy in your pocket. You need anything else? More coffee?" She put the ketchup on the table and waited a moment.

Duo checked his eggs. "Just right. Toast is crisp, so's the bacon. Coffee's good too. Thanks."

Heero just nodded, mouth full of hash browns.

Phyllis smiled, checked their coffee cups then left again.

They ate happily, the food was good and there was plenty of it. The other people in the place were friendly, smiling at them when they looked up. A trucker came over and asked about their SUV, just friendly, local conversation. Heero answered his questions easily, sipping his coffee. The guy went off a few minutes after coming over, telling them to finish their food before it was stone cold. He also said that Heero's information was really helpful as his wife wanted an SUV like theirs.

They finished their food, had another cup of coffee and got up to pay.

Their ticket was at the register and the checker just rang them up without much comment except to ask if everything was ok. Just as they were about to pay, Phyllis walked by. Noticing the look on Duo's face she said, "Don't pay Miss Cranky any mind. Her useless boyfriend just dumped her."

Duo looked at her for a moment then grinned. "Hun, don't sweat it. Men are like busses, a different one will be around in fifteen minutes."

The girl just sighed. "But I love him. I need a man."

Heero just snorted then opined, "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle."

Phyllis snickered at that one. "That's great, did you think it up?"

Heero shook his head. "I read t-shirts. It's a vice."

Duo nodded. "Yup, because he sure isn't looking at what's in them."

Everyone cracked up at that, even the depressed checker.

Duo handed Phyllis a tip and they left, headed back to the highway and Seattle.

.

Duo drove the whole way to Seattle while Heero planned. They both knew that even the best laid plans usually didn't survive first contact, but it was a good idea anyway. Flying by the seat of your pants only worked for bi-planes. And then, only when crop-dusting. So they planned.

Heero asked Duo a stream of questions, mostly about his feelings. Duo got feelings from time to time. The same type of feelings that Quatre got, only about situations instead of people. Duo's feelings about this job were, what he called, guarded; at best, at worst, he just wanted to go home.

Heero agreed that there was an all around bad feeling to this job and he was just as much inclined to go home as not.

When Duo pulled into the Preventers enclosed parking it was with a sense comprised of equal parts relief and foreboding. The attendant examined their credentials then showed them where to park. He had them park inside the building rather than on the lot. He said he'd put a special watch on the SUV because of the contents.

Heero looked puzzled for a moment then asked, "Contents?"

The attendant, Officer Ruzo, just grinned. "I know who you are and I would bet that there's stuff in that SUV that goes boom. I'm also sure that it's all documented properly. I just don't want it to cause problems that we don't need."

There was a general laugh and Ruzo showed them the entrance into the main building.

They started through the door and a loud buzz sounded. The door attendant, another junior agent, stopped them and asked if they had any weapons on them.

Duo sneered at him half-heartedly. "A few. We have to check them? That's new."

"We've had a few problems with ... outside agents bringing in weapons then going postal. I just have to see and document them. Then I'll call upstairs and get permission for you to bring them in, or be told to hold them here until you leave. Nothing will be confiscated unless you don't have proper documents."

Duo looked at Heero, who just rolled his eyes. "Ok. Who's top dog here? Just curious to see if I know him or her."

The officer shook his head. "He's really young, I'd say about 23 or so. But he's Oriental so he looks about 19, if that. He might be as old as 30 and we couldn't tell. His name is either Chang Wufei or Wufei Chang. Not sure, because some papers are one way some the other. I'm sure they'll get it all sorted out sooner or later. Now, empty your pockets."

Heero couldn't help a snicker, while Duo just laughed himself silly. The agent patiently waited until they got themselves together again and handed them little baskets to put their stuff in.

Duo eyed the basket then said, "Well, that's all really nice and all, but it might hold what's in my braid. Or not."

Heero just put the basket on a table and said, "Call Chang, that's his last name, and tell him Yuy and Maxwell are here."

Duo snorted. "And tell him we're sorry."

The agent looked blank. "Sorry? What for?"

Duo nearly fell over he laughed so hard, "Une finally got him caught in the snares of bureaucracy. Justice will take a back seat to red tape from now on. He must have ranted for hours. Poor guy."

Heero shrugged and put two 9mm Taurus specials on the table. "I really feel for him. We're all real young to be retired but ..." he reached behind his neck and put a K-bar and a hand full of throwing pins down. "his face has been in the news a bit too much lately. He's getting a rep that makes it hard to hold a low profile." He emptied his pockets to yield a handful of coins, a wallet, a set of lock picks, a folding knife, several magazines for the Taurus' and some keys. "Une has been threatening him for the last two years, but I doubt that he'll stay out of field work altogether." He pulled up one pants leg to reveal a short barreled .40 cal derringer then the other which hid some unidentified electronic device.

Duo was hysterical by now, actually sitting on the floor holding himself as he laughed.

The agent looked dazed as he wrote things down. "Um ... ok. You got a bazooka in there somewhere?"

Heero just gave the agent his best bland look and said mildly, "I left that in my other pants."

"Oh, uh ..." He grimaced, now sure how to take that. "Mr. Maxwell, you're next."

"Ok, dude, but I gotta tell ya. Everything I carry I have certification, documentation and skills to have, carry and use; anytime, anyplace. Without question, let or hindrance."

Heero recognized the wording as a direct quote from Duo's permission directly from Une herself. He was waiting for the reveal with some interest. Neither one of them noticed a grinning Chang Wufei standing in a doorway behind the counter and to one side.

Duo began by unraveling his braid, commenting casually as he did so, "I don't usually unbraid my hair in public. Any comments you have better be polite ones. There," He put a length of prima-cord down, followed by several short lengths of an unidentified substance. "That green stuff is homemade detonation cord. I like a slower burn than prima-cord for somethings. It's almost totally inert until I add this." He put a small bottle of fluid down. "So I'd really appreciate it if you didn't open it and didn't put it down anywhere near the cord." the agent, who'd been about to do both, put the bottle down hurriedly. "And now." Duo shook out his hair to prove it was empty then set down a set of lock-picks, a couple of leaf shaped throwing knives and a garrote. He also had several extra elastics and a handkerchief. "That's all for that." The agent started to close his document but Duo stopped him, "That's all in the braid. There's also this..." He put down a Baretta 93r 9mm and several magazines. "and this..." he tugged up one pant leg to pull out a K-bar just like Heero's. "matched set. And ..." he reached behind his back and dropped a chunk of grey putty on the table. "oops! And these." With that he produced several electronic detonators from somewhere and a control box that looked like a tiny remote control.

Heero, meanwhile, had been snickering quietly at the agents more and more stunned expression and the grimaces of horror and disbelief that flitted across his face.

"Duo, is that really all?"

Duo patted himself down, an expression of concern plastered on his face. "I think so. You? Better be sure. We wouldn't want agent..." He squinted at the man for a second then noticed Wufei in the door. He jumped the counter from a flatfooted stance and grabbed him. "Wufers! There you are. How's it hangin'? Glad to see us? Sorry about ... stuff. Really too bad."

Wufei just embraced Duo then spun him around. "Assume the position. You're a menace, Duo." Wufei quickly patted Duo down. "Well, at least you didn't forget anything. Idiot. And that homemade stuff? Are you nuts?"

"Chang Wufei, I'm insulted." Duo straightened his clothing, snickering all the while. "If you wanted to cop a feel all you had to do was ask. And, I'm not nuts. I got certified a while ago to make my own explosives, fireworks and whatnot all."

Wufei just sighed. "You're still a menace. Put that ordinance away and come on."

Heero had been putting his stuff away while Duo had been tormenting Wufei. He knew that Wufei would let them bring anything they wanted into the building. He went to talk to him while Duo got his stuff.

Duo gave the still stunned agent a smile as he put his weapons away then braided his hair, explosives and all. "I know, ridiculous. But there's been a time or two when having the right thing meant the difference between life and death. Wufei knows us both pretty well." He grumbled a bit as he finished braiding his hair. "I really hate unbraiding this. It's just a real pain to get everything back so no one notices it. There!" He put a final elastic around the end of his braid and felt the length to be sure everything was as it should be. "Be seein' you."

The agent muttered, "Not if I see you first." Then finalized his document and handed the pad to Wufei.

Wufei glanced down the list. "Kind of a light load there. You calming down or what?"

Heero shrugged. "Not expecting any trouble. Your office?"

Wufei gave him a sour look. "Meant to impress the infidel. I hate it. There's no proper place to work. The desk is organized, or not organized, depending on how you look at it for imposing appearance and not much else. Come on."

Duo followed a step behind, looking around at the premises. The building was one of those awful boxy, modern commercial things that had sprung up to replace buildings demolished by war and natural disaster. Their only redeeming features being that they were quick to set up and extremely safe. He hated them. But they were regarded by many of symbols of recovery.

Wufei showed them into his office and plopped down behind his desk. It was huge, opulent and mostly useless. It was covered with a blotter and had a stapler and pencil cup, carefully arranged. And just out of reach.

Duo shoved the things to within arms reach of Wufei then sat on the edge of the desk. "Where's all the paper work. Une is usually drowned in it."

Wufei shrugged. "I don't get as much and it's all carefully arranged for me, first thing. That secretary seemed to think I'd just sign it but I disabused her of that the first day. She wasn't best pleased but tough. Now ... what do you want?"

Heero was just about to say something when the much despised secretary walked in with coffee. "Here we go. I'll just move these back where they belong. And ..."

As she reached for the objects which were within reach all three realized what had been going on.

Wufei blew up. "Onna! Leave it. I finally have things were I can reach them and you move them. This is too much. If I put something on my desk leave it there. If I want it filed I'll tell you so. There were some important papers here yesterday now they're gone. Find them. And find everything you've taken without my express permission. Don't take a thing out of this office without showing it to me first"

The woman looked startled then annoyed. "Well, I'm sure if I had known you would be unreasonable I'd have asked. This is not how Commander McDonald ran things. It isn't what should be done. He left things to me and just signed what needed to be signed. I'll go find your papers." She turned to leave, muttering something about 'teen-age temper tantrums.'

Duo winced, this was not going to go well.

Wufei visibly grabbed his temper with both hands. "If that's the way you feel about it, send in your assistant. Go on." He flapped a hand at her.

She went, but it was obvious that she wasn't happy.

Heero just sighed. "Sorry. But we do need some help. We figured out where Trask is most likely to be. He's in some sort of no man's land between Alaska and Canada, north of Yukon-Charlie International Park. Our informant said it's a little like Texas during the 1800's old calendar. When they used to stamp wanted posters GTT and that was it, all over."

Wufei frowned in puzzlement. "GTT? What's that mean?"

Duo grimaced. "Gone To Texas. No one would follow an outlaw into Texas, it was a sure way to get killed. This place seems to be the same."

Wufei pushed a button on a panel set into the top of his desk. It was covered by a nearly hidden sliding cover. The secretary walked in with a handful of papers.

"Here are some of the papers you wanted. I was searching my files when you buzzed." Her expression was sour.

Duo looked at her for a moment then remarked blandly. "Swallow a dill pickle sideways?"

She glared for a moment but ran out of steam quickly, one look at Heero set her back on her heels. She took a deep breath and replied, "No, sir." Her expression said she wanted to call him something else.

Wufei took over. "I need everything you have on this area. I'll copy the map to your computer. Please be quick."

She left after checking Wufei's screen to be sure she knew where to check.

Wufei sighed. "I think I really want a different secretary. She's too invested in the way things used to be. I'm making a lot of changes here fairly quickly. That's why I'm here. Trouble shooting. The old regional director was just marking time until he retired. Une retired him two years early. Otherwise, we'd be in it up to our necks."

No one had to ask what 'it' was. Heero thought about it for a moment.

"You're right. You need a new secretary. She's too invested in the status quo. You might consider her assistant." Heero eyed the cup of coffee then put it down. He could tell it was cold just by the feel of the cup.

Duo sniffed his cup. "Burnt. Somehow, I don't think she likes us."

Wufei apologized for the quality of the coffee and offered tea instead, saying, "I'll make it myself. That's one thing I managed already. The wet bar is now a tea bar. I do not offer alcoholic beverages to anyone."

Heero approved of this and said so. Duo seconded that and went to help Wufei make tea by picking the tea.

They were just sitting down to their tea when a different woman came in. This lady was in her early 30's, a bit plain but with an open friendly face.

"Ok, hatchet face just quit. She shoved a bunch of stuff at me and stormed out. So ... I'm your secretary until you pick someone else. I just need to know what you need." She smiled a bit tightly.

Wufei told her what he needed then backtracked a bit, "Ay-ya! Sorry. I should have asked your name. Please?"

"oh, my bad. I'm Amelia Dovovitch. Just call me Miss Amy. I'll get right on those requests. I know where most of the papers that have left this office went. Right on her desk, waiting for some poor smuck to filed them. Usually me. So ... I'll do a little research and be back by the time you finish your first cup of tea. As long as you don't swill it down like a barbarian." She smiled and left.

Wufei sipped his tea. "Well, that was refreshing. I might just have lucked out with her."

"You hope. She seems nice." Duo nodded.

Heero kept his own council but he thought she would work out.

.

They were just finishing their second cup of tea when Miss Amy returned with a stack of papers and a scowl on her face.

"Well, here are all the papers you're responsible for. There's another stack that still need filing that the old director signed. And that location you wanted?" Wufei got a bad feeling. "No one wants to claim it so it's not really mapped properly. I got some good satellite stuff but ... the legal eagles nearly had strokes when I said I thought you were planning a mission into that area."

Heero shook his head. "Not Preventers. Duo and I are in pursuit of of a bail jumper. He's supposed to be ... not in that area, but just outside it at a place called Cold Case. What intel do you have?"

Amy pursed her lips in thought, looking very like she was sucking a lemon. "Mmmmm, not much. I'll go do a query through our system and see what I can find out. Preventers Canada will come up with something, I'm sure. Whether it's useful or not ... well, we'll see, won't we?" She hurried out to do some more work.

Duo finished his tea and began to wander the room restlessly. Wufei ignored him, used to his antics. Heero watched him for a few moments then turned to watch Wufei as he worked his way through the paper work.

Miss Amy was back in less than twenty minutes and relieved their boredom with a smile. "Ok, here's what I've got. It's really a no man's land. The US created the park on their side of the border between Alaska and Canada. Canada reciprocated about a hundred and fifty years later, just to keep things on an even keel. Now, it's mostly unclaimed territory. No one wants to try to clean it up because most of the people that live in that area are just anti-social and want to be left in peace. They fled to the 'great beyond' to get away from the wars. There are a few people in there that are outlaws in the worst sense of the word but they leave the locals alone. They're kind of ... old west out there. And will shoot first and ask questions of the corpse. Every now and then they'll send out a pickled ... that's just disgusting ... corpse and tell the local LEO's that they were trespassing, poaching or something. No one asks too many questions as long as there's a want or warrant out on them. So ... that's all I know. I also found out that someone bought maps of that area yesterday, in Portland. Now, I've got a pile of work to catch up on, so ... if you need me, just buzz." And with that, she turned and left again.

Duo just grumbled. "Well shit. I was hoping we were wrong but ... no such luck. We've heard the same thing from two people, besides what we were already pretty sure of. So ..."

Heero just shrugged. "So we jump in, find our guy and bring him out. Not going to say it's going to be easy but we've done worse with less. Wufei can you get us in?"

"Yes. I'll make arrangements as soon as you know exactly where you want to land. HALO?" His expression told the other two that he was sure what they wanted to do but had to ask anyway.

"You know it. But finding an insertion point is a problem. I'd really like to talk to someone familiar with the area, but ... we could get some blowups and look them over under magnification. That might give us something." Heero's doubtful expression told it's own tale.

Wufei nodded. "I've got a couple of experts in that field. I'll send ... no, I'll just tell them what we want and they'll do it. You two head on out, find a hotel and get some rest. Eat a steak. I'll call you when we have something. Now, go."

Duo sighed. "Fei, why don't you come with?"

Wufei grinned in a rather feral way. "Because I've finally gotten a handle on things and I want to give it a good wring before word gets out and I get a bunch of resistance. Now, you owe me a seven course Imperial dinner ... when you get back."

Duo grinned at that. "Ok, We owe you, big time. See you tomorrow."

Heero led the way out, smiling his thanks at Wufei as they went. Wufei just nodded to him and returned to his paperwork. Heero was sure that this assignment wasn't going to last too long. Wufei had that look in his eye. He wondered what the hell Une was up to.

.

Heero and Duo, knowing that they were just hours away from a HALO and a full nighttime insertion, went to eat. Having steaks and all the trimmings, filled them up. They then returned to the hotel that Wufei had sent them to and went to bed.

Heero sighed. "I think the boring bits are done now."

Duo rubbed his cheek against Heero's shoulder. "Me too. This insertion has me ... troubled. I just hope we don't get jinxed someway."

"Me too." Heero snuggled against Duo, yawned and sighed. "Go to sleep. Wufei will call us when he has something."

"I know. Good night."

Sleep came fairly quickly to both of them. Between the drive up and one thing an another, they were actually tired.

They were awakened by wufei's call at 7am.

Heero answered it and relayed the message to Duo that they were set for HALO take off at 10am. That gave them three hours to get cleaned up, eat and be at Seattle airport Preventers gate by take off time.

Duo assumed that someone had chosen their insertion point for them. He decided to trust the 'old guard' to do the job right.

After quick showers and a breakfast that would founder a hog, they drove to the airport and found Preventers terminal.

Duo pulled in and parked right inside the building. Heero jumped out and went around to the back of the SUV. One of the things they had done before going to bed had been to pack everything in their backpacks, leaving their suitcases and small day packs in the SUV.

Heero hefted one pack then the other and decided that Duo had done a good job of dividing the load. He carried both packs, one over each arm, to the jump master to weigh. While Heero was doing this, Duo went to talk to the navigator.

The navigator was an old vet who recognized Duo at once. He dragged out his maps and showed Dou that they'd chosen three drop points. He'd choose which one during the flight.

"Ok, sounds good. What conditions are you looking at to make your decision?"

"Well, fog, rain, snow; that sort of thing. And I'll eyeball them, best I can. Terrain is another consideration. I don't want to drop you in the middle of a field of rocks, or a swamp. These satellite maps are really good until you get down to the fine details. We can tell theres' a clearing but not what's on the ground. The pilot will buzz all three then I'll consult with both of you and make a decision. How's that sound?"

Duo nodded. "Sounds good. Is there coffee?"

The navigator laughed. "Smart kid. You got your priorities straight. Where's your partner?"

Duo glanced around, located Heero and realized what he was doing. "Talking to the jump master. That's good. I'll take him coffee, both of them, rather."

Duo acquired his coffee and some for Heero and the jump master. He took the cups over and handed Heero his.

"Thanks, Duo." Heero sipped and grinned. "Nothing like real coffee. Not those froo-froo latte-dah things Quatre is always giving us."

Duo nodded. "You better believe it. I do like a good espresso and some times a capichio." He shrugged and handed the jump master his.

The jump master took the cup and drank half in one gulp. "Thanks kid. I swear, you guys are getting younger and younger. Heard you're both gundam pilots?" he gave them a gimlet eyed look that made recruits tremble

Heero gave back as good as he got. "Yeah. Both of us. And your new director is another, so don't give him shit. That'll just mean I have to come back and kick some ass."

"Who me? Frankly, I like the kid. Got a head on his shoulders. And steel in his spine."

Heero just nodded. "Now, as to that jump."

The jump master repeated what the navigator had told Duo. Heero was satisfied with the arrangements and said so. Duo felt relief, he hated it when Heero was uneasy about a mission and this one was looking to be a bitch no matter how they went about it.

They fiddled around with all the picky details that a mission like this entailed and were ready well before time. The plane took off at 9:30 due to a lull in the traffic and an early clearance.

Duo was happy about this as it presaged a good mission, but Heero was more apprehensive about it. He just couldn't settle in his mind. He knew that Duo had had a feeling but he seemed to have forgotten about it. This didn't reassure Heero in the least, he was well aware that Duo's more cheerful personality put a bright spin on things.

Duo noticed this, so he patted Heero on the leg."Ro? Troubles?"

"I just ... you said you had a feeling about this. I'm ... uncomfortable." Heero knew he was falling back on his war time stoicism but he couldn't help it.

"I know. I'm just not sure what the feeling was about. We'll be fine, I do know that. Just ... don't worry until it's time, ok?" Duo did his best to reassure his friend and lover. He was pleased when Heero's face relaxed.

"Ok. You're right, there's no sense worrying until I know what to worry about." Heero hugged Duo, resting his head on his shoulder for a moment.

The flight only lasted about two hours total. The small, fast plane making good time with a tail wind. They overflew the three clearing and decided on the one closest to Cold Case. It was big, clear and nearly rockless. The jump master, navigator, pilot and Heero all approved.

They had geared up as the plane did it's overflight and were now ready for free fall. They were well above the clouds now. Heero just hoped that no one had paid much attention to the plane as it flew over. The navigator had assured them that there were low flights over the area all the time. Local LEO's trying to keep track of things.

Now, they were all on official count down to jump. The jump master was in contact with the navigator, the pilot and central command in Seattle. Everyone was a bit startled to hear Interim Director Chang's voice say, "Ok you two. Do not get yourselves killed. It would be most unjust."

Duo snickered while Heero just grinned. Trust Wufei to come up with some comment like that.

They were brought to attention by the pilot saying. "Jump Master, you have control."

The jump master was in control of everything until the drop was accomplished. He now called the seconds until jump. "Insertion in ... six ... five ... good luck ... three ... two ... one. Go!"

Heero stepped out the door with Duo three seconds behind him.

They both took up the splayed position that kept them from dropping like stones. Heero looked up to check on their packs. They had been tossed out by the jump master right after they jumped, even they weren't suicidal enough to jump with nearly a hundred pounds of goods, some of it explosive, on their backs. They might have to hike a bit to find it but it was tagged and their locators were nearly unbreakable. He was pleased to see that they were hanging right above their heads.

Duo was in good position to keep and eye on both Heero and their stuff. He felt good so far. He just hoped this wasn't one of those damn jinx jobs that went fubar on them at the worst possible time. He really didn't need a snafu at this point in things. He was not disappointed.

Their landing was by the numbers and would have made the jump master cry with joy, if he'd been that sort of man.

Heero landed first, running a few steps to catch his chute, wrapping it around his arm to deflate it. Dou landed a few seconds later about half way across the clearing and did the same. They both caught a pack, detached the chute and stuffed all the canopies into a stuff sack, which they put into the packs. Duo's pack was bright green and Heero's was orange so there was no difficulty in figuring out which was which. And it was important that they not mix them up. Each pack was fitted to its wearer. All the straps were adjusted for the best fit, to avoid blisters, chaffing and bruising. All of which would make a hike miserable.

Heero got out the map, found their position using the old fashioned method of a sextant and his watch. Duo wondered out loud why there GPS didn't work. It was sattelite based and should.

Heero returned sourly, "Yeah, and I was supposed to be born rich and handsome. So not either. Some electronics don't work in The Bermuda Triangle either. The mysteries of Earth are never all going to be solved. Come on, I know where we are now. We're about fifteen miles from Cold Case. As the crow flies, it's exactly ten."

Duo hoisted his pack. "Yeah, but since we're neither of us crows, we better get to hoofing it."

Heero agreed. "At least we do have satellite picture maps of the area. This one ..." Heero waved a map. "even has the local ore deposits. I wonder?"

Duo took the map and examined it. "There's lots of iron ore and ... mmmm ... some heavy metals. I wonder. I bet we could shield one of the GPS's from interference. I just need some ... circuitry. And ... if we could get an uplink. Bet there are some around here. It's just that the people who have them don't need company coming around to use it. Keep an eye out for dishes. Ok? Now let's get to going."

So they set themselves to hiking. It wasn't any different from the marches they'd endured during the war. Except that they didn't have anyone chasing them or shooting at them. A decided improvement in Duo's opinion.

They arrived at the location of Cold Case near dusk, on purpose. They would set up a small camp in a clearing above the cabin and watch for at least a day before they did anything. They needed to know how many people were at the cabin, who they were and all the entrances and exits. This included windows big enough to jump out or crawl through.

They found a ridge above the cabin about half a mile away and settled in there, well satisfied with their location. There was just enough room to set up their tent; but, because they were so close to their target, they couldn't build a fire for fear of the smoke giving them away.

Duo flopped down on the ground and crawled to a vantage point to watch the cabin. It wasn't exactly what you would call a cabin in truth. The building was a lodge actually, made about twenty years ago during one of the attempts to turn the area back into a tourist attraction. This attempt, like all the others, failed, leaving behind lodges and motels and other sorts of living quarters. All of these had either been sold to private individuals or left to fall down. This lodge was small by those standards but it was still a good size with half a dozen bathrooms and a dozen bed/sitting rooms, a huge kitchen and dinning room and an enormous sitting area.

This made it easy to keep an eye on the living quarters as they were all in a more or less open design in the main part of the down stairs. The bed rooms were another matter as there were six upstairs, over the great room complex and another six in a wing off the back. The back portion was not visible from any vantage point they'd found. It was set back under a stand of tall pines which concealed it almost completely.

"Well, shit." Duo put down the powerful binoculars he was using. "I don't think there's anyone there. I've been watching for over three hours now and haven't seen a thing. Not a flutter, not a peep."

Heero had assembled the electronic 'ear' early on and set it up so Duo could listen for any sound as he watched. He'd then settled down to nap as he was taking first watch that night. They'd take watch and watch, six hours at a time, until they either decided that no one was there, or something interesting happened.

"You haven't heard anything at all?" Heero sighed. He knew Duo hated stakeout with a passion, he wasn't fond of them himself. But he wanted to go back to sleep, he wasn't looking forward to getting up at midnight.

"No, not a thing. Go back to sleep, I'm sorry I woke you up. But, if you don't see or hear anything by ... 7am, I think we ought to sneak down and take a look around." Duo smiled over his shoulder at Heero. They'd both kept their voices down, even though there was little chance of them being overheard, as far away as they were.

Heero dozed back off, expecting to be awakened near time to take up his watch, instead Duo hissed at him at about 9:30pm.

"Heero! Hisssst! Heero! Wake up."

Heero flinched a bit then sat up. "Yeah, what is it?"

"A truck just pulled up." Duo motioned for Heero to come see.

Heero crawled up beside Duo to take a look himself. They watched until the truck lights were turned off. While they watched one man got out of the old, battered truck and went into the house. Evidently the doors were not locked.

They managed to get one good look at the man, it was definitely Trask, his profile was unmistakable. He carried a variety of boxes and bags into the lodge then shut the door, turned out all the lights and rustled around for a while. Duo groaned in annoyance, Trask was sleeping in one of the rooms they couldn't see.

"Well, fuck. This is not good."

Heero just whispered, "Stay here. That truck is his way out. We need to disable it. I'll sneak down and ..." He grinned, a flash of white teeth in the dark. "unfix it."

Duo kept an eye on him as he made his way down to the lodge. It didn't take him long to damage a few bits, like the distributor cap and a spark-plug wire, and disable the truck without truly damaging it. He returned with a huge grin on his face.

"I found something useful. He's alone, I heard him talking on an uplink. He expects to be here at least three years, maybe more. He's sure that he lost all tails but he's holing up here for sure. Complete isolation for the next six months. Also, evidently the locals don't like him. They're hostile to strangers, according to him."

Duo thought about this for a moment. "Hmmm, I wonder if they're hostile to all strangers or just him. He's not ... really personable, if you know what I mean. And, how the hell are we going to get him out of here?"

Heero shrugged. "We'll just haul his ass out. If he won't walk, we'll ... arrange something."

Duo snickered, "Like a carry pole?"

Visions of carrying Trask out, tied hand and foot to a pole, al la Hollywood cannibal, made them both laugh.

Heero settled to take his turn at watch, Duo was yawning but swore he was good for the rest of his shift, but it was after 11pm and Heero didn't see any reason for them to wait.

Duo crawled into his sleeping bag and dropped off easily. He was tired and knew that Heero would wake him at the first sign of trouble. That didn't keep him from tucking a gun and a knife under his pillow anyway.

He was awakened by Heero patting his foot. "Duo, breakfast." Heero handed him a cup of tea and an MRE.

Duo pulled the sleeping bag up around his shoulders and took a drink of the tea. It was good, made just the way he liked. He opened the outer bag of his MRE and popped the entree into the warming pouch. He sorted through the rest of the packets and, when the entree was warm he was ready to eat. A little ketchup and salt had him wolfing down the ersatz eggs, soggy crackers and gluey oatmeal. The hash browns were more mashed potatoes but tasty with a lot of pepper. It was better than nothing, but not by much. Duo made a mental note to set a few traps.

Heero finished his breakfast as he watched the lodge. There hadn't been any sign of movement yet. He was wondering if Trask would be chopping wood for the fireplace, then realized that he would have to. There wasn't any way to bring up heating LP, unless someone brought it in by chopper or something.

They watched for most of the morning but didn't even see Trask. Heero was beginning to wonder if he had a back door or some sort of tunnel or something. Then Duo hissed at him. "Ro, I see him. He's gone out to that shed at the end of the bedroom wing. I think he went out some sort of door there. We have to reconnoiter better. I don't like it that we can't see most of that wing."

Heero nodded. "You're right. I didn't take time last nigh, as I didn't want him to catch me. But he seems to be sleeping soundly. I didn't hear him move much during my watch."

"Me neither. We'll listen tonight and if he seems to be sleeping soundly, I'll sneak down."

Heero agree with that, saying, "You're the stealth expert, so good luck. Be careful."

"Right." Duo went back to watching. "I wonder what's in that shed. I'll take a look there,too. And, before you say it, I'll look out for alarms and traps."

Heero settled back to read a book until it was his turn to watch.

About two hours later he put his book away. "You making lunch. I did breakfast."

Duo handed over the earpiece and binoculars. "Ok, what do you want."

"Whatever you can reach without taking out a bunch of stuff. Spaghetti and meat sauce, if it's on top."

Duo nodded rather absently and just grabbed two MRE's from the top. They were all fairly good tasting, except for the breakfast and there was only so much you could do with powdered eggs. He got out the main courses and put them in the heater bags, poured in a measured amount of water and activated them. While the mains were heating, he got the sides and deserts out.

"Ro, you want your side and desert heated? The side is ... um ... some sort of veg. I couldn't find spaghetti so you got meat loaf or chicken fried steak. And there's two apple raisin cobblers."

Heero just kept watching while he said, "I'll take either. And heat the veg and cobbler, please. If you give me the meatloaf, I'd like hot sauce."

Duo took that as a hint that Heero would rather have the meat loaf so he arranged it on a plate along with the mashed potatoes, which he'd heated in with the meat loaf. He gave Heero the green beans and made the instant coffee. He took the chicken fried steak for himself and the corn. The rest of the contents of the MRE he put into individual zip bags for later use.

They kept the salt, pepper, instant coffee and other dry condiments in one zip, the wet stuff like hot sauce, ketchup and mayo in another and the 'comforts' like toilet paper and kleenex in a third. Gum, matches and analgesics they kept in pockets on their person. The unused heater tabs, called FRH's (Flameless Ration Heater's) that were provided as extras for the MRE's were kept in still another zip with the MRE's.

Duo brought his meal to Heero and settled next to him to eat his own. Heero put the binoculars down but kept the earpiece in place. He'd hear any movement and check it out.

When he was finished eating, Heero handed his plate back to Duo who took it away and spent a few minutes policing their camp. He collected all the wast packaging and tossed it into a metal box. They'd keep anything that smelled of food in there to keep bears from smelling it and coming to investigate.

They kept watch for the rest of the day, Duo watched for about three hours then Heero sent him back to nap until it was time for him to sneak down and do a proper recognizance. Anyone watching would realize that Heero was taking more hours than Duo, but Heero just didn't need as much sleep as Duo so he tended to wake him later than he should and use other devices to make sure he slept enough. Duo knew he did it but didn't object unless he went too far. They both needed to be their sharpest and this was the way that worked.

When it was time, Duo blacked his face, tucked his braid down his back and eased over the crest of the ridge. He checked the moon, which was in it's last quarter, and slipped away.

It didn't take him long to get to the lodge, a half mile was nothing to two men who regularly ran several just to keep in shape. He slipped up to the front porch and slithered on his belly to the nearest window. He popped his head above the sill and took a quick look. No movement betrayed any occupant so he took another slower look. Still nothing.

Duo signaled Heero that he was going around the side. They had radios but they wouldn't use them unless it was a total SNAFU, the sounds might give them away. Duo eased around the side and saw that the wing of bedrooms had sliding glass double doors in each room. Duo sneered, these were so easy to open that they might as well not have locks.

He peeked into one of the doors and saw that this room and the one next to it shared a bathroom. The room at the end seemed to share a bathroom with the room across the end from it. Each two room suite had a terrace with a hot tub. Duo shook his head. Hot tubs in this environment were just stupid. They froze in winter and were subject to all sorts of grunge in summer.

He took his time about getting to the end of the wing and found that there was a door there. He tried it, but didn't open it. After checking quickly he went around the end corner and drifted across the end of the wing. The shed didn't have much in it, just a pellet burning heater. Duo grinned as the mystery of heating was solved. The loft over the heater had a trapdoor in the roof which could be opened to allow a chopper to hover and fill the loft with pellets, then gravity did the rest, feeding the heater. That was what Trask had been doing in the shed, shoveling pellets.

Duo shut the door, after sabotaging the feeding mechanism, maybe that would send Trask out to find someone to fix it. Since his truck didn't work, that would give them a chance to grab him up if he decided to hike out for help.

He slipped into deep shadow on the other side of the wing and went on around, trying to find where Trask was sleeping. He found the room at the lodge side of the wing on the south side. He'd started on the west gone north then across the end which faced east, now he was going down the south side of the wing, the front porch faced west and that was where he was again. He thought for a moment about climbing the porch to look in the upstairs windows but really didn't see much need. They knew were Trask was sleeping and there were now two reasons for him to hike into the nearest settlement.

All they had to do was waylay him somewhere between here and there.

It took another four days of waiting before Trask realized that he couldn't fix the heater. When he found his truck disabled too, he threw a fit. But since a cracked distributor head wasn't that unusual around here nor the, seemingly, rodent chewed wiring, he marked the whole mess down to, 'God hates me' and prepared to hike out.

Heero watched him get ready then woke Duo in time for them to get packed up themselves.

They followed him for several miles, trying to find a good place to ambush him. They intended to take him alive although they would be justified in killing him as he was convicted 'in absentia'. The notice had come in on the third day of their watch. Duo had managed to shield everything so they got signal. It was weak but there.

Their cell phones worked too. Heero knew that Duo was a total genius when it came to what was called a 'Sweeper fix'. He could build a rocket with bubble gum and dirt.

Just as they were ready to get him, they heard the worst thing a bounty hunter could.

"Canadian Mounted Police. Hands up. You're under arrest."

Heero swore. Duo just raised his hands. They could hear their quarry crashing through the brush on a tangent to their original path.

Duo started to say something but the Mountie, a newbie, told him to shut up. So, he did.

It was much too late to recover from the disaster that was caused by the Mountie calling them out. Why he'd done so was another question.

They were relieved of their packs, handcuffed and marched to a truck. The Mountie left them there then went back to get their stuff.

Duo watched as he disappeared over the ridge. "You wanna go?"

Heero thought for a moment. "No. We take off, then he's after us. It'll just cause us more trouble than it's worth. We've lost Trask for now. Let's find out what the hell went wrong."

"Ok. We checked for any vantage point. I didn't see one, did you?"

Heero shook his head. "No. And I don't remember any fly over. We'll find out sooner or later. But this pisses me off. We almost had him. Damnit!"

Heero gave the the side panel a kick, denting it. Duo just flounced back in his seat, banging his head gently on the head rest. "Well, fuck! I just hope Duddley Doright doesn't blow himself up, messing around with something."

They heard two thumps as the Mountie tossed their packs into a luggage carrier on the back. The motor started up and the Mountie drove off, taking them ever farther away from their quarry. They both just hoped that they wouldn't come back to nothing. They now only had a general idea of what direction Trask might have gone. If he didn't circle back to the lodge and hole up.

Either way, now that he was warned, they were in a world of hurt.

The ride to where ever they were going was long, nearly three hours, and without stops. Heero wondered if the Mountie had a bladder the sized of a basketball, or just peed through a hole in the floor. By the time they got to where they were going both Heero and Duo needed relief, badly. Another strike against their arresting officer.

The doors were opened and they were allowed to climb down from the paddy wagon. Heero looked at the grey haired senior Mountie and snapped, "Facilities?"

The Mountie just uncuffed them both and pointed.

They were in a garage with all the doors shut so the older Mountie stopped the younger one from interfering.

Heero eyed Duo for a moment as they relieved themselves, standing side by side at the urinals.

"Can you believe that ass didn't pat us down?" Duo shook his head.

Heero replied as he zipped up. "No, I can't, and I really, really want to know why he arrested us without asking for credentials or anything. Officious idiocy or something more ... sinister?"

Duo thought about that as he dried his hands. "I think we really need to know how he found out about us before we can decide."

"You're right. And ... you know, he never told us his name. Isn't that some sort of violation of police rules ... or something?" Heero actually managed to look righteously indignant.

They were interrupted by a voice calling them to come out.

They stepped out of the rest room to find themselves confronted by the older Mountie.

"Sergeant-major Philip Wagoner. I would like you to accompany me into the station. We'll settle all this as quickly as possible. Constable Melks has yet to explain his reasoning. I'd like to get all my information at one time. Come along."

They followed the erect figure into the building proper and sat where the Sergeant-major pointed.

Sergeant-major Wagoner then retired behind his desk, pushed a buzzer and spoke into an intercom, "Constable Melks, come into my office, please." He then settled back to examine his prisoners until the Constable entered the room.

He marched into the room, up to the desk and saluted sharply. "Sir!"

The sergeant-major rolled his eyes, looking tired. "At ease. Now, sit down and tell me how you managed this particular COMFU situation."

The Constable sat. He fiddled a bit with a button then nearly whined, "But, sir, I saw them sneaking around. They were following that new resident. The one who just moved into Cold Case. I'm sure they are up to no good so I arrested them."

Heero blinked at this bit of idiocy. Then he said, in a voice that could freeze helium. "You mean to tell us that you arrested us and lost us our skip because we looked suspicious? Are you demented?"

Duo just sighed and rubbed his face, days of work ruined because a new constable thought they looked suspicious. "Don't you have ... protocols to follow before you just arrest someone?"

The constable looked uncomfortable then defended, "Well, I know I've seen you somewhere. I'm just not sure where. So ... well, I thought it would be a good idea to bring you in for questioning." He looked from Heero to Duo to Sergeant-major Wagoner. "Well?"

Duo took his ID from a pocket then got his warrants from another. Heero found his ID and took the papers from Duo. He gave the whole mess to the Sergeant-major.

"Here, this should explain everything to your satisfaction."

It took a bit of time for the commander to finish reading. Duo and Heero just sat at ease, watching the man's face as he read. Constable Melks, on the other hand, squirmed uncomfortably, eyeing all of them with a rattled expression.

Finally, the commander put the papers down, neatly folded. "Well, this is a ... FUBAR does not even begin to cover it."

Duo muttered, "TARFUN might cover it."

"Indeed." He turned to look at Constable Melks. "Well, young man, you've done it now. You've always been over eager, impetuous and ... unthinking is as polite as I can get. You jump into things without thinking them through. This time you've interfered with a bounty hunt. These two men are bounty hunters. They've got all the proper credentials, warrants and even an order of execution. Do you understand what you have done?"

Melks just gapped at his commander for a moment. "I ... they're ... but ... bounty hunting isn't customary in Canada. It's ... and an order of execution? That's not legal. Is it?" He looked completely at sea and a bit frightened.

"It's not usual, but it is legal. When ESUN returned sovereignty to most countries there were conditions. One of them legalized bounty hunting across international boundaries and legalized the execution of certain court orders by sworn officers of the court. These two gentlemen are certified bounty hunters, recognized by Preventers. I'd suggest you leave now and research which rules, regulations and ESUN laws you've violated. That will be two weeks leave without pay. One more write up and, as you know, you are on probation. Now, get out!"

Melks jumped to his feet, saluted and scurried out, tail firmly between his legs.

Sergeant-major Wagoner returned their papers to them. "Well, I have no idea how badly this is mucked up but ... It is so far beyond COMFU that I don't think there's an acronym for it."

Duo gave him a sour look and snarled, "Ya think? So, Duddly Doright there, fucked up our whole trace ... because we looked suspicious? Most of the people in this area are wanted for something somewhere and he decides to pick on us? What the fuck?"

Duo was beginning to get decidedly loud by the end and the Sergeant-major was looked a bit annoyed. Heero patted him on the arm and hissed, "Duo, calm down, you'll spurt. I'm sure Sergeant-major Wagoner is willing to help us in any way he can." He turned a cold, furious, 'you-better' look on the man and demanded "Right?"

"Of course. But I would like to correct one misapprehension on your part. Most of the people in this area are just ... not social. They're misfits for the most part. Nut and berry people, conservation kooks, odd men out, that sort of people. A bit more east and they're rougher sorts, petty criminals and that. But that's not under my jurisdiction. Your man, though will probably head north." He sighed. "The area north is ... barren. Not in the sense of a lack of vegetation, but there's damn few people of any sort for more than five hundred miles, until you get to Vuntut, then there's a settlement."

Duo then asked the million credit question. "And what the hell was that ... over eager pest doing in Alaska anyway?"

That made Sergeant-major Wagoner blush. "He's well aware that it's not officially in Canada, although you are now, but we police that area along with Alaska State Troopers, it's still undecided exactly who owns what so we both give it an over look. He knows that he's only to question anyone he meets."

Heero sighed. "What a mess. We'll need our packs back ... intact. And a place to stay for the night. We'll go back tomorrow and try to pick up a trail. Can we go now?"

"Yes, I'll send you with Constable Hatton, she's a smart gal. She'll find you a place to stay and transport you where ever you want to go in the morning." He glanced at his watch. "It's nearly 5pm and I'm sure you're tired, hungry and wanting a wash."

Duo just stood and stretched, "We are, but we really want to reclaim our equipment before a certain someone decides to mess with it. He could blow this whole place to Mars."

The commander picked up his phone and ordered, "Go find Mr Yuy and Mr Maxwell's packs and return them to this office at once ... intact. No one is to remove anything from either one of them."

Five minutes later Constable Hatton showed up with the packs, a smirk on her face. She handed them over saying, "And just in time too. Our little imp was just about to play with the toys. I took this back and here we are."

Heero just took his pack, Duo immediately opened his to check what had been meddled with. He drew back again with a sigh.

"Well, we're lucky all he did was dump all the bags of extra stuff from the MRE's into one. Why he did that is another mystery that we'll never solve. Can we go now?"

Sergeant-major Wagoner just waved his hand and prepared for another bout of writing up his most junior and most annoying constable.

.

Constable Hatton informed them that they could call her Marion. She asked if they minded staying in a tourist cabin. When they said no, she led them to her jeep.

"Hop in. I live in an old tourist court converted into apartments, if you can call them that. You know the kind of place I'm talking about? A circle of little two room cabins with a main building in the center? It's nice. A bedroom, bath and a main room/kitchenette. Half are rented by the month, the other half by the night. We're a small community and fairly close knit. Most don't take quickly to strangers."

As she talked, she got them into the jeep, started it and drove out of the Mounted Police compound.

Heero looked out his window. He'd claimed shotgun over Duo's vocal protest, but he'd won a quick game of rock-paper-scissors so he'd gotten his way. The town they were driving through was mid sized, fairly clean and modern. They were both impressed.

Duo sighed. "Just exactly where are we?"

Constable Hatton gave latitude and longitude. Then she said, "But we like to call ourselves Charleyville. We're on the border between Yukon-Charlie Park and private property. A lot of the area around here is all logging. Tree farms and that. Rough sorts but good hearted. Most of us are just ... well, a little odd around the edges."

They drove the rest of the way in silence.

When they got to the motel, unimaginatively called, Charleyville motel, they checked in and were given a key and directions to their cabin. In other words, the lady at the desk in the main lodge stepped out onto the porch and said, "there. Number 4. Key's in the lock and here's an extra so you'll both have one. Not that anyone around here locks anything. I've got an eye out and cabin six is Constable Hatton, cabin nine is the local sheriff. Can't imagine anyone doing anything. So, have a nice stay. If you need anything just stick your head out the door and yell." And with that she went back to her stories on TV.

Duo blinked for a moment then shrugged. "Ok, that was interesting. Let's get our stuff and get settled. You really think every thing's safe?"

Heero looked around. "There's no way to get to any of the cottages without that woman seeing. And we really don't have anything anyone around here has any use for. Let's just go with it. I'm hungry. Is there a sample menu pac?"

Dou fished around for a moment, checking the night stand between the beds and the small table in the corner. "Nope. I guess we're on our own."

Heero put his pack against the wall with Duo's right next to it. "Why don't we ask Constable Hatton? She knows the area."

"Sure, why not?"

So they went and knocked on the door of Number 6. The woman who answered looked nothing like the stern faced officer that they'd seen before. This lady was dressed in jeans, hiking boots and a flannel shirt worn over a thermal henley. Her hair was down from the heavy bun at the nape of her neck, braided in a braid that rivaled Duo's.

"Hello. What's up? Got a problem?" She stepped out onto the tiny porch, smiling in a friendly fashion.

Duo gave her a mournful look. "Yeah, we're starving. Where's a good place to eat?"

She grinned. "Right through there. It's one of the best places in town. Serves all sorts of good eats. The beaver is really fresh this time of year. Come on. It's actually easier to walk."

Duo caught Heero's eye, mouthed 'beaver' and shook his head.

They followed Constable Hatton, who insisted that they call her Marion, through brush and rocks to the other side of the gully which backed the motel and the several blocks of stores on the other side. It wasn't fenced or even sighed.

Duo started to ask about that but was forestalled by Heero. "Nice ditch. I see you didn't fall into the babysitting trap."

Marion held a heavy branch out of the way. "Excuse me?"

Heero had one pet peeve above all others. "There's a huge gully here. It's deep. It's dangerous. But anyone with eyes and half a brain can tell that. You didn't see any need to waste a ton of money fencing and signing it to hell."

Marion nodded. "I see. No, there's really no need. Adults know better and all the kids live on the other side of town, near the school."

Heero ducked a low hanging branch then said, "Exactly, there's no need to waste money on something that everyone with a brain can see. Logic demands that you stay away or accept the consequences of your actions."

Duo sighed, it was rare that Heero got started on this but if he didn't head this off soon, he'd grumble about it for days. "That's right. Now tell us more about the menu."

Marion sense something so she changed the subject making Duo happy. "Ok ... well, there's bear, moose, goose and elk. Beaver is in season and so's a few other things. It's really easier to just read the white board at the back than to try to figure out what meat there is. The main sides are potatoes several different ways, and mixed veg, corn, green beans or greens. And she makes her own pies and cakes. They are worth driving for."

Duo pounced on that. "Driving. That's a question I have. Considering the terrain around here, where do the vehicles come from."

"Good question." Marion grinned at him and went on to explain that most of the trucks had come in over the gravel roads into the area. They came up from the northern US, or over from Alaska, driving in and staying. Cars were brought in the same way only on flatbed trucks that made the trips from Juneau or Fairbanks via Toks. Some came from the Canada side, Forty Mile and Arlington. It was a hard road so a lot of their supplies came in by plane or chopper. There used to be some good roads but the war took most of the money that should have been used for maintenance so the roads were really bad.

She ended her explanation at the door to the restaurant and held the door for them.

They walked into a clean, will lit room with a few tables in it. Unlike 'down south' the tables were all for six with at least six feet between them in every direction. Marion explained that everything except the main meat and desert was served family style.

Heero and Duo sat down at a table in one corner and examined the white board. Duo settled on elk steak with mashed potatoes, green beans and salad. Heero decided to be more daring and went for smothered beaver tail, mashed potatoes and green beans. Marion took pulled pork with the same sides. They decided to wait for desert until they knew how full they were.

When they were done deciding, Marion got up and stuck her head through the kitchen door. She returned to her seat to tell them that their food would be out as soon as it was done.

"Gwen was just mashing potatoes, she'll be out with the food when it's done. I'll just get us some coffee. Ok?"

Duo just laughed. "Ok, I'll set the table."

Duo and Marion got the coffee, set the table and settled back down. While they were doing that, Heero looked over the deserts. When he got back he was looking very happy.

"Duo, she's made cherry, apple, peach and mixed berry pie. There's also some sort of crumb topped cobbler. The cakes are ... drool worthy, angel food glazed with cream icing, spice with burnt sugar icing, chocolate fudge with fudge icing and something I don't recognize but it smells of flowers. I can't wait."

Marion looked shocked. "Did you taste all of them?"

Heero smirked a bit. "No, I just smelled them."

Duo laughed, "Trained sense of smell. He's a regular nose. Not a bloodhound though."

Marion chuckled as she sat down. "Good. I don't really like them. Too much slobber."

Duo was about to get himself in to trouble when the kitchen door opened and a tall, heavy set woman of about 40 came out with a huge tray balanced on one hand.

"Hello there. You're just in time, or early, not sure which. I just got done with the mashed potatoes. Here we go." She put the tray down on the table next to theirs and just plopped plates and dishes onto the table. "You know what you ordered, so grab on. You got coffee? Water?" the nodded. "Ok, you need anything else just yell."

And with that, she went back into the kitchen to do, as Duo said, Cook things.

Heero's smothered beaver tail turned out to be excellent, as it was smothered in onions and gravy rather than tomatoes, green peppers and bread, like swiss steak. Duo could never look at that without feeling his stomach flip over. He watched as Heero spooned potatoes onto his plate.

Duo's steak was a bit more well done than he liked but Marion explained that it needed the extra time on the grill or it would be tough. The potatoes and bean were excellent and he heaped his plate with both.

Marion just ate without comment. She knew who they were, of course, she'd looked them up before agreeing to keep an eye on them. The Sergeant-major didn't expect them to cause any trouble, he just wanted to make up for the mess Melks had made.

Duo and Heero agreed that the food was excellent and Marion hollered into the kitchen, "Gwen! They're in love. Come out."

Gwen came out wiping her hands on a blindlingly white towel. "Good, good. Cake? Pie? More coffee?"

Duo, who had gotten up to get more coffee, laughed from the service corner. "Your coffee is great. Do you roast your own beans? It tastes like it."

Gwen chuckled, "No, I get them fresh roasted from Anchorage but I grind fresh every day. Now, Cake or Pie?"

Heero decided on the mixed berry while Duo settled for apple with whipped cream. Marion turned down anything more than coffee. "I'm not watching my waist, but I'm not going to have to add a mile to my daily run for a week either. I can never keep it to one piece."

They walked back to the motel discussing what they were going to have to do to pick up Trasks trail. Marion suggested that she drive them the seventy miles back to where they'd been picked up then search a spiral pattern until they found something. She also suggested that they pick up some wire snares. Duo just shrugged at that, explaining that he already had a dozen in his pack. She nodded with interest as both Heero and Duo told her what they habitually carried with them.

"Well, it sounds like you're both well prepared. I'll say good night then. See you at dawn."

Duo sighed. "Ok, dawn. Heero?"

Heero nodded. "I'll wake you."

They separated to go to their cabins for a good night's rest.

.

They were awake next morning, showered, shaved and ready by six. Marion announced that they would go to Gwen's for breakfast then be on their way.

"It's no good getting there before nine, the sun won't hit ground before then."

So they walked across the gully again.

Gwen greeted them with a cheery call of, "Morning! Breakfast is family style. Sit down before you fall down. Back in a flash."

They sat down at the empty table closest to the kitchen door, two other tables were full of men who were obviously loggers. They nodded, raised a hand in welcome or called out 'Good morning.'

Gwen brought out platters of fried ham, sausages, pancakes and bacon, the went back into the kitchen to return with bowls of scrambled eggs, cottage fries and gravy. There were also toast and biscuits.

They ate quickly, Heero eaves dropping a bit. Duo blatantly listened in on conversations around him and joined in with a comment here or there.

They were just getting ready to leave when an older man stopped them.

"Excuse me. I know you two are all gung-ho about catching this guy, but ... you're awfully young ... I swear, you're younger than my son."

Duo helped the guy out. "Yeah, we're young but we've been in this business a long time. And we were in the war before that. Thanks for worrying about us but we'll ... manage. As long as we don't get jinxed."

Heero grimaced. Duo was really worried about that for some reason, he wished he knew why. It worried him.

"Dou, we're not going to get jinxed." He glanced at the sun. "But we better get going. Sun's wasting."

The man patted Duo on the shoulder. "Good luck. I'll figure out where I know you from some day."

Duo just grinned and said, "I know you will."

They left smiling and waving to the other customers. Duo asked Marion if she knew the man and, when she said she did, told her to tell him who they were the next time she saw them.

They took her truck back to where they'd been picked up, dumping their packs into the bed for transport.

Marion offered to stay and help them find their trail but Heero shook his head, saying, "That's not necessary. I have a good idea of which way he went. We just have to pick up a trail. You go on back to town, we'll be fine."

Marion got a funny feeling but, since they seemed to know what they were doing, she went.

She drove back to the station just to check in with the Sergeant-major. She was dismayed to find Melks sitting in the outer office with a very expensive computer.

"Where did you get that?" She got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Duo had been explaining how important their computer was to their work. And his description of it was letter perfect to the one Melks had.

"Well, I took it off those bounty hunters. I'll give it back to them in a week or so." He smirked a bit.

"No, you won't. I just dumped them out in the middle of now where, east of west Jesus. Without one of their most important pieces of equipment." She scowled at him for a second. "Man, you are so dead. The Sergeant-major is going to shoot you."

"Well, we'll just drive out and give it to them." Melks started backing and filling when he got a good look at her Senior Constable Hatton face.

"We'll just drive ... I dropped them off at around 9am. There's no telling where they are now. And if we try to chopper in ... we'll likely scare their bounty even deeper into the bush." Marion really wanted to just strangle Melks and toss his body to the bears.

Instead, she went to report to the Sergeant-major. Melks didn't know what hit him as he was charged with theft of over 1000C, dereliction of duty, and anything else that the Sergeant-major could think of. The man would spend the next six months defending himself and get discharged with prejudice.

But that didn't help Heero and Duo, who wouldn't miss the computer for days.

.

Heero stood in the middle of the path. "Ok, we were going this way ..." he pointed. "toward the trading post, so Marion said. Trask went ..." Heero closed his eyes and bowed his head. "Off that way, I think."

Duo joined Heero, taking up the same place he'd been when Melks had stopped them. "I think you're right. We need to check carefully, if we don't find anything, we'll have to do a spiral."

Heero grumbled, "I hope not. And I hope that idiot Melks winds up in real trouble sooner or later."

Duo shivered. "Fuck, I hope so too. This is so ... annoying."

"Look!" Heero stopped by a bush. "Here. Broken ... and there."

Duo looked where Heero pointed. He grinned like a loon. "Oh, yeah! We got him." The trail was so obvious that Trask might as well have put up signs.

They both knew that this wouldn't go on for long. Trask had panicked and run, smashing through the brush to escape capture. He'd calm down soon and the trail would be harder to follow.

Duo stopped for a moment. "Heero, you know ... he knows we got picked up. I wonder if that'll make him a bit cocky. Make him think we aren't going to be after him. But ... where's he headed?"

"Good question. Get out your map and see if you can figure it out."

Duo examined the map as he walked, confident that Heero wouldn't let him walk into a tree. Finally he found something. "Hummm, there's a trading post ... inside the park. It's over fifty miles from here but ... we can manage ten miles a day. It's pushing it a bit in this terrain but we're in better shape than he is."

Heero didn't say anything to this, he was keeping an eye on Duo and another on the trail. It was still rather obvious but Trask had calmed down enough not to smash through bushes anymore.

Duo put his map away and concentrated on keeping up with Heero. His tracking skills were legendary, while Duo's were what Buck called adequate. He got the job done but it took some study. Heero seemed to just pick up on every little thing.

They traveled hard and made a cold camp just before true dusk. Heero figured that they'd managed about 11 miles. This was as the crow flies, the up hill and down had probably doubled their actual milage.

They pitched the tent and dumped the sleeping bags into it. Heero fixed their meals while Duo set the sleeping bags up.

They ate in silence and went to sleep quickly.

.

Morning came all too soon and they were on their way quickly. Duo made breakfast while Heero put up their tent and sleeping bags.

"Heero, is this a foot print or bird scratch." Duo pointed to a scuff in the path.

Heero looked at it for a second. "Foot print. See the tread marks?"

Duo grumbled, "Now that you point them out, yeah." He pulled out his map. "From the zigs and zags ... I think we're about here." He pointed to a place on the map. "All the damn trails around here are numbered. I think we're on ... 46729. We're about thirty ... some odd miles out from the trading post. I'd say nearer to forty but the map is a bit vague. There's an X in two different places about six miles apart with a note from Jackie that says its position is questionable as no one has ever bothered to fix it's location. The people who bring supplies in just do a fly over."

Heero just grunted as he was checking for sign. The trail divided here and he didn't want to have to back track. "That's nice. And they just fly by the seat of their pants."

Duo snorted. "Yeah. Well, at least it isn't raining here. All the rain stays along the coast." He shivered a bit. "But it's getting colder. We're going up."

"Yeah, and its just at the right time of the year too. Fuck. I hope we don't finish this hunt in a foot of snow."

Duo grumbled and dug out a pair of gloves. "Me too. My hands are cold already."

They spent the morning hiking steadily, and climbing.

They didn't stop for lunch, instead they just put their MRE's in the heater pouch and walked on until they were warm. They ate as they walked stuffing the trash into one pocket on their waist belts. This was the reason that they both liked packs with pockets on the belts and shoulder harness. This kept things where they could reach them without stopping.

Duo would make sure that a new MRE was in one handy pocket before they started out each morning.

Water was also getting to be a problem. They had started out with nearly a gallon each, they were now down to half that.

"We need to find a stream soon. I'm down half." Heero kept his eyes on the path and the surrounding terrain. This was his job. Duo's was to navigate and to keep track of where they were, find streams and so on.

"We might be crossing a stream in about three hours. Or not. It's marked on the map but you know how that is. One day it's full of water, the next, dry as a bone." Duo frowned at the map. "Jackie says that this stream is usually bank full. So, I have high hopes."

Heero thought about that for a few steps. "I just hope it isn't so full we have to swim across."

Duo checked the map again. "I don't think it's that wide, it's barely a thread on the map."

"Ok."

Duo proved to be right, three hours of fast hiking found them at a stream. It wasn't very wide, nor deep, but it was fresh and cold and very clean. Duo took time to fill both their water packs while Heero took a turn at the map.

"You think I ought to put in an iodine tab? Or is the built in filtration good enough."

Heero looked up from the map. "The build in filtration is ceramic and charcoal. I for get the microns exactly but they're fine enough to filter out everything but radiation. So ... Yeah, I think they're adequate." He grinned, remembering a time when Buck had taken him out and they'd both gotten Montezuma's Revenge because one of the suppliers hadn't put the filters in. When they'd gotten back Buck had nearly skinned the man. But Heero now checked all filters himself. Duo heartily approved, the story had been enough for him.

They helped each other back on with their packs and crossed the stream. Duo kicked up a bit of a fuss about wet feet but Heero promised that they'd stop at the first good clearing and change socks. He wasn't about to risk blisters at this early date. A forced march on blistered feet was no fun, to say the least.

They walked for nearly another hour before they found a suitable spot. When they did, it was beautiful.

The clearing was fairly large and surrounded by aspin and pine. It was carpeted with grass, already going brown, but the sun was shining brightly and it was warm.

Heero dropped his pack and sat down on a rock. "Pull up a rock and settle." He smiled at Duo who grinned back and dumped his pack beside Heero's.

"I'll be glad of dry socks, my feet feel soft already. I think we should hang our socks off the back of our packs so they'll dry."

Heero thought about that for a moment then agreed. "Yeah, good idea. If there's a stream near our camp, maybe we ought to wash them." One thing it never paid to do was run out of clean, dry socks.

They hiked until dusk again and made camp.

They continued on in the same routine every day for the next three.

They arrived at the trading post at about 3pm on the forth day.

.

The trading post was an unprepossessing, metal sided building, called a pole built building as it was nothing but siding put up on a frame of two by fours then insulated to a fair thee well. Sheet rock hung on the inside kept it looking half way decent. Duo noticed that the insulation was four inches thick and the doors were double glazed. The windows were tiny.

"Well, looks like a real palace."

Heero shrugged. "So, let's go. I just hope the proprietor isn't a clam. I don't need that sort of shit."

"Me neither. But we better start out polite. They don't have any qualms about hiding the bodies. The bears take care of it."

This didn't turn out as funny as Duo had hoped but Heero gave him a smile anyway.

They walked up onto the porch and opened the door.

The interior was dim and warm. Neither one of them had noticed how cold it was getting. They walked up a sweat every day and so didn't notice until they were out of it.

The room took up half the building, they assumed that the rest was warehouseing, and had a counter across the back end. The room was crowded with shelves of canned goods, bags of flour, beans, rice and such and lined with bins. Heero noticed a lack of ammunition, guns and traps.

"I wonder where the guns and such are?"

Duo shrugged. "Maybe they keep them under lock and key? I wouldn't think shop lifting would be a problem."

"It's not. I just keep them in the side room. Looks nicer and give the guys someplace to go while the ladies shop."

The proprietor was startled to find himself facing two hand guns in unwavering fists. He raised his hands and said calmly. "Easy there. No offense but .. I don't keep much money here. It's a lot of barter, mostly furs and such.

The guns disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared.

Duo looked embarrassed. "Sorry. We're a bit jumpy."

"You after that Trask fellow?" The proprietor looked interested.

"Yeah. How'd you guess."

"Well, just his general attitude. Guess I better introduce myself. I'm Garrett. No last name." He grinned. "I'm not wanted. I just hate it."

Heero shrugged. "That's fine. You seem to know our man."

"I do. Came in here ... day before yesterday. Demanded this and that. I told him I wanted to see his money first and he threw down a couple of hundred's like they was play money. I gave him what he wanted and sent him on his way. Got a radio from the Mounties that said not to mess with him when I asked. Don't hold with his sort at all. Hope you two get him soon. Snow's gonna fly with in the week or I miss my guess. And I hardly ever do. So ... what can I do for you?"

"Other than the information you've already given. Which way did he go? And do you have some place for us to spend the night?" Duo had his priorities straight, but he really wanted a bed and a bath.

"I do. You, I'll put up for the night. Got a tub and everything. It's not much. Just my guest room, but breakfast is free and ... sorry to say, conversation limited. Not much of a talker."

Heero just grunted. He wasn't much of a talker when it came to strangers, especially in a situation like this one.

Duo just sighed. "We're not much for chatter when we're working like this. Heero's even less of a talker than you or I miss my guess. I'm the chatter box. But if you're not a talker, I know how to keep my mouth shut too."

Garrett smiled a bit at that. "Well, that's good. One of the reasons I came out this way was, I just don't take to noise much. Like the quiet. Now ... If you want to buy anything just shop around. I've got ammo for almost anything that goest bang. No electronics though. Computers and that sort of thing I mostly special order. They have to come special packed or they smash. We plow and disk before the plane comes but ground's still ground, not a mattress. I'll be out back, chopping wood. You need me come find me." And with that, he left them to their shopping.

Duo wandered around a bit but didn't see anything they needed. "I don't think we need anything. Heero?"

"I looked too. Nothing. I'd like a look in the gun room. Give us an idea what Trask might be carrying."

They wandered in that direction.

The gun room held a nice collection of .30-.06 and .30-.30 hunting rifles. There was also a good collection of shotguns. All the ammo was locked up in shelves under the weapons it was intended for. Heero noticed a significant lack of hand guns.

"That answers that question. I bet he doesn't have a hand gun, unless he brought one in."

Duo gave that due consideration. "I bet he did. He's not the sort to do without one. And, another question we're going to have to get an answer to. How the hell are we going to get him out of here. I really don't see us dragging him back on foot."

Heero thought for a moment. "Maybe we could sky hook him?"

Duo shrugged. "Maybe. If we can get an extraction team to fly over. Une could set it up. Or Q. but we'd have to get in touch with them via computer or ... if our cells work. We need to work that out soon."

"Right. We'll ask Garrett about it. He might know something. Come on, we need to find him and make some sort of deal about supper and what not."

The deal turned out to be helping to split wood. Garrett explained that he'd sprained his wrist and was way behind on the job. He was afraid that he'd get caught by snow before he got done. He said chopping wood in really cold weather made all his joints ache.

Heero just took the ax from him and started splitting. Garrett watched him for a moment then realized that he and Duo worked as a team. Duo would put the billet on the block, Heero would split it, then Duo would put a half up for him. They continued to do this until the wood was split down into stove lengths.

Garrett stayed out of the way. Instead of trying to help, he just stacked the finished stove wood into the rick.

Duo stopped for a minute while Heero wrestled with a particularly stubborn knot. "How much wood do you need?"

"I usually have ten cords up by now. I've only got eight. I'm not in trouble just ... behind a bit. I'll have it all done by end of the week." He checked his rick. "That's enough. You guys have earned supper, bath and bed and then some."

Heero wiped his forehead. "We could use some more information too."

"Sure. Ask away." Garrett liked the two young men. They were industrious, polite and quiet.

"We're going to have to get Trask out after we catch him. Is there any chance of a sky hook extraction?" Duo gave Garrett a hopeful look.

"Sure. If you know the right people. I bet you do. Preventers could arrange it, so could the Mounties. Your phones should work here. Best try them. If they don't, I can sell you a couple that do."

Heero fished in his pack for his phone. He wasn't carrying it on his person as it was too easily damaged in a fall or some other accident. If he kept it in his pack it was protected from damage but still fairly easy to find.

Heero took out his phone with a frown on his face. "Duo, did you get the computer for some reason?"

Duo looked up from helping Garrett finish stacking the wood. "No. I didn't. Why?"

Heero tossed Duo his phone. "See if you get signal. I'm going to empty this pack. But ... I think my computer isn't there. I always keep everything in the same place. You know me."

"I do. But where? ... Melks. That little shit has to have snagged it. But why?"

"Officiousness and stupidity. He probably thought we were going to stay around until he said we could leave. Or that we wouldn't be able to pick up a trail. I'm going to complain. Really. That computer is worth about 3000C besides being made of classified circuitry. WEI beta stuff." Heero was constantly testing things for Quatre, as was Duo.

Duo dialed the phone and sighed happily. "Heero, we have signal." He glanced at Garrett while he waited for an answer. "If we have signal here, does that mean we're in the clear?"

"Yes. There's a dead spot about sixty miles across that way." He pointed to the area that they'd been warned about. "But from here north, you're good."

Duo heard Wufei's voice demanding his attention. "Sorry, sorry. Wufei, we've had some trouble." He went on to fill Wufei in on their problems, the missing computer and what they were going to need.

Wufei tapped the phone with one finger nail, a sort of 'you're on hold' signal while he thought. "I think ... the best way to handle this is to wait until you catch the fucker then we'll decide whether a sky hook is a better idea than a chopper. Preventers has several that might work. Depending on how big a clearing we're talking about. And how cold it is as well as how far into the Arctic circle you wind up."

Duo made a noise suspiciously like 'blarg' and shuddered. "Wufei, I swear, if we wind up that far north, I'm going to smack Trask around like a shuttle cock. I'll call again in a couple of days."

.

Heero eyed the spread out contents of his pack. No computer. Dou joined him to help him put everything back.

"Ok, this is really COMFU. We need that computer."

Heero sighed and rubbed his face. "We've got the paper maps and a GPS. We've done more with less."

Duo grumbled, "Well, yeah! But I didn't like it."

"Neither did I. But ... yelling won't fix it."

"Nope, won't but I'm calling Wufei about it. Oh, check to see if Mr Sticky Fingers left us with a crank charger."

Heero held up the object in question. "Yup. The only thing missing is that computer. But you better check you pack to see if he helped himself to anything from it."

Duo unpacked his pack while Heero explained what had happened to Garrett. He said that he could get them a replacement in about a month. Heero snorted, taking the comment in the spirit it was offered. He thanked Garrett but said they wanted to be out of the area before his dick froze off. Garrett thought this hilarious and laughed heartily.

"Much fun as this is, I better get to cookin' if we want supper before midnight. Beans don't cook themselves." He ambled in the back door of the cabin in which he lived.

The cabin was situated at the tree line behind the post building. This kept the snow on the roof to a minimum and the ground fairly clear too. Garrett told them all about the how's and why's of his set up over the pot of cooking beans.

Their conversation trailed off into silence while Duo finished repacking his pack and checking Heero's. He muttered and grumbled the whole while but Heero didn't have the heart to hush him and Garrett was enjoying the creative cursing way too much.

.

Supper was beans and bacon, with buttered biscuits, coffee and oatmeal raisin cookies. They went to bed with the sun and got up to it.

Garrett woke them for breakfast which was more of the same. He told them again about Trask, what he'd bought and what he'd said. He also gave them his opinion of Trask and his ways. He told them which way the man had gone, said he was going, and what he was liable to run into the way he had actually gone. He finished up with some sage advice and saw them on their way. But before they left he gave them a ballon antenna that would work with Heero's phone. Duo's was not compatible which made Heero smirk.

The antenna was plugged into the charging jack and connected to the ballon which was inflated with helium then carefully allowed to rise above obstructions and into 'clear' air. They would get a signal almost anywhere as the antenna line was 1000ft long. It was no more than a thread and on a spool which could be used to rewind it as many times as needed. The ballon was inflated with a cartridge the size of a CO2 cartridge. He'd given them a box of 24.

Duo waved one last time as they went around a turn in the path Garrett said Trask had taken. They'd see that Garrett benefited from his generosity somehow.

It wasn't that hard to pick up Trasks trail. Duo actually found it first. The man was cocky now, he was sure he'd lost Duo and Heero in that incidental pickup by Melks.

Heero looked at the track for a moment then sighed. "He's at least three days ahead of us. Maybe more. I don't think there was a wind last night and their hasn't been dew in ... at least a week."

Duo groaned, "Man, we're going to have to hustle to catch up to him."

Heero snarled, "Right, but we can't go too fast. We might miss a turn in the trail and backtracking is a sure way to lose him again. Come on, let's go."

They hiked for most of the morning then what Heero had been afraid of happened, it started to snow.

At first it was nothing much, just a few flakes drifting down from a sullen sky. But as the day went on, hour by hour, it got heavier and wetter. They stopped twice to put on more clothing. First, another shirt, then a sweater. Their hiking kept them warm up to a point but they finally had to stop to put on their jackets.

Duo was shivering a bit by the time they stopped. Heero was cold too and they both had semi frozen feet.

Heero looked around at their chosen camp sight. It was under a cedar tree and the ground was nearly dry, covered in needles as it was.

"Ok, this sucks. Duo, get out one of those candle lamps and light it. It'll help get the tent warm and lay out the sleeping bags over and under."

Duo nodded, knowing that 'over and under' meant to put on bag down on the floor and the other on top of it. They'd sleep together tonight to keep warmer. "Ok, and I'll put a couple of those chem pak warmers in them."

"Good. We'll get in the bed and eat covered up. Warm food will help get us warm. We'll be stuck here a day at least." He glowered at the sky as if it had intentionally offended him. "this snow is going to last all night for sure. I just hope we haven't lost Trask."

Duo shook his head. "He's in worse shape than we are. I'm sure he didn't go back to the lodge, he wouldn't take the chance. So he's only got what he had with him and what he got from Garrett which wasn't much. Garrett wouldn't take a check, or a card, only cash. Smart of him but rough on Trask."

Duo crawled into the tent, asking over his shoulder, Did he have a tent? Garrett didn't say. He just listed a bunch of food items."

Heero followed, pausing to zip the tent before crawling into the sleeping bag. "No, I don't think so, unless he had one of those single use survival things. Like a foil caterpillar tent. Remember?"

Duo laughed. "I do. Those things are pitiful. They're ok, if you only need to use it once, to keep off the rain or something. But ... to actually have to sleep in one all night? Yuck. And having to use it more than once? Not my idea of fun. So ... hold this." Duo handed Heero a heater bag. "I'm warming everything that will take it. So, main ... side ... and desert. Cobbler again."

Heero obediently held the heater packs while Duo put the food in them. He carefully measured the water and then stuffed them both into the sleeping bags. The excess warmth from the heaters would help warm the bags up.

Heero pulled Duo's socks off. "These are soaked through. How the hell did you manage that?"

"I don't know. My boot must have a leak somewhere." Duo shivered a bit as Heero helped him off with his wet jeans. The long johns under them were dry for which Heero thanked their lucky stars.

After Duo was stripped down to his long johns he helped Heero do the same. They hung their damp clothing from a line stretched over head. The heat from the lamp and their bodies would help them dry. The vent in to roof of the tent would carry the warm moist air out of the tent. This seemed to defeat the purpose but hot, wet air would only make them damp which would make them colder when they left the tent; as well as keeping their clothing damp. It would also keep the sleeping bags damp. Anything wet would chill them as the moisture evaporated into the dry, cold air outside the tent.

So it was that they ate their food, drank the coffee then the chocolate and snuggled down in the bag.

Heero put his arms around Duo, who was still shivering a bit. "You going to be ok? You're still shaking." He pressed his lips to Duo's cheek.

"Yeah, I'll be ok in a bit. I'm just still chilled. You know I just don't warm up as quickly as I should. Just cuddle me for a while."

"Mmm. ok." Heero pulled him down and tucked the top bag around them both. "After this is done, I think we should go somewhere warm and stay there."

Duo sighed as he finally started to thaw out. "Sounds good to me. We've been on the job almost constantly since you found me. I ... I'm just tired. You know? I want to ... slack off for a while. We've, neither of us, actually ever had a vacation. Not more than an extra day, here and there, and the week we take at Christmas. It's not good for us."

Heero rubbed his cheek against Duo's. "You're right. And we've both been beat up, stabbed and generally abused. I ... I just want to lay on a beach, drink Pina Coladas ... what the hell is that, anyway?"

Duo snorted into his neck. "It's a drink made with pineapple juice, coconut milk and rum. They're good. You really aren't much of a drinker, are you?"

Heero laughed, this was a constant source of amusement to Duo. Due to the mad doctor's training, Heero had a head like a rock, hated the taste of most alcoholic beverages and still didn't know what most mixed drinks were. "Nope, the least that asshole could have done was let me drink my way through the Bartenders Companion, instead, all I got was Everclear. Bleh!"

Duo promised, "I'll see to it that you taste everything. I really think we ought to take Quatre up on his offer to just follow him around for six months. We'd get to visit nearly every colony, live like kings and not hit a tap."

"I'm with you. This job is turning into a regular pain in my ass. I'm thinking that sounds better and better by the second." Heero yawned widely. "Sorry."

Duo just snuggled closer. " 'S ok. I'm beat too. But ... I wanna go clubbing without having to worry about keeping sight of a target. I wanna make love in a hot tub an' splash water all over without having to clean up later. Ok, call me selfish but I do."

Heero mumbled, "Mmm, selfish? Not so. I think it all sounds very nice." He drifted off before he could say anything else.

Duo followed him seconds later.

.

Morning saw them digging the tent out of three feet of new fallen snow. All Duo had to say was, "Thank the god of weather it didn't sleet or something."

They packed the snow out of the way, except for what they melted to refill their water bladders and canteens. They had breakfast back in the tent, bundled back up in the sleeping bag. After that, they put the sleeping bags in their packs, tidied up, put the tent away and heafted their backpacks onto their backs

"they set off into cold, white wilderness. Due to the snow, they now had no trail to follow, all they could do was continue on in the same direction they'd been going.

If they had Heero's lap top they could have called for a real time scan of the area to see if they couldn't pick Trask out as he walked. He should stick out like a sore thumb in all this white. A moving point of any color would attract the satellite eye like a magnet. But, Melks had that. Heero was seriously considering finding him and explaining the concept of personal property to him, with a fist.

Duo grumbled and whined for most of the hike. Heero knew that Duo didn't mean anything by it and ignored it with stoic indifference. Wufei would have been having a fit by now, but Heero loved Duo enough to put up with it. When it came to crunch time, Duo would go silent and deadly.

"Heero, look here." Duo pointed to something on the ground. "Is this what I think it is?"

Heero squatted down, he didn't kneel as that would get his knees wet, and looked at the scraps of aluminum coated plastic Duo was digging carefully out of the snow.

"I think it's the remains of a survival tent. Trask must not have had any luck folding it back up."

Duo considered the scraps in his had. "Or he has more than one. This looks ... mmm ... see if you can't find more of it. Ok?"

Heero obliged Duo. "What do you have in mind?"

"Not sure. But I really want to see more of this." Duo scuffed around with the side of one foot while Heero used a broken branch to brush the snow away.

They finally found most of it and Duo laid it out on the snow covered ground. "Mmm, it looks like he tore it putting it up. See?" He pointed to a torn spot, right at an anchor point. "Then the wind finished it off. Bet he had a miserable night."

"Good." Heero knew that a bad night meant a slow day the next day. "He'll be sleepy, cold and careless. It might even slow him down more than enough for us to close the gap significantly."

"Exactly. Come on. I know I'm a whiny little bitch right now but I really, really hate being cold. Reminds me of bad old days and miserable nights." Duo hugged Heero quickly then turned to move off into the trees, taking the scraps of tent with him.

Heero followed, wondering at his partners strength. He knew a great deal about Duo's past and sometimes it just flattened him. How Duo had turned out so loving and giving was a wonder to all his friends. But Duo was also one of the toughest people in ESUN and he was proving it now.

Lunch came and went, eaten 'on the fly' and late afternoon saw them looking for another camping spot.

Duo pointed out an over hang. "There. We can set up the tent under that. It'll keep off the snow and wind. We might even be able to make a fire."

"Ok. But we better check for bears and such before we settle in. I really don't want to wake up with a bear or a cougar or something in the tent with us."

Duo nodded. "Right. I'm not to thrilled with the idea either."

They checked out the shallow cave under the overhang and didn't find any signs of animals but they did find a trunk sized metal box. In the box were several log books and a few bits of this and that. Offerings to the GPS gods, or so the graffiti explained. One of the things in the box was a packet of notes from some of the visitors.

Heero said they should read the notes then add one of their own. It would at least stave off boredom while they waited for their food to heat.

Duo read the first one, while Heero fixed their food. He held this and that as Heero handed it to him but he held the note with the other hand. It was a nice note, telling about a summer hike up to the GPS 'treasure' spot and detailing their meal.

Heero read the next one and they had to laugh. This one was written by a ten year old girl who had hiked in with her mother, she wasn't that thrilled with all the walking, bugs, and smells.

They ate, taking turns reading notes and excerpts from the log books. Duo helped Heero compose their note, did the log book entry and cleaned the camp. It was surprisingly warm under the overhang so they were comfortable by the small fire they'd allowed themselves.

Duo explored a bit more and found a crack up the back of the shallow cave. "Heero, you think we could run the ballon up this and retrieve it? I'd really like to try to call Quatre or Wufei."

Heero eyed it for a moment, assessing it's width and slant. "I think so. We can always tie it off while one of us goes up and retrieves it. Lets try."

"Good. The worst we can do is get wet. How's the battery?"

Heero took out the phone while Duo got out the ballon and antenna.

It didn't take them long to get it set up. The ballon went up the crack easily and ascended only about 300 ft before they had a great signal. Then they had to decide who to call. Duo voted for Quatre saying that they could have him call Une but Une would probably not call Quatre. He ended by saying, "And you know that Quatre will pout if we don't call him. So ... Quatre, definitely."

Heero found that he agreed with Duo. So they called Quatre.

It only took seconds to get through. Quatre had threatened to fire on the spot anyone who held up a call from any of the other pilots. He'd had to actually carry the threat out but now, when they called, they got through.

"Q. Sorry if it's the middle of the night or something. We're out in the middle of fuck all frozen north somewhere east of nowhere. I could give you the GPS but let's just say it's freakin' cold." Duo went on to tell Quatre everything they'd been doing with Heero interjecting once in a while.

Quatre just agreed that Melks had screwed them over royally he also agreed to set up a sky hook, or chopper to pick them up. He just made some scratching sounds, obviously making some kind of note. "I'll set up for both and you just call me. I'll send what ever's appropriate. And be careful. I don't have enough friends that I can afford to lose two. Oh, and, after this is over, I'm picking you both up. You're joining me on the yacht for at least a month."

Heero plucked the phone out of Duo's hand and interjected, "Make that six and you've got a deal."

Quatre just replied, "Ok. Six months. And a new wardrobe. I'm not going to be seen with a couple of BDU wearing slobs." And with that, he hung up.

Duo just laughed a bit hysterically. "Just like Q. Insists, as one of his conditions, on new wardrobes for both of us."

Heero floored Duo by saying, "I'd really like an Armani tux."

"Ok, we'll be sure to ask Q for one." With that, he went back to working on figuring out where Trask had gone.

Heero found the path he was sure Trask was following. They went over it with a magnifying glass, one of Duo's 'emergency' supplies, to try to find any fork or off shoot he might take. After twenty minutes, they concluded that there weren't any. He was either going to have to abandon the faint trail and head across country, or stick to the trail until it crossed another.

"Ok." Duo rubbed the back of his neck. "There's two trails. One goes off into the wilds of the Yukon Territory, the other heads straight for the Vuntut Park. We're about three hundred miles out. There are about six places that he could get a flight out from there so we've got to get to him before he gets a fight to who knows where." He shivered. "And the farther north we go, the colder it gets."

Heero nodded, put his arm around Duo and hugged him. "I know. But ... I caught a look at him as he ran off. Not a reall good one but I could tellhHe wasn't wearing a really heavy coat and he didn't buy one from Garrett. He's got to be cold. If he gets frost bite, he won't be traveling very fast."

"True. But we aren't either. This snow will hold us up for a while. At least until it crusts over. We can't break a path through powder. I really wish we had skis or snowshoes." He folded the map and put it away carefully.

Heero checked their supplies. "We're in good shape. We've got enough food for ... three weeks. Without rationing. If we have to go much more than two, we need to consider giving up and getting extracted. I'm not risking our lives for this asshole. If he freezes, he freezes. We call Quatre on ... Wednesday after next. That's seventeen days."

Duo just handed Heero a cup of tea. "Here, these gerry cups are great. Tea, hot off the fire." He blew across his own cup to cool it enough to take a sip. "Why do they call them gerry cups? And ... as to extraction, I'm all for it. But more like fifteen days out. I'm right on the not freezing things. I like all my toes and fingers attached and un-nipped."

Heero sighed at the sweet tea. He preferred his plain but he knew they both needed the extra calories. "It's good. Thanks. Ok ... fifteen days out. But fifteen days from today or fifteen from the day we set out from here?"

"Fifteen from the day we leave. We're ok here. We're warm, there's no danger of anything, other than boredom. We have time to check our equipment and make repairs. I've even got a chess set and a pack of cards. We've both got reading materials and hand crank recharges, so ... why not just dig in until the weather breaks?"

Heero shrugged. "I'm all for it. He's either getting ahead of us or he's holed up somewhere, miserable, cold and hungry. He's got to be. We know how much food he could carry, more or less. He's in fair shape but he couldn't carry more than forty pounds in the pack he had. Garrett saw it, you know. He didn't have another to sell him so Trask just bought all the food he could carry. I think he might have sacrificed a coat for food."

Duo grinned at Heero. "And speaking of food. I think I'll go set a few traps and see if I get anything. Might manage a rabbit. We can either roast it over a fire or stew it. Those camp pots are well worth the weight."

Heero agreed but made Duo wait. "Don't just run off, finish that tea first. No sense in wasting it and it'll help you stay warm. How much tea do we have left?"

Duo snickered a bit. "Plenty. You packed 80 bags, I packed another 160. There's enough, especially as we use them twice." He finished his tea and handed the cup to Heero. "Set that by the fire with snow in it, keep adding until the cup is full of water." Heero rolled his eyes, Duo did this from time to time, forgetting that Heero knew as much about camping as he did, if not more. He usually did it when he was thinking of other things. "I wonder. Maybe we could make snowshoes? Do you know how?"

Heero shook his head. "No, I can make a still, explosives and circuit boards, but not snowshoes. It seems that my education has been sadly neglected." He grinned at Duo, who just stuck out his tongue.

"Well, shit. Ok, I'm gone. I'll be back in under an hour. I'm not going more than a hundred feet or so away from the front of this cave."

Heero walked with Duo to the opening of the cave. They were calling it a cave for lack of anything else to call it. It was really an over hang with a wash out underneath it. It was deep enough to keep out the snow and most of the wind, but shallow enough to allow sunlight in. If the sun was low enough. But it didn't keep out the drifting snow very well. At the back of the cave, it was dry but only for about eight feet. There was enough room for their tent and a small fire and that was about it. The rest of it was drifted in with snow.

Heero used his hands to pack snow in both of their cups and a large pot. He hugged Duo quickly and made sure that he had on his gloves and his scarf was wrapped tightly around his neck.

"Put your hat on." Duo fumbled with it for a moment then Heero patted his hands away. "Never mind, let me do it. You'll have to take your gloves off to set those" he nodded to the wire snares hanging from Duo's belt. "but put them right back on. Hear?"

"I will. Remember, I'm not planning on being gone more than an hour, if that."

"Yell, if you need me." Heero smiled a bit as Duo snickered at this.

"I always need you. Gone now." And with that he turned and stepped out into the snow, stepping in between drifts as best he could.

Duo was back in about 45 minutes, much to Heero's relief. He knew that there was little chance of Trask being close, but he was still a bit worried. Little didn't mean none.

Duo stripped off his wet things and Heero hung them around the fire on stripped branches he'd made while Duo was gone. They steamed gently in the heat. Heero chaffed Duo's chilled hands then stuck them under his shirt.

"Oh, Jesus! Fuck, that's cold." Heero shivered. Duo's hands were like blocks of ice. "You forgot to put your gloves back on between traps, didn't you?"

Duo replied, indignantly, "I did not! It's just freakin' cold out there. The wind has picked up a bit, snow blowing all over. We should be able to leave day after tomorrow. The trail should be blown fairly clear. We might even be lucky enough to find a real trail."

"I hope so. I want to catch this fucker and ... we've still got our gliders. I really liked gliding. Moon?"

Duo grinned. "Maybe. We could even get Q to go gliding with us. Ya think?"

"Might. Especially if we get Trowa in on it. Here, sit down." Heero maneuvered Duo to sit on a camp stool he'd made from sticks and a bit of canvas he'd found in the metal trunk. Duo sat down with a sigh.

"Thanks, Heero. Damn, I can't feel my toes. This sucks."

Heero settled on the ground and pulled Duo's feet into his lap. They were frozen too. He rubbed them for a little while then took a pair of socks out from under his shirt and put them on for Duo. "There. Now, stay put until I have some warm food ready. Ten minutes. Tea sooner."

Duo leaned forward to rub his feet himself. He was miserable; wet, cold and shivering. He was truly dreading going back out into the snow to chase their target. If it wasn't for Buck loosing the business, he'd call the whole thing off.

"Duo?" Heero knew that attitude. He'd seen it several times before. "You ok?"

Duo clutched at Heero for a moment then got himself back together. "Yeah, just a bit of ... angst or ... just hate this. If it wasn't for Buck I''d call Q right now and have him pick us up. It's cold and getting colder, it's gonna snow off and on the rest of this job. It's miserable. I know I sound like a whiner but ... when the wars were over, I thought ... I had a ship. I had a life. Then everything fell apart. I found ... things weren't nice. Then you found me and everything was good, real good. Being cold and wet ... it reminds me of when I was all alone, without hope. I just hate it. Sorry, I'm being such a shit."

Heero just sat down beside the fire, dragging Duo into his lap. "I'm so sorry. I knew you hate the cold, I just never knew why. I'd call Q myself, right now, but I know you want to help Buck. So we soldier on. But ... We'll get warm and, when this is all over, I'll make sure that Quatre knows to take us somewhere warm. Maybe one of those tourist colonies that specializes in swimming and surfing and stuff. We'll make sure we can go gliding too. How's that?"

While he'd been talking, Heero had been rubbing Duo's back and arms. He finally stopped shivering as Heero promised gliding.

"Sounds so good. Maybe we could even get Wufei to come? Maybe?" Duo's hopeful expression made Heero sigh.

Wufei had dedicated himself to Preventers totally. He hadn't taken a vacation in over two years.

We'll see. Maybe. I'm not promising what I'm not sure I can deliver."

"Just promise to try and I'll be satisfied." Duo put his head on Heero's shoulder and tried to relax. It was just that there was a jinx on this job or he missed his guess.

They sat around the fire for the few minutes until their food was hot. After they were done eating, they crawled into the tent, wrapped themselves in the sleeping bag and read.

.

Duo checked his watch then peeked out of the tent. It was nearly dark. He thought for a moment then crawled back into the tent. Heero hugged him for a moment then said, "You going to check the snares?"

"Yeah, I ought to. There's no sense in catching something then losing it to a wolf or fox. It won't take me more than ten minutes. If I catch something, I'll reset the snare then clean what I caught." He put on clean dry things and laced up his boots. "I'll be back soon. Keep the tent warm. Ok?"

Duo checked the fire as he went by, it was banked and should still have plenty of coals in it but he didn't want to come back to a cold hearth and have to build it up again. It was good so he put his warmed coat on and went out into the snow.

He found that he'd caught a rabbit which had thankfully broken it's neck. He dressed it out, tossing the guts,wrapped in the skin, as far as he could. He hurried back to their shelter as quickly as he could.

He found that Heero had not only kept the tent warm but had built up the fire. He carried the rabbit over and handed it to Heero then started stripping down again.

If he sat around in wet things, he was sure to get sick. The old wives tale that wet clothing made you sick had been proven, disproven then proven again. He didn't care what old wives said, he got sick if he sat around wet and cold. He watched as Heero cut the rabbit up and put the pieces in the pot.

"We've got some spices, what do you want in this?" Heero glanced at Duo with come concern. "You're not running that line again. I'll do it. I'm not as good as you are at setting snares but we're leaving so we shouldn't leave it after tomorrow."

"You're right. Put in some sage and onion powder, pepper, salt and ... we have any thyme?"

"No thyme, but everything else. Covered, this should be ready in two hours?"

They hovered over the pot and fire, reminiscing about times they'd shared with the other pilots, playing anywhere but here and watching the pot.

When the rabbit was done, they ate all of it and drank all the broth. Duo sighed. "That was good. But now I've got to piss like a ruptured racehorse. I hate to, too, I'm always cold after." He gave Heero a rather shamefaced look. "I know, I keep harping on being cold. Sorry."

Heero just shrugged. "I don't mind." He laughed. "You put up with me whining on stakeout. I hate just sitting." He took the pot to clean. "I'll be right back."

Heero squatted at the back of a snow drift, dumped a handful of snow and some sand into the pot and scrubbed it around. After dumping the slush out he filled the pot with snow and returned it to the fire to melt the snow. He'd use the melt to rinse the pot and the plates.

Duo was waiting in the tent when he finished. "You want to pack everything?"

"No, we're going to leave some of our stuff here. We can either send for it or contribute it to the slop chest. We're going to leave everything except food, emergency gear and clothing here. I'm sure we're carrying at least twenty pounds of stuff we don't need. What can we do without?"

Duo thought. "Not the tent or bags. But I've got a shovel and I don't need more that two pair of pants. We both ought to leave everything except one change of clothing. We can wash one, wear one. This cold will freeze dry our stuff in a matter of hours."

Heero nodded at that. "Ok, I wasn't planning on a forced march when we packed. But we ought to keep all our socks and underthings. I hate to leave my electronics but ..."

Duo shook his head. "No, we'll probably need everything we've got. We definitely need the phones. And my iPad doesn't weigh enough to make a difference. Yours doesn't either. We have to have the ballon and the CO2 cartridges. But, between one thing and another, we can shed twenty pounds each. And don't forget, every time we eat something that's that much less we're carrying."

Heero nodded. "That's true. So, you want to put it in the slop chest or mark it for later pickup."

Duo, who could never get really attached to clothing, just shrugged. "You think it would fit anyone? It doesn't make any difference to me. Just hurry up and do something. I'm sleepy."

So Heero packed all their stuff into a stuff sack, put their names on it and shoved it to the bottom of the slop chest. If they could, they'd send someone back to get it for them. Heero knew that no one would bother them when they were tagged.

"Ok, that's taken care of. Let's get some sleep, running around in this cold is exhausting. We'll try to leave tomorrow, but we definitely have to leave day after."

They curled up together, exhausted and worried. They had to find Trask and get out of the area before the heavy snows came. If they didn't, they were going to be stuck in this cold hell until someone came and rescued them. Neither one of them was too worried about that, but they were worried about what might happen if they didn't catch Trask.

Even if Buck couldn't run his business anymore, he still didn't deserve to lose it. He could always become a silent partner or even sell it. His good name and reputation were worth quite a bit. He could retire completely and have plenty to live in, if he could find the right buyer. They had to pull this off.

Finally, Heero hugged Duo and said softly, "Duo, go to sleep. I can hear your brain grinding from here."

"Mmm, I know. I just can't settle. I'll be ok in a little while."

"Try some meditation. You know Wufei always says you fall asleep in seconds."

"Do not." But Duo tried a few moments of meditation and was asleep in the predicted seconds. Heero followed him a few moments later.

.

The next morning was dismal, cold and windy with an overcast that made it feel even colder. But there was no smell of snow in the air and the weather prediction they managed to get by phone said no snow for the next three days. They were going to have to move out.

They made sure the fire was out, dumping snow on it until there wasn't even a curl of steam.

They shouldered their packs and left their safe haven with trepidation. The weather looked like holding but Duo was on edge. Heero wasn't too happy with things either.

"I swear. If Trask tries to fight, I'm breaking something he's attached to. Asshole. I'd much rather be in Hawaii or the Bahamas."

Duo agreed whole heartedly. "I'm gonna thump him one just for being an ass."

They hiked for several miles in silence. There wasn't much to say so they just slogged along, cold and miserable. Lunch was eaten on the run, literally. Heero had decreed that they would walk/run as much as possible. This was a way to cover a lot of ground without wearing themselves completely out. They'd walk a mile then run half a mile, this meant that they actually could travel farther than if they either walked or ran it all. But it was hard on them anyway, the packs made running an exercise in discomfort. The heavy packs dragged at their shoulders and bounced, no matter what they did.

Heero and Duo had discussed leaving some of their arms behind but neither one could bear to part with either long gun or hand. Both of them were only carrying one of each. And neither one of them would leave ammo behind. And lead is heavy. So they were still carrying upward of sixty pounds of food, clothing and arms. They both knew that it would get lighter as they went along but that didn't help in the here and now.

Heero kept an eye on Duo, quite aware that he was doing the same. They both had a penchant for pushing too hard. They couldn't afford to wear themselves out too early in what was beginning to look like a very long race.

"Heero, it's beginning to get dark. We need to look for a place to stop."

Heero glanced around. "If we find a really big cedar, we can set up under it. If now ... we'll just have to hunker down and pray."

Duo pointed. "There. It's not a cedar but the branches are close to the ground and it looks dry."

They made it to the tree without incident and set up the tent. After they ate they set the small candle lamp burning to help keep the tent warm. Heero hung it from a fixture at the apex of the tent and crawled into the sleeping bags with Duo.

"It's not much but it'll help. Go to sleep, I'll keep first watch."

Duo snuggled up to Heero, yawning. "Thanks. Be sure to wake me. You're beginning to look droopy eyed. I don't want you running on sleep deprivation."

Heero hugged Duo and settled down to listen to the wind blow. "Ok, I'll wake you at four."

"mmm"

.

They were awakened much earlier than that. Heero was dozing lightly, this wasn't a dereliction of duty as he could hear and recognize a threat quite easily. Unless it was nearly a ton of snow falling out of a tree, that is.

"Fuck! What the hell?" Duo pushed up on the top of the tent. He had to as the snow was forcing it down on his face.

Heero rolled away from him and managed to crawl to the door. He unzipped it and snow poured in. "Well, shit. This is not good." He forced his way out of the tent and began to dig it out. Duo got out after a few more seconds and helped him. It was a good thing they'd gone to sleep with most of their clothing on or they'd have frozen.

Duo pulled the sleeping bags out of the tent and shook the snow off them. It was cold enough that the snow hadn't melted more than just enough to make them damp.

"They're ok. Nothing's torn, but ..." Duo scowled at the tent. There was a hole burned in the top vent. "The tent has a hole in it now. Not much of one, but it's going to cause problems."

Heero looked at the surroundings and then the tent. "I'm such an idiot. I never thought." He pointed up. "Look. The heat from the vent, plus the heat from the lamp, melted the snow just enough to have it fall right on us. Damnit!"

Duo blinked. "I don't remember any mention of this in training. Everyone always said to pitch your tent under a tree. Well, done is done. We'll just have to assess the damage and deal."

"Right, right. I'll beat myself up later. Now ... what's the tole." Heero pulled the tent out flat and examined it carefully while Duo assessed the damage to their packs and supplies.

Duo settled down in a small dip near the trunk of the tree, they'd agreed no more fire. "The sleeping bags are damp, but they'll dry quickly in this dry cold. Our clothing is all damp too. Every single stitch. That's not good, especially as the socks are all wet – wet."

Heero sighed. Wet feet meant blisters. "Damn. The tent has a hole in it about the size of my fist. We can still use it, but it's going to be a bitch to put up. One of the poles is broken. What about the food and ammo?"

Duo shook his head. "That's the only good thing about this. The guns, food, ammo and packs are fine. So ... we might as well get going. I'm not going to get back to sleep tonight. And no more pitching camp under trees."

"Ok. Here's your boots. They're wet, but so are mine." Heero handed over Duo's boots. Neither he nor Duo had bothered to put them on as the ground was dry and smooth. They'd both been hoping that they would dry a bit. No such luck, both pairs of boots and all their socks were soaked as they'd been beside the door and gotten dumped out when Heero unearthed the tent from the snow.

They ate breakfast, had hot coffee and repacked the remainder for a quick break. They were now going to have to stop every two hours to check their feet and shoulders for blistering.

Duo put on his boots without comment, hefted his pack onto his back and started off. Heero followed quickly.

They hiked in silence, there was really nothing to say and they needed to be quiet incase they were close to Trask. They didn't want their voices to send him into another frenzy. Neither one of them felt like chasing him down in a sprint.

They spent the next three days hiking for two hours and resting for thirty minutes from dawn to dusk. Pitching their tent was an exercise in frustration, the broken pole made the tent lopsided, with a dip in it that caught snow, which melted then dripped into the tent. Duo was constantly cold, damp and miserable. But he bore it now with a grim silence that worried Heero more than his griping ever did.

Heero was miserable to, no matter what he said or didn't say. He was cold too, and his feet were beginning to blister. His heels were hot as were the little and next toe on his left foot. He wanted to travel faster but he was afraid to for fear of missing sign. Duo agreed with him. They couldn't aford to miss any sign that Trask left.

One good thing was, Trask was leaving all sorts of sign; broken twigs on bushes, foot prints, crushed tufts of grass and other things, all pointing out the way he had gone. Heero wondered if the man didn't know he was leaving a trail like an elephant or if he just didn't care.

"Duo, what if Trask is leaving trail for us to follow? What if he's leading us into a trap?" Heero glanced around, he suddenly felt as if Trask was hiding behind a nearby bolder, waiting to pounce.

"I don't think so. There was no indication that he knew anything about wilderness trapping in his bio. He was mostly a colony cat. And a dedicated townie, as far as I could tell. I've been keeping an eye out just in case. You keep your eyes on the trail and I'll keep an eye on the rest. Just like we've been doing."

Heero frowned. "I should have thought of that days ago. I'm slipping."

"No, you're not. We've both been at peak for way too long. We're both too on edge. Come on, lets find this asshole so we can go on vacation." Duo tugged on Heero's arm until he moved to rest his head on his shoulder. "Rest a bit, love. It'll be fine. We're both too cold and too tired. We need to take a day and rest. Let's look for a cave or something. Ok?" Duo dipped his head and kissed Heero on the temple. "Ok?"

Heero finally looked up after Duo had kissed his way across his forehead and down his nose. "Ok, ok. You're right. We really do ... I really need to rest. My feet hurt, my back is killing me and I really just want to smack that Trask over the head with something."

Duo tugged on Heero's arm. "Come on, let's get going. I'll let you have one. Just one. And you can't kill him, or even break anything important. Ok?"

Heero sighed loudly. "Ok. Keep an eye out for somewhere we can rest."

Duo glanced around. "Maybe ... if we're really lucky, we can find a cabin. There's summer places up here. I heard that they all have ... amenities." He walked for a while. "Hey! Maybe Trask will lead us to one. We can pick him up and have a nice rest all in one. And, if we're really, really lucky, there will be a nice clearing big enough for a chopper to land."

Heero grunted. He wished Duo would shut up. They would never be that lucky, it just didn't happen and Duo's happy, wishful tone was beginning to bother him. He hated it that Duo was sure to be disappointed, he wanted to give Duo everything he wanted and it hurt when he couldn't.

Duo noticed the frown on Heero's face. "Stop frowning like that. I know it won't happen but ... I can dream, right? And, if I don't get it, well, dreaming's free. And it keeps my mind off how bad my feet hurt."

Heero gave up. "Ok, ok. Just don't blame me if we wind up falling into a river or something."

"Grouch."

"Sorry."

.

Marcus Trask was actually a horrible woodsman, just very lucky. For now. He was in full flight, traveling as fast as he could toward an airport he knew of. He was navigating by the GPS in his phone.

He was also out of food, tents and anything even vaguely resembling food.

The snow wasn't slowing him down much as he wasn't carrying anything much in his pack. The only reason he hadn't discarded it was it still held his gun, sleeping bag and Credit card. The old fart at the trading post wouldn't take it, demanding the last of his cash. He'd paid but he'd also almost returned to take vengeance on him. He'd realized that he couldn't as it would leave a trail for his pursuers to follow.

He stopped to check his path and cursed when he realized that he was still at least four days out from his target and it was snowing again and looked like a blizzard was just over the horizon.

He hated the wilderness. The cold, the wind, the filth, the ... everything. He wanted to be back on a colony, or even a station. He knew when it was going to rain, what the temperature that day was going to be, it was all in the papers. Everything here on Earth was so uncontrolled, so messy, it was indecent.

And everyone here was a slack-jaw, ignorant, stupid and slow. They didn't know how things should be, how important he was. He knew he was supposed to keep a low profile but ... he was a man. He needed things. His sister was supposed to support him in a style he was accustomed to. And ... Trask just gave up. Things were going to change or he was going to make them. Once he got off this filthy ball of mud and back in to clean, perfect space. Even a station would do. He wondered if this was hell.

.

Duo called a halt, panting slightly. "Heero, I have to stop. Just for a minute."

"We'll stop as long as you need. I don't think we're going to catch Trask. I've lost his trail. He's been leaving sign all over but now ... I think I missed a turn somewhere in the last couple of miles."

Duo grumbled. "Well, fuck." He got a look at Heero's guilty face. "Stop that! It's not your fault. Trask probably took off over that shale field back a way. Smoother walking. Come on."

Heero agreed that it was the only place Trask could have gotten off the trail without leaving massive sign. So they back tracked.

It didn't take them long to find the place Trask had left the trail. They'd missed it the first time though because something else had entered the trail about ten feet past it. Trask had left by stepping over several clumps of grass, which hid his sign from the trail.

Heero picked up his trail again and they followed him onto the lose, sliding shale. They also caught it when he left the dangerous rocks again.

He'd shifted from one trail to another but he was still headed in the same general direction. Toward Vuntut Park.

Duo went totally silent. They hiked in driving snow until they couldn't see an inch in front of themselves, then they pitched the tent. Heero drove the stakes into the ground as deeply as he could manage while Duo wrestled the canopy into place. The missing rod made it difficult enough but the wind made it nearly impossible. Duo finally put up one of the survival tents inside it as well.

They settled in to try to rest, the screaming wind and slapping sound of the tent made it nearly impossible so they wound up just holding each other and trying not to shake with imagined cold.

"Fuck. This is ridiculous. I'm cold, you're cold. Why are we so damn cold? We're in two tents and sleeping bags. I'd light the lamp but I'm afraid that it will catch this survival tent on fire." Heero shuddered and sighed.

Duo, teeth chattering, grumbled, "I don't know. We've been eating enough, I think. Maybe we should double up on rations? I'm still hungry."

Heero snuggled up to Duo, as much for physical comfort as warmth. "Maybe. In this cold, as much work as we've been doing, we might not be getting enough calories. I don't feel ... well, I'm not confused, am I? If we're both suffering from deprivation, we might not notice."

Duo thought about this for a few moments. "I don't know. I don't think I'm messed up but, if we're both messed, we might not notice. I think we need to find someplace to hole up for a day or so. Eat well, get really warm and take care of our bodies. Feet especially."

"You're right. As soon as the weather clears, we'll find someplace. Get out your phone and see what you can do with it. I'll try too. Two heads being better than one. I hope."

So they got out their phones, which were thankfully water proof, and tried to find some place to get in out of the storms.

It didn't take them long to find a summer cabin about ten miles away from where they were. They planned their hike carefully, they didn't want to be out in the cold any longer than they needed to. They knew, now, that they were in worse shape than they'd thought, it had taken them each four tries to get their searches to work. Not bad for a civilian, but terrible for them.

.

While Heero and Duo were immured in their tents, Trask was in more trouble than they were. He'd kept his sleeping bag and one tent but he never really figured out how to pitch it properly so his collapsed on him during the storm.

When it stopped he found that he was frozen to the ground. His tent was melted to the earth and the sleeping bag frozen to it. He crawled out of both and headed away, leaving them to their fate. He knew that the airport, which was his target, was less than twenty miles away. But it was twenty miles across open ground, in a cold wind.

.

Heero woke up, knowing that they had to get going. He'd fallen asleep on 'duty', something he'd never done before. This told him that both he and Duo had to get to real shelter soon.

"Duo! Wake up. Duo!" Heero shook Duo by the shoulder, something he would never have done under normal circumstances. While they were on a job, it wasn't a good idea at all.

Now, Duo was so slow to wake that Heero was really worried. But Duo woke at a second hard shake.

"Huh? What's going on?" Duo tried to sit up but didn't make it very far. The tent had collapsed onto the survival shelter within it, pushing the top of that down until there was only about 18" of clearance.

"I fell asleep. Get up! We have to get going. It's ten miles to the cabin and we're going to take all day to do it. We're too messed up to make it any faster." Heero shivered at the very thought of the hike ahead.

"Ugh! I'm up." Duo finally realized what Heero had said. "You fell asleep? Man, this is not good. You never fall asleep."

Heero just laced on his boots, handing Dou his before starting. "Here, lets get going. We have to get out of the cold before dark and I'm really afraid we're going to have a real hard time making ten miles. I'm exhausted right now, and I had a good .." He consulted his watch. "ten hours plus."

Duo took his boots and got them on. He knew they were both in real trouble, especially him, his feet were blistered across both heels.

They packed up their things and started off. They were lucky that they would be hiking along the tree line. This would keep them out of the worst of the wind and the ground was nearly clear. Heero led the way for the first part of the hike but they would be trading positions every two hours. The first person had to break the trail through the snow and it was more tiring than they had expected.

They walked for the two hours then exchanged places. Heero had thought that Duo would only last an hour before he was staggering but Duo surprised him by lasting the whole two. In one way, it was a relief because he could rest a bit, but it also worried him; he was afraid that Duo was over extending himself to keep up his side of the job.

They pushed as hard as they could and made the ten miles in five hours. Heero was never so glad to see shelter as now.

The summer cabin was small, just a great room, bed/bath combination. The long couch in the great room folded out into a full size bed. A storage shed attached to the back reveled a tipi and some other gear. It also had staples; flour, sugar, lard, dried peas, beans and lentels, canned goods and dried foods. Duo nearly drooled at the sight of carrots and instant mashed potatoes.

There was also a huge pile of fire wood. Heero hauled in armloads while Duo build fires in the cook stove, fire place and pot bellied heating stove. He also got a huge pot of snow and put it on the pot bellied stove. He knew a few tricks with stoves that he'd learned in Sweepers. The stoves were totally different but the theory would work.

By the time Heero was done hauling in wood, Duo had all their clothing strung on chair backs around the fire place, steaming gently. He also had the sleeping bags on the hearth.

Heero flopped down on the couch, exhausted again. "Man, I'm tired. We, neither one of us, was getting enough calories. I checked the storage shed again. There's some vac packed meat in there. I put a package of stew beef on the counter by the sink."

Duo paused to check on the big pot before joining Heero on the couch. "Great. I'll put it in the pot with some freeze dried veggies. Stew, easy, quick and I don't have to stand over it."

Heero yawned. "Too bad there's no slow cooker. We could just dump everything in it and let it go."

Duo heaved himself up from the couch and ambled to the counter. The small kitchen was set into a inset in the wall. It was just a five foot section of counter and a double sink with cabinets over and under. There was also a fridge but it was in the shed. He fished around in one of the cabinets and got out a pot. He dumped the bag of vacuum packed meat into it and a big hand full of carrots, another of peas, some dried onion flakes and a few bits of this and that. He salted it and put in pepper and some herb mix. Then he took the whole thing and put it on the back part of the cook stove.

"There. I'll add some water and leave it to simmer. Not a crock pot but it's older than that an works the same way." He used a small sauce pot to dip water out of the big melting pot and add it to the stew pot. "I'll add water a little along to keep the stew from being watery."

Heero nodded. "Good. I'll get up and add water the next time. But ... I'm going to sleep. Wake me if you need me."

Duo thought about that for a moment. "That stew isn't going to need anything added to it for at least three hours. I'm going to sleep too. Let's get the bed folded out."

They folded the bed out and just climbed in. The sheets were a bit musty but neither one of them cared a bit.

Meanwhile, Trask was finding that he couldn't go any farther and was looking for someplace to hole up for a while. He wasn't finding much.

.

Heero and Duo both slept for four hours. Duo woke, put more water in on the stew and went back to bed. While he was doing that, Heero fed the fires then joined him. They continued to sleep soundly for another four hours.

Duo woke but just stayed in bed. He felt warm, cozy and comfortable. He didn't want to get up.

Heero moved restlessly for a few moments then woke. "Mmm, I better get up. The fires are dying down. Should I put more water in the pot?"

Duo sighed then struggled to disentangle himself from the covers. "No. I better get up and taste it. If you add the water then I won't get a real sense of how it's doing."

They both got up and tended to their tasks. After smelling and tasting, Duo added more salt to his concoction. "This should be ready in ... another hour. I cooked it down pretty good as the meat was a bit on the dry side. It's more ... mushy than I really like but what the hell."

Heero shrugged. "Just put it in bowls, cover it with mashed potatoes and call it pot pie."

"That sounds good. I'll do that. Check our sleeping bags, will you? I want to bundle them up soon. And our clothes. If they're dry repack them too. They're blocking part of the heat from the fireplace."

Heero nodded and turned to the task while Duo made the potatoes, ladled the stew into heat proof bowls and put them in the oven.

This done, Duo turned to the condition of his now dry, warm and very painful feet.

He hissed as he pulled his socks off. He'd not had any dry ones to put on so he'd just kept on the one's he'd been hiking in. This proved to be a mistake as the blisters on his heels had ruptured some time or other and the socks were stuck to them. It really hurt when he pulled them off. His hiss brought Heero over.

"Damnit, your feet look like hamburger. Here, let me get the med kit." Heero turned to fish out their kit.

"Don't. Look around, they've probably got something here. We need to save our stuff. And take your socks off too. I bet your feet are in just as bad shape as mine." Duo bit his lip as he tried to look at his heels.

This is always hard, heels just aren't meant to bend that way.

Heero stripped off his own socks, swearing softly as they pulled off scabs too.

Duo held out his hand for the kit Heero found over the kitchen sink. "Here. I'll fix you then you do me."

"I'd love to but you know the rules. No sex on a mission." Heero smirked at Duo's open mouthed expression.

"Damnit." Duo tried to frown but wound up snickering before saying, "Later. Feet. Yours then mine."

So Duo inspected Heero's feet while he lay on his stomach on the hearth rug. His heels were a bit blistered but his toes were a mess.

"What the hell? You have a wrinkle on your toes?" Duo frowned at the blisters that went from the first joint of Heero's little toe across the other toes and up the top of his foot for an inch or so. "I've warned you and warned you about that."

Heero flushed a bit. "I know. I just ... I guess my feet were so cold I didn't notice."

"Well, I'll let you off this time but ... for heaven's sake, check to make sure you don't have wrinkles."

Heero promised to do so, especially now that he realized that Duo's obsession with wrinkles had a good explanation.

He took a look at Duo's feet and felt a bit sick. Duo's feet were in worse condition than his but it was all in his heels. And those blisters hadn't come from wrinkles in his socks, they were from constant chaffing by wet socks. The damp softened the skin, making it more prone to chaffing and blistering. He sighed, tended the hurts and wrapped bandages around Duo's feet.

"There. That'll keep them clean, but we'll have to remove them and do something else, that gauze will wrinkle and roll. Then you'll be even worse off."

Duo sighed and nodded. "You're right." He sniffed. "I better get up and get our pies, they're smelling like scorching soon." He got up and used towels to protect his hands from the hot bowls. Heero got out forks and they settled in front of the fire to eat, basking in the reflected warmth.

Little did they know that their quarry was only a few miles away, miserably huddled in a tool shed near an offshoot of the pipeline that carried crude oil from the Alaska oil fields to a refinery in Canada. This oil field was one of only three that still produced oil and was only pumped from time to time. The whole arrangement was of historical value or it would have been scrapped long ago.

Trask was cold, miserable, hungry and disgusted. He'd lost his way some how and now had no idea where he was. His phone was out of charge and he'd not brought anything to recharge it with. He'd assumed that he would have access to power before the 20 day battery ran out.

.

Heero woke with a snort. He knew it was ok to sleep but he kept waking up with a startle. He mumbled, "It's better than waking with a jerk, but still..."

"Who's a jerk? What are you mumbling about?" Duo, awakened by Heero's startle, groped for his pants and started getting dressed.

"Nothing. I just keep waking up. I don't know why." He looked out the window then went to add wood to the fire, commenting on his way, "We need to leave a note for the owners. Give them an address where they can send for compensation. Is there more stew?"

Duo said no and went to find something to cook for another meal. "You want pancakes or ... waffles?"

"I don't care, whatever you want. I wish there was eggs though." Heero had dreamed of eggs.

"There's powdered. I can reconstitute them and make scrambled." Duo looked out the window. He'd noticed the scowl Heero had had after his glance. After looking at the sky, Duo knew why, it was over cast, grey and lowering. It was going to snow again.

Duo just muttered, "Fuck!" and went to get the powdered eggs, pancake mix, syrup and butter. "At least there's butter."

Heero blinked for a moment. "Butter? How the hell do we have butter."

Duo smirked at Heero. "It's canned. How weird is that?"

"Not really. I remember using it ... where ... Sally Po had it. I don't remember exactly where we were but it was really good. Need help?"

"No, but I'd appreciate it. You mix this." Duo handed Heero the pancake batter.

Heero took the bowl and whisk from Duo. He whisked the batter until it was mixed enough then went to find a frying pan. He nearly dropped the pan when he heard an exclamation from the storage shed.

"Oh, man! Heero! Look what I found." Duo came hurrying in with two cans in hand. "Bacon. Real, yummy American bacon."

Heero took a can, sure enough, it was bacon. In a can. He looked at the cans for a moment. "What the hell else do they can?"

"Don't know, don't care. I'm making biscuits, there's lard and shortening." He turned back to his cooking.

Heero went to look over the canned goods. "Duo! You missed the cheese. What kind do you want? There's cheddar, mozzarella and something called jalapeno jack."

Duo called back, "Bring the cheddar."

It didn't take them long to have a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, biscuits, bacon, cheese omelets and coffee on the table. Duo looked for some sort of powdered breakfast drink mix but couldn't find any. Heero wasn't complaining, tea was enough.

They finished their food and went back to sleep. They slept most of the morning, waking to eat leftovers from breakfast for lunch. Duo turned the last of the eggs, bacon, cheese and biscuits into sandwiches.

They lounged around, reading and relaxing for most of the afternoon, ate again and made an early night of it.

Morning dawned bright and clear. Heero glanced out the window then checked his iPad.

"Damn, no signal. The cloud cover bounced signal, now that it's gone so is my connection. Duo? You got a connection?"

Duo checked his phone. "I've got one on my phone. We really need your computer. I'm never going anywhere without one of my own. Melks wouldn't have gotten away with both. So, check your phone. And why do we still call them phones when they're a bit of everything?"

Heero shrugged. "Habit. I've got signal on my phone. The GPS shows that we're here." He pointed to a spot on the map spread out on the table. "And the airport is ... here. It's the only place Trask could be headed for."

Duo checked his phone and the coordinates. "I match. So ... it's ... about" he did things with a ruler and the calculator in his phone. "another ten miles. We can make it in a day. But ... we need to leave as much behind as we feel comfortable with."

Heero frowned. "We need to leave most of the ammo, fill the magazines we've got and leave the rest. I really don't think we're going to wind up in a fire fight. I hope."

Duo nodded. "I think we should leave half the food. If we don't catch Trask at the airport, we're going to have to give up. The weather is getting so bad that he's either going to freeze to death or hole up somewhere. And we have no chance of figuring out where."

Heero agreed, remarking sourly, "This hunt has been an exercise in suckitude from the beginning. I wish we'd turned the damn thing down. But ... I'd feel bad letting Buck down like that."

"Me too. Here, I wrote a note to the owner." Duo handed the note to Heero. It explained the situation and left an address for the owner to write to for compensation. It also said to keep the ammo and supplies for partial or full payment. Heero signed it under Duo's signature.

"Ok, there's enough stuff left here to make another breakfast. That'll use up all the stuff we've opened, since I'm going to make lunch out of the leftovers. But the sandwiches will be made with pancakes. I won't make biscuits as I'd have to open another can of shortening and I don't want to do that."

So Heero helped Duo make breakfast and sandwiches to take with them. They were both hoping to cover the ten miles to the airport in one day but everything depended on the terrain and how well they'd recovered from their exhaustion. And the condition of their feet. Heero admitted that his feet still pained him with every step. Duo wasn't in much better condition. His feet were fine, as long as he was in his stockings; but, when he put on his boots his heels explained that this wasn't the best idea.

They were going to have to nurse themselves and take a slower pace than they wanted.

Duo was examining the map again. "We can stay in the tree line, easy walking there, until about three miles from the airport, then we have to cut across open ground. It's going to be colder than hell then. I'm wearing every stitch of clothing I've got. You should too. And I've checked twice. Our packs weigh less than half what the did when we got here. That ammo was really heavy. But ... if we'd left without it, we'd have needed it. Now that we have it, we don't."

Heero just nodded his agreement as he pulled a wool sweater on. "I'm wearing the silk henley and a wool flannel shirt, and this sweater. My jacket is dry. Frankly, I'm inclined to leave one pack behind and take turns carrying the other. What do you think?"

Duo thought, they had ten miles of frozen waste land to traverse. If they started out now they would probably be there before dusk at the latest. What they might need could be carried in their pockets. Unless disaster struck. Then it was quite possible that everything in both the packs wouldn't be enough.

"I'm inclined to take all the food, one rifle and our hand guns plus all the magazines for both. The tent and sleeping bags. That's one pack. And fairly light. I put mole skin over all my blisters, sit down and let me fix your feet. Then we'll go."

Heero nodded. "Ok, fix our feet then leave. I've packed one pack with everything you mentioned. We'll leave the rest here." He sat down on the couch and let Duo put his feet in his lap. While Duo tended to his feet they continued to discuss the pro's and con's of leaving most of their supplies here.

They finally decided to leave everything but what they had in the one pack. They left at about 9 am and started on the last leg of their journey. They'd agreed that, if Trask wasn't at the airport, they'd wait there until they'd eaten the last of their food then leave.

They both knew that leaving was going to be easy, all they had to do was call Quatre and they'd be picked up, either by chopper or plane. Heero was, frankly, looking forward to leaving.

"Ok, we're off." Duo hoisted the pack.

"In more ways than one." Heero opened the door, let Duo walk past him then shut it carefully, pleased that Duo's lock picking skills had made it unnecessary to break it. "You sure the fires were all out?"

Duo didn't get mad at Heero for asking, it really wouldn't do to burn the place down by not policing their fires. "Yes, I shoveled the stoves out while you were checking outside. You cleaned the fire place so we're good to go."

Heero just nodded and stepped off the porch. They were on their way.

They hiked for an hour then found that they were both tired enough that they took a fifteen minute break then changed places. This was going to be a long haul, despite the two days off, they were both still on the verge of collapse.

Hiking was reduced to walking within the next two hours, Heero glanced at the sky then his watch. "We'll make it but just barely. We're averaging about two miles an hour. And my feet are killing me. This is bad."

"Very bad. If I see Trask in the next hour, I swear I'll shoot him just because."

"Because what?"

"Because I can." Duo visibly and verbally pouted.

"I protest." Heero grumbled.

"Why?"

"I want to beat him up."

Duo thought about this for about ten steps. "Ok. You beat him up, then I shoot him."

"If we find him." Heero was beginning to have serious doubts about that.

Lucky for them the fates had other ideas.

.

It was just noon when they found the shed. It was just by a pipeline spur. Duo gave Heero what history he knew about it, ending, "And they give tours during the summer. Mostly to conservationists and eco-whizes. It shouldn't be locked."

And it wasn't, but the second they opened the door, someone took a shot at them

"Well, fuck!" Duo ducked one way while Heero went the other.

Heero stared wide eyed across the door at Duo. "What the hell?"

"You'll never take me. I don't know who you are. Or how you found me. Just go away."

Duo took a deep breath, the cold air biting at his lungs. "Trask? Give up! We've followed you thousands of miles. We're not giving up now."

Heero used hand signs to tell Duo to stay where he was, blocking Trask's way out. He just nodded, drew his pistol and got set up.

Heero drew his pistol also and started around the side of the building, hoping that there was a way in. He was soon disappointed to find that there wasn't. There was a small window but it was too small for even Duo to crawl through.

He levered himself up by his fingertips on the window frame to look in the window. He saw a figure crouched behind some piece of machinery. It ... he was holding a hand gun that Heero identified as a small caliber, perhaps a .38. It was a revolver. Heero wondered if Trask had lost his arms or was that what he'd left home with?

After one last look he worked his way back to Duo. "It's Trask or I miss my guess. He's got a revolver and there's no sign of a reloader. No back door, just a little window. You'd have trouble getting through it."

Dou nodded. "Ok. Draw his fire until he's empty?"

"Yeah, but ... we have to be really careful. Neither one of us can take any chances."

Heero looked around, found a rock; not that difficult around here, and chucked it through the door.

Two shots rang out in quick succession. Heero grinned and whispered. "Three."

Duo glanced across the door at him and whispered back, "Two or three?"

Heero thought for a moment, consulting the mental picture he had of Trask. "Three. No sense in taking chances."

"Ok. What next?" Duo knew as well as Heero that the rock trick wouldn't work again.

In answer, Heero found another object to throw. This time it was a big clod of dirt which he threw at the side of the shed, flinging himself to the ground the second he did so.

This drew two more shots, which sang over his head like bees. Heero rolled over to smirk at Duo. "One left."

In side the shed, Trask was cursing himself. He'd only had the small pistol since he'd left his pack behind, forgetting that his 9mm was still in it instead of his pocket. He'd also left all his ammo behind. All he had left was one shot and a knife. He knew he was going to be captured but he vowed that it wouldn't be without some blood in payment. If he could kill or badly injure one of them, he might even have a chance to escape.

Both Heero and Duo knew that this was what he had to be thinking so they were both wary as they tried to plan something that got Trask out of the shed without exposing them to his last shot.

Heero nodded to Duo then signed, "I'm going to break the window."

Duo nodded back and flattened himself on the ground.

Heero picked up a rock then crawled around to the corner of the building so he could throw the rock from an angle. It hit the glass with a loud thunk but didn't break it, Trask's last bullet did.

Duo charged him from a runners crouch and slammed him into the back of the shed. Heero scrambled to get back around to the front and in the door. He was just in time to see Trask struggling to get his knife out of his coat pocket. He grabbed Trask by the wrist and squeezed until the man screamed in agony and dropped the knife.

Duo pinned him to the wall, spinning him around and twisting his uninjured arm up between his shoulder blades. Heero snatched the knife up from the floor and stabbed it into the nearest 4x4. He then pulled his handcuffs out of a pocket and snapped them around Trasks wrists.

"Search him, Duo." Heero turned to Duo and noticed that he was a bit pale.

"Maybe you should do that. He cut me. Fucker!" Duo quickly pulled his coat off and found the cut on his arm. It wasn't deep or even very long but it was bleeding heavily.

Heero searched Trask roughly, smacking him on the back of the head when he protested.

"Shut up! You ... you've led us on a chase from SanFran to hell's back door, stabbed my partner and in general been a pain in our asses. If you so much as breath funny, I'll break your legs."

Trask stared into blazing blue eyes for a second, saw hell and retreated. He obediently turned, letting Heero run his hands up his legs and over his arms and body. Heero retrieved another knife, a folder that was useless, and found nothing else. He put Trask on the floor with instructions to stay.

Duo had gotten out the first aid kit and was examining the cut on his arm. He smiled a bit shakily up at Heero, saying, "It's not that bad, really. A couple of butterfly's should do it."

Heero eyed the wound for a moment. It was about two inches long and a quarter inch deep. It was bleeding freely; which Duo was encouraging, now that he could see how serious it was. "Where's the clotter pen?" Duo handed it over.

"I was going to let it bleed a bit more, you think?"

Heero looked Duo over. "No, you're too pale. I'll wash it out with this." He held up a bottle of Quickclean, a one time pouch of fluid which contained an analgesic and antibiotic. He poured it over the wound and watched as it clotted easily. "There. It's already clotting. Give me that pen and I'll seal it. Then butterfly, bandage and ... maybe an extra layer of gauze?"

Duo thought for a moment. "Yeah. Sounds good. Oh, and ... kick Trask. He's trying to sneak up on us."

Heero didn't even say a word, he just turned around and smacked Trask across the face with an open hand. "You stay where I put you! Next time, I'll use a fist." Heero was not in the mood to worry about human rights or mistreatment of prisoners and Trask knew it. He also knew exactly who he was dealing with now and he wasn't about to piss either one of them off. Especially the purple-eyed demon he'd cut. Shinigami was not someone to mess with.

Heero turned to tend to Duo's arm, applying butterfly's and a heavy bandage then covering that with an ace bandage wound from wrist to elbow to protect it better.

Duo rolled his shirt sleeve back down. "Thanks, Heero." He turned to glower at Trask. "You cut my coat. I like that coat. If you so much as twitch wrong, we're going to fix you good. We've got a letter of execution and I'm not afraid to use it. Up close and personal doesn't bother me a bit. See?"

Trask nodded, turning pale as milk. "I do. I know who you two are. Exactly who you are. I won't be a problem. I swear."

Duo just snorted then barked, "You better not be!"

Heero just gave their prisoner, he'd never really think of him as Trask, Marcus, or anything else, a beady eyed glare then turned to help Duo on with his coat. Heero zipped it up, helped Duo on with his gloves and scarf then picked up the backpack.

Trask sneered, "You'd think you were his lover the way you treat him." He flinched back from the twin glares he faced.

Heero just snarled, "He is. Wanna make something of it?"

Trask shook his head, he knew he was in real trouble now, messing around with someone's lover was a guaranteed smack down anywhere.

People would think that, once caught, a fugitive would still fight and make trouble. They'd be mistaken, most of them crumpled like wet tissue paper. Trask was no different. He had run until he couldn't run anymore. He was well aware who had him in custody and he didn't want any part of fighting them. All he wanted was to make it into civilization in one piece. He could get bail and run again.

Duo made sure his jacket was closed properly then checked on Trask. He was bundled up properly too, courtesy of Heero. Duo had to snicker a bit as Heero had zipped his jacket over his arms, holding them to his sides.

Heero led them out into the open. "Ok, let's get going. It's getting colder and dark. I don't like the looks of the sky."

Duo eyed the sky too. "Me neither. It's looking like snow again. We do need to get moving."

"You ok?"

Duo shifted on his feet. "Yeah, I feel a little shaky but I'm good to go."

They started out for the air port, while they walked, Duo got signal on his iPad and typed an email to Quatre telling him to zero in on the signal from the device and send some sort of transport to pick them up as soon as possible. He got an instant conformation with a signature that proved that it came from Quatre's personal assistant. In other words, Trowa.

Duo told Heero about the message. Heero smiled back at him, his mind eased by the message.

They hiked as quickly as they could but all of them were foot sore and worn thin. Trask bitched and complained for about the first quarter mile, then Duo got in his face and snarled, "Stuff it! You're the reason we're all in this condition. If you'd just stayed put, gone to trial and done your time, well, we'd all be in better shape. And what the hell were you thinking, jumping bail anyway?"

"I didn't want to go to prison down here. I hate Earth. It's ... disgusting. I want to be extradited to ... L3." Trask looked like nothing so much as a sulky little boy.

"Fine. I'll see what I can do." Heero poked Trask between the shoulder blades. "Get moving and shut up. I've got a pack full of dirty socks." He poked him again. "And that is a threat."

They continued to walk as the sky continued to darken. Duo was shivering constantly now and Heero wasn't much better. Trask was in a condition somewhere between Duo and Heero. He was cold but not shivering much and his feet hurt, as did his back, but he was just sore from unaccustomed exercise. The difference in their conditions came about because Heero and Duo had done a forced march to catch Trask while Trask had taken it easier on himself, having no idea that his pursuers were so close.

They hiked for over an hour under skies that continued to darken with threatening, rolling clouds. Heero kept an eye on the sky while Duo kept an eye on Trask. Trask just struggled to keep walking which was hard with his arms bound down and his hands behind his back.

Heero checked his coordinates. "We're about three miles out and making about a mile and a half an hour. Two more hours and we'll be out of the weather." He squinted into the distance. "Duo! Look! Right there, between those two hills and at about six degrees both sides. See it?"

Duo squinted too. "Yeah, I do. It's only got three buildings beside the two hangers but it's beautiful. Can't we hurry?"

"If Trask cooperates, yes. I think we ought too. Look at the sky."

Duo looked up just in time to get hit in the eye with a snow flake. "Well, fuck. Come on, you."

Trask still didn't fight. He wanted out of the cold and wind as much as anyone of them, so he forced himself to hurry. "If you'd give me my arms free, I could go faster."

"Not a chance. You're staying the way you are. If you try to escape, I'll shoot you. Don't believe I won't."

Trask could believe that either one of his captors would shoot, he'd seen it in their eyes. "Ok, ok. Don't get your shorts in a bunch. Why're you so pissed at me anyway?"

"Um ... gee, let me see. Torture, rape, murder, bail jumping. Take your pick." Duo glowered at Trask's back.

"Fuck that! All the charges are from during the wars. It was war. Don't see you getting tried as war criminals." Trask managed to sound as indignant as he did petulant.

Duo snorted. "Well, see. We never tortured or raped anyone, and the people we killed, most of them at least, were soldiers. And neither one of us jumped bail. Ever."

"Like you wouldn't if you had to." Trask looked incredulous.

Heero just ducked his head to keep the snow out of his eyes and growled, "My word is worth something. Signing a contract is giving your word. You broke yours and broke the trust of a stupid boy. Neither one of those is something I'd do. Neither would Duo. So, just no."

Duo chimed in with. "And you're a fuck wad for doing it. Jason may be a dumb shit but he trusted you when no one else would and you betrayed that trust. Stupid."

Trask was suddenly seeing the down side to running from his bail, all the down side.

Heero snorted, producing a cloud of exhalation in front of his face, "I'll bet you anything you want that you'll never get bail again. Even if you get approved for bail by the judge no one will give it to you. You'll stay in jail until your trial and sentencing then the judge will kindly give you half off your sentence."

Duo nodded unseen and tossed back, "You bet. If you want to be extradited for trial at a colony, now you'll have to wait until half your sentence is served before you can even petition the courts. You're such a fuck up."

Trask hiked in silence for the next twenty minutes. Finally, he grumbled, "Well, I don't suppose either of you have a spare set of snow goggles you'd share?"

Duo, who had been squinting into the increasingly driving snow, snapped shortly, "No, we left those behind to lighten the loads. Shut up."

Heero who had established a compass line, looked at it and made sure they were still on course. "We should hit the end of the runway in another half mile or so. I've been counting steps to get an estimation of how far we've gone. I'll be glad when we get there."

Duo shivered hard then stopped walking, "Heero, you go on, get Trask locked up then come back and get me."

Heero turned to see Duo just standing, shaking hard, head bowed.

"No! Not a chance in hell. I'll leave him behind and come back for him. He'll stay where I put him, if he knows what's good for him." Heero glared at Trask as if daring him to do something.

Trask was no fool, no matter what anyone said, and knew what was best for him. "You help him. I'll walk in front of you. I won't cause a problem, I swear."

Heero eyed him for a second. "You won't, if you know what's good for you."

Trask just nodded once. "Exactly. Come on, help him and let's get there."

Heero wondered briefly why Trask was being so cooperative but gave it up in favor of getting them all out of the now driving snow and freezing wind.

Another forty-five minutes found them entering into a building that turned out to be the tower complex. In other words, it was the control shack. The first room contained a control desk with readouts for leading small air craft in to land. It also had a kitchen/sitting room, a bathroom and a bed room. Last but very important, it had a supply closet which contained nothing except a set of shelves with some cleaning supplies, toilet paper, paper towels and such. Heero locked Trask in and told him in no uncertain terms that he'd tie him to a pillar if he heard a peep out of him.

Trask settled for being out of his coat, sitting down on the floor, wrapped in a blanket with his hands cuffed in front of him. He wasn't stupid enough to try to escape into a blizzard. He was beginning to believe that he wasn't nearly as smart as he'd thought.

Heero returned to the main room to find Duo making a fire in the fire place. He'd bumped up the thermostat to 70 degrees the second they'd gotten in the door. He just hoped there was enough heating oil to last. He really didn't have to worry as the tank in the basement was self heating and full, containing enough fuel to keep the building toasty for six months a least.

Duo moaned, shivering and rubbing his arms. "Man, I'm tired of shaking. I can't stop. Fuck."

Heero dumped his wet coat and outer garments on the floor in front of the fireplace. He stripped Duo down to his pants and did the same with his clothing handing Duo a dry blanket and saying, "Here. Wrap this around you. I'll be back in a second." He then moved the couch from against the wall to in front of the fireplace. Between it and the central heating, the room was warming up nicely.

Dou was actually concerned enough about Trask to ask, "That storage room have a vent?"

"Yes, and Trask is sitting right on it. Now, come closer." He pulled Duo close and hugged him tightly. "I was so scared. You still look like shit."

"I'm still cold. I hate cold. It settles into my bones. I'll be ok in a while, as soon as I stop shivering. And I really want something warm to drink. When I stop shivering."

Heero agreed, he really wanted a cup of tea or coffee, or even hot chocolate. He thought that, if they got something warm to eat and a hot drink, they'd both feel much better. He was right. Duo stopped shivering after about twenty minutes of cuddling so Heero got up to make some food and hot drinks. He didn't make it very far as his feet gave out.

He stumbled, realized that his left foot was refusing to flex and held onto the nearest chair, waiting for the cramp to pass.

Duo noticed at once and asked sharply, "Heero, are you alright? What's up?"

"Cramp in my foot. I need to sit." Heero groped to get to the seat of the chair.

Duo hurried over to help him. All his blisters were on his heels, while Heero had blisters on the toes of both feet, his heels and one on the ball of his left foot. Duo got Heero into the chair while Heero apologized for making him get up.

"Oh, shut it, goof ball. I'll make something warm, I bet the stove works. I really don't want to use those heaters, they take too long." While he spoke Duo fished around to find a pot, check that the water was on, fill the pot and get it on the stove. "I'm going to heat the meal packs in the pot then use the boiling water to make our drinks. I'll wipe the packs off first. Ok with you?"

Heero realized that he was now shivering. "Yeah, anything to get a hot drink. Check on Trask, will you? I don't want him to freeze before I shoot him."

Duo chuckled softly. "Ok. But I get to shoot him, you just wanted to beat him up." He brought a blanket from the supply in the closet to Heero who wrapped up in it. Duo kept the other blanket wrapped around himself.

"It's the other way around, I think." Heero was glad to see Duo was recovered enough to joke.

Duo just cackled maniacally and turned back to his cooking.

It didn't take long for the water to be hot enough to make tea. Duo ladled out two mugs full then remembered Trask and got a third. He made tea, leaving it to steep while he dropped the three entrees and the veg, still in their packages into the now boiling water. He sweetened his tea and Heero's but left Trask's plain, he gave Heero's tea to him and knocked on the door of the locked room.

"I'm putting a cup of tea on the floor with some sugar. I'll open the door and you can get the tea. Don't try anything."

Trask waited until the door was fully open before he went for his tea. He retrieved the mug and sugar packets. "Spoon?"

"Use your finger." Duo waited until Trask was back in his spot by the heater vent then locked the door again.

Heero managed to move from the chair by the door to the kitchen table while Duo was delivering the tea to Trask. He settled into the chair, watching the boiling pot so it wouldn't boil over. It wouldn't hurt any thing but it would make a bit of a mess. He didn't fancy standing up to deal.

Duo came back in with a smile on his face. "I found some stuff in the basement, and the oil tank is full." He plopped an armful of food on the table, canned goods rolled and the bag of flour fell over. Heero caught the cans easily.

"You ok?" Heero knew that Duo usually wasn't that careless.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I'd like to say fine but I'm just really tired. I want a good night's sleep without keeping half an ear out for the phone, some creep or a car pulling up. Let's call Q now, I want out of here."

Heero just grumbled and started to get up to get his phone. Duo stopped him and went to fetch it out of his jacket.

Heero called Quatre's private number and got Trowa. "Hey, Trowa, can you send someone to pick us up at these coordinates?" Heero key in the command that activated the GPS in his phone. It was only good for location purposes, it sent out a signal that could be picked up by rescuers and so on.

Trowa replied that he'd send someone right away and that they should be there within the next 12 hours. He asked how they were and Heero admitted that they probably should see a medic as soon as practical. Trowa agreed to send one on their transport as well as someone able to take charge of Trask.

.

Little did Heero and Duo know, but Quatre and Trowa had already made arrangements for getting to them. All they had to do was figure out exactly where they were, put their yacht into synchronous orbit, and send a shuttle down. The size of the shuttle was dependent on the size of the airport.

They decided to land at Anchorage international, jump to Juno in a large helicopter then make sure they could land it at the tiny airport the GPS coordinates led them to. The chopper could land in an area the size of a football field so they were sure they could land, unless the airport was one of those whose landing strip was crowded by trees.

Fifteen minutes after Heero's call, Trowa announced that they'd be taking the large shuttle with attendant crew and a Chinook for the rest of the trip. The chopper they were going to use was still a popular design after more that 500 years of use. It was an all purpose, heavy duty workhorse that first appeared in 2005 Old Calender, the Model 1-234LR hadn't changed much since.

They were setting it up so that half the cargo hold was passenger seating and the other half a well equipped medi-bay. In other words, it was an ariel ambulance with passenger seating for Quatre, Trowa, Dr. Gupta, and three armed guards, Maguanacs all.

They left the Azeera in orbit and landed at Juno, Alaska twenty minutes later. It took them another half an hour to get the Chinook out of the shuttle and ready to fly. When they took off from Juno they left behind the shuttle and it's crew to sort out particulars and deal with a still traumatized ground crew of Alaskan civilians. They'd been put aside gently but firmly by the crew of the shuttle. The controlled chaos that had followed had left them stunned and well aware that the group had accomplished in 30 minutes what it would have taken them at least three hours to do.

They had approximately three hours to get to the pickup point before the next storm front shut it down again.

The Chinook took off for the airport, which didn't actually have a name, just a number. It would take approximately an hour and a half at the optimum cruising speed of the chopper.

.

Heero looked out the window. He heard a noise that had to be a chopper, a big one. He didn't see it yet, but he knew it was coming soon.

"Duo! Hear that?"

Duo walked up beside him and put an arm over his shoulder. "I do. We better get dressed and clean up the mess. I won't be nice to leave all this for someone else to clean up."

Heero snorted softly. "Duo, these are people Quatre sent. Chill."

Duo laughed. "Ok, ok. Let me ... never mind, let them handle Trask, I'm tired of looking at his ugly mug."

Heero glanced out the window again. "I just hope they don't have trouble landing in this mess."

Duo just went to the control console and turned it all on. He checked quickly and found the control he was hoping for, a nice homer. This device made it easy to bring an aircraft in. It would lead the chopper right to them and land them right outside the door. He turned it on then tried the radio.

He didn't bother with odd call signs or any war time codes, he just asked, "Quatre? This is Duo. That you in the chopper?"

He got an instant reply. "Yes, this is Quatre. I was just getting ready to call you on your phone. We've got a beeper. That coming from you?"

"Yes. How far out are you?" Duo waited for several seconds, a small light on the control panel telling him that Quatre had closed his mic but not broken contact.

Quatre came back on and announced, "Pilot says, six minutes. Be ready. We're coming in, just wait for us. We've got a medic."

Duo keyed the mic and replied, "Good. 01 is foot sore, condition: motile but in pain. 02 same. Medic welcome."

Heero and Duo stood at the window and watched the chopper land about thirty feet away from the door. It settled gently in place then idled down, the rotors slowing then stopping completely.

Duo just commented, "Q hasn't lost his touch."

"You sure that wasn't Trowa?" Heero knew the pilot was Quatre but wanted to see why Duo was so sure.

"No, Quatre, definitely. Trowa would have landed farther out and had his people out before the rotors stopped. Stop winding me up." Duo grinned at Heero who just shrugged and chuckled

"I'm sitting back down. My feet are still really sore." Heero limped to the easy chair he'd claimed for his own and flopped gracelessly into it.

Duo continued to watch out the window so he saw the chopper cargo bay door slide to the side and several people jumped to the ground. Quatre's white blond head was shining about his dark parka while Trowa was only distinguishable by his height. The rest of the group were rather nondescript, all of them in dark parkas and pants with the WEI logo on the left breast and name tags under that.

They scurried to the door with Trowa striding behind them. Quatre stayed with the chopper, standing outside the bay door and watching for a signal to reopen the door. It would stay closed until they were ready to get back in, the heaters couldn't keep up with an open door and no one wanted to sit in a cold chopper.

Trowa opened the door and everyone crowded into the small control room. Duo called, "Come on in. We're in the sitting room."

The doctor made a bee line for Heero as he knew that he was worst of the two. If he wasn't, he'd have been standing up. The medic/ nurse motioned for Duo to sit down too.

Two other men waited for a moment for the medics to get started then one asked, "Where's Trask? We're supposed to take him into our custody so you don't have to mess with him."

Duo just pointed down the hall. "In the supply closet on the left, key's in the door lock. Watch him. I don't trust him as far as I could throw the Azeera."

"Gotcha. We'll watch him." The two men made their way down the hall and unlocked the door.

Trask looked up and sighed. He was really stuck now, both of these men looked like the hard asses they were. One of them motioned for Trask to get up, which he did, the other dropped a small bag on the floor. This bag contained transport shackles that would stay on him until he was turned over to the proper authorities in San Fran. He was taken away, stuffed into a seat and never heard from again by either Heero or Duo.

While they were doing this, the medics were exclaiming over Heero's feet. They really resembled nothing so much as raw meat. He'd literally walked the skin off the ball of his left foot and the blisters on his toes were all broken and oozing. Duo wasn't in much better shape.

The medics medicated and dressed their feet then told them to put on two pairs of socks. They were not allowed to put a foot on the ground until they were back in Juno, if the doctor waiting there said they could.

Heero just told him, "There's no clean socks. We left a bunch of stuff behind and everything we brought with us is dirty."

So they decided to do the best they could with gauze and such. Heero wound up snickering a bit hysterically at the sight of his feet bound in bandages until they looked like they were in casts. Duo was in much the same shape.

The doctor and medic both laughed too but said that it was necessary to keep their feet warm since they didn't have socks.

Duo remarked with considerable mildness that he didn't think his boots would fit over the bindings. Heero just looked even more sour and told him, "You really think they're going to let us walk? Try again."

Duo yelped as Trowa picked him up. Heero managed not to flinch as the remaining guard picked him up. Contrary to popular belief, no medic will carry someone in 'Bridal' position, the one most popular in romances for the groom to carry the bride in. This position is hell on the carriers back. They'll actually use a fireman's carry, with the person on their belly over their shoulders, held in place by grasping one arm and leg.

Duo started laughing like a loon, he couldn't help it. They were rescued, on their way to someplace warm where they didn't have to worry anymore. So, he laughed.

Heero bore the carry with what dignity he could manage, snickering in his carriers ear. He man smacked him lightly on the behind and said, "Stop that, you." Heero blinked and stiffened a bit, then he started to laugh too.

Duo, who had been turned so he could see, nearly hurt himself, laughing until Trowa nearly dropped him.

"What the hell is so damn funny?" Trowa expressed his displeasure with Duo by bouncing him a couple of times.

"He smacked Heero on the ass. Oh, My God! Does he even know?"

Trowa turned a bit to look at the man, "I don't think so. Never mind, let's get you into the chopper so we can get out of here before the window closes."

Duo settled down, well aware that the 'window' that Trowa was talking about the the small space of time between storm fronts which was all that had allowed them to come in and land. They had about three hours before the next front would shut down the small airport again.

Heero was even more relaxed than Duo. He didn't care, he knew that the man had meant nothing by that swat. All he really wanted to do was get into the chopper and be away.

Trowa settled Duo on a stretcher hung from the side of the bay. Heero was settled on one on the other side and his carrier went away, he never learned the man's name.

Medics and attendants fluttered around them, wrapping them in blankets, giving them hot nutrient drinks and in general fussing.

Quatre watched for a few moments then commented in a stern voice, "I don't care what you say. You're coming with me. I'll see to it that Trask is delivered where he needs to be, but you're coming up to the Azeera."

Duo just grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

Heero nodded, "Fine. This was a really Cold Case and I'm ready for a rest. We're all yours."

Quatre blessed them with one of his cherubic smiles and went to take them away.

.

They made it to Juno and didn't even disembark. Quatre sent Trask and his two guards back to San Fran via WEI jet and forgot about him completely.

Jason was saved, Buck was happy. And Trask was held until trial, then extradited to a colony where he got a double life sentence at hard labor for war crimes. Most satisfactory to all concerned, except for Trask.

After Trask was set off, they moved the Chinook right into the hold of the shuttle, broke it down for storage and launched for the Azeera. Duo and Heero slept through the whole thing, confident that Quatre and Trowa would see them safely into space.

.

EPILOGUE

Quatre walked into the sick bay with a frown on his face. "You want to go where? And take what?"

Heero looked up from a magazine he was reading. "Duo and I want to go to L4-33359 and take the gliders we have stored at Peacecraft Airport with us. Can you do it?"

Quatre snorted. "I can do it. You know I can. But you're to stay off your feet until the doctor says otherwise. Got me?" He glowered at them both.

Duo just shrugged, "Do you see me walking around? No, I'm staying right here. Our feet will be healed by the time we get up colony, or near enough. Until then, right here." He looked Quatre right in the eye. "We're both tired and we want a vacation. We decided to look up a couple of friends we met last year. Hidalgo hated to see us leave. So ... we promised to visit, we're keeping it."

Quatre laughed. "X-gliding? Ok. I can see that. And I've heard of Hidalgo. You got it. I'll send someone to collect your gliders and bring them up. Then the Azeera is headed for L4." With that, he headed out the door to give orders.

Heero smiled at Duo. "Vacation. Great idea."

Duo grinned back. "As soon as my frost bitten toes recover completely. I'm not rushing this."

"Damn right. We don't have to. There's no war or any life threatening emergency. Feels nice."

Heero lay back and crossed his arms behind his head.

.

Yes, they really do can butter, bacon and cheese. I've used them all at one time or another.

My helicopter is based on the Chinook 234LR which came out in 1995(?) It's a heavy duty long range duel purpose chopper that is popular with civilian and military both. It can be converted to carry cargo, passengers or a combination of both.

I might write a sequel I'll call 'Warming Up.' In which Duo and Heero revisit L4-33359 and Hidalgo, Jess and go gliding. If there's enough demand.

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