Disclaimer:I don't own them and I don't make any money off of this.
Warnings:Male/male sex,graphic,violence,language, attempted NCS.
Soldier Boys
Sequel to Need
Kracken has a new yaoi book for sale. Get a signed copy at http://www.bonpublishing.com and thank you to all those who already have. *hugs*
Crapshoot
"Tell me I'm not hearing rain," Duo groaned as he came back to consciousness. His throat was dry and his head throbbed in time to the pulsing pain of his body. He blinked rapidly, trying to see, and then was reassured by Quatre.
"It's dark here, Duo. We took shelter in a cave. There's nothing wrong with your eyes."
Duo felt a warm hand pressed to his lips. Water dribbled over his lips and he greedily swallowed what went into his mouth. The water was freezing though as some of it ran into his collar. He shivered convulsively.
"So, " he croaked out, dredging down deep for a cheerful tone. "I guess we just got here and one of you is about to make a fire?"
There was silence.
"Guys?"
"Everything is wet," Zechs replied, "and our skills in that area are limited to nonexistent."
"Who gets the nonexistent label?" Duo wondered as he began to make out their shadowy shapes hovering over him.
"I do," Quatre replied guiltily.
"I thought you used to rough it in the woods... in cabins?" Duo said, puzzled.
"With servants and gas generators," Quatre replied, embarrassed. "I've never had to make a fire."
"I have experience," Zechs said and his voice took on a tone that told Duo this was a fond memory for him. "But my experience won't serve us if everything is wet."
"So," Duo said in defeat and it wasn't a question, but a facing of facts. Cold, no food, and severe injuries equaled no more Duo Maxwell. "I hate nature. Give me a damned space station with good weather controls any day."
Zechs was moving around the cave, feeling his way in the almost complete darkness. He grunted after awhile. "There is a small recess here, big enough for us all. If we fill it with our bodies, we may be able to create enough warmth to see us through the night."
"Good idea," Quatre replied. "All right, Duo?"
"Like I have a choice," Duo grumbled.
Quatre sounded very guilty now, his expression lost in shadow as he ducked his head. "I'm sorry," he said. "I wish that I had grabbed supplies of some sort, something that would have helped us now."
"Yeah," Duo groaned as Zechs picked him up and carried him to the crevice. "You make sure that the next time you see homicidal maniacs carrying me off, to god's know where, unconscious, that you take the time to gather up supplies and a better transmitter. Just shut up about it, Quatre! We both know it wasn't your fault."
They huddled in the crevice, uneven rock walls digging into flesh as they lay almost on top of each other. After while, they did warm up and Duo began to relax into sleep again. He wondered if he would die that way, just not wake up, and he thought that it was a much better way to go than some of the ways a war could make a man die.
"Peaceful," Duo murmured. "That's nice."
"02," Zechs asked quietly. "What is your status?"
"What's it matter?" Duo slurred and found himself unable to resist burrowing against Zech's warm body. The man was as hot as a furnace compared to his chilled body.
"On Hell's doorstep," Duo sighed. "I'm sure I'll get a good welcome there."
"If I can get him to the others," Quatre said softly, "I know good doctors who will take care of him. I should be told the extent of his injuries so that I can tell them when we arrive."
Zechs didn't hesitate to answer. "He had many pieces of shrapnel removed from his side where it bore the brunt of a systems explosion on board his Gundam. There were two pieces, one thirty eight inches long, and another, eleven inches long. He was impaled by them in his arm and lower side, missing vital organs, but causing severe tissue tearing and bleeding. He had been given a plasma booster and my field medic was excellent in stitching the wounds closed-"
"And I have a mole on my left ass cheek," Duo said, cutting him off, "Like I said before, doesn't matter, so why go into it? If you don't know the score, you guys, then you're stupid."
"Duo, it does matter," Quatre replied. "Don't be so pessimistic. I feel that everything will be fine."
"I feel that it won't," Duo retorted. "I wonder who'll be right?"
There was a long silence and then Duo couldn't help saying, "Quatre?"
"Yes, Duo?"
Duo blushed hotly, not wanting to have to say what he knew he had to, especially in front of the enemy... an enemy he was currently having a slumber party with in close quarters. He supposed that was a close second on the humiliation scale to what he had to say now.
"If I turn out to be right," Duo forced himself to say, "If I don't make it, you tell Heero...."
"Yes, Duo?" Quatre prompted when he faltered.
"If we'd had more time..." Duo continued haltingly. "If we'd made it out of this stinking war... We would have been something together. You understand what I'm saying?"
When Quatre answered, he sounded as if he were on the verge of tears. "I do understand, Duo. I will tell him... I think you'll be able to tell him yourself, though. When I 'feel' a thing, it usually comes to pass."
"Usually," Duo repeated sourly. "Well, if you knew anything about the Maxwell luck, you'd start worrying about the usually."
"Rest," Zechs said at last. "Enough talk."
"Your concern is heartwarming," Duo muttered, but his eyes slid shut as if Zech's command had cut the strings of the last of his willpower.
"My commander will not appreciate it if I bring him a dead Gundam pilot," Zechs replied simply.
"That's more like it," Duo chuckled. "Wouldn't want to think Zechs Marquise had gone soft."
"That would be a severe miscalculation on your part," Zechs agreed. "I follow orders. I was ordered to win this war."
"So were we," Quatre said and then softly. "Though I wish there was another way."
"Huh," Duo grunted. "I don't! I've got a score to settle."
Zechs didn't question that.
Duo bristled. "Aren't you going to ask why?"
Zechs sighed. "The setting changes, but the story stays the same. I've heard many of them. Soldiers don't always follow orders. Soldiers sometimes do evil, dishonorable things. Someone dear to you died. You wish to exact revenge on as many soldiers as possible."
"More like revenging wholesale slaughter," Duo retorted angrily. "Maybe it's common to you, that kind of thing, but you shouldn't act bored with it, like it doesn't matter."
It was Zech's turn to be angry. "That wasn't my reaction. It pains me that such things happens. I merely wanted to spare you the telling of the tale. I know why you want revenge. I understand that kind of hate. We are kindred spirits in that respect."
"Then maybe you should join our side and get a little revenge, too," Duo mocked.
"Try and rest, Duo," Quatre urged. "We have to leave as soon as there is enough light to see, whether it's raining or not."
"Yeah, okay," Duo said. Quatre had distracted him enough from his anger that he could feel the red wash of unconsciousness tugging at him again. All he had to do, he knew, was let go of his stubbornness and let it pull him under.
"I don't intend to sleep," Quatre's determined voice warned Zechs. "You may rest if you wish."
"A pacifist-terrorist and a hot tempered, revenge driven-terrorist," Zechs replied. "You are an odd combination."
"Checks and balances," was the last thing that Duo heard Quatre reply and he sounded amused.
--------------------------------
"I suggest that you put down your weapon slowly," Zechs warned as they reached a wide clearing near the end of the forest.
"What?" Quatre exclaimed, eyes going wide in trepidation as he aimed his gun at Zech's head. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that you are now surrounded by my soldiers," Zechs told him. "I have men patrolling in groups on the borders of the forest. I could hear them closing in on us."
Now that they were revealed, men strode out of the trees and surrounded them. Only Duo wasn't surprised when Commander Fremont stepped out of the trees to join them, holding a gun.
"You're going to pay for murdering my man back in the forest," Fremont snarled.
Zechs lowered Duo to the ground. Duo couldn't sit up completely, but he did prop himself on an elbow. Duo's face was as pale as a ghost, smudged with dirt, and bruised looking about his large eyes. He was shaking with his wounds and exhaustion, but he managed to retort in a strong voice, "Your MAN tried to do me back there and Zechs had to show him the error of his pervert ways. If you wanna defend that kind of shit, then I'll make sure to stomp your ass personally with my Gundam when I get back to him."
"You won't have the opportunity," Fremont sneered. "I made sure that all the men in this section were loyal to me in case of trouble."
"Jeez, that's freakin paranoid!" Duo grunted. "Were you intending to double-cross everyone all this time or are you some kind of coward and wanted an escape route in case Oz didn't work out for you?"
Fremont glared. "An intelligent man leaves nothing up to chance or other people's good graces. Being a soldier is a dangerous life. Being prepared keeps you alive."
"You won't get away with this," Zechs said calmly. The sun glinted off his helmet as he surveyed the six soldiers standing about them with drawn guns.
"You're right, "Quatre agreed. "He won't."
Fremont looked at them as if he doubted their sanity. "I believe that I already have, 'Gotten away with it'."
"No," Duo grinned. "You haven't."
Quatre held up his com link. The channel was open. "Now that we're in a clearing, and within better range, I'm able to contact the others now. I suggest that you leave immediately if you want to live."
"Quatre!" Duo complained. "Would you stop letting the bad guys go!"
Quatre gave Duo a rueful look," Every man deserves a chance to redeem himself and chose a peaceful path."
Fremont pointed his gun at Quatre's groin. "I am going to sell you to the highest bidder. If you resist, I will shoot off parts of you that you will regret losing."
"See, Quatre?" Duo said as he sank to the ground, unable to hold himself up any longer. "Some guys just don't know when to change their stripes."
Fremont glared at him. "You are a corpse already, I can see it," he said dangerously and shifted his gun to Duo. "Since I now have a healthy Gundam pilot, I can dispose of you."
Zechs quietly stepped in front of Duo. "He's my prisoner," he said sternly. "I am responsible for him."
Fremont raised eyebrows. "Are you saying that you want to die for that stinking terrorist?"
Zechs stood very straight, as if he were at attention, and then nodded, once.
"As you wish," Fremont grunted and raised his gun to shoot Zechs in the heart.
The ground shuddered. Men staggered and looked about fearfully. A rhythmic, pounding sound began to approach them and they could feel the tremors of something large on the move.
"That would be several Gundams headed your way," Duo told Fremont with relish.
"Gundams!" The men shouted it, terrified now. "Sir, " one of the men urged. "We should leave!"
Fremont nodded, but his gun didn't lower and his eyes narrowed. "First I'm going to kill these two. Take the blonde and put him on a vehicle."
Quatre leveled his gun at them. "I hope that you choose to run instead," he told the men. "You won't get away if you try and take me."
Duo sighed in exasperation. "Quatre!"
"Shoot his hand off," Fremont ordered impatiently. "He won't need it where he's going."
The guns took aim, even though the men were sweating and looking ready to bolt. Quatre saw a no win situation and lifted the barrel of his gun, He held it out loosely. "All right. I'll go with you. It won't do you any good though, I warn you."
The men grabbed Quatre and forced him along with them into the trees. Zechs still stood before Duo, arms crossed over his broad chest. The tremors were getting stronger.
"That big boom," Duo explained weakly, "Was the Gundams landing. Those tremors are them walking our way. Their pilots are so going to be pissed at you if you kill us. You're an idiot if you think you're going to get away."
"I will get away," Fremont sneered. "And I'll get a look under that helmet of yours Zechs Marquise, before I do. First things first though."
His finger began to squeeze the trigger of the gun.
"I wouldn't do that," Heero's voice said calmly.
Fremont whirled, but it was too late. Heero appeared out of nowhere and his foot kicked out and sent Fremont's gun flying. Heero's face was full of fury, black brows drawn down over blue eyes and mouth set hard. He looked like the stone cold killer he was and Fremont saw it and was afraid in an instant.
Fremont was also a trained soldier. He tried to defend himself, lashing out with bone breaking moves. Heero countered them almost carelessly, moving forward steadily until he was in reach of Fremont. His hands darted out then, like striking snakes, and closed on Fremont's throat. He vainly tried to break Heero's hold, eyes bulging, but couldn't throw off the teen even though he weighed almost half again Heero's weight. When there was a loud snap, no one was in doubt what it meant. Fremont confirmed that his neck was broken when he slid bonelessly to the forest floor, very dead.
Heero turned at once to Zechs, ready for another fight. Zechs gave him an impressed once over and then stepped aside. "I won't fight you," Zechs told him. "Not here. This isn't our kind of battle ground."
Heero didn't let down his guard. Zechs made a small bow and then cautiously walked off into the forest. Only then did Heero kneel by Duo, reaching out hands tentatively to help him.
"Nothing you can do for me right now," Duo told him and then smiled wanly. "Good to see you, Heero-buddy. I was getting tired of Zech's shitty company."
One of Heero's hands came to rest on Duo's arm, squeezing very lightly. "I should stop him," he said uncertainly . "He would make an invaluable prisoner."
"You should," Duo agreed and then, when Heero made no move to do that, "He's getting away, Heero."
"I..." Heero looked pained and then he said, "You are valuable too."
"Yeah, I like to think so," Duo replied and his smile softened. "Nice that you think so too."
"Are you badly hurt?" Heero wanted to know.
Duo didn't pull any punches. "Yeah, pretty bad. I-I don't know if I'm going to make it. I'll be the same whether you stay with me or run after Zechs."
Heero's hand squeezed painfully and his breath caught. He went almost as pale as Duo. "I- I don't care about Zechs. I need to get you out of here."
"I'll help," Quatre kneeled beside them. He had a large bruise on the side of his face and the gun was in his hand again.
"You got away?" Duo exclaimed in surprise.
Quatre blushed. "Wu Fei and Trowa have their Gundams on the road. The soldiers panicked when they saw them and I took advantage of that." He's mouth quirked. "They need to train their soldiers better."
"Quatre can take care of me, Heero," Duo urged. "Go after Zechs."
Heero's expression went very determined as he picked Duo up in his arms. "Another
day," he said and carried Duo towards the waiting Gundams.