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The Wizard of OZ	By : Stardarkening Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male > Heero/Duo Views: 589 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I of course, and rather tragically own nothing pertaining to Gundam Wing which equates to the fact that I also make no money from this bit of fantasy.

Chapter List
- 1-The Wizard of OZ
- 1
‘Damn Baka.’ Trowa and Heero stealthed down the corridor nearing room SUB244e. The bombs would be going off very soon and they weren't even close to recovering their wayward operative.

The orders had been for a four-man team to infiltrate the expansive OZ base, plant the bombs, and extract. Wufei had been out on assignment at the time, so he was relegated to back-up in Shenlong, while Heero, Duo, Trowa, and Quatre flew into southeastern Germany and the rejuvenated Black forest. The forest had provided excellent cover for the Gundams while the pilots used a troop transporter to convey themselves and their equipment to the base. The snag had occurred after Trowa and Quatre had split off to rig the northern and eastern command buildings. Heero had been assigned the mainframe in the southern section of the compound and had been instructed to copy all files for later perusal before blowing the super computer to tiny smouldering bits.

The mainframe was camouflaged and hidden beneath the floor, so Heero pried the metal panel off a maintenance hatch and squirmed into the base’s brain. He had copied the files and set his charges when Duo came running into the room. Violet eyes coldly tracked to where Heero was half out of the mess of wires and circuitry. He then rushed over and tipped the Wing pilot back in without a word and wedged the panel back on. Heero had initially planned to ventilate his often playful teammate, but the clanging of gunfire and sparking of a roomful of monitors shot to hell above him dissuaded him from such an action. In fact he was so affected by the sound he froze absolutely still as he listened to Duo’s light footsteps pursued by the pounding feet of at least eight other men, run over his hiding spot. Apparently none of the soldiers at this base were particularly bright or Duo had gotten the panel back on in time, because none of the men stayed to check what a long haired terrorist might have been doing in the room where the mainframe was stored.

After the sounds faded away, he lifted the top away again before replacing it and making for the rendezvous point, still unsure what he should think of his partner’s actions.

“He’s fine.” The quiet words came from Trowa. Heero whipped his head around to glance at his usually silent companion, but the other pilot hadn’t been looking at Heero when he’d spoken. As they drew even with the end of the hall, Heero was forced to return his attention to the task at hand. Namely, finding his braided partner and beating some answers out of him “what the hell had he been thinking?” and “how the fuck did you get caught?” chief among them.

They should have completed the mission an hour ago, and it was still wearing heavily on Heero.

However, as soon as Quatre had heard about the incident with Duo and the patrol, coupled with the lack of a braided boy at their designated meeting point, he had ordered them back into the base to retrieve him. This had engendered immediate protest from Heero, despite the shredded organ residing in the vicinity of his feet. He’d argued that Quatre was allowing emotions to get in the way of doing what he must until the other pilot had pulled his pistol and pointed it at Heero’s knee.

Part of Heero was shocked at the escalation that Quatre had started, another part was sneering that the soft-hearted pilot was only aiming at his knee and that wouldn’t be enough to stop him, while a teeny tiny, hidden corner of his psyche was very glad that Quatre was stopping his slow self destruction. However, all the parts were stunned enough that he couldn’t pull his own gun. Even though it was without argument in Heero’s head that if the braided pilot ever died, he wouldn’t be all that far or long behind; the next large grouping of suits and a button push to be precise.

So while all of the votes were being tallied in Heero’s head, Quatre spoke again but this time, his voice was not that of the soft-touched pilot; this voice had the sterile authority of Zero behind it and snapped the soldier in 01 to attention. “Heero Yuy, pilots 01, 03, and 04 will return to the base and commence the reacquisition of pilot 02. The completion of the current mission is deemed less vital than the extraction of 02, parameters are such that there is time for both actions to be executed, but priority is pilot 02.” Here, Quatre’s own unique version of death shone from his eyes and his voice dipped into what could only be described as business casual “failure to comply with the new objective will result in immediate grounding of pilot to be followed by further training.”

Trowa frowned a bit at the last pronouncement, whether in concern for Heero or in agreement with Quatre, the ice-eyed pilot didn’t wait to find out and calmly handed the detonator to Wufei. As soon as the device left his hands, Heero felt lighter. When all he wanted to do was run back into the base and kill until Duo was produced, the 9mm promising to imminently ‘ground’ him and the ever present threat of retraining were really just a drop in the bucket and it felt good to not hold Duo’s death in his hand. Because, even though he could never tell the braided how much he cared, J would have in for retraining faster than Duo could even reject him and flee from his battle scarred soul, the organ sunk into the pit of his stomach still hurt at the thought or harm befalling his partner.

Seeing the detonator safe with Wufei, Quatre immediately reholstered his pistol and began giving orders for their new plan. He knew what Heero really wanted to do and that the other pilot only needed a little help…ok, a very good reason to beat him over the head- before he’d give in and follow his inclinations. They were all aware of Heero’s feelings and problems and usually Quatre would try to deal with the poor pilot a little more delicately, but they just didn’t have time. What he could feel from Duo wasn’t good, and if he wanted to be honest, what he was feeling from Heero wasn’t all that good either. Duo was his last chance at anything approaching happiness and he’d been getting so close lately, if Duo was not OK, it really didn’t bode well. So, all Quatre could do was lay out his plan “excellent!” His tone bright and sunny again. “Wufei, you will continue to provide back-up and meet us at point Zulu Cherry Pie upon confirmation of Duo’s release, ETA 3 hours.”

Wufei grimaced, he hated the code that Duo had created, but couldn’t complain about the as of yet unbroken code, knowing he’d be playing into the mischievous pilot’s hands.

“01 and 03 will enter the facility and wait for my communiqué as to 02’s known status and position. We will then rendezvous at the room and proceed with rescue operations. Extraction will be via point Eta Baklava and will all meet at Zulu Cherry Pie for completion of initial objective and medical assistance. The timer on the bombs has been reset remotely for three hours, so get moving.”

With that they disbanded, Quatre hid his distinctive hair under a uniform cap and hustled off at a pace to make any frantic gofer proud, for the currently unexploded mainframe and Duo’s information. Heero and Trowa gave Quatre to a count of 500 before they headed off toward the middle of the compound and Wufei ran back out to his Shenlong to contact Sally and procure medical aid.

As they made their way into the base, Trowa and Heero became uneasy at the laxness of security. The alarms had been ringing not an hour ago, and they had yet to encounter a patrol. ‘They never take us seriously, Duo especially. I bet once they caught him and he gave them his street rat act, they never thought to look for anyone else. It’s just Oz stupidity that they never checked to see if he’d actually done anything before he was found. They are as dumb as they are cruel and we need to hurry.’ Heero thought to himself as they practically ran down the corridor.

Quatre’s voice was suddenly in both of their ears “…room SUB244e classified as ‘alive,’ ETA 7 minutes.” They turned down the eastern hallway as one. Heero’s poor heart was doing double time, trying to keep its owner moving, only kilobytes of data spelling out “alive,” were between it and total decimation. They had reached the eastern buildings, and were descending into the Sub levels, when Quatre rejoined them, ghosting around a corner, meeting two silenced pistols.

They reached the second sub level and were traveling through the 40 block when they finally saw their target. One guard stood outside room SUB244e and he went down quickly enough to the round Heero shot through his heart, they continued their rush forward and Trowa caught the guard’s rifle before it clattered on the floor. The block had yielded only one other patrol and that was already taken care of, so both Quatre and Heero approached the door while Trowa kept watch at the entrance to the block.
Through the door, Heero could hear a snap followed by a muffled groan; his hands remained steady on the keypad, but his insides began to tremble and ‘I left him…I left him, I left him’ began marqueeing through his head. “This will take another ten minutes without Duo or the codes, find another way,” Heero eventually had to snap out.

Another minute went by as Quatre studied the door and the groan heard through the door this time wasn’t as muffled, Heero was just about ready to rip the door apart with his bare hands, when Quatre pulled a block of C4 from his uniform and a detonator from his cap, “this will make a bit of noise, but we need to get moving.”

Door ‘e’, was a heavy weight steel affair, built to open inward and therefore braced most heavily for outward directed forces. The charges, shaped by the doorframe should blow the door inward, their only worry now, was that the Deathscythe pilot would be hit by the door in its travels, but from what Quatre was feeling from Heero, it would be much better to get Duo out of that room, unconscious or not. He was checking his work over when two things occurred, first a yell that was definitely Duo came from the room and then Heero was grabbing his shirt and the detonator from his hand and throwing him back to the corner of the hall.

Heero had finally hit the breaking point, knowing that the frame would shape the charges enough to not blow him up he hit the button and was through the remaining doorway only seconds after the door had landed from its inward flight. Two scientists and an officer were in the room and double taps to their chests took care of that little problem, before his gaze swung to Duo.

They didn’t have much time, the noise of the explosion would have people down here soon unless they were extremely lucky. With an unimpeded view of his partner, Heero smothered a moan deep in his throat, and hurried over.

Duo was lying naked, face down on a metal table, he was forced to bend over at the waist by his hands handcuffed to the underside of each end of the long rectangular table. His legs were each tied at the ankle to short ends of the table, leaving him spread wide and helpless. His hair was still partially braided hanging over the front of the table in Duo’s line of sight, while the braid was still lengthy and would probably fall to the middle of Duo’s back , the six inches or so that normally brush his ass were lying in a pile of hair confetti on the floor; as though the length had been snipped centimeter by centimeter shorter.

Rushing over to his companion, Heero was further dismayed to see sluggish bleeding from puncture marks on the boy’s neck. “Duo?” Heero was answered by a grunt as he came around the table and untied his ankles.

Duo was covered with welts, scratches, and bruises; his bottom was especially brutalized, the stripes bled sluggishly and that blood ran down his thighs, making it impossible for the Heero to know if he’d been too late He looked at the handcuffs, and knowing he had to hurry gripped the bracelet on Duo’s wrist and with a quick flex, snapped the chain. The other side followed quickly and Heero grabbed his partner’s shoulders and pulled him vertical.

“How is he Heero?” Quatre asked from where he stood guard in the hall.

Quickly stripping one of the bodies on the floor of its long brown lab coat, the back soaked with blood where it had pooled from his chest wound, Heero settled it on Duo and gently turned the braided boy’s face toward himself. He had been staring at the guard stuck under the door, only a pair of feet visible under the still smoking steel slab. One of Duo’s eyes had been swollen completely shut, the other had a widely dilated pupil that wasn’t focusing on much of anything.

“We squished her. We shouldn’t have landed that house on her.”

The other pilot was too busy assessing the marks on the face in front of him to reply to the rambling; Duo kept trying to turn his head and look at the door and guard again. “Hn, his injuries aren’t serious” he called, “but I’m going to have to carry him out, they gave him something and it’s messing with his system.”

With that said, he gathered up Duo gingerly into his arms. With the other pilot docily hanging in his grip, Heero found himself holding the other pilot close to his face “You shouldn’t have come back for me! You were supposed to get out once you had finished!” he whispered fiercely and Duo’s head lolled around on his shoulder, “But you didn’t, you never do what you’re supposed to and I was going to leave you.” This last bit came out more of a whine than the strong tone he’d had before. “If only I had a brain, I wouldn’t have waited for Quatre to order us back in here to get you and you wouldn’t be hurt.” He pulled back a bit, feeling Duo’s hand brush his face. “I’m so sorry Duo…”

Duo was touching his face with his bad hand, two broken fingers puffy and discolored “shh… it’s alright Scarecrow, you’ve had a brain all along.” Having said his piece, Duo was gone again and Heero knew his time was up; they had to get out now.

Not knowing quite what Duo had meant, or who ‘Scarecrow’ was, he still felt better. Clutching the braided boy tighter, the Perfect Soldier ran out the door and met with Quatre in the hall.

They’d cleared the base, meeting up with Trowa who had taken out another patrol approaching their block, when the alarms started going off. But it was far too late, they hit Eta Baklava and Quatre was able to hotwire a transport truck with lessons Duo had been giving him. Heero and his unconscious bundle were covered with a tarp to look like cargo in the back while Trowa and Quatre had uniforms and drove out the front gate, they kept a steady pace to the rendezvous point to avoid drawing unwanted attention.

Despite the moderate pace, the jouncing of the truck had Heero attempting to cushion the wounded pilot in his lap against injuries he hadn’t seen the extent of yet. From what he could tell, along with the delirium, broken fingers, and welts he had also fractured the same arm that sported the injured hand and most worryingly had a through-and-through bullet wound on his left thigh. The arm was just starting to swell and the leg had started bleeding heavily, mingling with the blood already dried on his legs and obviously broken open from whatever first aid he’d gotten at the base before interrogation. He hoped that was all, a severe beating and some drugs, but there was nothing more he could check here, so he turned Duo around in his arm to avoid his wounded back and settled the other boy so his head laid on his shoulder and his legs were over one of Heero’s. He spent the rest of the drive making use of his privacy and held Duo tight to him, petting down his unraveling braid and thinking over what Duo had called him. ‘Scarecrow’ hn…probably just one of his old movie or comic references. I’ve looked up a few before, though I’ll never admit it, but I don’t know about this one. Baka and his useless knowledge…

They arrived at Zulu Cherry Pie and saw Wufei trailing after Sally and a pair of her orderlies. They carried a stretcher between them. Sally wasn’t wasting any time in getting Duo’s vitals when Heero and he emerged from the back of the truck. Heero carefully set him in the stretcher and rattled off what wounds he had found to Sally, in his best monotone.

“Bullet wound left leg, seems to be a through-and-through and it is bleeding heavily again.” They were trotting into the empty complex where Sally would have erected a MASH unit. “Possible fracture of his right arm, broken fingers, also right hand, and various contusions, serious bruising, and cuts from a beating and being whipped along his entire backside…” he momentarily paused, nobody noticed as they were all too busy negotiating a door “possible sexual damage as well, but I had no time to confirm. He was found naked and restrained. He was conscious but delirious when I found him. He was calm, but didn’t recognize me or any of the other pilots when we were escaping; there was a bleeding injection site on his neck and I suspect his state to be induced by a drug in use.” Sally motioned for her crew to lay the stretcher down on a metal table in the middle of the room they had just entered, it looked exactly like what Heero had found his partner on in the base. “He was overly concerned about one of the guards I’d taken out, and he referred to me as ‘Scarecrow.’ It sounds like one of his movie references but one I am unfamiliar with.”

Sally was peeling back the rag tied on Duo’s leg, careful not to break the delicate clotting open further when she absently replied “hmm, ‘Scarecrow?’ I’m not familiar with that either, but it does sound like Duo.” She finally got the bandage off and was immediately inspecting the hole she found underneath. “This will need stitches, the artery is leaking, just nicked but definitely stressed, the clotting that has kept it mostly closed is loosened. Hold him down while I clean it out and begin. We don’t have time to numb it, and knocking him out with an unknown drug in his system is a bad idea.”

The pilots closed ranks; Wufei and Quatre moved to secure his chest and arms and Trowa put his body over the bottom of Duo’s legs. With the new pressure on his body and thus his fiery backside, Duo began to stir and Sally walked up to his head trying to get his attention. “Duo. Duo…” his good eye opened and rolled in the direction of the noise. Sally began the round of usual questions “Do you know where you are?,” “Can you tell me what hurts?,” and the ever popular “How many fingers am I holding up?”

The braided pilot was not lucid enough to comprehend what she was asking him, but feeling restrained, he started to struggle, despite the weakness of his muscles and lack of clarity. Heero grabbed his broken flailing hand before he could injure himself further and unknowingly his voice softened as he talked calmly to the other boy. “Duo calm down, we got you out of the base, remember? We’re here with Sally and she has to sew up your leg.”

At this, Duo blinked a bit, and though his eye remained glassy, he seemed to really see the other faces around him. He smiled up at Heero and said “It’s the Good Fairy, Scarecrow, don’t worry we’re safe here.”

Wufei laughed at this and Sally seemed amused; at least until Duo continued “see, Scarecrow, even the munchkins are here.” Wufei started choking on his mirth and turned purple, while the others chuckled.

Though he didn’t understand quite what Duo meant, the color Wufei was turning still caused Heero to almost smile, but he knew they were running out of time and were dangerously close to the base. They’d reset the charges to go off in ten more minutes, and even though the existence of Duo as a prisoner had probably been repressed upon his disappearance there would still be patrols sent out that could easily find them at this range “Sally…”

She pulled herself together at this, and reached for the antiseptic, while her aides prepared a needle and sutures. The other pilots braced Duo’s body and Heero was left with his hand and a surreptitious grip on his braid. Duo’s lucidity left as soon as the liquid fire hit his thigh. The drug was definitely curbing his soldier reactions, so all that the restrained pilot managed was some pathetic mewling and struggles that were harder to deal with for the other pilots than the Shinigami they were used to. While Sally sewed, she explained “ it looks like Duo was administered a hallucinogen, from the depth of his delusions and his muted personality, I’d say it is not something that you have built a resistance to and so is not actually for coercive interrogation. I’d say they needed something to keep him more docile, probably for transport. Make sure he doesn’t overheat and I’d say it will wear off in six to eight more hours. If you could get some adrenaline into him, it would clean it out of his system faster, but a side effect seems to be keeping him calm.” She finished tying the last of the sutures and waved the others back, everyone released their stabilizing holds and Heero put Duo’s hand back on his chest with a twinge of internal regret. A couple of minutes into the stitching Duo had gone silent again and only his raspy breathing could be heard now.

Sally was wrapping the leg in sterile bandages when her aide, whom no one remembered leaving, came running back into the room. He was faced with three guns and a very large knife until the other pilots realized who he was. “An Oz patrol found us!” He gasped out. The sound of grenade came from outside.

“There are approximately 20 soldiers already inside the complex. We’re holding them off, but we are falling back.”

Sally pulled out her own pistol and the others readied their own weapons; Duo had apparently awakened again, because he giggled, drawing everyone’s attention.

“He can’t walk on his leg, it’ll break open the sutures and that is an arterial wound, he’ll bleed out before he can get more medical attention.” Sally stated bluntly.

“Nataku! Maxwell snap out of it!” Wufei tried in frustration, only to be answered by the braided pilot’s one eye opening and rolling around the room, finally focusing on Heero.

“Scarecrow” he struggled to sit up until Heero came over and braced him “…follow the yellow brick road, off to see the Wizard~” Duo sang, slumped in Heero’s grip.

Quatre had been thinking this entire time and finally gave his orders “Heero, the vents! Take him through the vents to Shenlong and meet us at Point Pronto Lemon Custard.” Not giving Heero time to protest, the others moved off, forming up to storm the corridors.

Wufei checked his gun and glared at Heero “if Maxwell pukes in my cockpit, I will cut off what remains of his braid!”

Heero grunted in response and shimmied up to the vent and contorted until he was ready to take Duo from Trowa, who was holding him up to the Wing pilot.

Once in the vent, Heero grabbed the back of the delirious pilot’s jacket and proceeded to haul him through the metal tunnel, thinking how easily Chang had allowed the use of his precious Nataku. He came to a branching tunnel and took the extra room to pull the Deathscythe pilot closer to him to check his leg wound.

“Shit Duo!” The wrapping was seeping red from its rough treatment in their journey. He looked at his companion’s face and saw how pale and still the other was. Knowing he had to get to Shenlong soon to use the first aid kit if he wanted to stop the bleeding, he pulled off his tanktop, leaving him in a long undershirt, and tied it tightly above the bandage. It couldn’t stay on for very long, but hopefully would let the wound close again in the meantime.

Heero was still far too frightened for the unnaturally silent pilot to worry that he wasn’t supposed to care, he brushed a finger across his cheek and whispered “please don’t die Duo; I didn’t have the courage to let you know how I feel and I still want my chance.”

Turning, he banged his head on the top of the vent when one of Duo’s hands patted his shoe. His good eye was still closed but Duo slurred “s’ok Lion, ‘uv always had cor’g, don need ta see the Wizard.”

Not sure what to think of his newest name, Heero knew they had to get moving and faster. “Duo, do you think you can hold onto my shirt? We need to move faster.”

Duo opened his eye this time and it rolled in his direction, so Heero grabbed his good hand and gave it a fistful of his undershirt. “Hold on tight.”

“M'kay Lion.”

Hoping that was ‘affirmative’ in drugged-up-Duo speak, Heero pulled away and began dragging the other pilot toward Shenlong. They were making much better time now that Heero could use two hands and the sounds of gunfire were fading into the distance.

As they approached the outside of the building, Heero thought they had finally left behind all of the troops when a lone shot rang out and Duo whimpered.

‘Shit’

Having heard someone in the vent, a soldier in the wrong place had started firing. Not worrying about making noise now, Heero flew down the last slick corridor and kicked out the grate leading outside. Duo had kept a hold of Heero through all of this and so, peek taken, Heero pulled him into his arms and jumped to the ground. He made a break with his burden to Shenlong and managed the line to the cockpit one handed.

When Duo was finally in his lap and the cockpit was secured he noticed two things: the new bloody bullet crease on Duo’s bad shoulder and that the Deathscythe pilot still had a death grip on his shirt. He knew that prying the hand off would be impossible at the moment and knowing that suits would soon be incoming to eradicate the unexpected resistance, Heero arranged Duo on his lap and strapped them both loosely into the pilot’s chair. He had the other pilot facing him, head on his shoulder and broken hand cradled between their two bodies.

Heero started the engines and Nataku stood.

“We get to ride a dragon, Lion?” came from under his ear.

Before he could answer the proximity alarms went off and the screens showed a company of suits approaching. At the sound of the klaxon the blue-eyed pilot felt Duo’s heart start to race and then he was clinging even harder, broken hand no longer a consideration in his drug hazed panic. “It’s the Witch, Lion! Her monkeys! Get them away, make them leave!” He panted into the neck of the messy-haired boy he clung to.

Knowing that the racing pulse might undo the benefits of the tourniquet, Heero took a moment to rub the delusion-ridden boy’s back, knowing how the drug would leave his mind open to all the terrifying things that other had ever seen in such an intense situation. “Shh, it’s alright Duo, we’re riding the dragon remember? The dragon can take care of us. Shh, I’m here too; Lion right? I’m brave and won’t let anything get you.”

Glad that none of the other pilots were in their suit to see him calm his partner, Heero momentarily forgot the incoming troops and just enjoyed the closeness…that he absolutely should not be having.

‘Shit, focus.’

“Just close your eyes and hold onto me tightly and we’ll deal with the witch.”

Heart still pounding, Duo just nodded and kept his face tucked into the other pilot’s neck.

Just in time. Heero took the controls and launched the suit into the air, releasing the dragon arm at the lead suit. The leading Taurus was caught in the dragon maw and the cockpit crushed. He tossed the wreckage into the tight formation of 11 other suits and opened fire, quite literally. Searing four slow targets, cooking the pilots of the earth engineered Tauruses alive. He shot the scorched suits with his vulcan guns and sent the dragon arm out again to snag a lone MS off to his left. Still careful of the building at his back, he threw the now titanium tin can at the scrambling attempts of a formation the remaining enemies were implementing; following it with a spurt of fire.

Through all this Duo’s grip had grown tighter, fueled by the blood being pumped by his stampeding heart bones creaked in his hand and his knuckles paled to white. Without a second to spare to soothe his terrified passenger, Heero could only continue dodging as much fire as he could while still shielding the base.

The scattered suits finally had him surrounded and he had to use the bulk of Shenlong to guard the building where the rest of the pilots were currently fighting. The vulcan fire of his guns ripped through another suit at his back, but the explosions caused by the shots propelled the Taurus forward, toppling it towards the complex. Flashes of daisies and lace shot through his mind as he caught the suit at the last second with the dragon. This left him open though and Duo whimpered into his neck as ‘the dragon’ rocked under the force of a missile hitting Shenlong’s frame; lights went on and the console informed him that the right leg was now only at 65% and body armor was reduced by 12%.

Heero flung the suit debris in the direction the missile had come from and spun to the left, answering beam fire with hot flames.

Three suits remained and Heero took stock of the situation; Duo was hyperventilating and his good arm had wrapped itself around his shoulder and dug into his back, reinforcements were most definitely on the way but the closest base with mobile suits left now was 100 miles to the south and would take at least another half hour to reach their position, and he hadn’t heard a thing from the rest of the pilots.

“It’s alright Duo, we’ve almost got them, almost done.” He muttered, while he jammed the thrusters full forward to rush out of the pincer attack that two of the remaining suits had started. The last suit was still out of his sight, when he spun Shenlong and fired both suits, overheating systems, melting wires, and burning tubing and fuel. The Taruses exploded and a wave of fire rolled over Nataku, blanking out his external cameras for a moment. Duo suddenly went still and limp in his lap, startling the Wing pilot until he felt the much calmer heart beat against his chest. No time to relax, he was jolted when the last suit fell out of the sky onto him with a beam saber. He managed to block the slash with an arm and throw the Taurus off, but the computer informed him that said arm was now out of commission, AKA 15%. Lacking a sword or shield of his own, Heero allowed his opponent to run the wounded limb through again and while the suit was in close, disable it with the other dragon arm; ripping the head and part of the torso off.

Breathing hard, Heero looked around for any suits he might have missed, the screens however stayed clear and all that was left was to wait for a message from the other pilots.

In the meantime, he released the controls and reached around his comatose partner to unstrap them from the chair. He pulled the braided pilot’s head back off his shoulder and panicked at the paleness that he saw there. Reaching down he saw the leg bandaging wasn’t seeping anymore and figured the other had just lost too much blood. Heero knew they had to get out of there and onto the next safehouse for some more serious rest and first aid, but first applied light pressure to the leg wound and removed the tanktop tourniquet so the wound didn’t become gangrenous. A couple of minutes later and he felt safe enough that the tender scab and sutures were holding the wound closed against the inrush of new blood, and removed his hand.

His next goal was the broken fingers and fractured arm, so he was forced to maneuver the unconscious pilot around so that his back was pressed against his own chest and Heero settled Duo’s head on his shoulder. The other boy moaned, the pressure on his tormented back painful and Heero shushed him before taking the swollen digits in his hand and straightening them with some grinding and crackling. This brought the previously unconscious pilot awake with a groan and some weak thrashing.

Completely beyond caring about his ‘focus’ and his only mission the braided baka in his lap, Heero stroked Duo’s hand before carefully setting down. He murmured onto the head on his shoulder “Shh, it is all right Duo, we got rid of the witch and her monkey’s; go back to sleep.” Glad that something was keeping Duo’s soldier instincts muted.

He was rewarded by Duo snuggling into the touch, settling down, and heard on a sleepily huffrd “ok tinman.”

Confounded at yet another new name, Heero waited for the breaths under his chin to even out before he reduced his bloody tanktop to a few ragged strips and a sling. One of the rags he used to immobilize the newly set fingers; another went to cleaning the bullet crease off. He was very careful and Duo managed to sleep through the cleaning. He wadded up another rag and tied it against the newly and sluggishly bleeding wound before putting the injured arm into the sling.

With much squirming and as little jostling as possible, Heero settled Duo back in his lap so they sat chest to chest, settling so cuts that had bled through the lab coat and stuck it to the other pilot’s back wouldn’t be opened again if he bumped the other a bit during transit. All the while he was finally facing up to how much he’d failed this mission. Not only had he nearly been caught, he’d nearly killed Duo with his stubborn insistence on ‘the mission.’ “It wasn’t even all that important of a mission and I was ready to sacrifice your skills, even if I don’t…didn’t care, your skills would have been missed and all to blow up a base full of morons an hour or two earlier.” He stroked the unraveling braid, finger combing it out, teasing the clumps that had hardened with dried blood. “We had so much time Duo,” Heero let the anguish creep into his voice “I don’t know why I had to finish the mission so badly. You came back for me when you should have been getting out. You let your emotions control your actions, but you saved the mission, saved me and I was going to blow you up with the base! What is wrong with me?” Duo’s face scrunched up against his neck and Heero released his grip on the other pilot, dividing the cinnamony mass into three parts and began plaiting. “I wanted to come back Duo” he whispered “I wanted to run back in and shoot them until they gave you to me, but J…” He tied off the braid with the last of the green rags. “J would retrain me if he ever found out and then I couldn’t even be around you anymore.” He toyed with the softness, marveling in the warmth that clung to the strands, he would miss it.

“He’ll take me anyway after he reads about this mission, but I don’t think he can help me Duo. You keep showing me how teammates work and Quatre was probably right, I do need further ‘training.’” He was so disgusted with himself. “But it is not the kind that J gives me, I need a heart, not more of his training.”

Just then the console beeped and Heero opened the radio line “01, this is 04; we are en route to point Pronto Lemon Custard over and out.” Heero shut the radio off; Quatre and the others were clear and it was time for them to get going too. ”Looks like the others made it out Duo, we need to go too,” but the other pilot slumbered on.

Lemon Custard was one of the Sweeper ships about 4 hours flight from their current position. He input their destination into Shenlong and set the autopilot. This left his hands free to carefully reach under the seat for the emergency kit and pull out a blanket along with some ration bars and sports drinks. He knew that if Duo was going to make it to the ship he would have to get some fluids into the drained pilot.

Mindful of soldier reflexes and lingering hallucinogens, Heero patted Duo’s uninjured leg and said “Duo, you need to wake up for a little and drink some of this for me; you’ve lost a lot of blood.” A violet eye glared confusedly in his direction, not sure why his sleep was being interrupted. “Come on. Wufei is going to kill us for bringing Shenlong back in this condition and if you want a chance to get away with the rest of your braid you need to drink some of this,” and so the normally taciturn boy got about two-thirds of an electrolyte drink into the drowsy pilot before he fell asleep again, telling the “Tinman le’meya ‘lone.”

Satisfied with the amount, he saw that his braiding attempt had come undone and he looked around until he found a brush Wufei kept in the cockpit and spent the rest of the ride to their destination running it through the warm chestnut locks.

The ship they arrived at was currently at sea and while normally the Gundams would be stored in the ocean, Shenlong was damaged enough that the crew on deck directed him to land in a dock where they could begin repairs.

He was apparently the first to the site and so took the time to secure Duo’s mass of hair into a ponytail, since he couldn’t seem to get the braid right, and carried him inside.

He made his way to the sick bay, and carefully lay the sleeping boy on a bed therein before the medic descended on them. Duo was given two units of blood, but that was about all they could do for him. The bruises, cuts and fractured bones now just had to heal. The medic left and Heero got some rags and water and cleaned the dried blood off the other pilot. He carefully peeled the lab coat off his back and winced again at the damage he saw, the bruises had darkened during even their short flight and he could easily see boot heels and fists among the whip marks. The water was pink by the time he finished with his back and in the solitude of the empty medical bay, finally checked for any damage from an assault. Normally, he’d be drooling seeing the perfectly toned ass inches in front of his face, but today all he could do was hold his breath, trembling slightly as he wiped off the dried blood and face up to the fact he might have gotten his friend and partner raped.

He breathed easier when he finished cleaning the exterior wounds, having seen nothing to indicate assault. He applied dollops of antibacterial cream to Duo’s skin and gently spread it in, before awkwardly sitting the other pilot up and draping him across his chest to be able to wrap his torso and keep the cream from getting onto the bed.

“How is he Heero?”

He hadn’t heard the other pilots arrive much less enter the room and Heero whipped around to glare at them.

Quatre ignored the glare and continued to approach the bed, “Wufei is escorting Sally back to the rest of her group, but she sent us with some fever suppressant if we need it, she said Duo might develop a fever in response to the drugs if his system takes much more shock. Wufei ought to be back tomorrow…” Quatre trailed off as he finally got a good look at the landscape of welts and scrapes littering the Deathscythe pilot’s rear and thighs. “Status” he finally snapped adopting a bit of military precision to distance himself from the sight. Trowa just took one good look and his visible eye was stormy, not good for Oz.

“Not in danger; I’ve set the broken fingers and the cleaned the bullet crease on his shoulder, as well as put his fractured arm in a sling. The stitches in his leg are holding and the rest are superficial now that I’ve cleaned and wrapped them. No other damage.” Trowa’s face cleared a lot at this pronouncement and he left to put way his and Quatre’s bags.

Quatre breathed a sigh of relief and exclaimed “Well thank Allah! He’ll be ok in a few days then. What is the state of the drug they gave him?”

“He’s still calling me ‘Lion’ and the newest one was ‘Tinman.’ He reacted poorly to the MS’s, but it seems to mostly keep him harmless and calm. He passed out halfway through the attack and was very tractable when I woke him in Shenlong and got him to drink some sports drink.” All this time Heero had been wrapping the comatose pilot’s injured torso and he was getting no reaction.

Heero was just tying the bandages off when Quatre said “You know Heero, despite you trying to blow the base I know it was only to keep from running back in and leveling the place yourself…and not to complete the mission either.”

To cover his surprise and unease, Heero grunted and ran his hands down Duo’s side…checking the bandages. “I’ve got to type my report, so I’ll stay here and watch Duo if you could get some soup or broth started for him. He had a transfusion, but will still need lots of liquids for a couple of days.”

“Of course Heero. But I still wanted to tell you I was wrong. You don’t need further training, you just need to listen to what you already have. You seem to think emotions cause weakness and confusion, but the problems you’re having are all caused by ignoring what your heart is telling you.”

Heero’s hands stilled and he said without looking at the Sandrock pilot “You’re not wrong Quatre, all my emotions were telling me to complete the mission no matter what and that almost killed Duo... I don’t think I have a heart.”

The last was said in almost a whisper while the blond stood and headed for the door. Heero was looking at Duo’s face when he said this, so he was caught when one violet eye opened and blearily focused on him. “Don’t worry Tinman,” he tried to reach for Heero with his bad hand, but moaned instead when he jarred the injured arm.

Heero pressed down gently on the arm “Hush baka, go back to sleep and don’t move that arm, I’m right here.”

Quatre smirked at his turned back and walked out “I’ll be back in a couple of hours, but don’t worry Heero, we all have seen your heart; you do have one.” The blond pilot closed the door behind him, content with the emotions he was feeling from the stony pilot. He knew he was right and he knew Heero agreed with him at least deep down; it was a start.

Duo had settled back down, the subtle rocking too much for the fatigued boy, but he was determined to get his point across before he was out again “’inman, always ha’ a heart. Don’ need the Wizard…” his head finally fell against the Japanese boy’s chest “can hear it jus’ fine."

Heero laid him back onto the bed and watched as his face scrunched up and he wriggled searching for the heat that had just left. He felt his chest, where the braided head had so recently snuggled, feeling the erratic beating of an organ he still denied owning. “Hn…idiot.”

Heero got his laptop and began to type his report J from floor next to the bed; he left nothing out, all the while mulling over what he had actually done. From a historical viewpoint he’d been his usual Perfect self, and completed his part of the mission without a hitch. However, in light of the fact that he now was working in a group with the other pilots, he had failed miserably. Not only causing the capture of one of his fellows, but then failing to recover a comrade. Duo had told him of the old American armed forces and how you must “never leave a man behind,” he thought it was stupid and sentimental at the time, but now he could see how it served the team better than all of his training, endurance, and dedication. Ever since they had started working cohesively, their productivity and effectiveness had increased, but Heero felt further and further behind.

He didn’t have the financial resources that Quatre could provide the group, no network of contacts that spanned from the Earthsphere to the depths of the colonies like Duo, even his skills were nothing special. Trowa’s versatility and ability to blend anywhere and Wufei’s martial arts mastery contributed more to their cause than Heero’s individual endurance and strength advantages. Even his own expertise with computers could be replaced by Duo, he was good enough that the little difference in their abilities was outweighed by his expertise in group combat. Duo had grown up with a gang and was now, in Heero’s mind, the Perfect Teammate.

As he typed he thought back on all that he could do and saw how his comrades were also sufficiently proficient and wondered what they kept him around for. If he was anything, it was a hindrance, arguing loudly and often with Wufei and Duo about plans and strategies that they enacted with or without his approval anyway. More often than not, he’d drawn his gun just to end the arguing. Heero sunk further and further into depression when he saw how much of a liability he actually was; his insistence on the letter of the mission had endangered them more often than not and he had to wonder what he actually contributed to the team. Wufei was a master of unarmed combat, Trowa was a chameleon with the strength and fluidity of his circus brethren, Quatre was hardy and precise, his marksmanship superb and his tactics abilities made him invaluable, Duo…Duo was amazing.

He was nearly as strong as Heero, fought with his own style that was both athletic and extremely effective, with hacking and clandestine skills that were a mere afterthought when compared to his unique expertise which was demolitions. He could work seamlessly within their group of hair-trigger killers, often making the others look better with his own actions and he had provided the group with safety and convalescence anywhere in the known universe…and Heero had almost killed him. He had almost traded the warm cinnamon hair, cheeky grin, and mercurial gaze for the mission. Almost taken all of that skill and advantage and replaced it with the meager offerings from a person more than likely to kill himself within the next few months. Ice filled his veins as the report came to a close and Heero sent it off to J.

Duo had scooted to the edge of the bed in his sleep, and was inches from wrapping himself around Heero’s shoulders like some exotic stole; as it was, he was curled like a cat around the heat radiating off the seated pilot. Quatre had come in, some time while Heero had typed and left a thermos of broth for both pilots and it sat across the room on a table, but Heero just couldn’t muster the resolve to get up and retrieve it.

J would be calling him in soon; he’d take one look at that report and the creepy amputee wouldn’t be able to stop from calibrating his Perfect Soldier. He’d come back Perfectly worthless for working with this group and, he vowed to himself, would find a way to take himself out soon after. He fatalistically got up and placed his laptop on the table that held the soup and, ignoring the thermos, locked the door and crawled into bed with Duo.

If this was it, then he’d at least do what he always wanted where no one could see. He wrapped his arms around the injured boy gingerly and pulled him into his chest; holding him close he intended to sleep a few hours before he had to go. However, his body had other ideas and all he could do was clutch the other pilot, smell his spice and savory scent, and feel the feverish warmth on his frigid extremities.

He floated in that sea of sensations for hours before the laptop summoned him and the war intruded. Heero disentangled his legs from the other pilot’s and released the fistfuls of uninjured shoulder and braid that he’d grabbed to him; it was physically painful. He wiped the tracks off his cheeks and went to read the received transmission.

As expected, J appeared on the screen and wasting no time he ordered “01 report to point Charlie347 for immediate retraining. Based on your recent report, your actions have been deemed faulty and inefficient. Failing to complete your objective is unacceptable and you are being recalled for the necessary repair before being dispatched on appropriate missions.”

‘Oh God.’ He wouldn’t even be able to stay and work with the other pilots after this. He drew an invisible breath, preparing to accept his future.

“Rejected.”

Stunned, Heero spun, mouth still parted, to see Duo roll stiffly out of the bed, taking care of his injured leg, and waltz over to the computer. J was still attempting to order Heero in on the other end of the line, but his entire attention was focused on the Deathscythe pilot as he came over.

“Meet the Wizard Heero.”

What was he saying? Was he still delusional? But the gaze that met his, from the one open eye, was steady and…tender?

“…and just like in the story, he can’t help you. You’ve always had the brain, the courage, and the heart; there is nothing this man can give you.”

Heero wasn’t thinking still stunned at the very word ‘rejected’ you can’t…I have to…the war…the mission…It ran around and ‘round his mind and he tried to explain to Duo “I’ve been ordered in Duo, I have to report for retraining. I almost got you killed because I couldn’t get off the mission. I have to go in.”

Duo finally reached the table and sunk into the chair a bit unsteadily before he reached over and pulled the other pilot down and into his lap. “But you didn’t kill me. You rescued me, I remember a bit; it’s rather fuzzy but I know it was my Tinman that came to get me and got me out. Not only of that base, but the second one as well, when it was under attack.”

Sitting in Duo’s lap shorted out the last few circuits that divorced Heero’s brain and his mouth and all he could do was stare into Duo’s violet eye and speak. “But I’ve been ordered to go in, J called me in; I need retraining…” He had to be fixed, repaired, decommissioned so as not to harm other people. He couldn’t disobey an order, it was a mission…If he didn’t go…if he didn’t go……what would…
Duo seemed to be reading his mind, “No you don’t Heero, you don’t need the training that one-armed cyborg can give you. And what’s he gonna do if you don’t go? Look behind the curtain Tinman, J is just another man, you could kill that scrap man four different ways handcuffed, blindfolded, and tranq-ed up to your gorgeous blue eyeballs, so who is he to tell you that wanting to save a comrade, instead of short sightedly blowing up a target, is the right thing to do. Even you know getting me out was the right thing to do, you’ve said so yourself.” All the time Duo, though his legs trembled and he felt hollow from his recent treatment, was enfolding and shoring up Heero as he crumbled.

“I don’t want to go Duo…” Heero finally admitted, he knew his trainer would only inject him with more drugs and further strip him of the things that made Quatre, Wufei, Trowa, and especially Duo such strong fighters. It wasn’t Heero’s body that was failing him now.

Duo beamed at him, the warmth cracked the barrier making him numb and warmth trickled into his core. The former street rat turned back to the screen and scoffed “Geez Heero, you actually listen to what this guy is saying?! Now listen you,” and suddenly Shinigami was grinning at the old scientist. “First of all, you are attempting to order ‘Heero’ not ‘01’ in for retraining. I feel justified in denying you on just those grounds.” More bluster, but Duo spoke right over the top. “Secondly,” and here he glanced fondly at Heero who was staring wide-eyed at the whole thing “you will cease slipping ‘Heero’ those happy pills or whatever the hell it is you give him to influence him to ‘finish the mission!’ Don’t think we wouldn’t figure it out, much less notice! If, after we straighten him out, we notice that Heero is nothing but plumb and flush Death will be paying you a visit, get me? Sabotaging Tinman has won you no points and I will warn you now that I’m not the only one done with this shit. Quatre had to waylay Trowa from scragging your blind ass last month after that two-man factory demolition. My inner psycho has nothing on tall, silent, and mercenary; you should have seen him clean his knives even after Quatre spent three nights on him.”

Heero, dazedly recalled that mission; he had fractured a leg and arm jumping from the fourth floor to be on time for the rendezvous. Distantly he realized that he’d attributed Trowa’s behavior after as the usual reaction to Heero brushing off immediate first aid. He didn’t understand it at the time, of course he’d walk; it wasn’t like anything was actually broken.

Words like ‘sabotage’ and ‘influence’ started to percolate into his hazy thoughts and unbeknownst to Heero, would be looked at days later; gaps were filled, misunderstanding from past missions were corrected, and conclusions drawn, that were definitely to the detriment of Doctor J’s continued existence. However at that moment in time, all Heero was capable of was feeling Duo all around him and working at comprehending what he was hearing. He faded back in from wandering thoughts, to understand that the irate pilot was still threatening J.

“…so I had to hide his katana for a freaking month and could only really get him to swear that he’d leave your one good arm alone; all bets are off if he ever actually sees you though, I was just making sure he wouldn’t be blowing up recreational targets trying to get you. You should talk to the others some time, I know you haven’t been in communication for a while, or G would have warned you that we’ve had enough. If any of us ever actually see you…well I have dibs on your ears and right kidney, Quatre beat me out for the liver.“ He nosed Heero behind his ear and continued. “I want all the records of your work with Heero in Deathscythe by tomorrow, and a copy sent to Doctor G. We’ll let you set up missions and objectives; we can’t argue with your directions but, like I said, if we ever think you’ve tampered with, ‘helped,’ or ‘adjusted’ Heero again…you better hope Oz will take you in. It’ll give you time for some last words.” Here Duo stopped crushing the other pilot to him, a smidgeon calmed, and nuzzled the messy hair “Anything to add Heero?”

The Wing pilot pulled back and met Duo’s sincere expression…and blinked. The God of Death laughed and nuzzled his hair again “and that goes double for me!” He stated before cutting the connection on the red faced scientist. He reached out and shut the laptop closed. “Sorry ‘bout that Lion,” he moved his hand to Heero’s head and ran his splinted fingers through the soft mop of brown, “but sometimes you need a little help to do the best thing for yourself.”

Heero frowned, sufficiently distracted by the fingers that he couldn’t quite think why he should be upset by that. Going from Deathrow, to Cloud 9(plus clothes and minus the caramel sauce) had left Heero Yuy...detached. He pulled himself together a bit when he felt himself stretch into Duo’s touch but stayed relaxed, figuring the game was up anyway. It was already out…yeah, he had a heart and it was Duo’s. He growled “You have two arms baka, why are you using the bad one?” And secured Duo’s arm to his chest when he saw that the other pilot was moving it, but he made no move to get up.

They stayed like that for a minute until Heero asked “so the drug has worn off?” He wasn’t one to normally start a conversation, but he was starting to get a bit uncomfortable that Duo wasn’t talking yet.

The braided pilot continued his ministration with his other hand, but answered “yeah, it seems the ‘flying monkeys’ got enough adrenaline into me, that it cleared most of the drug out. I was still kind of out of it, when Quatre was here, but that was mostly because I was really tired.”

“What happened at the base Duo, why did you come back? How did you know to come back?” Heero mumbled into the bandages on Duo’s chest.

“I’d finished setting my charges, when that patrol showed up out of nowhere. I managed to hide and avoid them, but I knew you would be found if they went that far so I high tailed it to your position and got there just before they did. I led them off thinking I could lose them in such a big base, but got cornered instead. Oi, don’t even think it! I know those plans as well as you do! There was unscheduled maintenance in one of the corridors and I got boxed in.”

“Hn.”

“The rest I assume you know. They dragged me kicking and screaming to medical where they shot me full of some ‘good trip’ to keep me from killing them all and interrogated the shit out of me until you showed up. It’s pretty hazy, but you got the bitch with the door, right? Good aim, she was the one that snipped at my braid.” Duo seemed to register what he’d said. “Oh my poor braid! It’ll take months to grow out.” he moaned.

Heero relaxed into Duo as hands stroked his back from neck to tailbone; long motions that heated his spine. “So what do you remember?”

Glad that Heero couldn’t see his blush he replied “Heh…honestly not much is coherent after you showed up and before Quatre came into this room. I thought I was in ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ It’s an old, old American story about a girl that ends up in a different world and tries to find the wizard with a lion, a scarecrow, and a tinman. They all say they need something, but in the end all have what they need already. It’s a pretty good story, you should see it sometime, they made an old musical out of it. I was watching it in Deathscythe on the way out to the base, and it must have been on my mind.”
Heero listened to the description of the movie and decided he would be watching it soon.

“Now I have some questions of my own, before we even get into the whole ‘J’ and ‘training’ thing.” Duo said accusingly. Heero pushed his face insistently into Duo’s shoulder, not looking forward to that at all; his blood froze in his veins though when he finally heard, “what’s this about Hee-chan?”

Heero stiffened and pulled back a little “I…thought you wouldn’t mind…” he prevaricated.

Duo smushed him close again, melting him in the softness and warmth of his body “Nuh uh Lion, explain. You know that is not what I meant. What I want to know, is if you’re finally caving to my irresistibility or if the icy boar that runs around on two legs, waving his gun and grunting at everyone is going to be back? If you are giving in, I’d just like to finally say that it won’t be a letdown.”

“So this is ok?” Heero asked quietly, still not brave enough to come clean completely quite yet, “I don’t deserve this; you came back, saved me, saved the mission and I was all set to blow you up. Quatre had to pull his gun on me to get the detonator and get me to go back into the base.”

Duo sighed and gave him a little squeeze. “Well this certainly brings up all that J stuff that I didn’t want to get to yet…what the hell. First, Heero I speak for all of us when I say that we’re very proud of you for finally breaking your conditioning enough to come back in and get me. I always said you could do it. We’ve known for a while that J has been making you ‘complete the mission.’ Heck, I’ve known ever since the time you tried to kill the Pink Princess and almost died escaping the hospital. That’s why I had G partner me up with you; I seemed to be the only thing that would get through to you.”

“I thought I needed retraining; even the logical answer was to salvage your piloting skills. I knew I couldn’t go in though because I wanted to. But it was the right thing to do!” Heero was so agitated now that he tensed and sat up, seemingly ignoring the last revelation.

Duo wasn’t deterred and merely kept up a soothing rocking in his chair “and that’s why we’re so proud of you Hee-man, not only did you realize it was wrong, you stopped and fixed your actions during a mission! None of the others would have blamed you, even if you did blow the base.” He turned Heero’s face toward himself “I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d hit that button. I’d still have watched your back.”

“You’d have been dead baka.” Heero buried his face in Duo’s chest again, not liking that thought at all.

“Hey,” Duo scoffed, lightening the mood, “you never know when one non-corporeal, invisible, floating terrorist will tip the scales. But still, the fact remains that you bested your training Tinman and came to get me. But too late for my poor braid!” Duo grabbed the injured appendage and looked at it mournfully. “I was just getting your attention too, with the way it would brush my ass and now it’s gooooone!”

Heero blushed and thought to himself ‘Don’t worry, you had my attention since that shower on Howard’s boat.’

“Really Heero?”

Heero’s face combusted, realizing his brain was still connected directly to his mouth. He pulled the other pilot against him, careful of his injuries and answered hesitantly “Aaa…”

Duo nuzzled Heero’s neck, practically purring and Heero was suddenly no longer even remotely upset.

“So,” Duo started to say, “we’ve covered that J is not a God, merely a one armed old man with nothing left to teach you because you already have everything you need to be out good teammate. You have always been reliable to a fault, even with your training getting in the way and no one looks out for the rest of us more than you do. Whether you realize it or not. Now that you can make all of your own decisions, your mission planning in the field will be amazing.”

“Hai” Heero affirmed and was rewarded with a kiss to the base of his throat that raised his temperature 4°F and got rid of his ability to swallow silently.

“We’ve also covered that the group was never and will never be mad at you for what J has done and caused and we’re all looking forward to disassembling that cyborg just as soon as we find him.”

“Affirmative.” The kiss, this time, behind his ear, melted Heero’s bones and breathing was suddenly waaay too much trouble.

“The fact that I find you absolutely delicious in spandex, flight suit, or danger and have wanted you very,” the ‘very’ was puffed into his ear on a breath of hot air, “badly in any way, shape, or form; has now also been addressed.”

“Aaaaa” slipped out of Heero’s slack throat, more a moan than an answer. Duo proceeded to brush his lips across Heero’s closed eyes, then run his tongue around the outer shell of the Wing pilot’s ear and tug gently on his earlobe with his teeth while a hand caressed his back down to the hem of his pants and toyed with the waist. All that was left of Heero after that, was a puddle of goo and a pair of eyes glued to the chestnut rope that draped over his arm. Poor Heero, had very little experience with gentle contact and the loving touches bestowed on him by Duo had fried ever single cell of the Perfect Soldier.

“Most importantly,” Duo was whispering in his ear now, dropping them out of the chair and pressing him back onto the floor, his teasing hands running across his lips and cheek, “we have established how thoroughly I captivate you… and how you want to stay with me?” The voice, though seductive and hot on his ear was also very much a question when Duo met his eyes. All Heero could utter in such a situation was the absolute truth “Ai shiteru.”

The sudden beatification of Duo’s face was lost to the worshiping hands and gentle lips that assured, whatever the truth had been, it was a very good answer.

Pounding at the door caused Duo to grab the gun at Heero’s back and turn to face the disturbance, still panting from his previous pursuits. On the floor, Heero mewled at the loss of sensation and could only manage a few blinks to show his displeasure.

“Yuy! I know you are in there, now come out and face justice dishonorable cur!”

“What did you do?” Duo lowered the gun and turned to ask Heero, but found the other still flat on his back. He scooted over, careful of his bad leg, and touched Heero’s temple to get his attention “You alright?”

“What was that?” Heero finally gasped out and Duo looked down at him and realized how loveless his life had been previously.

“Sorry Hee-chan, that was a bit much?” He pulled the other boy up, despite the pounding at the door, and hugged him. “We’ll talk about all of this later, but aishiteru too ok?” he touched Heero’s cheek again, to recapture his suddenly distant attention. “First, you need to tell me why Wufei wants my Hee-koi dead hmm?”

Heero managed to pull himself together and admitted grudgingly “I used Shenlong to defend the base and brought it back a bit damaged.”

Recognition lit up Duo’s eyes “the dragon…oh Lion, that is bad; you better go out the window until he cools off.”

“What about you?” Heero asked as he pulled himself off the floor and plucked Duo up into his arms.

A noise at the door made them both turn to look and see seven inches of katana peeking in next to the handle. “I’ll play dead and meet you in an hour at Shenlong’s bay to see if we can speed things up; better hurry looks like he’s almost through.” That said, he flopped back on the bed where Heero had deposited him and regulated his breathing, feigning unconsciousness.

Heero looked one more time at his Koi, before dropping to the ground outside their room and looking for some cargo he could hide in for an hour.
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The Wizard of OZ