13-Jun-2000
Category: Adventure, Angst, Romance, Friendship
Time: After the events in OCT
Pairings: 3+4, 1+2 and various friendships.
Rating: R for a graphic bit of violence at the end.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no money being made or sought, just a good time had by
all.
Duo brought the gun up to his shoulder, hoping to steady his aim. Finally fixing on the tires he fired repeatedly.
>BANG
"Yes!" Duo hissed through clenched teeth as he heard a front tire pop. The Hummer wheeled hard to the left. The driver, taken by surprise, fighting the bucking vehicle. Duo watched as the high center of gravity worked against the utility vehicle and it flipped onto it's roof, bounced a couple of times and skidded into a ditch.
Quatre risked a quick peek into the review mirror at the sound of the crash. Swinging his eyes back to the road he began to look for a good place to ditch the Aston. Duo spun around and dropped into the seat.
"That'll slow em down."
"Did you..."
"Nah, I don't think so. That thing's built like a tank. We might have
gotten lucky on one or two but we'd better assume they'll be after us on
foot."
"Mmm." Quatre answered.
Picking his spot the Winner heir clenched his teeth together, taking a deep breath.
"Hang on Duo."
Duo braced his hands and feet as Quatre spun the wheel. The Aston turned hard and leapt off the road into the underbrush at the side of the road. Duo winced as the big car careened off the road. The Aston was NOT built for off road driving and Quatre was fighting the wheel hard to keep the car in once piece as they racketed down an embankment.
Only Quatre's piloting skills kept them from wrapping around a large tree. As it was Duo lost count of the number of saplings they took out as they crashed down the hill. The tail end of the car whipped back and forth behind them, skidding in the damp foliage. Quatre tapped at the breaks but found them next to useless in the situation and he didn't dare take a hand off the wheel to downshift. Wrestling with the classic car he fought to bring them to a stop.
Duo eeped softly as he spotted a riverbed approaching fast. Quatre cursed and spun the wheel. The Aston wheeled wildly about, it's heavy front end digging into the soft ground while the back end came sliding gracefully forward. Quatre turned the wheel into the skid and they slid in a graceful sideways motion towards the riverbank.
The heavy mud dragged at the car, slowing it to a point that when it careened into a solid young tree poking out of the riverbank, the big car came to a rocking standstill.
Quatre and Duo sat there for a moment. Quatre's knuckles bone white where they gripped the wheel, Duo's fingers digging into the dash.
"You know..." Started Duo licking his lips in a nervous gesture. "It just occurred to me, that I never actually witnessed you *land* anything."
"Duo... if you have any affection for me, whatsoever, you will never mention this."
"Ohhh I won't have to. But don't think the other's aren't gonna notice."
Quatre made a noncommittal noise and began to fight with his seatbelt. Duo, shook out his limbs, making sure all parts were in working order, then he vaulted gracefully from the car. All in all, the salvage expert in him noted, the Aston had held up quite well. Turning he looked up at their path, blinking a bit as he realized just how steep an incline they'd come crashing down. Whistling softly he decided to cut Quatre a little slack.
Giving himself a mental kick, Duo reached into the car and pulled out the gym bag, prowling within it's contents for the weapons and ammunition. Quatre leapt neatly out of the passenger side of the Aston, reaching to pick up the briefcase. Duo quickly loaded up both handguns, handing one over to Quatre who tucked it into the waistband of his khakis. Duo quickly reloaded the machine gun, then began to back up.
"Come on, let's get in the river and go upstream a little. We left a hell of a trail, they'd have to be blind or addled not to follow it."
"Right." Quatre didn't even hesitate but turned and began to pick his way down the steep bank towards the water.
Duo scanned the forest behind them, looking for any signs of activity before he trotted backwards, turning at the last moment to follow the nimble blonde into the water.
The first thing that hit Duo was the fact that the water was *cold*!! Sucking up a breath he plunged after Quatre who was up to his waist in the stuff and pushing his way up the strong current. The bed seemed to made up of rocks for which Duo was thankful as it gave them some traction, but he didn't want to spend too much time in the frigid liquid.
"This brings a whole new meaning to the term blue..."
"Don't finish that." Quatre quickly interrupted Duo, grabbing a branch to help pull himself along.
"I'm just saying..."
"And *I'm* trying not to think about it." The blonde shot a peeved glance over his shoulder.
Duo opened his mouth, then shrugged. They continued for a solid 15 minutes before Duo decided that any further and both of them would be too numb below the waist to run if they had too.
"This looks good, let's get out up here."
Quatre looked at the inhospitable bank and then back to Duo with a quirked brow.
Duo shrugged. "They won't expect it?"
Taking a breath, Quatre slide the handle of the briefcase over his small hand and reached up, grabbing some exposed tree roots. Scrabbling less then gracefully, the small blonde managed to pull himself out of the water, getting his feet tangled in some foliage and getting enough traction to heave himself up onto the bank.
Duo stayed beneath him for a moment, till he was sure that Quatre wouldn't fall back into the water, then followed the same route. It was difficult since the roots were slippery but Duo just cursed silently that no tree root was going to defeat him and though his muscles screamed with the effort of hauling his sodden self out of the water, he plowed up the bank behind the Arabian.
At the top of the bank, Quatre rested on one knee, bent over having a breath. Duo frowned. He'd forgotten that Quatre's wind wasn't up to par yet. Laying a supportive hand on his friend's shoulder, Duo stretched to his full height and swept the machine gun in a low arc, checking behind them for signs of pursuit.
He didn't see or hear anything except Quatre's labored breathing but he just *knew* they were out there.
"Quatre, come on, we've got to keep moving."
Quatre nodded, not wasting his precious wind on a reply. Digging his feet into the mud he pushed up and began to lead them through the brush. Though he was winded and cold, he moved carefully, disturbing as little of the foliage as he could manage and making as little noise as possible.
Keeping an eye on their back, Duo followed him just as carefully. Duo stopped them after about 20 minutes of travel, taking a moment to look around, trying to get his bearings. Quatre took the moment of rest and made advantage of it, bending down bracing his hands on his thighs, the briefcase knocked against the back of his knees.
"How... far?"
"I think we're still a good mile and a half away."
Quatre nodded and pushed himself up wincing and rubbing absently at his chest before turning to continue along their path. Duo was about to follow when the crack of a branch caught his attention. Grabbing Quatre he pushed the Arabian down into some low brush, crouching down beside him.
Startled though he might have been, Quatre went immediately still. Duo ground his teeth in frustration. They're pursuers were moving faster then they could. It was as simple as that. Duo looked around, weighing his options. The cover wasn't worth shit, most of the low laying foliage having been killed by the taller trees.
Trees.
Twisting back and forth Duo looked for a likely candidate. Most of the trees were tall and straight, but off to the right stood a stout maple. Tugging on Quatre's sleeve Duo drew his friend towards the tree.
"Get up as high as you can and make like a baby bird."
"Peep for worms?"
Duo just gave Quatre a look. If the out of breath blonde could crack jokes he could climb the damn tree himself. Duo just pointed *up*. Quatre gave him a weak grin and turned, grabbing a low limb and biting off a groan as healing muscles in his torso pulled, hauled himself up. Duo stayed by the base of the tree till Quatre's loafers disappeared into the dense foliage.
Giving his weapons a quick check, Duo listened for a moment, then skirted outwards, taking as wide a parameter as he dared. He didn't like moving away from Quatre. Wufei would most likely not approve but they weren't going to be able to outrun the men after them for another mile and half, so that meant the hunted had to become the hunter.
Without having to cover Quatre, Duo moved with a silent grace, like a dark shadow from tree to tree. He stopped now and again, listening closely. As he tightened his circle he could hear the men crashing through the underbrush.
Duo snorted and thought to himself. 'Subtle they ain't.'
Keeping his steps silent, Duo calculated how far he'd gone from where he'd left Quatre and then turned back seeking to outflank his enemy. His greatest worry was that they would be too spread out. Luck was once again with him and in a short amount of time, Duo found himself approaching two broad backs.
His smile was more a baring of his teeth as Duo lifted the handgun and drew a bead on the nearest back. For a split second he contemplated taking a prisoner, but in that same moment discarded the idea.
Quatre jumped as the birds roosting in his tree took flight with startled
squawks. The two gun shots in quick succession setting the forest alive with
the noise of startled animals. Quatre felt his own heart leap in his chest
and he took a couple of breaths to calm himself. He recognized the gun
report as Duo. Two down.
Quatre rested his head against the rough trunk of his perch. A third shot made him jump again. Duo was killing to protect him and a part of Quatre flinched at that notion. It was all so damn senseless; all this over power. It was almost as bad as the war. Quatre gave his head a shake. Now was not the time for a crisis of conscience.
Turning his face away from the tree trunk, Quatre inched out on his limb and peeked down into the forest bed. His keen eyes quickly picked out the ghosting form of Duo as the other boy made his way back towards Quatre. A flicker of movement just off to Duo's right caught Quatre's eye and he looked quickly in that direction.
Hidden behind a tree, in Duo's blind spot was a fourth man. Quatre quickly looked back to Duo, willing him to turn and see but Duo seemed to be expecting the last enemy from his left. Watching the situation set up Quatre quickly scrambled back along the limb, trying to move quickly but silently.
Duo broke through the overgrowth, his eyes fixed to the left. He'd been certain he heard something from that area. He stopped and was scanning down the barrel of his gun when he heard the crack of a branch behind him. Duo spun as a shot rang through the trees.
His muscles flinched of their own volition, prepared for the searing pain of a bullet violating his body but the agony never came. Instead, Duo's eyes focused on the man as he came staggering out from behind a tree, his eyes rolled comically up in his head as if he was trying to look at the messy exit wound that had removed half of the top of his skull.
The man's knees buckled and he went down hard, standing behind him was Quatre. His gun still aimed. Saddened turquoise eyes seemed out of place in the set pale features of the young man. Quatre kept the gun trained on the man till the body had fallen into the rotting leaves, then he looked up at Duo.
Duo felt a small flash of affectionate irritation. 'He'll kill to protect his friends but not himself. So that's what Wufei meant.'
Quatre nodded to him. "I didn't see anymore from where I was."
Duo did a quick 360, scanning the area immediately around them. "I think there were only four in the car. But I don't want to take any chances. Let's haul."
Duo waved Quatre to him, again sending the small blonde forward, while he protected their retreat.
((::Chuckles:: A little long I know. Anyone still with me??? ))
Laekin
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