Red Moon Rising by Ebonydove

Part Two

Wufei read the transmission for the third time and as strong as he was, couldn't keep his hands from shaking.

"Wufei? Is something wrong?"

Wufei looked at Sally's warm and open expression and wondered again why she had decided to adopt him of all people. He debated for a moment whether he should even show her the confidential correspondence he received from Quatre. But seeing her eyes cloud with concern and a frown appear where there was a smile moments before, made him hand the slip of paper over to her without speaking.

She took the paper and read the few lines, her face immediately losing all its color. She turned confused eyes to him. "What does this mean?"

"The powers that be have decided to replace Duo with another pilot. At least that is my take on it. That's the only reason for the four of us to meet to be 'reintroduced' to the Deathscythe." He hadn't meant his voice to take on the sharp, defense tone it had, and gave Sally a half-hearted shrug of apology, which she acknowledged with a slight nod.

"This is going to upset Heero."

He glared at her. Onna. Of course he will be upset. He snatched the paper back from her and began getting his things together. "That is why I am leaving tonight to meet Trowa and Heero early."

"All right, just let me grab my gear."

Wufei choked and spun on his heel, grabbing her arm lightly before she could get too far away. "You are not going, Onna."

"The hell I'm not, Chang. Duo was important to me too! Besides, our work here is done. The rebels here are up and running under their own power again, and Heero may need a field doctor he can trust."

"The communication was explicate. It was meant for the Gundam pilots only. I thought... " He paused as he looked into her determined face. Her hands were set on her slim hips, her hair was blowing in the light breeze, and the fire in her eyes reminded him so much of another woman who had touched his heart so long ago.

"You thought what?" Sally cocked her head and lifted one delicate eyebrow.

"You are an infuriating woman who has no sense of when and where she belongs... " He raised his hand to stifle her from speaking, and she huffed as he finished. "But, I thought Quatre might appreciate your company. I agree that your presence may be a comfort seeing that you were involved with Duo before he died."

All the building temper she was tapping into blew out in a large puff of breath as she stood amazed that he was actually going to let her come along without more of an argument. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before darting off to gather her things from their camp.

Wufei watched Sally run off towards the campsite and brought his hand up to his cheek. "Onna." He growled. Smiling to himself, once he was sure she was out of sight, he tossed his gear up into Nataku's open cockpit and wondered if she noticed his ears turning red at the small gesture of affection.

Trowa waited for the clacking to start once more on the keyboard before he attempted to ask again. Heero was much better at dealing with topics that had anything to do with Duo when he was engaged in something that could channel his fury, besides another person. He looked at the smashed frame where the wooden table had taken the brunt of his anger when they read the first communication from Quatre.

Heero had stormed off into the bedroom and began stuffing his meager possessions into his duffel before returning slamming and banging his way through the small safehouse. Trowa just gave him a wide berth as he read the message Quatre had sent again. The second message came an hour later and had been coded and sent to Heero's most secure channel. The one he doubted even their benefactors knew existed and read simply:

Trowa was surprised when Heero allowed him access to the laptop and hidden message program and was thankful he had been the one to first receive the messages. Quatre had been taking Duo's death almost as badly as Heero had. In the two months that followed it, Heero and Quatre clashed more and more until it was decided by all that they should give each other some space. When Heero had said he didn't need time, or space, or any further emotional ties to the rest of them and stormed off, Quatre had cried. It was the last time the two had seen each other.

Since then he had been working with Heero exclusively, while trying to keep tabs on both Quatre and Wufei. Wufei was doing fine last he heard, and was helping Sally and her small band of rebels fight off the encroaching stranglehold by Oz on the other side of the planet. Quatre had returned to the Arabian desert to lay low until things had settled down a bit between he and Heero and was working directly with the Professors.

He lit the papers with a match and watched the orange flame lick up the side of the page before letting it fall into the trash. He was worried about Quatre. He blamed himself for Duo's death. It was true that at the time, he thought he was doing what was best for both Duo and Heero and had no idea that they had gotten a potential antidote from Professor G. But he was the one who let Duo leave the hospital that day. Heero couldn't get passed it, and Quatre was devastated once he learned about the cure.

His own feelings for Quatre had grown dramatically. After witnessing what the war could do to two people who loved each other made him realize how precious a thing they had was. It was difficult, and Quatre had tried to break things off after the blow out between he and Heero, claiming it was better for everyone if they didn't get attached to one another. He wished Duo was there at the time. He would have slapped Quatre for saying something like that. Duo always reminded them that they were all they had. A small band of brothers fighting against insurmountable odds. Just like in the movies.

Only this wasn't some film Duo loved and people got hurt in their world. Someone they loved died.

The clacking on the laptop had stopped and Heero sat watching the small ring of smoke float up to the ceiling. Trowa tried to gauge what was going on behind the cold mask Heero had worn for days, but found nothing but a blank stare. Breaking the tense moment he asked Heero again; "Are we ready then?"

Heero nodded, shut down the laptop and headed to where they had stashed their Gundams for safekeeping. Trowa gathered his bag and followed him out wondering what kind of person Deathscythe's pilot would be, and if Duo was somewhere out there watching over them all. Watching over Heero.

End Part 2

(:./ebony/red2)