20-Feb-2002
Title: Running with the Devil/part one
Author: Ebonydove
Warnings: violence, language.
Author's note: Quatre's POV. Takes place during the series but no spoilers.
Feedback appreciated, but apologies not guaranteed.
Pairings: none
I don't know what ever possessed me to come with Duo on this little escapade, but here I was running down the street for all I was worth trying to catch up with him as he sprinted up ahead and was laughing uncontrollably. How anyone could laugh that hard and still be so fast was beyond me.
I knew that it was his teasing that got me to come. He had a way of getting people to do things that they didn't really want to do just by using things like guilt and pride and those big blue eyes of his against you. I fell for the pride thing. I wondered which Heero always seemed to fall for.
We had been talking about hand to hand combat and I confessed that I wasn't very strong in that area. Put me in my Sandrock and I was unstoppable, but brawling or fist fighting or whatever it was that Duo was trying to show me, I just wasn't any good at. I could be stealthy, but nowhere near his abilities and I could wire explosives and cause mayhem, but not to his high caliber. So part of me wanted to prove that I could at least keep up with t he self appointed God of Death. And I was finding it very difficult.
By the time I rounded the corner where Duo had gone he was leaning against a small concrete wall waiting for me, not even seeming to be too out of breath. I mean he was breathing hard, but not gasping for air like I was. I blamed it on the humidity. The desert didn't have this kind of moisture in the air.
"'Bout time you showed up, Quatre. I was thinking I'd have to double back and get you." He laughed loudly with his braid swinging behind him. "Did you see that guy's face?"
Yeah I had. He looked mad as Hell. Duo had not only picked his pocket, cleanly I might add, but slipped his timepiece off and stole his umbrella while I asked him for directions to the nearest diner. Then when the gentleman realized his watch was gone, Duo tossed the umbrella back at him, open and we took off running while the guy shouted for help from thieving bandits. A real hoot. "Duo you're incorrigible."
"So don't incorrige me." He laughed and then slapped me hard on the back. "So rule number one, it's always best to work in pairs, when you can. Distraction or decoys are great things to have so you can pick as much as you possibly can off someone. It buys you a lot more time than trying to do it alone."
"Duo, I have no intentions of stealing for people to live. I get by on my own." I watched as the smile fade a bit and wondered what I may have said wrong.
But he was grinning a bit wider in the next moment as he pushed himself off the wall and we made our way down the street. "For someone who was disinherited, you certainly seem to have a big bank account. Must be nice not having to work for anything."
I know he hadn't meant the comment to sting so much, but it did, and like the others I wasn't too good at masking my feelings. I must have looked hurt because when he turned around to see why I had stopped walking the look on his face went from playful to apologetic in less than a second.
"I'm sorry Quatre, that was mean."
He stood there giving me his best puppy dog eyes and I couldn't stay upset. After all what he said was true. My father may have dismissed me from his life, but my sisters still keep me well funded. Usually on the sly. And I never had to actually work for any of it. Rashid's father, Prince Otta Oul, also kept me well supplied and often took on my Gundam repairs. The comment was true which is why is probably hurt like it did. I may not have a father anymore but I had been gifted with good friends. And I considered Duo one of them. He was like that, he didn't hold punches, and I didn't want him to start with me. "No it was true. Lucky for you though, seeing I'm paying for lunch." I laughed.
"Actually Mr. Ethan Snide is paying for lunch."
"Who?" I had never heard that name and by the look in Duo's eyes, it was someone he knew.
"Remember the guy with the umbrella?"
I blanched. Oh no. "Duo, don't. They'll be able to trace the transaction." If anyone found out we were in the area we'd become instant targets. We might as well paint a bull's eye on our butts.
"Trace it to who? A couple of kids fuckin' around?"
Duo strode off laughing again and I knew there was no point in trying to argue. Duo Maxwell lived his life to the beat of a different drum. A very loud and sometimes very dangerous one. We walked a few more blocks and stopped at a small diner to have lunch. Thankfully the only thing I had to endure was Duo flirting with anyone and everyone that looked in his direction and the nice, old lady that was concerned why we weren't in school.
Duo just reassured her that we were home schooled and that we had been allowed to take the afternoon off for all the good work we had already accomplished today. It was amazing that the guy could lie and have everything that came out of his mouth be true.
I liked being with Duo. He made me feel like I was a normal kid. We did have fun so far today, although at the time we were having it I hadn't thought so. He was so friendly and animated and it was just good to be with someone that I didn't need to worry about trusting or not. Things had gotten so confusing for me lately and I often had to stop and think hard about just whom I was fighting against and for. Heero was always good for clarifying things like that. He seemed to see things so clearly. I could always count on him to say it plain for me. Too bad it usually came out as 'kill everyone.'
"What cha thinkin' Quatre?"
"About Heero." I saw him stop chewing for a minute. Apparently we were so innocent looking that the old lady gave us each a slice of peach pie for no cost. Duo had been enjoying his the way he did with all treats, slowly and loudly, sometimes letting a little 'yummy' escape from around a fork full of the dessert. He seemed distant for a moment and I watched his smile quirk a bit more before I once again had his full attention.
"Why you thinking about ol' stoney?"
If he wanted to pretend they weren't friends that was fine. I knew they were. "He always seems to know what to do and when to do it." I don't know what I was trying to explain, I just couldn't help feeling that I was more of a liability so far in our objectives than help. It was true that there were only the five of us on earth that could fly a Gundam, and I was one of them, but I always felt two steps behind the others.
"I really didn't mean to upset you with the comment I made earlier about you being disinherited. Shit, I wish I had anything to be disinherited from. You can't be thrown out of a family you never had. I don't mean to be bitter. Growing up on the streets, stealing and worse to live makes me cranky. I didn't mean it to hurt you."
Duo being sincere and vulnerable was something I wish I could fully describe. He had put down his fork and he looked so determined to get me to accept his apology that even the treat wasn't going to tear his attention away from me. "Duo, even though you didn't say anything wrong, I forgive you." It was instant smiles. He resumed eating his pie and I couldn't resist shoving the rest of mine over as well. His eyes lit up and he smiled a thanks as he finished it too. I loved being around him, I really, truly did.
When he had finished and Mr. Snide got his receipt and left a big tip, we left to head out to our survey point. That guy was going to be even more upset once he realized we used his credit card to pay for our binoculars in a sporting goods shop on the way. Duo picked the best that money could buy and was smiling from ear to ear like a kid with his new toy.
We had scouted the Oz supply depot we were targeting the night before for a 'snatch and grab', as Duo liked to call it, and were getting ready to proceed soon with our plan. Duo insisted that we get the binoculars with night vision capabilities for our raid. But I knew that he had to replace the ones he 'borrowed' from Wufei that got smashed a few weeks ago and smiled to myself.
Duo never liked to go on a mission on an empty stomach. When I had asked him why he got very serious and explained that it kept the blood in your stomach muscles while the food was being digested. Your concentration was better, and if the enemy caught you, you had something in your stomach you could purge and save for later in the very worst of circumstances. I filed that away in my mental rolodex under 'last resorts' and swore I'd never ask Duo anything like that again. I almost lost what I had in my stomach. He wasn't kidding either. There was no mirth in what he said at all while he spoke to me in hushed tones as we walked.
We planned our escape route at lunch and already had been told where to stay if we needed a safehouse in the area. Wufei had been here the month prior hiding out and gave us a hand written map of an apartment on the far side of the town we were in. We weren't using the Gundams and had gotten a ride from Trowa as it was on his way. He was off to a different target far from where we were going but seemed more than willing to drop us off.
Heero left us instructions on where he left us a car to get back with and a secondary safehouse in case it was required. Good old Heero. Leave nothing to chance. It was no more than a shack in the woods and I didn't think we'd need it, but I took the directions anyway. In a few hours we would be heading back to where Heero and Wufei were waiting for us.
The chips we were stealing were for the Mobil Suit's firing system, but Heero and Trowa could reprogram them to be used for various Gundam systems like the trigger mechanism for his beam saber and for Duo's stealth system reload program. That could be activated even when Duo wasn't in the suit. I wished Sandrock had that. They were very flexible circuits and came in handy when making Gundam suit repairs. Especially if your navigation system got fried like Trowa's had a few weeks ago. The best thing about it was that they were small and easy to transport. Like Duo had said; 'it was gonna be a piece a cake, bread.'
End Part 1
(:./ebony/running1)
