February 20, 2001
Title: Crossed Wires
Author: AstroKender
Pairings: none as of yet
Rating: Alternate Timeline
Warnings: not much in this part...maybe foul language.
Spoilers: Hmm...nope. Not really.
Notes: This is a small fic I've wanted to put out to reflect how much Duo and Trowa seem to clash during the series. Important! This doesn't go along with the series. There may be some similarities, but don't try to pin it to a specific time or you'll get a headache. This is purely a 'what if' kind of thing.
Disclaimers: I own nothing...Don't sue.
Duo sat back in his chair with a frustrated sigh. First his Gundam gets blown up by that cretin, and now this. It couldn't get any worse. Flipping his braid over his shoulder, he glared at the man on the computer screen.
"Let me get this straight...you want me to get captured?"
"Exactly. The new DeathScythe is almost completed. You want to pick it up don't you?"
Duo's hands flew up in the air in exasperation. "Of course I do!"
"DeathScythe Hell is being held far beneath the moon's surface, directly under the OZ base. To get to it, you need to get caught breaking in so to speak."
Duo made a show of steepling his fingers. "The new DeathScythe is under the OZ base."
"Yes."
"OZ doesn't know this."
"Right."
"You want me to get captured by OZ so I can escape with DeathScythe."
"Correct."
Duo shook his head. "Man, I don't know what kind of crack you've been smoking, but I sure wouldn't mind some right about now."
Professor G rolled his eyes. "Listen carefully Duo. I've been captured by OZ. But due to some 'dissention' in the ranks, I've been given the opportunity to rebuild DeathScythe. It was but a benefit and a curse that you escaped the original DeathScythe's destruction."
The American snorted. "Thanks. I love you too."
"You know what I mean. If you had been captured then we wouldn't be in this situation."
Yeah, my head would be on some pike in front of some Romafeller's mansion. "Fine. I get caught. Escape. Then take off with my new toy. Is that all?"
"You will meet up with Trowa Barton. You two are working together for this assignment." Professor G stated.
"No way! That guy is an ass! Can't I work with Heero on this one?"
"Pilot 01 has no experience at enemy infiltration and it would take too much time to get him involved. 03 is already incorporated into the OZ ranks, and has quite a high status. You will be working with Barton."
Duo kicked his desk in annoyance. "Aww, man! That guy hates me! He'll probably set me up just so he can watch OZ use me as a human piñata."
The professor's one visible eye narrowed. "Trowa Barton has his orders as well. Seeing as you are the key element in the operation, he can allow no harm to come to you. Dr. H has explained to him the penalty for failure."
Duo shook his head. The old man was a damn overprotective bastard, that's for sure. The American just wished he'd stop talking about Trowa like he was expendable.
"I don't know how well this plan of yours will work. Me and Tro are like crossed wires; every time we get near each other, sparks fly."
"Your mission is to make it work."
"But he's the one that blew DeathScythe up in the first place!"
"All that is moot now. He did what he had to do. By the time you are captured, I will have been executed. These will be my last orders for you."
The braided boy's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? I thought you were safe there? The dissention of the ranks and all that."
The figure on the screen shook his head. "My time has run out. My contacts have given me all the time they could. I should have been killed weeks ago. Don't go and pull any foolish stunts like trying to rescue me."
"B-But Professor..." Duo looked around desperately. "You just can't give up."
"I've done my part boy; the rest is up to you. You will refer to Howard from now on."
"Dammit G, you can't do this!" Duo punched the desk in anger. "The war is still going on! We still need your help to end it."
"Duo, I'm old and tired. I don't have the energy to fight anymore."
"You damn selfish son of a bitch!" Duo tried to ignore how his eyes watered. "Think of someone other than yourself for a change!"
"I did. Why do you think I rebuilt DeathScythe? You couldn't survive the war without it. Become the God of Death once again. End the war and you will have made me proud."
The connection was severed and Duo's eyes narrowed. With a howl of fury, he sent the monitor flying across the room. Stalking out the door, he crashed into Howard. The old man put his hands out to steady him, but Duo pushed him away.
"I take it you know?"
"I need a shuttle prepared with a full tank and two days ration. Gimme all the artillery you got and I want everything ready in fifteen minutes. I'm leaving for the moon. Tonight."
"But Duo! Your mission isn't supposed to take place for two more days." The old man made the very big mistake of trying to block the braided boy's path. Duo leveled his eyes at him. There was no hint of humor in those cobalt depths.
"Don't try to stop me Howard. Not if you value your life."
Howard had everything ready with five minutes to spare.
Trowa's eyes narrowed as his mission parameters scrolled across the screen. They couldn't be serious to actually pair him up with that joker. Worse, the guy was to be treated as indispensable to the mission. Trowa sneered. H was just going along with this because it was essentially Professor G's last request.
The old man deserved to die for training such an incompetent fool, Trowa thought with a sneer. He instantly berated himself for it. Duo probably had never had to endure the hardships the others had gone through. It wasn't his fault for being an innocent. But that didn't mean Trowa had to like him, or that the boy should be trusted with a seven point four ton machine of death.
And he calls himself the God of Death. He probably had never even seen a man die up close, let alone have any motivation for fighting besides sheer enjoyment. That type of person had always turned Trowa's stomach. There was no glory in battle, just painful, useless death.
With a sigh, Trowa turned back to the computer screen. He sent a quick reply before making sure to totally erase the email from the system. It wouldn't do for the wrong people to find out he wasn't quite what he claimed to be.
"If that guy screws this up, I'll kill him, Professor G or no."
"Colonial! An unidentified shuttle has appeared approximately three kilometers from gate 5B."
Colonial Une strode over to the view screen. "What? How did a shuttle make it this close without our noticing it?"
"It must have some sort of cloaking ability."
"Life forms?"
"Just one is detected."
"Who in the world would be foolhardy to try such a stunt?"
"I don't know ma'am. Should we arm the station lasers?"
The light glinted off the woman's glasses in a disturbing manner. "No. I want whoever was foolish enough to barge in here to be taken alive. Don't send out the mobile dolls. Let him enter the base and then surround him. Have Barton lead the main troops."
"Yes ma'am."
"And remember, I want this person alive."
"You are going to let this person inside the base?"
Colonial Une turned and regarded the speaker with a disapproving stare. "Are you questioning me, Lieutenant Trant?"
The lower ranked officer shook his head. "The intruder is a Gundam Pilot; I'm certain of it."
Colonial Une gave him a frightening smile. "Good..."
"Halt! We have you surrounded!"
The intruder took one look at the men surrounding him and laughed. Taking a detonator from his flight suit, he quickly pushed the button.
Trowa threw himself to the ground as half the corridor erupted in a blazing inferno. Quickly crawling to the nearest control panel, he made sure the area was sealed of to prevent depressurization in any of the major areas of the base. "Damn fool." He muttered to himself.
"Sir! How did he manage to plant so many explosives so quickly?"
Trowa looked over at patrol in detachment. He cared little if these men lived or died. They were the enemy after all. But for some reason, it made him uncomfortable that the enemy was not much older than he was.
"The intruder is a Gundam Pilot. He must be captured alive at all costs. You men go down the east corridor and block off his access to the mobile doll control room. The rest of you spread out and find him. He couldn't have gotten far."
Trowa's emerald eyes narrowed into mere slits. He knew exactly where Duo was going.
End Part One
(:./astrokender/crossed1)
