May 9, 2001
Title: Crossed Wires
Author: AstroKender
Pairings: 2+3, 3+2
Rating: Alternate Timeline
Warnings: Trant gets what he deserves.
Spoilers: Hmm...nope.
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.
"I knew you were up to something Barton," Trant spoke, as he crawled up through the opening of the air vent. "But I never figured you for a Gundam pilot."
Trowa lay on the floor, trying to staunch the flow of blood from his stomach with one hand, while casting about for a weapon with the other. He cursed himself for leaving his rifle over at the foot of DeathScythe. Green eyes glared at Trant in hatred.
"I should have killed you."
The OZ officer rubbed his broken nose gingerly. "Yes, you should have. Now I am going to make you pay for your crimes against the OZ organization." He turned suddenly, keeping his gun trained on Trowa's head. "I wouldn't if I were you, 02. Or do you really think you can shoot me before I finish off your boyfriend here? I thought not." Trant sneered. "Now drop your gun."
Trowa tried to rise up and rush him, but the pain in his abdomen was too intense. He fell back with a groan. The Latin boy watched as Duo swiftly popped the clip off his rifle before tossing out to the ground far below DeathScythe. It landed with a loud clatter before skittering into a far corner.
"Right. Now the one in your waistband, if you please."
Cursing, Duo removed his other gun, and disposed of it as he did the first. His eyes roamed over Trowa anxiously, assessing his condition. It wasn't good. Another blast hit the base and Duo crouched low to prevent himself from falling off of his Gundam. Zechs' attacks were coming more frequent now. He had to think of something, and fast.
"You shouldn't have left Epyon unprotected, Trant. Zechs will do anything to get it."
The OZ officer glanced up at Duo haughtily. "The Lightning Count is being held back by Une's Mobile Dolls. By the time he gets anywhere near the base, I will have escaped, along with Epyon."
Duo shook his head. "Une has called off the Mobile Dolls to assist in the base's evacuation. You're defenseless now and soon Epyon won't even exist."
"What are you talking about?" Trant moved away from Trowa, his gun pointing at the longhaired boy perched precariously on the Gundam's hatch. Duo smirked down at him.
"What's it to you? You never figured out Epyon's secret anyway. Even if it wasn't going to be destroyed, you wouldn't have been able to pilot it."
Trant's eyes widened. "Destroyed? Impossible."
Duo leaned his uninjured arm on his knee casually. "Yup. 'Fraid so. As we speak, a friend of mine is setting high-energy explosions along Epyon's weakest points. I give it another fifteen to twenty minutes before it blows into a million itty bitty pieces."
Trant's arm dropped limply to his side. "No..." he whispered.
"Of course I'd be willing to make a deal with you, if you're interested in having Epyon in a more...functional condition."
The OZ officer raised the gun back up swiftly, pointing it again at Duo's heart. "I do not make deals with Gundam pilots."
The blue-eyed boy shook his head in mock sadness. "That's too bad. Remember, this Gundam pilot knows the secret of Epyon." His eyes turned serious. "And I'll tell it to you, if you let my friend go."
"Duo, no...." Trowa moaned, trying to stay conscious.
"Shut up!" Trant barked back at him. He glanced back up at Duo, his eyes narrowed. "Barton can walk out of here any time he wishes. Now tell me."
"Ah, ah, ah.... I'm afraid that isn't good enough. You've got to let me set DeathScythe here on auto pilot and let Trowa escape from the base in it."
"Forget it."
"I will even radio my friend and tell him to abort the mission to destroy Epyon," Duo bargained.
"No." Trant remained firm. "That Gundam is too important to let it go just like that. No deal."
Duo stood swiftly, glaring down at him. "DeathScythe is nothing compared to Epyon! Don't you see that suit has the power to control the tide of the war? Why do you think we were going to destroy it?"
Trant was silent for a moment as he struggled with himself. His fist clenched tightly at his side as his words were forced from gritted teeth. "Fine. You set the controls, then come down to the floor. You can then use a pulley to take Barton up. I will let him escape with your Gundam but you are going to come with me. You will tell me everything I want to know plus you will contact the person that is setting the explosives and demand that he stop."
Duo nodded. "Deal."
Trant pointed his gun at Trowa. "I'm warning you, try anything funny and Barton here will be nothing by a grease stain on the floor."
"I hear ya."
Duo stepped back into DeathScythe cockpit with a sigh. Things were not going as well as he hoped. He certainly wished that Trowa would be okay enough to last the trip to the nearest colony. The longhaired boy's hands roamed lovingly over his Gundam's controls.
"G sure did a wonder with you this time, buddy. It looks like you have loads of cool new stuff to toy around with," he said softly as he programmed the autopilot as well as the cloaking device so Zechs would not detect his Gundam. "I hope I get the chance to try them out."
Trant yelled up at him impatiently and Duo promptly finished his task. He then opened up his storage compartment and rapidly shifted through the supplies he found inside.
"C'mon, I know it has to be in here somewhere...." He cursed as Trant once again called up at him, this time threatening to shoot Trowa in the leg. "I swear I'm going to kill that-aha!"
Duo hastily pulled out a magnetic grappling hook and stuffed it into the pocket of his sweatshirt. Grinning, his eyes glinted maliciously. "Just wait, Trant. Your death will not be pleasant."
Hopping out of the cockpit, Duo grabbed the hatch's pulley and quickly rapelled down DeathScythe's metallic form. Landing, he walked calmly over to Trowa, completely ignoring Trant's existence.
"Are you alright, man?" he asked, as he helped Trowa to his feet. The Latin boy slumped against him weakly.
"I'm fine," Trowa whispered. "But Catherine is going to kill me. I definitely won't be able to perform at the circus for awhile."
Duo supported him steadily as they began to walk over to DeathScythe. For Trowa, each step was agony. He continued speaking to keep his mind off it. "I never did tell you I was part of a circus. That's why I had the mask in my room," he whispered. "You owe me a new one of those you know. They're not cheap."
"I never thought I'd live to see the day when you were babbling, Trowa." Duo gently propped the Latin boy up beside DeathScythe foot as he tore off his remaining sleeve. Bending over, he stuck the balled up cloth underneath Trowa's OZ jacket and directly over the wound. He hand came away stick with blood.
"That bullet is probably still in you." Duo's voice cracked slightly. "You better get it check out as soon as you get to the colony."
Trowa stared up at him. "Don't do this, Duo. Trant will kill you once he gets the information he wants."
The American shook his head, and reached down for the radio at Trowa's side. "There is only one person in this room that is going to die soon, and it isn't you or me. Just promise me you'll be in better shape the next time I see you." He tucked the radio into his pocket. If all went well he'd need it later.
"Duo...." Trowa seemed to struggle with himself. Suddenly he jerked to his feet, despite his wound. "I'm not going to abandon you here. We're partners and we're in this together." The Latin boy swayed and would have fallen if not for Duo's strong arms dashing out and supporting him.
"Your mission is finished, remember?" Duo reminded him gently. "You got me to DeathScythe. Now I need you to get in my buddy here and try not to get too much blood on the new upholstery." He held Trowa close with his good arm as his other grabbed DeathScythe's pulley and wrapped it around Trowa's wrist twice, before sticking the handle in the lanky boy's hand. He made sure that the wire wouldn't cut into the Latin boy's skin when he was being pulled up.
"Duo, please...." Trowa's one visible green eye glistened. Duo stared at him silently for a moment and then pulled him closer with his good arm, acting on instinct.
Grabbing Trowa's face with his other hand, he dipped his head down and kissed the boy, hard. He pulled away quickly before the Latin boy could respond, and pushed the button to activate the pulley. Trowa could only stare down at him, wide eyed, as he slowly rose into the air.
"Bon voyage, Tro-man!" Duo called up. "If you scratch DeathScythe's new paint job, I'll kick your ass!"
Duo felt the hard press of metal against his head and turned slowly to face Trant. The OZ officer stared down at him coldly, gun aimed between Duo's large blue eyes. "Let's go," he commanded.
Duo nodded and began to walk slowly towards the airlock that stood off to the side of the main hold. Glancing back, he watched as Trowa struggled to climb into DeathScythe's cockpit. Finally seating himself, the Latin boy carefully buckled his harness, before raising his eyes to meet the braided boy's. One hand lifted lightly in farewell and Duo, recalling a similar instance mere minutes before, nodded his head firmly.
Trant rudely pushed him forward as DeathScythe's hatch closed, hiding Trowa from view. Duo reached the air lock and turned to face Trant. Behind the OZ officer he saw the green eyes of his Gundam flare to life as DeathScythe powered up. Duo smiled grimly.
"I'll tell you Epyon's secret now."
Trant stared at him incredulously. Dark eyes narrowed and he stepped into the airlock, reaching over to press the button that would close the doors. Duo's hand shot out and stopped him. His cobalt eyes glittered.
"The key to piloting Epyon is to have no fear of death. I could pilot it because I am Death, Trant. Your death."
Moving before the taller man could react, Duo's hand slammed into a large red button on the wall. Alarms blared in warning as the bay doors above DeathScythe began to open. Duo smiled grimly. "Goodbye Trant."
The air in the hold was suddenly released and the two men were both sucked towards the cold depths of space. Gritting his teeth, Duo ignored Trant's piercing scream as he reached into his pocket. Pulling out the grappling hook, he aimed it toward the air lock and fired. The metal cable flew through the air and connected with the wall, the powerful magnet holding it in place.
Just as Duo was about to be sucked out of the hold, the line ended. Duo bit back a scream as the force of the sudden jerk snapped his broken arm back out of place. Concentrating, the longhaired boy pressed a second button on the grapple, and the line slowly began winding him back towards the ground.
Duo hung on tightly, praying the line would hold. He looked out from between his arms to stare into space's yawning abyss. He saw a brief flicker of light and sighed in relief that Trowa had not been able to override the autopilot. DeathScythe was now fully cloaked and on its way to the nearest colony.
Even as Duo felt his grip slipping and believed he would be sucked into space with Trant, the grapple finally reached its end. Duo looked over at the air lock's control panel, a mere foot away. To Duo, those twelve inches seemed like a mile.
Bracing his foot against the wall, the American used it to push himself towards the control panel, out of necessity letting go of his grapple. As he was sucked backwards, he quickly smacked a bright blue button as he passed it. The air lock doors closed swiftly and he slammed into them, sliding to the floor in a heap.
Panting, Duo slowly crawled over to the controls and closed the bay doors. The warning lights silenced as air once again rushed into the hold outside. Duo collapsed to the floor in relief.
"Whew...I almost lost my pants with that one!"
A blast shook the base and his expression sobered. He was running out of time and he had to get off the moon, quick. Fumbling in his pocket, he pulled out Trowa's radio.
"Jeremy! Are ya there, pal?"
The base was now rumbling continuously and Duo knew it would only be a matter of time before it gave under Zechs' assault. Jeremy's voice suddenly crackled through the speaker.
"Duo? Why are you still here?"
Duo almost fainted in relief. "No time, PJ. You've got to tell me, have you destroyed Epyon yet?"
"I'm afraid not." The officer's voice sounded discouraged. "I can't get past the beam saber that is still blocking the entrance to the hold! I'm sorry I failed you guys."
"Not to worry, PJ," Duo laughed consolingly. "It all worked out for the better. Abort your mission. There has been a change of plans."
End Part Twelve
(:./astrokender/crossed12)
