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"The Rovers"Written By: Kaeru Shisho Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing
or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU, Romance, Adventure Pairings: ? Summary: The characters from Gundam Wing find love amid the perils of war, oh… and they save the world while they're at it. The story is set in an alternative universe on earth. Part One is told from Heero's point of view. We meet the roving people with a hidden agenda, and the men hunting them. In Part Two, things go wild and…well, let's just get through these first four chapters of Part One and see how it goes. Thanks to Waterlily for reading and offering her
advice not just once but twice—and when you get through part
two you see just how long a story this is and just how much I owe
her! Hope the exchange rate is in my favor… "The Rovers " Chapter 11 -Trust and Partnership (o) Quatre pov Quatre was reveling in his new-found freedom and enjoying life. Unfettered by the rituals of his homeland and no longer under the commanding eyes of his overseer, Rashid, or worse, his over-bearing father, he blossomed with joy. Life was far more exciting than he'd thought, and he'd fantasied quite a bit. He'd listened to the stories the men told around the Maguanacs' campfires; at least, until he'd been found out and carried back to his home, his room, and often his bed, for he'd been just a child seeking adventure. Quatre did learn that the courtly life of the northern kingdoms were fraught with strife. His father carefully explained to him that most problems occurred when a rule or law was broken. For instance, a war was started not because the young warrior stole away a leader's beautiful wife so much as because the warrior had been staying in the leader's home and broke the rules of being a good guest! A lesson in manners. Now he was a young man. Having left his home and struck out on his own, Quatre had had nothing but eye-opening adventures. First-hand meetings with the mysterious Rovers and Archers took on fairytale proportions! Thrilling escapes and decoding secret messages, working with the inventors of fantastic weapons and living a life filled with dark missions. The absolute best part, however, was finding romance. Those old campfire stories made a lot more sense now. The court intrigues, defiant maidens, persuasive suitors, and inheritance battles of bastard children were just part of the complex mischiefs concealed by his father. He had learned all about political machinations early on, but sex, which had been previously pushed into the shady background, was, of course, the most exciting discovery Quatre had made, a new tool in his arsenal. Trowa called a break and Quatre followed his lead, guiding their horses off the dirt path into a tree-lined meadow - the shoots bright and new- and a stream bubbling cold and brisk nearby. "So, how did you get Rashid to leave you with me...go off with his tribe?" Trowa asked. "Couldn't have been easy." Quatre wondered how he'd held back asking for as long as he had. He caught the flicker of Trowa's smile meant to let him know he wasn't angry or perturbed, just curious. "You're right. He didn't want to leave me with you," Quatre admitted. "I'm sure he didn't, so no doubt you had to give him some incentive," Trowa said, "and the knowledge of what that might be-" he flashed a quick grin "-might come in handy for me sometime." "I don't think my method will work for you." Quatre raised his hand, showing off his bare ring-finger. "Look again." "You gave away your ring?" Trowa didn't sound like he understood, although he caught the important fact. His momentary look of confusion set Quatre to wondering how much attention he had paid to what he had told him in the past. Trowa stared at his own finger, then at the recently bared one and the widening of his eyes - what if he thought I was expecting a ring from him, Quatre suddenly concluded? He must not drag this out, Quatre decided, and revealed the ring's meaning. "My proof of rank... my claim to the throne, you might call it. Only the next in line is entitled to wear it." He watched Trowa's left eyebrow disappear into his long bangs. "You don't believe me?" With a cautious step forward, Trowa said, "I don't get where Rashid comes into it-why he'd want it." "I was getting to that," Quatre said. He had intended to further explain his actions. "If something has happened to my father... and something happens to me and I don't survive this... war, Rashid can appoint the successor." Trowa reacted badly. First he reached out and shook Quatre hard. "Have you lost your mind? Don't you see? Rashid can declare himself king... er... sheikh? That's ridiculous!" "Stop that! It's not ridiculous. I'm perfectly sane, and Rashid won't do that," Quatre assured him. "Be reasonable and trust that I know what I'm doing." Trowa backed off a little and took a couple deep, calming breaths. "I'd like to, but honestly... I mean, technically Rashid could, if he had the ring, right?" Trowa insisted. "No!" Quatre said, incensed by the offensive idea. "He is honor-bound to protect me-" "-Of course," Trowa went on without heeding Quatre at all, "It's possible that people will believe Rashid killed you and took the ring, so the whole thing might go badly for him." "Trowa Barton! Listen to me!" Quatre would have slapped him if he hadn't controlled himself. "It would not happen. None of the horrid things you are thinking he might do will he do, understand? Trowa shook his head, but he didn't speak. Quatre stood staring at him until he nodded. "All right, Quat, I'll let it go for now," he said. Quatre pushed for more. "Don't speak of it again." Trowa shrugged. Quatre decided he had hit Trowa's wall of defense and could get no more concessions out of him. He would have to be satisfied with that for now. "Thank you," he said graciously. "So, am I to assume you aren't a prince now- is that right?" Trowa asked. "If you want to be technical about it, maybe. The point I was about to make was this: if I don't become the next sheikh, Rashid will appoint his son, but, mind you, only when the time is right. He already told me-" Trowa jumped in again. He hadn't actually promised not to; shrugs didn't count. "-And you trust him that much? You don't think you just might be a little naïve?" "I probably lack experience when it comes to a lot of things, but not this. Oh, Trowa, how can I convince you? I do trust Rashid that much, yes. And he understood his duty to return to L4 and protect it... and leave me in your hands. Please, understand. My father was a part of the Maguanac tribe; L4 is their land. It belongs to those that love and preserve it." "Which currently is you, while your family is still in charge," Trowa pointed out, "and since it is." He combed the hair from Quatre's eyes, giving him an affectionate smile. "I'll do what I can to get the heir to the throne back where he belongs- alive." Quatre smiled and clung to Trowa's arm. "I belong with you." "Then you're in for a wild ride, love." "I'm ready for it." "Oh, yeah," Trowa pulled him into his chest. Quatre loved that. How well they fit! "We're making up now?" "If you want to call it that," Trowa whispered in his ear taking time to nibble on the tender lobe. "And if we didn't have to get to the next inn before dark," Trowa murmured, "I'd take you right here and now." Quatre made a face. He was ready for something, but not that. That was too rustic. "It's awfully dirty out here. I'd much rather be in a bed." "Well, sure, but-" Trowa was possibly attempting to say he'd prefer a bed, too, however Quatre's nimble mind had already switched gears and was moving on ahead of him. Rolling past him. "And we have to get messages to our friends. My plans won't work if they don't know about them!" He hadn't intended to sound so frantic, but it just came out that way. "I'll do that," Trowa said assuring him. "Calm down. We'll have to get back to the main road soon, which I don't like." "We can ride faster on a better road," Quatre argued. "That's not what I meant. I don't like exposing you to whoever might be traveling or watching the roads. It's dangerous enough hiding all this artillery without having to avoid you being noticed." "Really, that's no problem," Quatre said, briskly moving back to retrieve the horses, which had wandered away in search of water. "I look like I come from Sanc or any Northern part of the kingdom, and very few people would know me outside of L4. I was only a schoolboy in Sanc." "You hardly look older than one now," Trowa joked as he jogged up behind him. Quatre turned and laughed. "That makes you pretty pervy, being attracted to me, just a schoolboy and all." Trowa's face pinked. "I-I don't think of you that way-I don't!" "I know!" Quatre laughed more. "I was just teasing back." He let Trowa kiss him. "Just wait until I put on a growth spurt and I'll be taller than you and there will be no more talk of schoolboys." "Just as well," Trowa grumbled, taking the reins. Quatre knew how to deal with his grumpy Trowa, just let him feel in charge. "You were saying that we are going to the main road now?" "Yeah," Trowa said. "I would have liked a longer break though-for you." Quatre stare at him. "Haven't I proven my value? My endurance?" "You have and surprised me, actually. I guess you've nearly out-stripped me." "Very nearly," Quatre agreed with a smile. "If we had more privacy, I'd truly strip you!" He laughed at Trowa's shocked took. Laugh in the face of fear, Rashid had taught him. He'd hidden his weariness well so far, not that it was much trouble. The time he had spent at the doctor's place had provided him with rest and food and plenty of recovery time from his head injury. "Don't get me thinking," Trowa muttered. "Anyway, I know a place." He reached back to tighten a loose tie-down to one of his blasters. Howard never offered to explain, so Trowa didn't understand the technology involved in making the enclosed fuel explode, but he knew enough not to allow the sealed containers to become too shaken up. "We are sure to run into Rovers or Archers there, so you can pass along any plans you've got and be sure the right people get them." "Good. I hope this place of yours also has first-rate strong beds. I'm feeling energetic today!" Quatre gave him a wink before climbing upon his steed. He was pretty sure he heard Trowa choke on whatever smart remark he'd been about to make. He rather liked this new feeling of power-that he could distract Trowa with just the suggestion of future sex! Oh yes, sex was a new instrument in his collection, one his father never taught him how to use-clearly the most powerful. And fun to exercise. Trowa never had a prayer, he thought, smug with the knowledge. They found the inn, saw to the care of their horses, and acquired a room with the quiet efficiency of well-traveled men. Quatre's good manners, money, and sweet disposition all helped get them plentiful meals and a good room. When offered the local wine, Quatre couldn't resist trying it. "This is nice," he told the innkeeper. "Thank you for suggesting it." "My pleasure, sir." "Do you like it, Trowa?" "I do. I especially like how it lights up your face." How could he not notice how Trowa, being a male creature who desired other males, brightened under his influence more than all the others? What wonderful feeling it was to be able to attract someone as comely as Trowa the Archer! "Let's go up?" Quatre asked. "I'm not the least bit tired, are you?" Trowa emptied his wine glass. "No anymore. Ready." He lit a candle supplied by the innkeeper while Quatre watched. "Why is it that the best rooms are always up dark stairs?" Quatre asked. He smoothed a finger over Trowa's sleeve, getting his complete attention. A minor triumph. "You can hear people coming," Trowa suggested, "And it's too expensive to keep burning candles when no one's about." "I'll borrow your candle to light my candle and then I won't trouble you any more tonight." Quatre reached out to take the one from Trowa's hand. Their fingers brushed and he felt Trowa tremble. "No trouble," Trowa grumbled with awkward civility. After shouldering their bags and his weapons sack, he freed a hand to carry the taper. "How good you are to me!" Quatre said, innocently. He had a bag of weapons draped over his back as he led the way up the staircase. He found the right door, opened it, and lit the first lamp in the room, all the while feeling Trowa's eye's on him. Turning quickly on his friend, he stopped Trowa at the first attempt he made to remove the knapsack of weapons from his shoulders. "No," Quatre said gently. "In the old times there were occasions when lovers unarmed their knights. I heard stories all about it and claim the privilege of unarming my knight." Quatre's dexterous fingers intercepted his at the straps and buckles, and he had the dusty knapsack off before Trowa could protest against his touching it. "Okay." The word came in a hoarse whisper from Trowa's lips. "Give me your coat to hang up," Quatre ordered, nicely. The room was very poorly furnished, signs that this part of the kingdom was suffering from the ravages of wars. He took off his hat and reached for Trowa's hat and his gloves. As he arranged their jackets on hooks and hats and gloves on a shelf, there was something in the dainty neatness of the young prince that lifted the mood of the place-and he was perfectly aware of it. It was purposeful. A boy appeared at the door bringing hot water, a jug of milk, a sugar bowl, and a tin of tea. "Where do you want this?" Trowa pointed to the only table in the room. A few seconds later, the boy was gone and the steaming water was left. They sat at a little table in the room. Quatre looked around for a mirror. "I must look a mess but you will have to take me as I am." His hands moved about among the tea things with a smooth, noiseless activity. His fair hair shone like gold in the soft light and he turned his head hither and thither, searching with an easy grace for the things he wanted on the tray. Riding in the chilling air had heightened the brilliancy of his complexion and shining eyes. Whether he was listening or speaking, a bright intelligence sparkled from his eyes; he could be mesmerizing, he knew. He had had, after all, several weeks to practice while recuperating and waiting for Trowa... thinking about Trowa. All the while, Trowa sat transfixed. All his attention riveted to his face or hands. The barest smile hovering at his lips. A delicious languor stole over them as they began to lay out their military-precise plans for Sanc. In the lightest word he said, in the least thing he did, Quatre gently solicited the heart of the man who sat with him. Perfectly modest in his manner, possessed to perfection of grace, restraints, and refinements of a gentleman. He had all the allurements that feast the eye, the siren invitations that seduce the sense, a subtle suggestiveness in his silence and a sexual sorcery in his smile. "Should I be wrong," he asked Trowa, suddenly suspending the conversation which he had thus far persistently restricted to the subject of their upcoming mission, "if I guessed that you have something on your mind? Something which neither my tea nor my talk can charm away? Is the something-me?" Trowa struggled, Quatre supposed, against enchantment of looking at him and listening to him. "Ah, um... yeah. I know we need to get this plan done and sent along, but-" Quatre let their hands meet and felt Trowa yield to the magnetic fascination of his touch, forget everything but the hand that lay warm in his own, bend over it and kiss it. "I'm anxious to do that too, before your Archer friends stop by." Quatre smiled sweetly and with his free hand toyed with his spoon among the dregs in his empty cup. "Go on." "But I'm more... interested in getting you on that bed." Quatre let their eyes meet, Trowa's hungry with desire. "I'm mad for you," Trowa said in a husky voice. Quatre felt his own heart beat faster. He sensed his feelings and the other man's emotions and sentiments blur into comingled, sexually-pungent sensations. For him it was intoxicating. "And I'm so completely alone and completely at your mercy," Quatre whispered. Then he felt a jolt of suspicion. Trowa's voice, throaty, was in his ear, warning him, "Don't play me." "Never," Quatre declared knowing he couldn't put anything past his cagy friend, not that he wanted to try deceiving this man, just a little teasing. Quatre smiled coyly. "But I might play with you." "I see." Two could play at this game. "Tell me you want this as much as I do," Trowa demanded. "Oh, I want." Quatre pulled him toward the bed, stacked in quilts. "More, maybe," he said, "than you want." And it was the honest truth. Quatre wanted to be loved and cherished and feel alive. He felt Trowa's strong arms under him, sweeping him off his feet, and flinging him onto the bed. And Quatre giggled, overcome with the feeling of freedom and happiness. (o) "So, how was the Rovers' camp last you were there?" Duo asked. "Okay," Hilde answered in a tone that broadcast "evasive" to Heero. "What happened?" Heero asked. He applied an extra-heavy dose of his Glower of Promised Pain with the certainty that it would speed progress and she would open up and tell them the important news. He didn't particularly like Hilde and he wasn't entirely sure why. He knew or suspected he knew that she and Duo had been intimate in the past, accepted it, and would deny to anyone accusing him of jealousy that he felt that way. He glared harder to blot out all contrary thoughts. "Guys come looking for that cute blond with the super-polite manners," Hilde said. Duo shook his head. "The blond- you mean Quatre? What guys?" Hilde gifted him with a secretive smile that Heero didn't like. In fact, he found he hated it. Her, too. For no good reason. Mostly. "Military men in Sanc livery, sorta," she looked to her traveling companions for concurrence. The man, Angel, nodded and the woman, Joe, expanded on what Hilde had said. "They identified themselves to be from the new OZ consortium." "-or whatnot." Hilde waved her hand, brushing aside the details. "Anyway, they came looking for the prince from L4 because he'd been spotted along the pass in fall." "What did you tell them?" Heero asked. Did he hope for an excuse to shoot her? Yes, he did, but didn't expect her to be an idiot. Duo didn't abide fools or idiots that could be of danger. "Me? Talk? I told them nothing. Rovers know when to play dumb. No one saw nothin'," Hilde said with a touch of pride in her voice. "The guards sniffed around and it was obvious he wasn't there and they left us alone, until another pack of uniforms blew through, this one looking for the other one, the prince from Sanc." "You couldn't evade admitting to having seen him," Heero said. "His personal guard left the camp with him, heading toward L5. They had to have run up against Duke Dermail's troops." "Yeah, I figured that one with the glamorous, flowing hair wouldn't know how to lie low, much less want to. And... that's what we told them: he went to L5, in case they were just checking up on our reliability." Hilde fluffed her hair, clearly pleased with how she'd taken on the authorities and misled them. "Rovers don't give nobody a reason to start torturing us for information. We don't act too smart; we don't know too much and we don't say much either. Works." Yeah, yeah... "Shhh!" Heero silenced them all and kicked out the fire. He could hear and almost feel thundering hoarse hooves not a mile away. "Riders!" The Rovers took up defensive positions in and out of the wagon, which had been pulled into a copse close to the road. After nightfall, you could count on most riders being bandits, messengers, or desperate men on the run-none deserving of a warm welcome. "You got the hearing of a hunter," Duo whispered in Heero's ear. "So I've been told." He held up a finger for quiet and listened. "Two, no, three horsemen, large horses." "L3 breeds the big ones," Duo said and then clamped shut his lips to listen, too. Heero could just make out Hilde's small form in silhouette climbing a tree, the moon rising behind her. Then she whistled like a night bird. She repeated the call two more times before the sound of the horse hooves slowed. This time when she called, an owl answered back. He felt a nudge to the ribs from Duo, warning him that he was about to move. "Friends," Duo said. "It's okay." Archers appeared into their circle, carrying lanterns and outfitted in the manner similar to Trowa: brown and tan tunics, tight pants, and considerable augmented artillery, including chain-fire rifles and heat arrows. Those weapons, Heero figured, could only have come from Trowa or one of the inventors. They all greeted Duo as "Shini". "Have you a message from Shadow?" Duo asked right off. "We do," replied the older man with a head of tawny hair. "There is a detailed plan here from... the young man travelling with him." He handed Duo a smudged paper. "He's going to the Sanc capital." "Yeah, so're we. I hope Caaaaa-ah..." Oh damn, Heero worried Duo would give away Quatre's name if the Archer didn't know it! But Duo had the presence of mind not to. "...hope Cat has a plan here." Duo studied the paper in the light of a lantern. "Oh, yeah. Create a diversion. This is something else." Duo shoved the paper in Heero's direction. Heero took it, but it was too dark for him to read it. "Any troop movements coming over the pass?" "Not a one," said the younger Archer. "We think they're busy battling the colony borders and can't move." "We aren't seeing unengaged Sanc troops anywhere," commented the other Archer. "That's just as it oughta be," Duo said. "Don't need them roaming about, getting in the way. So, you staying here for the night?" he asked. The older Archer sighed and stretched his back. "Much as we'd like to, we have miles yet to go. We provide your backup." The man smiled. "We wouldn't turn down any offer of food, however." "No problem," Duo told him. "Looks like we got a wait-over at an inn coming up and time to re-supply, so we can eat up all everything we have left." Heero perked up at that news. An inn meant privacy. They'd had precious little of that since Hilde and the other Rovers had joined them. Before Duo could step aside and begin the hunt for their provisions, Heero leaned into him, smoothed away the stray hair from Duo's ear, and said, "We get our own room, no matter what the cost." He liked the delightful shiver he felt through Duo's layers of clothes and the hitch in Duo's voice, when he replied, "Oh... ah... yeah... we'll do that." After the Archers left them, they hunkered down for the night, grabbing sleep as they could, taking turns at watch. Before dawn the next day, they hit the rode and rode on for many hours. Duo called for a break and was passing out bread and water to anyone who wanted it. Heero stretched the stiffness out of his legs and back. They were eating a quick snack and resting the horses. He stood at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the valley where the Sanc capital spread out like a fairyland collection of pretty villages and picturesque castles rising out of the mist. Above were the snow-covered peaks; a light rain misted him. It smelled of green and growing things. Mint, crushed by their horses hooves, refreshed the air around them. Below and to the far right, he could see the trail down and where it met up with the main road, now slick with spring rain. Following that trail meant re-entering the fray, executing a plan that could get them all killed. It might also, he hoped-they all hoped, bring about an end to the war which had united the colonies- not L1, he guessed- against a common, authoritative government. The temptation was to escape the responsibility, the danger. If he could fly, he could just take off from here and go. Far and away. Heero was shocked for a second or two when a pair or arms locked around his waist. He was drawn into a hard chest from behind. "Hey, step away from that ledge," Duo said in a gentle, even tone. When Heero didn't step back, the pull became more pronounced as Duo dragged him back from the precipice. "C'mon, 'Ro," his voice begged. It then occurred to Heero that Duo must have thought he was going to jump, of all the crazy notions! It was far more surprising that Duo was embracing him at all. Since Hilde had shown up, Duo had cut off nearly all their physical contact. Dried up like a puddle in summer in L4. Maybe that had something to do with his dislike of Hilde, he wondered? He gave a wry twist to his mouth that turned into a reassuring smile. No chaste sleeping arrangements tonight, though. They would have a room to themselves. Duo had told him that Quatre would be paying for all of their expenses- even a room for Hilde and her friends. A shiver of desire ran through him. Tonight. He leaned into the strong body and sighed, contented. "Have you ever dreamed of flying?" Heero asked. "Like a bird?" Duo's voice changed as he understood Heero was in no danger of leaping to his death. "Or soaring. Just flying above the land, the trees, through the clouds." "Yeah, yeah. I've had dreams of flying. It would be fun, wouldn't it?" he asked. "It would be fun," Heero agreed. "Not as fun as getting this trip over and done with, right?" Duo laughed. Getting through it alive would be fun as well, Heero thought. "Okay," he said. "Break is over!" Duo shouted. "Tonight's stop is mostly downhill." By afternoon, they had reached the edge of a village. The inn was in sight and Hilde was excited to "get a move on." "The valley and the Sanc capital are right below, down this road," Heero said. "This close to Sanc, and Khushrenada, we must be cautious." Hilde didn't want to wait. "It's safe!" "You don't know that!" Heero growled. Maybe just to appease him, Duo agreed to wait, to make everyone wait, until Heero was satisfied and had done his reconnaissance. Heero promised to thank him properly, later, and rode off alone. After careful study, Heero returned and declared that there were no enemy troops at the inn. "Of course not," snipped Hilde. "Can't you see the village is filled with Rovers?" "They're just people!" Heero insisted. "Yeah, people, Rovers. Rovers are just people. Geez, whatta snob." Heero was not a snob and was about to defend himself until Joe and Duo stepped in, leading the two sparring partners apart. "Just another day, 'Ro," Duo murmured in his ear. "You can ignore her that long, can't'cha?" Heero didn't bother answering him. Of course he could ignore her. At night, it would be his bed Duo chose; his arms Duo filled. He just stared into Duo's troubled eyes and wanted this day over with. "Let's go inside and see what news we can dig up, 'kay?" Duo asked. "Okay," Heero agreed. Oh course he knew Duo must have noticed the pair of familiar horses tied up around the back of the inn: one, a powerfully built chestnut with flaxen mane and tail that looked like it should be pulling a wagon, was certainly Trowa's, and the other, a nervous Arabian that Quatre adored riding. Duo hadn't said a thing about them to Heero; he probably just expected him to notice and draw the same conclusions. Heero liked that about Duo. He didn't fuss over him. He entered the building and with one look around, he spotted Trowa and Quatre, not that they stood out. Both men looked travel worn, seasoned, and at home in the company of the other customers. "We've been here a few days already," Quatre said, glowing with happiness. "Recon, you know," Trowa added self-consciously. "Oh, yeah, sure recon," Duo teased, laughing at Trowa's blush. "That's what you're calling it these days?" He turned to Heero, grinning fiendishly. "These kids and their new name for old acts, heh, heh... Like they invented sex!" Heero had to drag Duo away before Trowa ignited on the spot. "We have work to do!" "Yeah, yeah..." After a round of beer and an exchange of polite greetings and pleasantries, the four friends relocated to a private room where they could improve on the plans away from listening ears, however friendly. Heero knew Sanc intimately, the kingdom's roads and the capital city and the palace layout he could describe to exacting standards. He corrected Quatre's older remembrances. Quatre argued that he'd only been a schoolboy, eight to eleven years old at the time and should be allowed to be foggy-brained when it came to details. The plans were fine-tuned and they ate and drank and slept in soft beds that night-thanks to Quatre's generosity. In the morning, Heero changed clothes, back into his Sanc guard travel clothes which he'd started out wearing. He felt light, happy, and grateful to have a man like Duo to call his, especially when a warm embrace interrupted his thoughts. "Yeah, so," Duo kissed his neck again, "so... Tro' and Quat are about to go. Wanna say good bye and wish them luck?" Heero twisted in his arms and when they were face-to-face, he used the opportunity to kiss him. Duo moaned and wrapped his arms tighter before returning the kiss. After the night in bed, Heero felt everything was good again. It was a little while before they managed to see their friends off. Heero smiled. "We are here to wish you good luck." "Are you?" Trowa asked. "Another minute and you would have lost your window of opportunity." "Recon, you know, takes precedence," Heero said with a straight face. Trowa muffled a chuckle, his eyes tracking his lover who had been greeting Duo warmly. Quatre also had changed his outerwear. Now he looked the part of a prince of L4, with his former loose traveling clothes. "Don't wish me luck," Quatre told them, "wish me good travels." "That's what the Archers say," Trowa put in, drawing Quatre closer to him. "We owe them a lot for all the information gathering and transfer they've been doing." "A Maguanac uprising in L4!" Duo whooped. "That's the best news." "It is," Quatre agreed. "It means eyes will be turned that way." "And the rebellions in L3 and L2?" Duo pressed. "That's got to be keeping Dermail's troops occupied. "And L5," Trowa added, "wasn't destroyed completely. Big mistake. Those folks will be hitting back hard to the north. Khushrenada won't have troops to spare on them. He's got to be spread too thin by now." "If we do our jobs right," Heero said, "then he will be forced to concentrate his city and palace troops on us." "And not on Zechs and Wufei," Quatre concluded. "They'll be able to enter the city and... bring an end to it all." Trowa summarized the maneuver as "threading the needle," where Khushrenada would be the needle's "eye". Quatre hugged Duo suddenly. "Be careful, Duo, won't you?" "Me? I'm always careful. Setting explosives'll be nothing compared to you entering the palace- talk about risky." "It's not what you think," Quatre insisted. "Having me as a hostage, alive, should be very attractive to Khushrenada, if it means it improves the chances that the Maguanacs will stop fighting and L4 will fall into Sanc's control. I expect to be locked up, but I won't be killed." Trowa moved as if to say something about that, but hid it in a cough. Quatre continued, "If Zechs makes it as far into the palace as I, he's the one who should worry about Khushrenada taking his life. He represents a direct line to the throne- competition. The palace troops might still see him as their leader; in fact, I think that's highly likely, and that would be a problem for Treize." "Khushrenada was their general. I think it is just as possible that the troops will take orders from him, and Zechs won't outlast the day once he's caught," Trowa surmised. "Of course, Merquise is their king, or should be. The government will insist he be re-instated -" Quatre argued. "-If any of his father's government is alive or still in place they might," Heero put in. "Well, yes." Quatre sounded frustrated as he went on defending their plans. "I'm sure Chang is aware of Zechs' chances. The instant he's near the city, he'll signal us to begin setting the diversions, something unmistakable, he promised. He won't waste time or take chances with Zechs' life." They continued to probe for weak points and resolve them as best they could. By relying on one another, and the missing parts of their team, they hoped to bring about a positive outcome. "We must pull together," Quatre said. "Even though we're pretty much gonna be all scattered about the city," Duo pointed out, smiling. "I think the plans' about as good as it's gonna be, actually." The young men and women said their farewells and divided up. Hilde and Joe had gathered a small platoon of Rovers and split off in the wagon. Heero had mapped out a road for them so they would stay on higher ground and be prepared to take over a small, mostly ignored fort to the south of the capital city. With their superior weapons they had a good chance of making it appear as if L4 was attacking the kingdom. Possibly. For long enough, they hoped. Heero, Duo and a couple of Archers, the two who they had met most recently on the road, set out for the capital, where they hoped to collect guardsmen Heero trusted to follow his orders and help lay explosives. Quatre and Trowa had bought a horse at the inn and took the Rover, Angel and another of the Archers with them. They entered the kingdom by hidden paths, staying out of sight, lying low. When they entered Sanc proper, what had been driving snow at the highest peaks in the mountains fell as rain. News was alive on the streets. Under black, shining umbrellas, crowds gathered at the kiosks where the headlines blared out WAR in giant fonts. Sanc's most important newspaper, violently pessimistic about the future, reminded its readers what the newly deceased (assassinated wasn't even the barest hint for fear of repercussions, such was the end of freedom of the press in Sanc under the new emperor) King Eliezer I (father to Milliardo Peacecraft who was currently MIA) had said: "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will have war." When they were in sight of the palace, the three riders altered their clandestine approach. They turned onto the main road; Quatre drawing attention. The Prince of L4 flanked by Trowa and Angel rode to the palace gates demanding an audience with the King of Sanc with all the rights of a guest guaranteed. Quatre had standing invitations to visit the king. He would wait to have his wish granted, but he had limits; his patience would run out. He prayed he would outlive the day. TBC...
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