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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 " Part Two Chapter 13 -Risky Business (o) Heero's pov When he returned a few minutes later, Heero was relieved to find Duo sitting upright and wide awake. "I sent the guards I found to do mop-up and take charge of simple peace-keeping measures. From what I could see and hear, the city-center is in turmoil, but mostly confusion and with little reported fighting." "Wanna head over there, then?" Duo asked. He held onto his horse's saddle a little longer than usual before hopping astride. "See how our comrades are doing?" "I do." He wouldn't ask Duo if thought he could keep up if he rode fast. He figured Duo would try, even if it meant being in danger of passing out in the process. So, Heero would ride slowly, keeping a careful watch over him while scanning the horizon for conflicts. If Duo didn't feel right, hopefully, he'd say something, or give Heero a clear enough clue, but if he refused- as Heero anticipated- then he planned to be prepared. As they crossed the open landscape past the outskirts of the city, Duo was quiet. Heero assumed he was stockpiling his strength and let him be. For the longest time, only the horses made any sound, so, Heero felt he should shoulder the conversation. "Good weather for travel." "Yup," Duo said. "Good road." "Yup," Duo said. "Those are buttercups... robins... wild cherries or plums... I think plums." "Yup." Perhaps Duo had tired of the topic of the weather, the road conditions, and the names of the local flora and fauna they passed, but he seemed to perk up when Heero asked him about L2. "I felt at home there, even though we haven't spent much time mingling with the townspeople," Heero said. "Lots of the same stuff, but the folks are... well... their humor is pretty dry." Duo smiled and begin to ramble. "For instance, I'm at a wet stop, of sorts, you know, coffee, tea, beer. The one's we've been to in Sanc, not many, but just the same, folks keep to themselves, right?" "Small tables," Heero noted. "Yeah, well in L2, folks tend to share tables with strangers. Anywho... so this one time, just for an example, an old guy comes in, drags his feet along a bit, and sits at the same table-for-four as me (obviously I was on the other half). He doesn't say anything to anyone, pays me no mind. A moment or less passes and up in comes an old lady, waddling like, and she says nothing at all and sits down opposite him. You might, in my position, assume they know each other, but they actually don't. She sits down and says, 'Mornin' I am Mary', and they start to talk about things." "And you eavesdrop on them?" Heero asked with a quick smile of understanding. "Can't help it." "This really happened?" Heero asked, skeptical. "Oh yeah, memorable conversation, mostly for its way of illustrating my point about L2 folk." "Go on," Heero urged. "It starts with the butcher's." Duo closed his eyes maybe visualizing the whole scene again. "The old guy says, 'Off to the butcher next'." Mary, she says, 'I do like a visit to the butcher. It's a great butcher. I go to for the bones for my Chester.'" "Chester is, I hope, her dog?" Heero asked. Duo shrugged. "No clue. The old guy just accepts it all at face value, you see. He says, 'Lot of fine meat in there;' then follows up a breath later with, 'lot of rubbish too.'" Mary, she says, 'Very handy that butcher-'" Duo broke into a grin. "The old guy says, relating back to his earlier 'fineness of the meat' comment, '- if you can find it.'" Heero joined him in a chuckle. "Almost arch if they weren't actually trading meaningful observations. Have another one?" "Sure," Duo replied. "Those two sat there a bit talking this way. Okay, on the table before us is the local newspaper, current and past copies spread out. Mary asks, 'What's going on today in the paper?' The old guy replies, 'Love a good paper.'" Mary says, 'Me, too.'" The old guy, he says then, 'I start with reading the obituaries.'" Mary says, 'And me, I check to see who is dead.'" The old guy bobbing his head, like-minded, says, 'I see if I am in there; if not, I know I am still alive.'" Mary, not even cracking a smile at this, says, 'Good to be alive.'" The old guy, nodding still, says, 'Always a shortage of good people around.'' To which Mary says to him, 'I've got a good butcher.'" "And that's it?" Heero asks with laughter in his voice. "You want more?" "God, no," Heero replied. They both shared a good chuckle. Duo showed himself to be back to normal, and with that assurance Heero felt he could conquer all of Sanc-the two of them. They entered the city, passing Sanc guardsmen and Khushrenada's military. The guard had been Heero's comrades and when he spoke to them, he learned bits of information. The military troops looked at Heero's uniform and Duo's lack thereof with mixed expressions, but did not stop their progress. The exciting news was spreading fast: the Prince of Sanc had returned to seize back control of the city state. Folks were gathering near the palace gates to hear his announcement and report on the condition of the kingdom. There was shouting and cheering "Long live the King!" and "Monarchy forever!" amongst the hubbub of confusion. "Guess that's where we're headed anyway," Duo observed. "Haven't seen Tro' or anyone yet." No sooner had the words left his lips than Trowa and Quatre rode up to greet them with the news they wanted to hear. "Khushrenada's dead, Wufei and Zechs were unharmed, and we left them hale and hearty, fit as a fiddles-." Trowa said. "Can we see them?" Heero asked, cutting off Trowa's uncharacteristic rambling. "Yes, we hoped to find you before he made his speech," Quatre said. "Follow me!" Trowa led them around the back, avoiding the crowds and past posted security, to where Zechs was holding court in one of the cellblocks. Zechs greeted them warmly, thanking Duo and Heero for creating a fine disturbance. He went so far as to wrap Heero in a warm embrace. "You survived!" "We all did," Heero said. "Remarkable, considering the odds," Wufei noted. Heero slipped free and let Wufei stand next to his lover, and hoped that might make the serious young man happier. For a few minutes they all talked at once, trading a few tales back and forth, delighted to be alive and to have succeeded. "What is going on here?" Heero asked. Zechs covered a smile and said, "Apparently once the governing committee mentioned 'Regent' as Treize's position, he jailed them all. He didn't like the temporary sounding name. Emperor suited him." "There are people Sanc needs back at their jobs, and so we are freeing them," Quatre explained, "and others who should remain locked up for their own safety." Trowa added, "He's clearing out the jails pretty fast." "Zechs was shown his father's grave," Wufei said. "Shoddy thing. We will be reinterring him as soon as I can manage. Properly. As a king merits." Heero bowed to Zechs. "I'm sorry." "As am I, but we must move on." "That makes you the king," Duo stated. "Where's your crown?" Wufei clicked his tongue and stopped himself just short of a snort and eye roll. "He wouldn't just be wearing it around." Zechs smiled. "I don't get to wear the King's crown without a ceremony, Duo." "That's right. His coronation will have to wait. Regaining control of his armies and his country must come first," Wufei said, almost scolding Duo for his foolishness. Oh, good grief, Heero thought, poor Zechs. He hoped the man had no foolish illusions about who was going to be running Sanq from now on....regardless of whose head the crown was on! Duo ignored Wufei's fit of pique, as was usual for him. "You need a crown, though. I know! I could make you one from daisies. Ever make daisy chains? The tiny ones are blooming in the meadows." Wufei looked astonished. "Duo! This is not the time!" He saved Heero from saying about the same thing. What an odd suggestion! "Daisy chains?" Zechs looked enchanted. "Never, no. Have we time, darling, do you think?" Heero witnessed Wufei wilt in the rays of his love's brilliance. "Well," Chang said, "We might have a few minutes to spare..." "I'm famished, too," Duo said. "Can we scrape up some grub and have a picnic? I'll make you that crown, if you feed me." Actually, Heero was pretty sure they had no time whatsoever to spare, given all that was surely going on, but a picnic in a meadow sounded like much more fun than all they had to do. "The rain's stopped." "There's that." Trowa looked Quatre's way. "We don't know when we'll ever be able to do this again," Quatre said. And with no objections, that is what they did. As Quatre had pointed out, they never knew when they would have another chance to be together, sharing simple food. "This is lovely," Quatre said with sigh and leaning back onto the blanket cushioned by soft grass. "I don't feel as if I deserve this, with all the turmoil and unrest around us." "Consider it your chance to regain your strength before we go south," Trowa told him. "You are sure none of the troops are still honor bond to Treize? That they might revolt without your being present?" Heero asked. "I am certain that the few who might believe he is still in control will be contained by the many who are loyal to the monarchy. Remember, Khushrenada was my father's general; they followed his orders thinking they were doing the right thing for Sanc, that I was a part of it. With Treize gone, they still have me." Heero watched as Trowa stuck another daisy stalk into the blonde hair. There were twelve others. Duo demonstrated how to slit the stems and insert a new daisy, linking one after another into a delicate chain. Zechs painstakingly created an inferior one; his hands and fingers were too large to fuss with the tiny fragile stems. Seeing this, Wufei whipped one up, and then another. "Look at this. We can braid the three chains together to make a stronger one." "Six is even better!" Duo seemed excited and started another. In a short amount of time, there were six strands and Duo was making a complicated weaving from them. He used tougher grasses as ties to hold and strengthen the creation at regular intervals, resulting in an undulating shape. He added bright yellow buttercups along the top edge, a pink clover or purple violet dotted the center. "Try it on for fit," he urged the prince. "You are quite clever," Zechs chuckled and lowered his head. "I crown you King of the Meadow and all you see!" Duo chortled. Heero thought it was spectacular. Everyone said so. "So it shall remain for the rest of the day," Zechs vowed. "He'll keep it forever," Wufei whispered to Duo. "You know that." "Hey, I'm not trying to steal his heart or anything, just so you know." "I know." "I don't go around doing that," Duo said. "It would get you in trouble," Trowa said, adding, "More trouble." "Yeah, well, fun as making trouble can be," Duo said with a twinkle in his eye, "there are times I have to tell myself that it's just not worth the jail time." "I want to thank all of you for the roles you've played bringing about the end of this... war. I also want to hear about your adventures," Zechs said, looking from Quatre to Duo to Heero and lastly Trowa, "so I will know just how much in your debt I am." "Absolutely not!" Wufei said, standing. "We have a kingdom in chaos to re-order! There is no time for reminiscing. I am putting my foot down!" "Just how chaotic are things?" Heero asked. "Not a bad as I feared it would be. I have the army on my side; at least, I do here in Sanc," Zechs said. "Khushrenada was their general, but he only recently returned here to the capital. Remember, we saw him in the Northern kingdoms in winter? I believe he thought he'd have more time to consolidate before I put in an appearance." "Duke Dermail's troops-" Heero started to object. "-I have no fear of Dermail's troops," Zechs assured him. "Not with Captain Noin in place. Yes, messengers reported just before you arrived that she is in control of his troops and the Duke is imprisoned. The colonies, which you helped arm, - thank you all- overwhelmed most of Dermail's forces and started the revolt. I will have to go north as soon as I have completed a few tasks here." "You sound pretty sure of yourself," Quatre said. "Now that the colonies are fully armed with fancy new weapons of total mass destruction, are you sure they won't all turn on each other? Or on other nearby countries?" "Thinking of yours?" Zechs met Quatre's intense look with his own, then smiled. "L4 will have you to thank for its freedom. Take good care of it." Heero thought it was magnanimous of Zechs to hand over the L4 colony like that. Well, they'd have to root out the Khushrenada troops first... "I will." Quatre smiled back. "Although I don't plan to ever be its king. I've given the mater a lot of thought on this trip. There are others with Maguanac blood lines that are probably right now fighting for their lives that deserve it... that want it more." "Wait until you get there to decide," Zechs advised. "I will wait before I act or announce my intent to do anything, but I've already decided in here." Quatre touched the cloth over his heart. Zechs shook his head. "There are processes in place to establish independent governments and free the colonies. I'm not saying there's no work to be done." "Work," Heero echoed. He kicked at his buster rifle. "We couldn't have gotten far without these." Duo and Trowa exchanged looks, a silent communique. Duo nodded and said, "Good thing we made the most of them while we could." "What do you mean?" Wufei asked. "I mean...Howard always said that all good things come to an end, when it came to these," Duo toed at Heero's weapon, "I think he meant that some time in the not so distant future the recharging system for these magical guns will snuff out." "You mean," Wufei said, "these weapons won't last?" "That's what I think," Duo said. "It doesn't matter what eventually happens to them, for now it's our responsibility to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands," Trowa pointed out. "Probably best that they just stop working," Quatre said with a sigh, "before some madman finds a way to get one. It is best for everyone if the weapons are no longer a threat to anyone." Wufei looked at his arsenal and shrugged. "Probably true. But we don't know when they will stop working-or how?" "Not a hint," Duo said. "I think the inventors put a failsafe in them or the power source, but Howard never said. I don't know if he knew. Let's hope the powers that be know how long we need them to win this war." Yes, indeed. "Maybe we should talk about what to do next before we separate?" Quatre suggested. "We should stick around here a day or two, you think?" Duo asked nobody in particular. "But not longer," Quatre insisted. "We have our own mess to contend with," Trowa said, making it clear to everyone that he was sticking with Quatre. "Of course," Zechs responded. He turned to Heero. "I see you are back in uniform." "It served me best to appear familiar to the other of the guards here-" he began to explain. "No need to apologize, just tell me if I'm to reinstate you to your former position. You know I'd welcome you to that post." "I-I'm not sure. I haven't made plans." Duo poked him in the arm. "You were leaving your post and traveling with me, as I recall." "And I will, promise, but-" "And we were going first to go south and help Quat regain L4, I thought," Duo put in. Quatre brightened to hear that. "Oh, I'd love that. Your assistance would be very welcome, but if you feel you need to remain here, please don't hesitate to do what you feel is right," Quatre said. "You mustn't be so kind, Quat," Duo said. "Don't let him off so easily. He might weasel out of helping you-" "-I'm not trying to get out of anything," Heero said, "It's just-" "Here's a thought," Zechs said. "I propose you go to L4, as promised." Zechs smiled at Duo. "And go as the captain of the Sanc guard and rescue Princess Relena. Do what you feel is right after that. Would that appeal to you?" Heero looked at Duo and saw approval in his expression. "Mission accepted, sir." "I'm glad that's settled then," Quatre said. "Let's go restore peace to Sanc the city, shall we?" The cleanup activities went well. Any of the leadership having sided with Khushrenada were imprisoned and left to wait for trials. Armed troops likewise, although Zechs discovered the other troops tended to dispatch their own kind of justice upon men they couldn't trust, leaving few army fighters to be dealt with later. Anyone involved in the death of the king was beheaded after a brief trial of their peers. Very quickly, Sanc returned to a reasonable state of disciplined order. The Archers had disappeared as had the Rovers, including Hilde and her friends, to return to their own lands and report back on the death of "the emperor". After two days of overseeing the crackdown on Khushrenada's armed forces, regaining a modicum of freedom from strife and return to normalcy, Heero collected four of the Elite Sanc Guard he'd found and had followed his orders when he and Duo had first arrived. With them he bid Sanc adieu. Quatre and Trowa left with them, making a sizeable group for traveling into an unknown situation. They stopped at what appeared to be a guard post outside of the city yet far from the L4 border. "This is new," Heero said. "It is," replied the guardsman who identified himself as Liam. "You remember leaving me here to accept messages from L4 for you? It was only a simple campsite at the time. I assume the...ah... general had this built after seeing its usefulness." Trowa and Duo had gone inside, nosed around and were already coming back to report. "It's empty," Duo said. "Like whoever was here just up and left. No signs of a fight, but he left fast." "Files in stacks," Trowa added. "You might want to take a look at the latest ones." Heero looked them over rapidly checking for any hint of Activity in L4, and more specifically, Relena's condition. "Nothing significant that indicates the situation in L4. I will post a watch here." "What are we doing?" Duo asked. "We're kinda traveling light already." "Establishing a line of communication between L4 and Sanc," Heero explained, "So we can get messages back and forth in a day." "Archers have posts and keep riders moving, a lot like you've set up here," Trowa commented. "Communication is essential, Duo." "I know, but don't you think we need more fire power? You don't know what we're riding into," Duo insisted. "If there is fighting, we'd need an army to contain it, but I think it is over. Don't you Quatre?" "I have been thinking about that, what we heard was that the Maguanacs are taking back L4." Quatre looked to Trowa for support. "You think Rashid would have supplied his men with weapons like these?" Trowa hefted the pulse rifle on his shoulder. "That man wouldn't have wasted his time when he stayed with you in L3. Surrounded by the inventor of these and the lab? I think it's highly likely that he got his hands on plenty." Quatre smiled. "I agree. Either the battle is won and L4 is in the hands of the Maguanacs or it is soon will be. " "Which goes back to what I was saying," Heero said. "We need a small agile group-" "-armed to the teeth," Duo said with a chuckle. "At least some of us. All right I get it. We leave the Sanc boys along the way or as messengers while we go after Relena." "And find my father!" Quatre put in. "Of course." Heero turned to the four guardsmen. "Liam, you will stay here with one other-" "Me, sir!" piped up one man, named Gearder. Another man cleared his throat to speak. "If you want volunteers, sir, I'd like to go on to L4, if you would let me. Shayla was my... best friend." The guards Shayla and and Moskez had remained in L4 with Relena, Heero remembered. Some others whose names he couldn't recall. Heero looked to Duo who smiled back as if to say "as good a reason as any." "Fine. Gearder, you and Liam will remain here. Keep watch. One of you can run to Sanc, the other to L4 with urgent news." The travelers regrouped and rode off, determined to ride until dark so as to make the best time possible. This wasn't like his last trip to L4. Then, Heero had his hands full amusing the princess and avoiding Zechs' scowling countenance. Heero remembered wanting to "beat the heat" and get done with L4 a quickly as possible, but with Relena and her retinue, there had been no way to hurry like there was now. And then there was Quatre. Quatre was eager to get to his homeland, becoming intensely focused on the horizon. Heero noticed Trowa riding close and talking to him. Something was up, but Heero didn't know what or how the other two knew it. It wasn't just his imagination; Duo was watching them as well. "AH!" Quatre cried out and swooned. If Trowa hadn't been at hand, he might have fallen from his horse. "Fa-ather..." he sobbed out haltingly. "Quatre!" Trowa shouted. "Quatre, are you all right?" "Father... he's been hurt. Oh, Trowa!" Once Heero could see Trowa was going to remain close, he backed off. "Is he okay?" Duo asked him. "I don't know." It was Heero's honest answer. He'd wait and let Trowa take care of things. "Your father will need our help," Trowa said loud enough for everyone to hear. He said a few other things, private things, with a tender expression, and then asked, "Can you ride?" "Yes," Quatre replied, pushing part and pulling at his clothes. "I'm better now. Thank you." Trowa offered to share his saddle, ride together, but Quatre turned him down. "I can do this," Quatre said and sat upright on his own. He turned a smile to Trowa and said, "But I love you for the kind offer." "Hate to break this up, lovebirds," Duo said without looking the leastways apologetic. For his part, the other Rover blushed slightly, but endeavored to give his old friend a dirty look. If Duo minded, and he probably didn't, he was careful not to let on. "But," Duo continued, "If we gotta chance in hell of getting to the border while there's light, we'd better hustle." With the rain and now sun, masses of insects had hatched, and in passing the horses kicked up swarms lurking in the plants, which launched themselves into the air. Swallows swooped in near-miss attacks on them. Heero laughed when Duo swatted the air, combatting the bugs or birds or both. Twittering birds he couldn't see hopped from tree to tree. Spring was glorious! How had he missed this before, Heero wondered? The answer was easy: he had been concentrating on his guard duty, and, when he thought some more, fussing over Relena. Fussing, yes. That had been a problem, but not a totally awful one. Relena wanted him and needed him. That had felt nice. He'd liked that feeling. Duo wanted him, but did he actually need him? No. Heero was sure Duo could carry on without him. Carefree like he'd been before they met. But that didn't sound fair to Duo, even to Heero as he repeated the words in his head. He had been a true friend to him. Surely they had a bond and Duo felt it! He just suddenly had these stupid doubts, not that he was unworthy, but that he had anything to offer Duo. His self-confidence was hanging on threads that Duo could break easily. He looked over to catch Duo looking at him. He slowed and let him approach so they could ride side-by-side. "You know," Duo said, his calculating look softening with a spreading smile, "I've never been to L4, but I got this fantasy going about you and me and sand dunes." "Take that indoors with a view of the dunes and you can guarantee that coming true," Heero said. He kept his voice just loud enough for Duo to hear and not carry. He didn't need the Sanc guard listening in on his private conversation. "Sand in the wrong places..." he added. Duo winced, then laughed. "Got it! No rolling down the dunes." Quatre overheard that and rode closer to add his two-cents-worth. "Oh, you can do that! Rolling down the dunes is so fun! You can slide on boards, too!" Trowa shook his head and sighed. He acted like he didn't want to join in, but would have to save everyone from Duo's detailed explanation of his erotic fantasy. "Quat, not that kind of roll. Come over here." Duo, though, seemed to understand Quatre's limited imagination when it came to inventive sex. His sensitivity at times surprised Heero. "S'okay, Quat. We'll play it by ear," Duo said. Heero felt Duo's attention focused on him again. "Glad we hooked up?" Duo asked, flashing him a grin. "Hooked up?" Heero asked, confused and a not a little disenchanted by the term. "I'd call it more than that." Heero hadn't intended to add that out loud, but seeing as he had, there was no taking it back. Duo smiled back at him. "Yeah. It's more, but you know what I mean." Not really, but Heero hoped it meant what he thought it did. "I am glad we met," he said not committing himself to too optimistic a position. Baring souls with Duo, whom he adored, while within the hearing distance of others wasn't to his liking. Duo, however, didn't seem to have a problem with it today. He laughed and said in a voice pitched a little too loudly to keep the words private, "That first time I saw you? I really hoped I wasn't going to have to pry you and Zechs apart. I would have." He could hear some stifled chuckling from behind them. Possibly the guards had heard or made their own joke, but he didn't know so he clicked his tongue and urged his horse a bit faster, putting more distance between them. Duo moved to keep up. "Would have been worth the fight," Duo said with a wink. "You think so?" Heero decided then to just ask him outright and get the answer to his earlier, pressing question. "Do you need me?" Duo scrunched up his face. "Need you? Damned straight, I do. Without you, I got nothing. Zilch! Really! Nothing that makes the future mean anything." Duo's forthright words, spoken with unflinching emotion, blew away all Heero's doubts. Silly, foolish doubts. A warmth welled up from his chest and Heero smiled. "I need you, too." "Yeah, you do. Without me we'd be dawdling on this road for days." Duo cast a peek over his shoulder at the others in our company and shouted, "Last one to the top of the next hill has to take care of ALL the horses tonight!" Duo kicked his horse to a full-out gallop, and Heero had to give chase. "Ya-hoo!" Near the border with L4, Heero led them along a narrow path to an outlook. He remembered Zechs having done this-was that a year ago already? Later in the year, he decided, because it was summer and hot as hell. "We can get a view from here, our last chance before heading down." "Where's that road go?" Duo asked. Heero followed his line of sight. A narrow road intersected the one they were on and wound westward into the coast range. Quatre squinted to look. "I think that's the route to the coast. I've never taken it, but I would love to someday. About three days' ride, I've been told. It would be fun-" Trowa cleared his throat to draw our attention. He had moved around a copse of trees to get a clearer view below and waved us to be quiet and observe. "Those men are using augmented weapons," Trowa announced, pointing to some distant low dunes to the left. There was just then an eerie glow emanating from what could only be a beam rifle followed by flashes from various hand-carried assault rifles. The resulting blazes sent their enemies dashing to the temporary safety of some single-story buildings. "Maguanacs!" Quatre cried out. "See? They fly the flag of L4." "Looks like they have some troops of Khushrenada holed up in those buildings." Duo looked to Heero for confirmation. "Those are newly constructed," Heero said. "Like the outpost we passed." "We have the munitions to just blow the buildings," Duo suggested. "And we got the range-" "No!" Heero shouted, with more force than he'd intended. "Relena might be held there." "Oh, yeah. There's that." Duo frowned and folded his arms over his chest. He stared at the buildings with an angry countenance, as if willing them to go up in flames on their own. Trowa seemed to understand. "We can't just stand here." "We can go down and do surveillance, sir," one of Heero's guards whispered. Heero shook his head. "I'm not ready to give up on executing a stealth attack." "We can send a signal!" Quatre said. "What?!" Heero snapped. That was precisely not what he had in mind. Quatre, brushed off Heero's dogged look and went on excitedly. "Like Wufei did!" "Yeah," Duo brightened. "Shoot off some fireworks. The Maguanacs would recognize stuff from the Doctors, and know it was us and not shoot back, right?" "We don't know that," Heero said. Quatre looked thoughtful a moment then smiled. "Yes, we do, if we make it absolutely unmistakable." "And how do we do that exactly?" Heero asked. Quatre explained his plan, assuring Heero it would work "upon my life". "And the rest of our lives if you're wrong," Heero said. Still, he agreed to leave Duo and Trowa on the high point, and go along with the others to take up hiding places in the rocks some hundred feet lower. TBC...
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