[thoughts]
[[Duo nagging]]
<O> change of scene or time lapse (because those x's were getting old)

Camping: Quatre style.

"Aw Q-man, I spent enough time in the woods. I hate all that fresh air shit."

"Duo, it's completely different when you have all the necessities, like a nice tent and sleeping bag. Plus, Wufei and Trowa are going! Come on, it'll be fun," Quatre coaxed.

Duo acquiesced, grumbling. He didn't want to go camping; he hated the bugs, dew, weird noises and anything that smacked of the miserable times he'd had hiding from Oz in the mountains. He wanted the comforts of indoors. Things like showers and TV and vids and . . . well, everything that wasn't camping out.

But everyone else was going and he'd go too. He didn't want to be alone in the huge sprawling house Quatre had settled them in. He missed Heero; he missed him in bed, at breakfast, in school. Every where he was, Heero was not. It hurt.

Trowa organized the trip and divided up the gear into packs for everyone. Each pack contained some of everything: one tent and sleeping bag, food, water, matches. Everyone had enough for them all to make it two days. More if they needed to.

Wufei watched Duo struggle on the hike. He didn't seem to be enjoying himself; neither did Trowa. They both were uncomfortable, jumpy . . . something. Wufei couldn't quite figure out what was going on, but he intended to.

Quatre didn't quite understand what the problem was either. He'd always enjoyed camping; it got him away from the constant importunities of his sisters and pressures from his father. He'd had the Maguanacs to take care of the details of camping until he'd been on his own once, then he'd found out that he could be self-sufficient. Camping always gave him a rush of satisfaction.

[Damn bugs. Damn underbrush. Damn woods. I hate this. I wanna go home. What if Heero leaves me an E-mail? If I don't answer it right away, he might not mail me again.] Duo tripped on a root and went sprawling, skinning one knee.

Wufei helped him up and took his pack. He supported Duo until he got his feet under himself, and then got him to a log where he knelt down in front of the still cursing boy and began to gently probe his knee.

"It's not bad. Just a skin and a bruise. I'll put some of this cream on it and a bandage. There's no ice, so you'll just have to suffer with it. Come on. Hold still."

Trowa sniffed then looked around. He disappeared into the woods returning shortly with a billy can full of stream water, glacial melt, very cold and clear. Dipping a bandana in the can, he gave it to Wufei.

"Thanks, man. I really appreciate this. I hate the woods, I absolutely despise this. Ever since I spent all those days in the Rockies I just . . . ugh!" Duo shivered dramatically.

"Yeah, I'm not too fond of woods either. I spent some time in the Alps, but they weren't as bad as the Rockies. Man, it must have been bad."

Quatre listened in dismay. He hadn't thought to ask if everyone wanted to go camping. He'd just made arrangements and presented it as a fait accompli.

"Why didn't you tell me you don't like camping? I could have made other arrangements for our long weekend. Well, it's too late now. We're committed. It will take more time to walk out than to walk in. We couldn't make it back before dark. I'm sorry. I guess I ruined our weekend."

Duo looked at Wufei and Trowa, they looked as ashamed as he felt. Quatre always did everything he could to make sure that they had everything they needed. At least they could make sure he had fun on the only thing he'd looked forward to for a while.

"Hey Q-man, it's ok. I guess I'm just letting war time experiences ruin your fun. Just let me get my head into this a little more. Maybe when we get camp set up, I'll like it better. Just . . . I'm not eating anything that we didn't pack in. I mean that. I nearly poisoned myself with something in the Rockies, I'm not takin' chances this time."

Trowa just nodded and looked at Quatre. He'd do anything Quatre asked him to, no matter if he liked it or not. Quatre was everything to him and he was so grateful that they hadn't been separated like Heero and Duo that he was willing to do whatever was necessary to make him happy.

Wufei smiled at Quatre; he liked the blond boy very much. Quatre had always been very kind to him: putting up with him when he'd been in a bad mood, tolerating his kata at all hours of the day and night, and comforting him when he'd failed a mission. So he was willing to camp as long as Quatre wanted. Besides he liked camping.

"Quatre, I like camping. It's a good way to commune with nature, get a little time away from distractions of civilization. I'll find a nice place to meditate. I'm sure of it. You and I will set up camp and let these grumblers sit around. However, Duo, I'm sure you do need to rest that knee. It's going to bruise."

After several minutes of cold packs on Duo's knee, they continued to the camp site. Duo insisted on carrying his pack, even though both Trowa and Wufei offered to carry it for him. When they reached the site, he flopped onto the ground and groaned. After a minute he put his foot on his pack.

"I'm gonna keep it elevated for a while, then I'll help set up camp. I'm not gonna be a drag, I promise."

Trowa started assembling the tent. They had one big tent that would hold them all, and each boy packed a small safety tent in case they needed it. The big tent was geodesic and made of the newest and best materials, a tent for four only weighed about a pound, poles and all. But it was still hard to put up; the size was the problem. It was like a parachute, every time the wind blew it wanted to take off. Until they got it pegged down it flapped like some odd bird.

Wufei watched Duo for a while but he seemed resigned to the camping. He wanted to comfort Duo but he knew it was impossible. Duo was almost like himself, laughing at his own jokes and anticking around, but when no one was looking he sagged wearily, looking sad and lost. His act was wearing very thin and Wufei dreaded what might happen when it finally frayed through.

Wufei helped Trowa set the tent, then they started on a fire pit while Quatre put out the sleeping bags and secured the food.

"Quatre, why are you hanging the food in that tree? I'm hungry. When are we going to have lunch, or dinner, whatever?"

Duo knew he sounded querulous, but he couldn't help it. Heero had said that the next time he went camping they would do it together, but Heero wasn't here and he wasn't camping out in some wilderness. Was he ever wrong.

"Duo, this is bear country. We have to hang the food from a tree so the bears won't smell it and raid the camp to get to it."

"BEAR COUNTRY!! Dammit, if I'd known that, I sure wouldn't have come. It's bad enough I have to put up with squirrels and their squirrelly noises but bears? Shit! I. . . . " Duo took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. "Sorry . . . I'm sorry. I said I wouldn't cause trouble and I'm not gonna. But bears? I'm glad I brought a sidearm."

Trowa shook his head, Duo had never seen a bear close up or he wouldn't think he could kill a bear with a hand gun. Then he saw the pistol Duo took from his pack. It was a specially made single shot handgun modeled on the 20th century Contender competition pistol. Bolt action, .30-06, open sights, and rubberized grips, you could kill a bear with it.

The only two targets on a grizzly bear that were sure shots were the eye or the roof of the mouth. Anywhere else on a bear was problematical, as the tough hide and thick hair made a straight shot essential. If the rifle was underpowered, the chances of just wounding it were high. Duo was one of the best shots of the group, so he could hit the eye or roof of the mouth, especially the size of a grizzly's mouth, no problem. Except no one wanted to mess with a bear.

Duo stomped around for a few seconds until his knee complained, then he sat down wrapping his arms around it and started rocking himself, grumbling. He truly was miserable; he sat rocking himself and feeling sorry, for himself, for Quatre, for Heero. Dammit, all he wanted was to go somewhere, live with Heero and have as normal a life as two former terrorists could have. He really didn't want much, just to be left alone.

"Duo, please stop that. You look so miserable it's breaking my heart. I know all you want is to be with Heero, but you can't. He'd hate to see you this way. Come on. Let's get you a little more comfortable. Here! Sit!"

Wufei pulled Duo up and practically dragged him to the fire. He pushed him into a camp chair and stuffed a stool under his foot. Trowa handed him a plate of stew and a cold survival cracker. He'd planned to fix something a little more elaborate, but Duo's attitude made him decide to get food into him quickly. They'd have a nice meal later tonight.

Duo accepted the plate with a soft ‘thank you' but immediately pitched the cracker into the bushes. No one said anything about it, if Duo was wasting food he really hated it. He never seemed to be quite filled up and had to be watched from time to time because he would gorge until he was sick. Heero was especially sensitive to his moods, but they had to watch him.

"Wufei, how is he doing, really? I'm worried about him. He seems to be spending a lot of his time hugging himself and rocking. If he's not hovering over his laptop checking all the old mail boxes looking for E-mail from Heero."

Wufei rubbed his eyes; he didn't think Duo was going to last two years, much less twenty. He was slowly losing his mind. It wasn't obvious to the others, but Wufei had been watching him more closely than they had. He'd promised Heero that he would take care of Duo and he intended to do exactly that. If he could figure out how. He needed to get Duo's mind off Heero. He was all Duo thought about, imagining all sorts of horrible things happening to him. Wufei was surprised that Duo hadn't tried to break him out.

"We're losing him. He's going slowly, but surely, crazy. He can't go on like this much longer. Twenty years! We're going to be visiting him in a locked ward in two."

Quatre looked at Wufei then turned stark white. He fumbled for a chair and sat down very carefully, like he was afraid the chair wouldn't be there. Trowa hurried over when he noticed how white Quatre was.

"What's wrong, Quatre? Are you sick? Let me get you . . ."

"No Tro'. I'm ok. Oh, dear. Oh, my! Oh, poor Duo. Poor Heero. I'm such a fool. I . . . but . . . well . . . I never."

"Quatre Raberba Winner. Stop sputtering and tell me what is wrong. How can I fix it if you don't tell me?"

Quatre suddenly smiled that special smile he had just for Trowa. He was going to save his news for tonight. It would make everyone much happier.

Trowa relaxed; if Quatre could summon up that smile, nothing was very wrong. He went back to stacking wood without comment.

Wufei started to question Quatre, but decided that he would wait until he was ready to tell them whatever had made him smile like that. He just hoped it would make Duo smile too.

Trowa had finished the fire pit and started a nice fire in it. He'd also finished setting up the camp. If he had to camp out, he was going to make sure it was done right. He hadn't spent his life with mercenaries for nothing. He knew a great deal more about camping out than he wanted to. He was more of Duo's mind; he liked civilization much better.

Duo sat down beside Wufei; wrapping his arms around his knees, he started rocking again. It seemed that all he did was rock himself and worry.

"Wuffers? I think I'm going nutty. All I can think about is Heero. What's he doing? Is he ok? Is someone hurting him? I can't seem to think about anything else. I'm going round the bend."

"I know, Duo. I think about that too. But he will come back and you have to be strong enough to be here when he does. I'm sure he thinks about you all the time too. Next time you e-mail him just come out and ask. But don't ask where he is. We don't want to know because, if they ask, we'll have to tell, and he seems satisfied where he is."

Wufei didn't fuss at Duo for calling him Wuffers; he'd finally given up on trying to get Duo to quit mangling his name. If it gave Duo some slight comfort or entertainment, let him. Wufei also put his arm around the other boy and held him rather awkwardly, but at least he quit rocking.

<O>

Quatre finished his supper and sighed with satisfaction. The meal they'd had just after they'd set up camp had been a makeshift late lunch. This had been a real meal, made by Trowa and Wufei. He wasn't quite sure exactly what was in the casserole like dish, but it had been good and filling. Now he intended to drop his surprise on the others. He hoped it would lighten Duo's mood, he knew it would help Trowa and Wufei.

"Guys, I think I should have made sure of this weeks ago. I talked with the lawyers right after Heero was sentenced. Do any of you really understand the sentence?"

"Yeah, twenty years. Away from me. Away from everything he fought so hard to make happen." Duo put his plate down and slumped in his chair, elbows on his knees, hands dangling between them.

Trowa and Wufei just looked grim and angry.

"It is unjust. I would break him out, but where would we go?"

Quatre had been afraid of this but had hoped that it wasn't as bad as he'd thought. Well. He had a nice surprise for the others.

"Ok . . . No breaking him out. He got ten and ten, to run concurrently. Have any idea what that means?"

Wufei became so still that he almost disappeared in the twilight shadowed clearing. When Trowa raised his hand to push at his bangs everyone flinched.

Quatre smiled, lighting up the evening with his joy.

"Tro. Put some more wood on that fire, will you? . . . I've got some explaining to do."

Duo shivered. During the war, when Quatre had gotten that look on his face, he had thought up something that would make Oz very unhappy. But now that the war was over, Duo had no idea where that particular look had come from.

"Duo . . . first, I must apologize to you. You've suffered so much. I'm ashamed of myself. I should have made sure you all understood." He sighed softly, puffing out his cheeks. "The sentence runs concurrently. That means that he is serving both sentences at once. Not ten years then ten more. Just ten years. But . . . that's not all. We spent almost nine months under house arrest at my home in Sanq. Then I managed to get the trial transferred to America. They have some really weird laws here and so that nine months comes off his sentence as time served, then he'll get his sentence reduced due to overcrowding, and another reduction for good behavior, if he can keep himself out of trouble and I know he will. So, due to one thing and another, he'll be out in a year to eighteen months."

Duo's scream sounded like a wild cat's.

"OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD!! You mean that you better mean that if you don't I'll I don't "

Duo swayed on his feet, looking so white it scared them all. He sat down suddenly and let his head hang between his knees. Wufei sat down behind him and Trowa grabbed a canteen, pouring some in his hand to splash on Duo's face then holding it to his lips.

Wufei felt it too, that sudden release of a tightness he'd not even really noticed until it was gone. Trowa didn't bother to hide the tears as they trickled down his cheeks. Quatre looked very pleased with himself.

"And I wasn't going to tell this because I wanted you to have believable deniability. Until just now I didn't realize how hard Duo was taking this. I've been a little occupied trying to get Winner Enterprises under control and get us all settled in. But, here it is.

"I . . . uh . . . I bribed the clerk at the Court House to . . . er . . . Oh, my. I got him to change Heero's name . . . just a little . . . he's lost in the system right now because I did that. Trowa told you he thought he knew where Heero was. Tro, where do you think he is?"

"He's at that juvenile center in the next county. Fitzroy's Farm for Wayward Boys. It's actually very nice. Especially compared to some of the prisons we've been in. You can get on work release and do road work. They make the boys go to school. It's very up to date."

Quatre nodded at Trowa; his lover was very smart.

"Yes, that's where he is. And don't worry about them finding out, the system here is so overloaded that they aren't even really looking for Heero Yuy. I checked, there's a hundred and twenty-three Heero Yuy's of various ages in it now and everyone is sure that Heero is just at someone else's facility. When Heero comes up for parole, I'll make sure he gets a hearing and gets out. All we have to do is hang on until he's eligible. One year, eighteen months at most. "

Duo was nearly delirious with joy. Eighteen months and he could have Heero in his arms again. It was a long time, but not nearly as long as twenty years. He could do eighteen months easy; all he had to do was keep himself busy, really busy.

<O>

"Look at all the stars. I didn't know you could see so many from earth. It's really pretty, isn't it. I wish Heero could see this. Q-man, do you think he'd like to see it? Could we bring him up here so he can?"

"Sure, Duo. If you want to, we'll all come up and see the stars."

"Wufei, do you think Heero's looking at the stars? Do you think he has a window? I hope he does. I like to think that we're looking at the same thing."

"I'm sure Heero has a window. And if he looks out it he can see the same stars as you."

"That's nice. I like that . . . un Q-man? Thanks. I don't think I ever remembered to thank you . . . Trowa's asleep."

"No, I'm not. And you did remember, but it's good of you to thank him again. He's the one asleep."

Duo looked around and then pointed, "What's that? It looks like another camp fire. Is it a camp ground?"

Wufei smiled slightly with relief; Duo was acting more like his old self. The sudden barrage of questions was a very good sign.

"Yes, it's a campground. Down there is a lake with a campground."

"Oh, will they . . . um. Never mind . . . it's stupid." Duo shrugged, he was feeling a little paranoid still.

"They can't get here from there, the terrain is way too rough. They may see our fire, but that's all."

Trowa had checked out the terrain and was ready to pull out his topographical map if Duo wanted to see it.

Duo suddenly threw his head back and let out a long mournful wolflike howl. Trowa joined him, and on the second howl Quatre joined in and Wufei too. They heard an answering howl from down the valley.

Next morning, they stumbled out of their tents to the smell of smoke and the sound of a helicopter landing near by.

Duo ran to the chopper and nearly killed the safety man as he grabbed Duo and tumbled him into the chopper. The navigator ran to the others and started yelling.

"Forest fire. Come on. Leave your stuff. We gotta get out of here now. It's headed right this way. Come on."

Quatre started for the chopper at a dead run, followed by Wufei and Trowa. They didn't bother to try to step into the bay. All three of them just dove into the door, and Wufei and Trowa turned around to snatch the navigator through the door. The entire rescue took a total of five minutes from landing to take off. As they flew away the chopper tipped and they could see the fire two ridges over; it was headed right for their campsite.

"That fire will be to your site within the next two or three hours. Lucky you filed a plan with parks. There's a bunch from the local detention facility in here somewhere. We'll be taking the scenic route back so we can look for them. You boys sit back and relax." The pilot turned his attention back to his duties, never knowing that, if he'd not turned his head to talk to them, he'd have seen the other group.

<O>

Camping: Heero style.

"Heero? The Headmaster wants you. Don't worry, you're not in trouble. Or maybe you are, depending on how you feel about camping."

Heero knocked at the door and hearing ‘come in', he walked in and stood before the headmaster, waiting to see what he wanted.

"You've been here long enough to win privileges and your grades are phenomenal, so you get a reward. At least I hope you think it's a reward. Every summer we reward five of the best students with a survival hike. We go into the mountains, the Sierras; we go up by helicopter and hike out. Most of the boys who go up come down with a better sense of self-confidence. You seem so hesitant, I'm hoping that this trip will give you a better self image."

Heero had to hold himself in tightly; he wasn't about to laugh in the man's face. Hesitant? He'd been holding in so that he wasn't issuing the guards orders left and right. The security in this place was pathetic and his first impulse was to give the Headmaster a report. He knew he didn't have a poor self image, like the therapist thought, he just didn't care much what others thought so he came off as shy and hesitant.

"I think I'd like to go very much. I know a little about survival. I'd be interested in comparing notes with the instructor. Thank you very much, sir. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow at dawn. You'll be dropped off in the High Sierras with everything you need in your back pack. It'll take four days to hike out."

Heero was interested in this camping trip; he was tired of staying in the building. He felt cooped up and suffocated. He was used to a lot more outdoor exercise than he was getting. When he found out that the other four boys were all city born and bred he was a little less happy, but decided to follow Duo's advice again. [[Don't buy trouble, you get plenty for free. Just worry enough to get through the day and let tomorrow worry about itself.]]

He'd make sure he had everything he would need to cope with any of the disasters that could come up on a supervised survival hike with four totally inexperienced city kids. He just hoped the instructor wasn't some bleeding heart camp counselor type.

<O>

Heero went to the computer lab and asked the monitor if he could spend sometime online. The man eyed him for a moment. He wondered at this boy, so self-contained that he seemed hesitant and shy. What was really going on behind those shuttered cobalt blue eyes? Deciding that it wasn't really his business, he shook his head and told Heero that he didn't have to ask, all he had to do was sign on and do whatever he wanted.

He also explained that the whole system was monitored by an AI. If you didn't have your school work done, all you could do was access the school sections. After home work and lessons were done, if they had computer time left they could do anything they wanted to do with it. The AI would keep hackers under control and anyone who was caught doing things they weren't supposed to do, would lose computer privileges for a specific length of time for various offences. Heero hid his smile; he'd been in the system several times and had bypassed all the traps.

"I have a friend on the outside. I'd like to send him some mail. Is that ok?"

Heero had realized that he wasn't going to be sending Duo anything that was classified or even secret. Besides, if he needed to, he could send an open mail with a code to let him know to check one of the secret boxes.

"Sure, but the mail is read by that AI, so you don't want to send certain words, like ‘bomb' and ‘poison'. That'll flag your mail and a person will read it. Just use some common sense."

Heero spent half an hour finishing his school work, then sent Duo an e-mail telling him about the camping trip. When he checked the mail box he'd been using, the open mail made him smirk. Duo was going camping [Duo and camping in the same sentence? Oh my] with Quatre, Trowa and Wufei. That was something he regretted missing. He'd have to send Duo a message telling him about the trip he was on.

He would compose it like a mission report, Duo would laugh himself silly at that. He missed Duo so much that sometimes he was almost sick.

After checking on everything he could find out about the Sierras, Heero composed the contents of his pack. He just hoped that he could get everything he wanted. He hated one thing about this whole war-over thing; he didn't have the resources he used to have.

"Excuse me. I've come to see about getting my pack ready for tomorrow. I'd like to have the things on this list if I could. Please."

Cooper looked at Winner-Yuy. "Ok, let's see what you've got on the list that you can have. Hmmm. Not bad, done some camping in the past. You can't have the camp stove. You have to learn to build your own fire and all that survival stuff."

"I know how to start a fire with a fire bow. I like matches better, more reliable. I want the stove for emergencies. Please, sir. I'll make sure that you don't get into trouble." Heero kept his voice reasonable; he wanted to be prepared. He didn't want to have to rely on outside resources in an emergency. Being rude wouldn't get him anywhere. [['Ro, Dammit, snarling around like that won't get you anywhere. It just puts people's backs up.]]

"Sorry kid, they'll search your pack. You're not supposed to have candy and a bunch of other stuff. But brats always try to sneak that kind of stuff. So they search your pack and confiscate all the contraband."

"Well . . . if I can't have it, I can't. That's ok. I probably won't need it, but I like to be prepared. Missions . . . "

Heero shut up before he said something to give himself away. He wanted to stay here, and he knew, if they found out who he really was, he'd be in Hellcreek so fast his head would spin.

<O>

Heero turned out at six a.m. without complaint, that was late compared to some of the missions he'd been on. He was going to treat this like a mission, but he was going to have fun too. It sounded like a contradiction in terms: it wasn't, he'd had fun on several of their missions. The ones that had been swoop and destroy, with no personnel involved. He'd especially liked the one where they had to destroy an automated munitions factory. It had exploded rather spectacularly

"All right, gentlemen, line up for inspection. I am going to go through everything and confiscate all contraband. You got a list of items you can't have. If you have anything on that list, I'm going to leave it right here. Unpack and lay everything on the ground in front of you. Let's hop to it. Now! Get moving!

"While you're doing that. My name is Sargent Draden. You will call me Sargent Draden, or Sargent. You will not call me mack, or bud, or Sarg, or any other thing than my name. We will be hiking out from the landing site. You will carry your own pack. If you get hot spots on your feet you will tell me immediately, I don't want you getting blisters. You will drink water. There is no soda, no coffee, no tea, nothing except water during the day. You can have one cup of coffee at breakfast and another at supper. You will set up and break down the camp yourselves. I am not, I repeat not, a fuckin' tour guide. I am your instructor and I am going to teach you to be self-sufficient, self-reliant, and competent. If you can't carry your own weight leave now."

While he was speaking, the Sargent had checked the contents of three of the packs. He didn't find anything he shouldn't, but the fourth boy had so much contraband that it took up half the space in his pack. The Sargent calmly tossed it all aside and told the boy to go back to his room and find all the things that he'd left behind and bring them back.

"Well boy, who are you? I've got names here, but I haven't gotten you all matched up yet."

Heero stood at ease.

"Winner-Yuy, Heero, Sir."

"You've got a lot of extra weight here. No contraband I'm glad to see, but are you sure you can handle all this? I'm not carrying your pack for you. You carry it yourself, or you lighten it until you can."

"I understand, Sir. I'm used to carrying quite a load. I can carry twice the standard load all day. I won't hold the group back, Sir."

"Well at least you're polite. I've got my eye on you, so don't think you'll get away with anything, even if you do have manners . . . you look familiar. Do I know you? Have you served in Oz?"

Heero froze. [Served in Oz? [Oh shit.] If this guy was asking him that, there could be a real problem.

"No. I never served in Oz. I'm only seventeen."

"Well . . . " The Sargent looked at him closely; Heero stood easy controlling the urge to kill the man with some difficulty. "I know you from somewhere. Never mind. Repack your pack, get ready to go."

They waited for the fifth boy for ten more minutes, then Sargent Draden looked at his watch, called the boys and got them into the chopper. The boy was left behind.

The chopper was a standard troop carrier. The design was over four hundred years old and still in use. Heero was very familiar with the design and liked the old JG; it would get them to the drop point without trouble.

At the drop point, the Sargent offloaded all the packs, checked straps, and headed them out for the first camp site. It was 08:00 and they had until 21:20 to complete a camp site. That was sundown and even then it wouldn't be fully dark. Heero was optimistic. [They can't be so bad that we don't make a good camp site in thirteen hours and twenty minutes.]

"Gentlemen, move out. We have twelve hours to make our projected camp site and I intend to make it."

The Sargent chivvied them off the landing site and down a path. Heero was glad to see that the path was down hill. It probably wouldn't stay that way, but starting out easy was good. It would give him a chance to see what the other three boys were made of.

He'd evaluated them to the best of his ability when they'd on-loaded, but they hadn't had to walk far so he'd been unable to get a real feel for any of them. However, the Sargent was capable and gave Heero the impression that he'd done this before.

Of the other three boys, one was common: brown hair, brown eyes, medium height, medium build, just plain medium. He hunched under his pack like it was just that much too heavy. The second boy was tall, slender, red haired and pale complected; he didn't hunch under his pack, but he kept pulling at the straps. The third boy might be a problem. He was smaller than average, slight and delicate. He carried his pack in a competent manner; however, it was too heavy for him and he was already struggling. Heero grumbled under his breath. [I'd rather do this with Duo; he might complain loudly and bitterly about camping but at least he's competent and can carry a full pack all day without falling down in exhaustion.]

Heero dropped back with the Sargent and walked beside him, "Excuse me, Sir. I don't think that number three in line is going to be able to keep up unless we lighten his pack by at least half. He's just too small."

"Heero, right?" Heero nodded. "Boy's name is Pete; next one up, the red head, is Red. [How'd I guess that one?] And the boy on point is Jamie. Problem with Pete is, he's going to need everything in that pack, sooner or later. So what do we do with it? You gonna carry it?"

Heero contemplated that for a minute.

"Yeah."

"Dammit, boy, that means that you'll be carrying a hundred pounds near abouts. You can't keep it up for several days. You know we projected six days to hike out, and unless I miss my guess, you're well aware that missions like this always run over."

"I can carry quite a load. And if you give me all his food stuffs to carry, the load will lighten day by day. I can carry one hundred pounds easily, especially if it's down hill."

Sargent Draden stopped the boys fifteen minutes later and unpacked Pete's load, checking it out again and still not finding anything that shouldn't be there. He examined the pack itself. Everything checked out, so the pack was just too heavy for the boy. Pete was upset until he realized that the Sargent wasn't blaming him for something he didn't do.

"Look, boy, you're just too small to carry a full pack. I should have made sure you were up to it, but I assumed that the counselor would have made sure that you were up to the load. We're gonna have to lighten your load or you're not going to make it. Heero here has volunteered to carry half your load. So I'm sorting it out."

Heero watched as Sargent Draden took the tent and most of the food, leaving only the ground cloth, sleeping bag, canteen and a third of his food. Repacking the now lightened pack, the Sargent checked the straps again and readjusted them. Draden then turned to Heero and started to repack his pack for him.

"Sir. I'd rather pack that myself. I know what I'm doing and I have a certain way I like it weighted. If you don't mind."

Heero unloaded his pack and readjusted the load. He liked the heavy things packed in the middle of the pack just at the small of his back. It kept his center of balance unchanged so he didn't need to compensate.

Draden changed the order of march. He set himself at point, with the three less experienced boys next, Pete last in that file and Heero bringing up the rear, ‘eyes behind'. Heero knew that the man had no idea how easily he could have disappeared into the mountains, never to be seen again. Especially with all the food stuffs he was carrying. But if he did that he would be spending the rest of his life on the run; if he didn't get caught and have a big chunk of time added to his sentence.

Without even thinking about it Heero grazed as they marched (crawled) through the woods. Underbrush on both sides of the trail had berry bushes and he found ramps that were full and ripe for plucking. He was wiping the dirt off another ramp when Draden saw him and nearly went ballistic.

"Boy, what the hell do you think you're doing? How do you know that isn't poison? Spit it out now."

Heero did as he was told but he could tell that the Sargent had gotten a good whiff of the ramp as he did. There was no mistaking the smell of wild garlic. He spit again just to make sure the Sargent knew he was obeying.

"You know you're supposed to check everything out with me before you eat it. Or didn't your counselor explain things to you."

"I'm sorry. The Headmaster sent me. It's a reward for catching up on my school work or something like that. And he didn't explain much of anything. I've been in the woods before, so I know what to eat and what not to. I'm sorry if I scared you, Sir. I didn't mean to."

"Ok. I'll make it easy for you to understand, don't eat or drink anything we haven't carried in without my express approval. You may know what you're doing but I don't want the others getting ideas. Understand."

"Hn." Heero nodded. He was sorry he'd scared the man; he was trying to be more forthcoming. [[Heero, you got to talk to people. Too much quiet usually means kids are up to something they shouldn't be. You attract too much attention.]]

"Your bio says you're hesitant to speak, almost shy. I don't get that feeling. What's with you?"

Heero shifted from foot to foot. He didn't really trust this man, that question about Oz had left him less than happy.

"I'm just not much of a talker. I don't see the need to babble on endlessly about nothing. I say what I have to say and then shut up. I also don't see the need to waste my breath talking to people who have already made up their minds, it usually doesn't do any good. So I just keep my mouth shut and pick up the pieces afterwards."

"I see. I knew a man like you once upon a time. Good soldier, good man. I liked him, but he didn't make it through the wars. Got himself killed in some stupid attack on Tallgeese. He was good at a lot of different things and I really liked him."

Heero watched the Sargent's face while he talked. When the man said his friend got killed in an attack on Tallgeese, he wondered why he asked if Heero was with Oz. Being Heero, he asked for information.

"If you served with the rebellion, why did you ask if I served with Oz?"

"I remember your face from somewhere but I can't for the life of me remember where. The only thing I could think of was posters of Oz officers that we got. But as soon as I realized how young you are I knew that was a stupid question. You're much too young to have been an officer in Oz Specials." The man held out a hand in a calming gesture. "I don't expect you to tell me anything. I probably don't want to know who you really are anyway. I . . ." Suddenly the Sargent turned a funny shade of green. "If you're who I think you are, I really don't want to ask any more questions. Just remember, if anything happens to me you're going to have to get the rest of these boys out of the woods by yourself."

Heero gave the pale man a slight smile and, shrugging his pack into a more comfortable position, walked off heading down the path ahead of the rest of the group. Let him take up eyes behind for a while and Heero take point.

Heero started out at what he considered a slow pace and Sargent Draden let him go for all of ten minutes, then he called a rest stop and took Heero aside.

"Look, I have a good idea of who you are and I gotta tell ya I think you got a raw deal. So here it is. This isn't a mission. We're supposed to be enjoying ourselves. So slow down to a crawl. The other boys are panting like old dogs. I'm beginning to get tired myself and I'm in good shape. I never saw anything like it. You're carrying half again what you should and you're still practically running."

Heero looked at the Sargent and smiled; the man knew exactly who he was and wasn't making a big deal of it. So Heero shared.

"The most I ever carried at one time was Duo, ten pounds of assorted supplies and twenty pounds of C-10, home made. Had to run three miles with it all. Completed the mission and got both of us home in one piece, more or less."

"Who's Duo?"

"My lover and partner. Gundam 02."

"Son of a bitch. That's the long-haired one? Looks like a girl?"

"Only if she's stronger than average, smart enough to figure ballistic trajectories, fuel consumption requirements and burn time equations in her head, and homicidal. Duo may look fragile, and he is in a way, but not physically. He's as tough as they come, ask Oz. They got hold of him and tortured him for days; he was still laughing at them when I rescued him."

"They tortured him? Dammit! He was only what? Fourteen?"

"Yeah. Just about my age."

"I can't believe they tortured him, it's inconceivable. You were all just babies."

Heero grimaced, he hated it when someone started that, so he pulled up his shirt and showed the man some of his scars.

"They got hold of me too. See? Here's proof."

"Well . . . hell."

"Yeah, most of them are there now. Courtesy of the girlie-looking kid."

The only thing that Sargent could think of was to get them back on the trail. He chivvied the boys into some sort of line and put Heero at the back end again.

It took them another two hours to reach the camp site. Then another hour to set up camp, at least it took the other boys an hour. Heero had his tent setup in less than ten minutes and spent the rest of the time gathering fire wood and snickering to himself as he watched the Sargent's efforts to get the other boys setup.

"Ok. You're so smart . . . you set it up."

"Sorry. Part of the mission of this camp out it to teach you to be self-sufficient. Although I don't think it helps much that we're eating prepackaged rations instead of living off the land." Heero eyed the red headed boy with little sympathy. He'd helped Pete with his tent and found that he knew what he was doing, he was just so physically small that he was having problems. The other two boys had turned out to be incompetent and down right dangerous. Red knew absolutely nothing about camping and didn't want to learn, and Jamie had a chip on his shoulder so big a Gundam would have problems with it.

"I'm not sleepin' in no tent. I want a regular room like real people. I don't like all these weird noises and funky smells. Why the hell anyone would think this is a reward I have no fucking clue."

Jamie had dropped his pack and was now complaining to anyone who would listen. Pete patiently tried to explain and the only reason that Jamie didn't punch him was Heero. He caught the thrown punch in the palm of his hand and just made a tisking noise, shaking his head.

"Don't do that again. If you do, I'll make you sorry." Heero's soft threat was exactly that and Jamie knew it. He wilted quickly and went back to trying to pitch his tent.

"Thanks, Heero. I just hope you don't get in trouble with him. He . . . "

"He won't do anything." Heero followed Jamie with his eyes until he caught him looking back and gave him a warning glare that made the other boy turn white. "I've got my eye on him now. He won't bother you either."

"Oh. Um. Well, thanks again, and thanks for helping me with my tent. I can do the rest myself. All I have to do is put down my bag and set up the lamp."

Heero settled down in front of his tent and allowed Pete to sit near him. Pete squirmed, cleared his throat and started to say something. He seemed to be having trouble getting started, so Heero decided to encourage him

"Hn?"

"Un . . . well ummm my . . . " Pete took a deep breath and got it out in a rush. "What are you in for, you don't have to tell me if you don' want."

"Crimes against society, and manslaughter." Heero waited for Pete to get up and move away.

"Wow . . . Manslaughter . . . That's tough. Get a long sentence? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I'm just . . . I'm bored and I tend to get into trouble then. That's how I got here. Crimes against society too. I hacked the new Preventers Bureau computer and messed up something. They're really pissy about that. You have no idea."

Heero looked at the smaller boy and allowed a smile. "You hacked the P.B. departmental computer. That's good. Did you use a worm?"

"No, I found a back door big enough to drive a truck through."

After that the conversation degenerated into hacker slang that only those who thought in binary could understand. They discussed algorithms and code strings. Then started in on the newest hardware and Pete admitted that he was a hardware geek of the worst sort.

"I wish I could see the computers the Gundam pilot, 02 used. I heard he was a hacker's hacker. I bet it was really something to see. Too bad they confiscated it. I bet he had some killer hacks in it."

Heero shook his head. "I've seen it. Not much to see unless you open it up. Then it's a nightmare. It's tweaked to hell and gone. But the software is really nice. He's got everything you need to hack anything already written and all you have to do is download it."

"Wow. You know 02, you work with him or what. . . ." Pete looked at Heero's arrested expression. "Oh, don't worry, I won't tell. Don't look like that. Besides, what difference does it make? The war's over. Who would believe me anyway? I'm just a kid. No one believes kids."

The Sargent came over to see how they were doing and smiled at Heero sitting with Pete; they looked young and fresh. Pete talking animatedly, gesturing with both his hands, and Heero bent over slightly, chin on a fist, elbow on a knee, listening with an attentive expression. They both looked up at his approach and Pete grinned, while Heero just nodded.

"You boys ok? Need any help?" Draden looked around the neat camp area. "I don't think so. Heero, would you mind making sure Pete's tent is staked out solidly?"

"I already did, it's good. How are you doing with Red and Jamie?"

The Sargent shook his head, grumbling, "Not good, those two are just plain dumb. They don't want to be camping and they aren't going to cooperate. It's going to be hell. I'm seriously considering cutting their trip short."

Heero glanced around wondering what exactly the Sargent was going to do. Sargent Draden blinked and then chuckled.

"I don't know what you're thinking and I don't want to. If they really get uncooperative, all I have to do is head for an extraction point and have them picked up by chopper. If someone gets hurt, we do the same. Not like we'll . . . er." Draden shut up suddenly, a nasty idea had bubbled to the surface.

Heero, watching the change in expression, decided to ask a question. He wasn't used to anyone taking care of him; usually it was the other way around, he took care of someone else.

"If someone gets hurt, you have extraction points? How many and where are they? I need the intel."

Heero gave Draden a sharp look. He wanted this information and he was going to get it, even if he had to sneak a look at the map.

"Yeah, I think you should. I'll get the map and show it to you as soon as I get those two mules set up. I swear, if they don't get it together soon, I'm going to let them sleep out."

"I don't see any reason why not. It's going to be a clear night and it's not going to be chilly. I've slept out in a lot worse. With a fire they'll sleep pretty good."

"Dew could make them uncomfortable and, while they need to learn, I really don't fancy trying to handle two idiots with colds on a five-day hike."

Heero grunted and Pete snickered. He didn't fancy putting up with two whiners for five days, colds or not, and said so. Sargent Draden grumbled something about willing and able and small as he walked away.

"Heero?"

"Yeah."

"You ever smile? I mean . . . well." Pete sighed; he was afraid he was about to piss off the only friend he had on this trek from, or to, hell.

"I don't have much to smile about. I never have. I think if I had something, I wouldn't know exactly how." Heero smirked slightly. "And I'd probably give my friends a heart attack."

"You mad?"

"Me? No. I don't really get mad. I just get even."

"Dammit, now that's scarey. Tell me if I'm making you mad, ok?"

"Ok. We better get up and get to it or we're not going to have any supper. Draden is still fucking around with the terrible twosome. So I guess it's up to us."

Heero went to see how Draden was getting along with his two stubborn charges, and found that he had just thrown up his hands in disgust and told the two that if they wanted to sleep in a tent or eat hot food they needed to get their shit in gear. Heero watched as he walked away then followed him to ask for a good look at the map.

Draden sat down with Heero and showed him the topographical map of the area with all the trails marked clearly and neat icons for camping areas, pickup points, and caches. Heero hadn't seen anything like it, ever. All the maps he'd used were very different. They were coded and nothing was marked, he'd had to remember where things were located.

"This is nice. I don't have to remember where everything is. It's all marked so clearly I'm glad this isn't a mission. Oz would have a hay day with a map like this."

Draden sighed. He knew who Heero was now, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out how this boy was who he was. He had a bad feeling about this trip, but he didn't think Heero had anything to do with it.

"In a way we are on a mission. Your mission is to learn how to act your age. Usually I'm telling seventeen-year-olds who act like they're two that. In this case I'm telling a seventeen-year-old who acts forty to learn to act his age. You need to lighten up some. Learn to have some good, clean fun. The rest of my mission is to get this collection of poor souls to the pickup point without killing those two. Pete's not a problem, but Red and Jamie have ganged up in their determination not to have any fun or learn anything on this hike."

"I'm sorry, Sir. I don't think I can help you with them. All I can do is make sure Pete is ok. In my opinion we ought to just walk off on Red and Jamie. They aren't carrying their own weight, in fact they're an obstacle. If this was a real mission, they . . ." Heero shut up before he said something to frighten the Sargent. [[Heero, don't scare the help. It makes them do stupid stuff.]]

Draden threw up his hands. "Don't tempt me."

Heero smirked at Draden and said sourly, "You're the fool who volunteered. So come on. I'll set up the fire pit and start something to eat. How much should I fix?"

"Just for the three of us, those two can start their own fire and supper. I warned them plenty of times. We start out as we plan to go on. Tomorrow I'll get up in time to fix coffee and breakfast for all of us."

Heero nodded, called Pete to come with him, and headed down to the lake to get water. The walk was nice. The air was clear and clean, the sunset was awe-inspiring, set against the backdrop of the Sierra Mountains. The path was easy heading for the lake, but the walk back made Pete stop once, panting. Heero wondered at how short of breath the boy was.

Pete pressed his hand against his chest. "Man, I hate to say it and I'll deny it to my dying breath, but my Dad was right. I spend way too much time in front of a computer. Damn, I'm out of shape."

Heero relaxed, realizing he'd been holding tension in his shoulders, afraid of what the boy was going to tell him. Out of shape he could handle, some esoteric disease was out of his area of experience.

"Just try to keep up tomorrow. If it really gets to be too much, let me know. But I'm going to keep an eye on you. I'll see to it that you don't fall behind. Draden seems reasonable. You'll be ok."

Pete gave Heero a grateful look. The other boys had been teasing him about being small and out of shape. There would be no help there. More likely they would make the hike as hard on him as they could.

Heero rummaged around in his pack and, after consulting Pete, decided on dehydrated beef stroganoff for supper. All he had to do was boil the noodles, drain them and add the pouches of sauce mix with enough water to reconstitute the beef. [If there's actually any beef in this I'll be totally surprised.] Pete offered to do scut work, so Heero set him to boiling dish water and setting up the stools so they didn't have to sit on the ground.

When Draden came back to the fire, he flopped down and eyed Pete. "Those two give you any trouble I want to hear about it. I don't want you two taking things into your own hands. Especially you Mr. Winner-Yuy."

"Very well, Sir. I won't start anything." Heero handed him a plate and utensils.

"They start anything, just don't kill them. Ok?"

"Ok." Heero turned his head and gazed at Pete for a second. "I'll take care of Pete. You take care of those two idiots. I just hope they don't catch a cold tonight."

"That's the second time you've mentioned that. You have a . . . a premonition or something?"

"No, just a bad feeling. This whole mission is wacked, as Duo would say. Something is going to happen, I just don't know what. Better eat. It's getting dark and I'd like to get the dishes done before it does."

Draden ate and handed the plate to Pete to wash. He took a walk around the camp and noticed with some amusement that Red and Jamie had finally managed to set up some kind of camp. He hoped the two recalcitrant boys learned a lesson from their stubbornness.

Returning to the fire, he settled on a stool and listened as Heero pointed out constellations to Pete. The sudden howling from the nearest ridge made Draden and Pete jump, but Heero listened for a second and then howled back. The mournful sound made Draden shiver.

<O>

It was still dark when Heero woke. At first he wasn't sure what had awakened him, but the faint smell of smoke in the air made him stir from his bedroll and tent. The camp fires had been put out carefully before they went to bed, so that wasn't the source of the smell.

"Draden . . . Draden . . . wake up." Heero carefully patted Sargent Draden on the foot. He wasn't about to shake the man by the shoulder. He didn't know enough about him to take that chance.

Draden dragged his brain into consciousness and grumbled. "It's still dark. This better be more important than you gotta pee . . . shit! Yuy, that you?"

"Yes, Sir. And if I had to pee I wouldn't be bothering you. Wake up."

"I'm awake, I'm awake! What's the problem? What's that smell?" Draden sniffed.

"That's what I'd like to know, Sir. We put the fires out completely last night. I don't like it."

Draden crawled out of his tent. "Kid, I don't like it either. Go wake up Pete. Stay with him. I'll wake up the terrible twosome."

Heero didn't bother trying to wake Pete up gently. He just dragged him, sleeping bag and all, out of the tent and woke him up. After telling him to put on his clothes, Heero started taking down both tents. If they weren't in trouble, they weren't going back to sleep anyway, it was false dawn by now.

Draden came back at a run, followed by Red and Jamie. He had a mini-radio-GPS set in his hand and was swearing like a trooper.

"There's a fire. Come on, we have to get moving. I got hold of parks and tried to tell them where we are, but I don't think they got it all. This area is hard to radio out of. The satellite is in the wrong orientation until noon and by then the fire will be here, or at least that's what I thought he said."

Heero looked at the lake; it would be better to stay here and just wade out into the lake until the fire went by. But Draden cut him off before he could explain more than that they should stay at the lake.

"Look, my orders are clear. Any trouble and I head for one of the pickup sites. So we go. Pack up and let's get on the trail. Heero, help Pete."

Heero junked Pete's pack. He'd managed to get almost everything into his pack, the only things he had abandoned were the tent and the extra ground cloth. Two could fit in one tent, if they got really friendly, and he didn't want to give up any food. Tents, they could manage without; food, they might need.

"Where's Pete's pack? Don't leave anything we might need behind. If it's necessary, I'll decide what to leave and what to take."

"I'm sorry, Sir, but Pete can't keep up the pace and carry a pack too. I lightened the load some so I won't wear out too quickly. I've junked one tent and a ground cloth. Everything else is in my pack. I'll stay with Pete. You don't have to worry about him; if I can manage to take care of Maxwell, I'm sure I can manage Pete."

"Ok, but for God's sake, don't lose him. Without a pack, he could be in real trouble."

Heero just nodded, eyed Red and Jamie, and went to stand near Pete.

"Briefing. We're running ahead of a fire. Stay together and keep moving. If anyone goes down, we're in trouble. Do not lose your packs. Heero is carrying Pete's stuff, but it's up to you two to keep your stuff. Move out."

Neither Red nor Jamie could smell the smoke, or else they didn't care. They seemed to think that this whole fire was just to inconvenience them. They complained bitterly as they hiked. Heero just kept Pete close to his side and kept moving. He let Draden keep track of the other two boys and trusted him to get them headed in the right direction. He still couldn't quiet the notion that staying by the lake was their best chance.

Pete without a pack was a different hiker. He was keeping up fairly well, but either Red or Jamie could make him stumble just by hissing at him. So Heero put himself between them. Unfortunately that put Pete behind him and he didn't notice when Pete started falling behind.

Heero turned to look back at Pete, checking to see if he was keeping up. He was nowhere in sight. [Damn!] Heero called Draden and told him he was going back for Pete.

Draden just nodded. Red and Jamie were giving him trouble because they both couldn't or wouldn't accept the trouble the group was in. They kept wandering away from the trail on one excuse or another.

Heero left Draden to deal with them and headed back down the trail looking for Pete. He found him half a mile back, struggling to keep up a pace that Heero knew was going to wear him out long before he got where they needed to go.

"Here, take this." Heero handed his pack to Pete, who looked at him like he'd lost his mind "Put it on. I can carry both it and you that way." Heero knelt down and told Pete how to get on his back, lock his ankles around his waist and put one arm under and one arm over his shoulders so he wouldn't choke him. Pete managed to settle himself to Heero's satisfaction.

Heero started out at a ground-eating lope that Pete had no hope of keeping up for more than a second. He met up with Draden and nodded. Draden gave him a look of combined awe and envy then pointed up the trail

"I got the terrible twosome settled in a clearing up ahead. We need to stop for a few. I'll show you the map, and we'll check the GPS coordinates and make sure we're headed right."

"Ok. Get moving. Don't worry about me keeping up."

Draden set an easy pace. Heero passed him setting a faster one, letting Draden know that he wasn't going to hold them back even with the double load of Pete and the pack. Draden just struggled to keep up with Heero.

When they broke through to the clearing neither Red nor Jamie was on their feet, they both had dropped their packs and were lounging on the ground half asleep. Draden started to wake them up but Heero stopped him, telling him to let them sleep until they were done as they would be less trouble.

He and Draden got out the map and GPS. Heero took the GPS and read off latitude and longitude down to the hundredth of a second. Draden eyed the map, with Pete leaning over his shoulder still panting for breath. Pete pointed to the map telling Draden that he thought they were ‘here'. Draden checked the legend and nodded. Pete was right to within a hundred feet.

"Very good. You listened. Hold this while I wake up the sleeping beauties."

Draden went off to wake Jamie, handing the map and GPS to Pete who gave them to Heero. Heero stowed them in his pack and shouldered it again, adjusting the straps so the pack didn't move around. Heero admonished Pete again to stay near him. Pete just nodded and sighed. He was afraid he wasn't going to be able to keep up. He didn't want to get left behind again, or hold up the group.

Red came back to the clearing when Draden yelled for him, grumbling about not being allowed to do his business in peace. Heero wondered again if they were suicidal or just stupid. He motioned to Pete and started out of the clearing with Red then Jamie behind him. Draden brought up the rear and chivvied the two onwards. Heero set the pace and kept it to something Pete could manage. They came out of the pine forest into another clearing and Draden drew even with Heero.

"That's where the chopper will be." He pointed to a mark on the map. "It's only about another half mile. Do you think Pete can keep up for that much longer?"

"Yeah, as long as we don't go any faster than we're going now. But it's going to take at least a half hour, maybe more. This terrain is the problem. None of them can cope with the unevenness."

Draden sniffed, "We got to get them going faster. We don't have half an hour. Smell the smoke."

Heero just nodded and grunted; he could smell the smoke as well as Draden and he was beginning to see sparks. He didn't like it at all and was hoping he was wrong in thinking that they were rapidly running out of options. He pinned all his hopes on the chopper.

Red finally got the picture when they rounded a sharp curve in the trail and ran down into a smoke-filled dip. Red panicked and started running hard. Draden shouted at him to slow down enough to keep from tripping. Jamie grimly stuck to his buddy, which left Draden with no option but to keep up with them and leave Heero to care for Pete, again.

Heero grabbed Pete with one hand and held him up; the smoke was thick enough to obscure their vision and he didn't want Pete to stumble badly enough to fall. If he sprained an ankle, they were in a world of hurt. They ran until Pete was staggering and then they ran some more. Heero was practically carrying Pete when they caught up with the others. Draden was red-faced and furious, his remarks to the two boys not particularly inspired, but blunt and to the point.

Pete flopped down on the ground and panted; he was tired to the point he didn't care anymore. All he wanted was to catch his breath and get his legs to quit shaking. Draden, on the radio again, gave the boy a quick assessing look and knew he was in trouble. He had one boy who was like a machine, one who was willing but too small, and two who were going to get all of them dead if they didn't get their heads around the facts.

"Heero, what do you suggest. I'm about out of arguments. They aren't listening, Dammit."

Heero made a decision that would affect him almost immediately. "I'll talk to them."

Red was smirking at Pete and teasing him about getting a piggy back from Heero. Heero just took him by the neck and squeezed.

"Keep up. Don't argue with Sargent Draden. If you fall behind or argue one more time you'll answer to me. Do. You. Understand."

Red gagged and choked for a second then started nodding his head. "Yeah. I gotcha. Bastard."

Pete gasped but Heero just raised an eyebrow and walked off. He pinned Jamie with a fierce look that promised him the same treatment if he gave any trouble.

"We go. Now." Heero rounded up the whole group and snarled Draden into leading out, followed by Red, Jamie, then Pete. He brought up the rear and vowed that he was making sure Pete got into the chopper. The back of his neck was creeping. [[Heero, if the back of your neck creeps, there's bad times ahead, you can bet on it.]]

It took them another fifteen minutes to get to the pickup point. The chopper was waiting, but so was the fire. It had circled around behind them and was on the other side of the clearing. They could see it through the trees.

Red climbed into the chopper with Jamie on his heels. Draden piled in and reached for Heero, but Jamie had pounded on the divider between them and the pilot before the crewman could stop him. Pounding on the divider was the pilot's signal to take off, so he did, leaving Heero and Pete on the ground. Heero saw Draden's mouth moving and the crewman talking on the radio, but the rotors had sucked the fire too close. The pilot wasn't about to try to land and pick them up; it was doubtful that he could even understand what they were shouting about.

Pete moaned in fear as Heero snatched him up by the back of his jacket and the seat of his pants. Draden got a good look at what Heero was about to do and held out his arms. Heero threw Pete right into Draden's reach; the Sargent wrapped his arms around the boy and snatched him to his chest. Heero just stood and watched as the chopper lifted off, reoriented itself then flew away. [Sargent Draden is going to fry me when I get out of here.]