~ * ~

Zechs couldn't decide whether he wanted to swat Wufei or kiss him. He decided against kissing him as he figured that would get him shot. Or sent back. But the boy was aggravating to say the least; he didn't want help, although he needed it.

Instead he fussed at every little thing. They were supposed to go camping but with burned hands Wufei was afraid he'd spoil everyone else's fun so he was in a bad mood and not getting any better as the morning went on.

First, he'd had to have help to relieve himself, now Zechs was washing him, which he also objected to.

"Will you please hold still?" Zechs soaped up the wash cloth and started to wash Wufei's face.

He scrunched it up and muttered, "I'll wait until I can do it myself. You don't need to do that."

Zechs swatted Wufei on the shoulder. "You really want to go another day dirty. Don't think so. You took care of me now I'm returning the favor, whether you like it or not. Now hold still or I'll sit on you."

Wufei gave Zechs a fulminating look but subsided and allowed him to wash whatever needed it. Only muttering, "I'd like to sit on something." Zechs gave him a totally and carefully blank look. Wufei turned scarlet and quit complaining.

After Zechs finished washing Wufei and helping him dress in simple jeans and a red t-shirt, he took a careful look at his hands.

"I think you could go camping if you want to. All you have to do is leave the pseudo skin on for the rest of the morning. Then wear a pair of protective gloves. Biking mitts should do the trick. Like the one's Maxwell wears sometimes."

Wufei sighed then nodded. "I'll ask him for a pair at breakfast . . . um . . . excuse my bad temper. Please. I'm not usually rude. I apologize."

Zechs just nodded and motioned for Wufei to go ahead of him. They headed down to breakfast with Wufei oblivious to the reason Zechs allowed him to go first. Zechs just enjoyed the view.

~ * ~

Finally, here they were, sitting down to breakfast. Breakfast at a Winner home was interesting to say the least. Especially with the Gundam pilots in residence.

"Hey, don't Bogart that bacon. I want some." Duo reached over and snatched the plate from Heero, who had dumped half the said bacon onto his plate.

"Well, there's plenty more where that came from. I'm hungry. The food at that place is way too chi-chi for me. Croissants and cocoa. Pass the eggs."

Zechs snorted.

"What?"

"You can order anything you want, you know."

Heero rolled his eyes in disgust. "Yeah, and they not so politely tell me that it's not good for me. Jesus, I'm seventeen. I got a heart like a race horse and, due to J fucking with every millimeter of me, I won't get clogged arteries. Pass the rolls."

Zechs turned to Wufei who was attempting to pick up a fork and failing.

"I'm not sure exactly what you're saying, my Mandarin is bad. Let me help you." Zechs reached over and picked up Wufei's fork. "And don't give me that stubborn look. How are you going to eat if you can't even bend your fingers? Open your mouth, stubborn one."

Wufei started to say something but Zechs just poked the fork between his open lips before he could do more than start. No one at the table said anything, not even Duo. They all knew when to tease and when to let things be. This was definitely time to let things be.

Wufei chewed vigorously and started to say something, then changed his mind and just opened his mouth for the next forkfull of eggs. Zechs fed him his breakfast between his own bites of food. He even made sure to allow him time to talk with the others.

Quatre watched with some amusement as Duo nearly hung off Heero. He was happy because his friends were happy. Everyone was eating and drinking, Trowa was there and he had taken care of all his business so he could take the weekend off.

"Excuse me. Everyone. Attention." The laughing and talking continued. Quatre's soft voiced request was unheard. "HEY! SHUT UP!" Everyone just turned in his direction. "Thank you. Now, as I was saying. I got permission for Zechs and Heero to extend their furlough another day. So we can go camping. Isn't that great?" Duo moaned. "Duo, you know you wanted Heero to see where we were. But we're not going to have time to hike in. So. . . . I've made arrangements to chopper in. We'll make a controlled drop over the camp site and hike out."

Heero brightened, one of the things he missed most was being able to hike and camp. Colony born though he was, he still loved nature. Duo groaned, more camping. Everyone else just braced themselves for Duo's complaining.

Zechs had stiffened when camping was mentioned but he saw that everyone else wanted to go so he didn't express his own opinion of camping, which was very like Duo's. But Wufei sighed with happiness.

"I'd like that. My hands will be good enough by noon and I know we can't get to the drop zone any sooner than that. Duo, will you loan me a pair of your biking gloves?"

Duo sighed dramatically. "Sure. Haul my butt out to the back of beyond and borrow gloves too." but he smiled in a way that let Wufei know that he was welcome to the gloves or anything else he needed. "I'll go get them now. See ya at the car in a few."

Duo headed up the stairs with Heero just behind him. When he got into his room Heero trapped him against the door and spent a few moments kissing him. He kissed back with happy abandon.

"We can't." Duo pushed Heero away. "We broke the bed all night. Come on, I got to get those gloves for Chang and then we get to go camping . . . oh, joy. Be still my heart." Duo made distasteful face. "I hate camping. Really, really. Ugh."

Heero sighed. He knew Duo didn't like it. But he never knew why. "Maybe you'll learn to like it if you try it again."

"Gah. I'll tell you all about the Rockies sometime. A- ha!" Duo pounced on his extra pair of gloves holding them up in triumph. He tucked them into a pocket of his BDU's and, dragging Heero behind him, headed for the waiting car.

The car trip was accomplished with a minimum of fuss. The driver only had to pull over once, and that was to let them all out when a smoke bomb in Duo's vest went off because Trowa triggered it wrestling with him. It didn't take long for it to clear with all the doors open, but the driver insisted on taking Duo's vest until they reached their destination. He was the only one who wasn't laughing. Even Zechs had to laugh, after all how many times could you say you'd been driven out of a limo by a pink smokebomb.

When they reached the airport Zechs realized that the chopper belonged to Quatre, not WEI, Quatre himself. And he was going to pilot it until the drop.

"Are you sure this is ok?" Zechs touched Trowa on the shoulder.

Trowa turned slightly showing Zechs one amused green eye. "Yes. It's ok. He's passed the aviation test. We all did. We're certified to pilot anything. Quatre paid a fortune to get us licences. But we're all legal. The age restrictions are very loose. Mostly you have to be tall enough to reach the controls."

Zechs blinked for a moment then remembered his own training. He'd always thought he had been slipped under the radar somehow. Now he realized that all he'd had to do was be tall. He snickered softly at his own innocence. Trowa smiled back taking his amusement at himself as amusement at the system.

"We get away with quite a lot. They aren't keeping much of an eye on us. We're inconvenient. We keep a low profile, so out of sight, out of mind. Come on. Quatre is getting impatient."

They boarded the plane and settled into seats for the flight to the drop zone. It didn't take long to arrive. During the flight Trowa carefully pealed the pseudo skin off Wufei's hands and checked them over. They were half way healed but still very tender. Trowa sprayed them with a lighter coat of the spray on skin.

"Well, I don't want to say that they are healed ‘cause they aren't. If it was combat, I'd say suck it up. But this is vacation. So . . . use the gloves and be really careful. That healing skin will peal like a peach at the slightest stress."

Zechs looked at Wufei then made a decision. He looked around and found a buddy harness, used when inexperienced or wounded people had to make a drop. "I'll buddy you." Wufei opened his mouth with a scowl. "And don't argue with me. I'm bigger than you are. And if you want to do this, it's this or drop with Heero."

Wufei made a face then gave Heero a pleading look. Heero just raised an eyebrow and poked Duo. Duo shook his head firmly. "Nope. Not my boyfriend. Wuffers, I love you like a brother but not that much. Go with Sexy."

Zechs sighed and started putting on the harness. Much to his surprise Wufei didn't protest anymore. He didn't see the stern look that Quatre gave Wufei. Wufei stuck out his lower lip a little, but kept his peace. He'd been on the wrong end of Quatre's sharp tongue before and wasn't about to spoil whatever plans the wiley young CEO had in mind.

~ * ~ 000

The drop was accomplished with a minimum of fuss. Wufei donned the gloves and buddy harness and allowed Zechs to carry him down. Heero, Duo, Quatre, and Trowa carried the equipment and supplies. The slide down the drop cable was easy, the pilot who took Quatre's place was experienced and well aware that this was not just some rich kid with a yen for adventure.

Quatre smiled happily. He loved camping out and wasn't about to let Duo's grumpiness spoil his fun. He knew Duo didn't like camping, something about the Rocky Mountains and getting stuck there. But surely, if he saw that this was going to be fun, he'd cheer up. Not like last time when he'd been missing Heero so much and they'd gotten burned out. This time would be better and they would get Duo over his dislike of camping out.

As they set up camp, Zechs felt privileged to see the Gundam pilots in full ‘cooperation' mode. They moved around the camp pitching tents, setting up the fire pit, and securing supplies, with very few words exchanged. They all seemed to know what was needed, all he did was gather wood and stay out of the way.

Duo managed to conceal most of his unhappiness until they got the camp set up. After they were done working, they all gathered at the fire pit to warm themselves by the fire that Zechs had set. He'd also put on a pot of water and it was hot and ready to make tea.

They settled down to drink the tea and Quatre pinned Duo with a sharp look and demanded ‘the story' on why he hated camping so much.

– o 0 o – flashback – o 0 o –

Duo crouched in the brush and thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't using Deathscythe, the gundam would have given him away instantly. Oz was on his tail like fur as it was. He scooted around to try to find a way out of the dead end that had enough cover for him.

There was one but it was a quick scamper over open ground before he could get to the next cover. He waited until the searchlight turned away and scampered. Right into a clump of something thorny. Everything in this area had stickers or thorns or sticky sap.

He bit his lip to stifle his moan of pain as a long thorn stabbed right through the palm of his left hand. *Fuck, I hate nature.*

He scrambled, crawled and hid for over six hours, finally finding a cave to hole up in. A cold, damp cave.

He fell asleep, weary and cold to the bone. He woke up with a bed mate that wasn't Heero.

His quick reflexes kept him from being bitten, but not from the splash of venom from a broken fang. It burned and he used some of his precious drinking water to wash it off. Hoping against hope that it didn't do anything to the open wound it got into.

He ate the snake for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Raw.

"God I hate snake, it does NOT taste like chicken. More like fish. I wish I had some soy sauce, or B-B-Que sauce. Even some salt would be good."

He dragged his weary body out of the cave and headed in the general direction of Aurora, where he had a contact. But he knew it was going to be several miserable days before he got there. It was almost on the other side of the state from where he was.

He hiked all night and holed up during the day. His hand hurt more and more and the scrape on his neck was throbbing as well. He was thirsty, hungry, cold and tired when he found the small cabin. It looked abandoned but he was careful anyway. He crawled to a window and peeked in. No one was there and it was dusty. The table, counter and the one chair he could see were all covered with a thin layer of dust. He decided it must be a hunting hut, only used during the hunting season and deserted the rest of the year.

The lock on the door was ridiculously easy to pick.

There was a small battery operated radio, which he immediately switched on. While he listened to local news and weather he rummaged the cabinets finding some canned soup and some dried fruit. A few crackers and he had a meal. Then he stumbled onto a treasure trove. A decent backpack and a full case of survival rations. Fifth generation MRE's neatly labeled "MRE-G5" and the type of meal it was. He stuffed them into the backpack as well as the sleeping bag he found draped over the dusty couch. Further exploration revealed a sweater two sizes too big and several pairs of socks. He shoved them all into the backpack and dumped it by the door.

He settled down for another bowl of soup even though he was nearly full. His early life had proven to him that food should be eaten before someone stronger took it away. In this case he was eating it all now so that; one, it wouldn't spoil due to lack of refrigeration and two, one can of soup was barely adequate to a teen age boy. He'd be hungry again soon.

He crawled into the bed and fell asleep, sleeping through the day and into the night. He decided to stay another day. The news reports hadn't been very reassuring. Lady Une herself was in charge of the search and she was releasing hourly reports on how viscous and insane he was. *Bitch. I'm no where near as nuts as you are. Psycho broad.* He did realize that his habit of talking to himself was not a sign of sanity.

As he woke up, he realized that his entire face and one side of his neck itched horribly. He looked in the mirror and groaned, he now had some sort of systematic poisoning. He felt ill enough as it was. His hand was infected, the scrape where the venom had dripped was swollen and oozing serum. Now he itched. *I hate the Rockys. I hate camping, hiking and everything attached to it. I'm gonna go back to space and never set foot on dirt again. Pleaseplease.*

Duo left the last of his money in a tin on the table with a note thanking the owner for putting him up and apologizing for taking his stuff without permission.

He hiked another two days as he hiked his pack lightened. He was drinking the water at a faster rate than he liked but his fever, while low-grade, wasn't breaking. The infection in his hand was getting worst and the scrape on his neck was now an open oozing wound. And he still itched incessantly. He'd dug at his face and neck until the skin was raw and bloody.

Duo finally got to the house of his contact. It was old, small and out in the middle of nowhere. In fact, the only way to get to it was over a gravel road. He scratched at the back door and finally gave up. If his contact wasn't there, or was compromised, he was finished. He just managed to wait for the door to open before he collapsed.

The waiting couple were shocked at his condition. He was covered in poison ivy and oak, his hand was badly infected, his boots in shreds which had blistered his feet. He had a bad cold and the venom which had entered his system through the scrape had weakened his immune system. It took him three weeks to get well enough to return to Deathscythe and the war.

– o 0 o – end flashback – o 0 o –

So you see. I hate the wilderness with a passion. My idea of a real good time is a nice hotel room and a casino nearby. Swimming and video games, movies and night clubs. Gah. And if I never see another snake, it'll be too soon."

Quatre looked stricken. "Oh. Duo if I'd know it was that bad, I'd never have brought you camping in the first place." He leaned against Trowa and sighed, Trowa just hugged him.

Duo grinned. "It's ok man. It's not like you dragged me or anything, just . . . next time, I get to pick. Ok?"

Heero, who had been holding Duo through the entire narration, just held him closer and thanked whatever power there was that Duo had managed to survive.

Zechs blinked. "You were the one she was searching for? Well, you'll be glad to know that she was in a real temper by the time she got done with that particular search. Treize had a hell of a time calming her down. She completely destroyed her quarters . . . smashed everything. Even the bed."

Wufei snorted. "Stupid onna. She shouldn't have even tried. Messing with Shinigami isn't wise. I found that out the hard way."

"Do tell."

Duo snickered.

Wufei made a disgusted face. "Not a chance"

Zechs let it drop for the time being. But he resolved to find out about it.

"Let me take a good look at your hands before it gets too dark to see."

Wufei scooted over so that Zechs could pull the gloves off and examine his hands. They were looking good, the skin had healed over quite a bit. The gloves had protected the tender new skin and a quick spray of pseudo skin would make the gloves unnecessary.

Zechs put the spray away in the med. kit and turned to see Duo standing, or rather leaning against a tree watching him. He pulled his sunglasses down to the end of his nose, leaving Zechs with a clear look at his eyes.

"I got a few words to say to you. I know you fancy Chang. That's good. He needs someone, and I think you're the one. But you hurt him in anyway . . . and I guarantee you won't like the results. And Heero's mine, just so you know. So . . ." Duo pushed his glasses up his nose and clapped his hands. "What's for supper? I'm starved, all this fresh air and whatnot."

Zechs decided that he didn't even want to try to explain that he would never hurt Chang. Pissing off Duo wasn't a good thing, the look in those beautiful eyes had promised pain beyond belief. He shivered.

~ * ~ 000

The later part of the after noon was spent in random silliness; like playing hacky sack until Duo out shone them all with a double heel-toe-heel, head, behind-the-back combination that made all the rest of them just throw up their hands and drop laughing to the ground. Frisbee was next and Zechs, being at least five inches taller that the next tallest pilot, swept the field, not missing a single catch.

Fishing was a bust, as the only ones interested were Quatre and Wufei. The rest made so much noise making fun of them that they scared any fish into the next county.

Finally it was dark enough that they had to quit. They gathered around the fire for supper and more stories. But it had been a long day and they were all tired. Zechs took one last look at Wufei's hands, pronounced them healed, and yawned.

"Well, I'm tired. Who's sleeping with who." Then he blinked, blushed and started laughing. "Never mind. I know, Quatre, Trowa; and Duo, Heero. But that leaves us one tent short. Unless I'm in with Wufei."

Duo snickered. "Yup. We buddy up. Don't think any of us have slept alone, except Heero, since the war started. Wuffers, he's been sleeping with me. Helps keep the dreams away."

Wufei just sighed. "Duo. . . never mind."

Zechs shook his head and crawled into the tent. After they got settled he hesitantly asked Wufei, "Do you think if I talked to him he'd quit mangling your name?"

"No. . . . that wasn't what I was getting ready to say. I gave up on him after only a few weeks. It's a sign of affection. He calls me Wuffers, Quatre is Q-ball, Heero is Hee-man and Trowa, Mr. T. They're all obscure references to ancient television programs or games. It grows on you after a while. I'm afraid he'll start calling you Sexy. You'll either get used to it or ignore him until he gets even more outrageous, then you long for the time he called you Sexy. Unless you have a name you'd rather have him call you. Then you need to get the rest of us calling you that before something more obnoxious sticks."

Wufei yawned mumbled something vaguely resembling ‘Good night' and curled up in his sleeping bag.

Zechs wondered for a moment if he'd get punched if he cuddled, decided he would and went to sleep himself.

~ * ~

Wufei woke to a soft moan. "Duo? Duo. It's . . . Zechs. . . ." Wufei had already reached for his tent mate before he remembered that it wasn't Duo. He carefully crouched by Zechs' feet. He patted him on the calf and getting no reaction but another soft sound of distress he crawled up to his torso and patted him on the shoulder. Zechs reacted by rolling onto his side facing Wufei. So Wufei cuddled up to his chest and started talking softly and rubbing his back in gentle sweeping circles.

"It's ok. I'm here. Wake up. No one is going to hurt you. I won't let them. Wake up now. Zechs . . . wake up. . . . It's me . . . Chang Wufei."

Zechs started and opened bleary ice blue eyes. "Uuuummm.. . . sorry. . . . wha' . . . . I . . . " He knuckled his eyes and then rubbed his face. "I'm awake. I . . . sorry. . . I don't have dreams very often. Good thing you caught me when you did. I'm a screamer. I'd have awakened the whole camp."

A cheerful voice from outside the tent announced. "Too late. We're up. You want coffee or tea. Dawn's only about an hour away, so we might as well all just get up."

"Dammit! I'm sorry, guys." Zechs groaned and flopped back in his sleeping bag. He pulled the bag over his face and sighed.

Wufei pulled it off and tossed his clothes onto his face. "Up. You don't want Maxwell coming in to see if he can fix things. It usually involves cold water. Or feet. Come on."

When he got out of the sleeping bag and into his clothes, he opened the zip fly and looked around. The sky was grey, but beginning to show pink in the east, just barely. All the others were gathered around the fire waiting for the kettle to boil. Duo with a hopeful look, the others with various rather grumpy expressions. Except for Heero, who was wearing his usual morning expression. Blank.

Zechs apologized again for waking up everyone.

"Hey! No prob. You should hear me. I scream the roof off and swear like a sailor. Q-ball just swears and you'd better not get too close. Throw stuff. Mr T, he . . . .mmmmrrrfff."

Trowa firmly put his hand over Duo's mouth. A thing that Zechs was going to have words with them about.

"Duo, he's not interested in the quality and quantity of our nightmares at this time. Although I will warn you that approaching any of us carelessly will get you seriously hurt. Be especially careful of Duo and Wufei. They have knives. Heero will just break your jaw."

Zechs sighed and took the cup of tea he was offered like the lifeline it was. He sipped the overly sweet beverage without complaint and found that it helped a great deal. Just the fact that he hadn't had to make it himself was a comfort.

They started policing camp and Quatre carefully approached Zechs. Gently he asked, "Would you like to talk about it? If you don't, I certainly understand but sometimes it helps. You know?"

Zechs sighed "I've been having the same dream for years. I'm running . . . you know the rest. I just wonder sometimes what would happen if I ever get caught."

Quatre patted him on the shoulder. "I don't know. I'm always too scared to turn around . . . Would you like me to help you with your hair. It's . . . a little messy."

A laughing voice called from across the clearing. "You mean . . . It looks like an owl's nest. I'll come fix it in a minute. As soon as I'm done with Duo's."

Duo snickered. "Hey. After we get off probation maybe you could set yourself up as a hair dresser. Specializing in long hair. Call yourself Mes sure ‘Eeero." Duo's fake, and very bad, French accent made everyone groan.

Heero bopped him on the head and then stood up. He stuck one arm out, hand dangling limply, and pranced a few steps. "Oui. ‘ow you zay. Le Coupe du grace. Ze . . . mal du tete."

Trowa groaned and then started laughing. Everyone laughed so hard they had tears in their eyes. Zechs laughed so hard he got hiccoughs and had to hold his breath. Heero and Duo leaned on each other and Quatre kept mumbling ‘Coupe du grace. Ooh dear.'

When they finally managed to quite giggling, Heero walked over, still wiping his eyes, and sat down behind Zechs.

"Dammit. Duo toss me the brush, will you?"

Duo just pegged it in the general direction of Zechs and Heero. Heero picked the missile out of the air before it could hit him in the face.

Heero deftly brushed out the tangles and divided the silken strands into three parts. He braided quickly and snapped a band around the end. Zechs felt a gentle tug and turned to see Duo stroking the end of his braid.

"Nice. I always wanted to see what it felt like. Didn't really notice before. Way too embarrassed. Want to feel mine." Duo offered the end of his braid, which Zechs took gravely.

He carded his fingers through the end carefully. "Hhumm. Soft. What kind of conditioner do you use? I don't like what I'm using right now. Leaves some residue. Sticky."

"Some stuff one of Q's people makes for me. Maybe he'll get her to make something for you. I had to give her a hair that had to be pulled out. Ouch. But it's really good stuff. Come on. We're going up to the place where we watched stars last time. We should be able to see where the fire was. It hasn't been that long."

They shouldered packs and set out.

The climb wasn't that hard and it didn't take them long to get there. They even made it in time to see the last of the sunrise. As they waited for it to be light enough to see into the valley, Heero told them more about his run from the fire.

He finished with a mock pout and a grumbled. "And you just flew away from it. Sucks."

Quatre looked stricken. "If we'd known where you were, we'd have come for you."

Heero put his arm around Quatre's shoulders. "I know that. Don't be silly. Here, dig out that map and let's see where we were in relation to each other."

So they dug out the map and Zechs was not surprised to find that they all remembered the coordinates they'd been at when the fire started.

"Hey, Heero. Give me those numbers again, just to make sure." Heero rattled them off again. "Well. We were here." Duo pointed. "They picked us up right there." Duo shifted his finger by a few millimeters. "But that means that you were. . . " Duo pointed again, this time down the valley. "right there."

They could just see the campground. The fire hadn't killed the trees, just stripped them of all their leaves. So they got a really good view.

"Fuck. We weren't more than a . . . " Duo measured on the map. "mile apart. Damn."

"Did you hear the wolves?"

Duo blinked and Trowa sniggered. "What wolves?"

"I heard wolves howling from this direction. I howled back. I . . . they . . . made me feel sad."

Duo hugged Heero from one side and Quatre hugged him from the other. Wufei smiled at Heero. "That wasn't wolves. That was us. We heard you and thought you were a wolf replying to us."

Trowa suddenly threw back his head and howled. Quatre joined in a slightly higher range. Duo matched Quatre. Then Wufei howled in a surprisingly deep range, with Heero matching him. Zechs joined in the mournful sound on a basso profundo note that completed the chord. They howled until they ran out of breath, then just stilled and sat together in companionable silence for a long moment.

They were brought out of the peaceful silence by the startling winking of sunlight off some reflective surface. They all instinctively scrambled for cover. It was the sun off a lense.

"What the fuck? Who . . . careful." Zechs automatically pushed Wufei down when he tried to raise his head for a look. "Give me a second, then stick your head up. I'll . . . " Zechs gave up as everyone was looking at Quatre for orders.

"Do what Zechs said. Wait a moment then someone. . . you, Duo . . stick your head up, then Zechs will too. We'll compare notes, then do it again until we're sure we've got it. Then we'll decide what to do."

So Duo stuck his head up and then Zechs did. After they compared notes, Quatre and Trowa did the same.

"Well, I don't think it's anything to be worried about. If I'm right, it's just someone trying to figure out where the howling is coming from. There haven't been wolves around here in years." Quatre just stood up and took out his binoculars, he scanned the area where the flashes had come from.

All he saw was a group of people looking back at him with their own scopes and binoculars. He waved, they waved back. Zechs watched in amusement as the people below tried to signal them. One man solemnly tried the old-fashioned flag code. Duo nearly collapsed in laughter.

"Damn. That guy can't even spell. Or else he's got some of the letters confused. What the hell is he trying to say. Something. W. . . o . . . l . . .I guess he's got v and b confused. And d. . . a. . . n . . . .oh hey, there's a ranger."

The ranger stopped the man from confusing things any farther. He took out a pair of hand flags and tried again. This time Duo nodded.

"Yeah. Did. . . you. . . hear. . . wolves. Query. Shall I answer him or just wave my hands around like we don't know what's going on?"

Quatre thought for a second. "We didn't do anything wrong. Answer him."

Duo took the bandana Heero handed him and the large white linen square from Zechs. He stood up and started signaling quickly spelling out the message.

"It was us. We were just having some fun. Sorry to scare anyone. End message."

The ranger signaled back. "Ok. Didn't think wolves could be here. No harm. End message."

They each made the signs for ‘end of communication' and the ranger turned to the group to explain. Duo turned to the others with a grin, then his face fell.

"I can't believe we were that close to each other. So close. We could have seen each other. I. . . well. Water . . . dam. Come on. If we're going to hike out, we better get on the stick."

They shouldered packs and started for the trail head, which was about eight miles away. The trails were really good so they took it easy, for them. Zechs was surprised that they could keep up with his long legs. But even Duo was keeping up a steady and fast pace. In fact, Duo was ahead of all the rest, as if he couldn't wait to get out of the woods.

Zechs finally caught up with him and started to say something when he realized that Duo was muttering to himself. "Don't worry. There's nothing here that'll jump out at you. No creepy-crawlies. It's ok."

He fell back to speak to Heero. "You need to catch up with Duo and stay near him. He really doesn't want to be here. He'll run himself into the ground. He's got the whim-whams. Bad."

Heero just nodded and caught up to Duo. He took Duo's hand and held him back. Duo flashed him a sheepish grin and slowed down to something less than a dead run. He really hated hiking and camping. More than he wanted anyone to know.

Quatre sighed, he gave up on the dream of companionable camping trips without a qualm. He'd be satisfied with trips with Trowa. Then he brightened, camping, with Trowa, alone.

Wufei walked by Zechs and spent some of their time pointing out plants that he knew were medicinal; or good for tea, or perfume. Zechs smiled, the Chinese boy was so intense and serious.

"Do you ever really let go?"

Wufei turned from the contemplation of Irish moss to smile at Zechs. "You know I do. You've seen me. It's just that I was trained from an early age to be a credit to my clan. Very serious business. Being a credit. But. . . my secret amusement . . . if you really want to know?"

"Please enlighten me."

"Arguing with Duo. He's got quite a sharp wit. And he's not nearly as silly as he seems. He just refuses to take things as seriously as he should. I think sometimes, that his early life was so harsh that he can't quite grasp how seriously we take things. Politics really just make him laugh. But . . . threaten his friends and you've got a whole other man on your hands."

"Hey guys. What's the frowning for? It's a nice day, we're on our way back to civilization, no one's hungry, thirsty or shot. So lighten up. Come on."

Duo grabbed Wufei by the hand and hauled him along the trail for a few steps. Then went back for Zechs. Zechs just grinned.

"Ok, you don't like hiking. Here you go." Zechs swept Duo up and tossed him over his shoulder pack and all, right on top of his own pack. He took off at a dead run for several yards with Duo whooping and howling. The other pilots kept up until Duo managed to wriggle off Zechs' shoulder. He hit the ground running and turned back to make faces at them and egg them to even greater speed.

They ran until they were all stitching, then they just stopped where they were and flopped down to lay panting and gasping by the side of the trail. Quatre opened his pack and dug out a water bottle.

"Everyone. Drink. We've all got trail mix. Have some. I get the feeling that we aren't going to have a good lunch like I planned. Duo wants to get out of the woods and, after his story, I think we should humor him. We've imposed on his good nature long enough. Duo, I'm really sorry. If you'd have told us sooner, I wouldn't have been trying to cure you of your dislike. I think you have a really good reason to hate hiking and camping. I wouldn't like it either."

"Yeah, and that bitch Une is a real bulldog. She's supposed to be on medication, but what if she forgets to take it or something. Anyway. She hunted me through about four counties. I'm just glad she didn't get her hands on me but the once."

Zechs sighed. He frankly liked Une. But he realized that the pilots, especially Duo, had reason not to. He just kept his mouth shut.

The result of the clowning around was that, after they checked on the map, they realized that they were only about two miles from the pickup point. Which was a small mom and pop quick stop on the highway. It was a meeting place for a lot of hiking groups. Easy access to the park and the highway and easy to find.

Duo poked around in his pack. "Here. Heero, I've only got a few things in here. Just this. And my sleeping bag. Why don't you give me that tent and your pack? Stuff this in your fanny and we can consolidate two . . . or even three, packs into one." He rummaged some more and jammed things in tighter. Quatre was doing the same thing with his pack and Trowa's and Wufei's. Zechs checked in his pack and realized that he really wasn't carrying much of anything either.

After a little jamming and rearranging they managed to stuff everything into two packs and their fanny packs. That meant that two of them would be carrying a regular load and the others would be relatively unencumbered. Zechs managed to make sure that he was carrying the larger of the loads. He took two of the tents and most of the pegs and four of the sleeping bags. The other pack got the two remaining sleeping bags and the other tent.

Trowa smiled and didn't say anything, he just made sure he took the smaller pack. That left Duo and Heero packless and fancy free. He hoped they would take advantage of it. They did.

~ * ~ 000

Duo hauled Heero into the brush.

"Damn Heero, make sure there's no poison ivy or something. And no creepy-crawlies. I will not get bitten on the butt by some nasty bug."

Heero smirked and checked carefully for anything offensive. He didn't want Duo to get bitten or anything either.

Duo pushed Heero against a tree and gave him a seriously evil grin. He clasped Heero's hands in his and pushed them up against the tree over his head. "Stay" Heero just rolled his eyes and made a tiny whimpering sound. He knew what was coming and he'd missed it. Their one night together was too long ago.

Duo dropped to his knees and quickly had Heero's pants around his knees. He just hoped they were far enough away from the trail. He didn't want to traumatize some innocent young kid. Or the parents either.

Heero moaned softly as Duo took his already hardened length between his lips. Duo sucked gently then licked. Heero nearly lost his mind righ there. Duo was good. Very good. And Heero knew it. Right down to his toes. Duo took his time and made it last, until Heero finally whimpered. "God, Duo. Let me come, please. I'm losing my mind here." With one final hard suck Duo brought Heero to release pumping him easily until he was finished.

Then it was his turn. Heero offered him a handkerchief. The same one he'd used to signal with. He stuffed it into his mouth effectively gagging himself.

Heero had rearranged his clothing while Duo was busy. Now he knelt at Duo's feet and freed him from the confines of jeans and shorts. Duo moaned like he was being killed slowly. Heero smirked up at him and applied himself to his mission. Which was to drive Duo out of his mind.

He gently sucked at Duo's glans, then licked it. He crooked two fingers around Duo's shaft and stroked while he alternately sucked and licked. Duo whimpered and squirmed. Heero slid his other hand into the crease of Duo's thighs and stroked his perineum. Duo howled into the self-imposed gag. A few more quick strokes and a hard continuous suck and Duo came, jerking convulsively.

"Fuck."

"Later."

~ * ~

They returned from the woods looking mussed and saited. Duo grinned at Trowa and muttered, "Thanks, Mr. T."

"Welcome."

Zechs pretended he didn't know what had happened, but he had to ease his uncomfortably tight jeans. And keep his eyes off Chang.

Wufei just secretly eyed the bulge in a certain someone's pants and wondered.

The rest of the hike was accomplished with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of horsing around and foolishness. Zechs felt old, until he was tripped by Heero and tickled into gasping breathlessness by the band of laughing boys. He found that Heero had very strong hands and Quatre was ruthless in exploiting the littlest opening.

"Help! I give. I give. Quit . . . you heathens will get yours." Zechs wriggled out of their grasp, dumped his pack, and took off running.

Quatre quickly organized pursuit. "Here Trowa, cache the packs. I'll send someone back for them. Come on. Heero, cut east, Duo, you and Wufei just trail him. I'll cut over west and we'll circle him. Cut him off and we'll get him at the next bend. Go . . . go."

They all took off after Zechs. And they did catch him, right where Quatre said they would. He eyed the laughing faces and grinned back. He extended his wrists crossed as if for binding. "Ok, you got me. Now what."

"You have to pay a forfeit."

"What do you want?"

Wufei touched his wrists. "I claim him." Zechs raised an eye brow and started to say something cutting, but Heero caught his eye and shook his head. Zechs decided to wait and see what was up.

"All right, I'm claimed. Again, now what?"

"You have to do what I say for the rest of the day. Don't worry. I won't make you wash my gundam. Duo did that once, and it was a real mess. Water got into the hydraulics and he spent the next three days bleeding them." Wufei grimaced humorously. "Serves him right."

They got back on the trail and continued in the direction of the pick up. Wufei took off his fanny pack and gave it to Zechs to carry. Zechs realized something was up, but Wufei didn't seem too concerned, so he decided not to worry either.

They got to the mini-mart about twenty minutes later and entered to find a cheerful older lady behind the register. She greeted them with a smile and pointed out a sale on sodas.

The store was simple. A register by the door, with displays behind it. A door into a back area in the corner, with ‘restrooms' painted on it. The coolers were lined up around the back and far side and the shelves in the middle were carefully stocked with a variety of necessities and a mind-boggling array of snacks; sweet, sour or salty.

The coffee pots were at the end of the counter, close to the register. Obviously for the lady's convenience; as they were old-fashioned restaurant style, with glass pots which needed tending to keep them from boiling dry and breaking.

Duo went into the back to the men's room. Heero wandered down one of the isles, looking at the snacks. Quatre and Trowa went for the sodas. And Zechs, longing for beer, followed them. Wufei trailed along, idly examining the drinks, looking for fruit juice. Not that he didn't like soda, but as he pointed out to Zechs. "We've sweated out a lot of micro nutrients in the last few hours and soda doesn't replace any of them."

"But I like soda. And I don't like apple juice. So don't even go there." Quatre held up a hand, palm out, refusing the juice firmly. Trowa handed him a bottle of fruit flavored sports drink.

"Here, take this instead. It's not soda, but it is better for you than that crap." He nodded to the soda Quatre was holding.

Quatre narrowed his eyes at Trowa. "I'm tired of healthy. I want bad for me. I want soda and chips and greasy burgers. I want beer and bratwurst. I want all the things we couldn't have when we were fighting and all the things I have to sneak because I'm Quatre Raberba Winner and ‘we' don't eat that sort of thing." Quatre rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, Trowa. I'm sorry. I'm just tired of being a pampered prince. I had it better in some ways when we were running for our lives."

Zechs eyed Quatre for a moment, then gave him a gentle poke. "Listen to me. If you want that sort of thing, you order it and expect it to show up. No ‘please'; no ‘if you don't mind'. You just flat out get nasty if you have to. And I guarantee you'll only have to do it once."

Quatre sighed. "I just hate to upset any one. I . . . "

Zechs bared his teeth. "So you let yourself be managed into misery. Don't do it. You'll have hard enough a life keeping WEI on track, without doing without treats and such. And don't forget that you deserve privacy and a vacation once in a while."

Quatre looked sad for a moment. "Trowa is always telling me the same thing. But since my father died, my sisters have been fighting over the company and have nearly run it into the ground. I'm going to have to spend the next few years straightening up their mess. Then there's the colony I destroyed. I have to do something about that. Thank Allah that as many people got off as did. More than three quarters of the population were in escape pods. Most of the people who died were either soldiers or support personnel. The rest were either very sick or just stubborn. I'm guilty of so many . . . great . . . "

Zechs put a finger against his lips. "We both have a great deal to atone for. But hurting yourself, or making yourself sick, won't change the past. Find what happiness you can and move on. Do what you must, but don't punish yourself with little sacrifices. They won't help."

Quatre blinked tears back and smiled a little tremulously. "Ok. I think you have made a good point. I can't do a good job if I'm distracted and unhappy. The people I'm trying to help deserve my best. So . . . Trowa give me that damn soda."

Trowa gave Zechs a speaking look and handed over the requested soda.

"Sorry. I shouldn't. . . "

"Never say you're sorry for telling the truth. I've been trying to get him to see exactly what you told him for months. But . . . forrest and trees, I guess. Sometimes I'm too soft on him. I just love him so much. I don't want to see him unhappy. Thank you. I think maybe you got through to him where I couldn't. I don't tend to express myself very well sometimes."

"You don't want him upset with you, so you pull your punches. It doesn't make any difference if he's pissed at me. So I just slapped him in the face with it. Sometimes that's what it takes. Go get him a bottle of water. He'll be wanting it later."

Trowa just nodded and went to get the water. Zechs looked for Heero and found him looking over at him, he gave a nod of approval and turned away.

A sudden yelp from Duo made them all flinch. Heero poked him in the ribs, making him yelp again.

"Ok boys. I don't know what's going on, but no rough housing in the store." The motherly lady smiled to take the sting out of her words.

Duo popped his head over the top of the display he was standing behind. "Kettle chips. Love'em. Can't find them in town. Wonder why not."

"You're on the wrong side of the Divide. Townies. Flatlanders. Whatever. Don't buy enough of them to make it worthwhile to haul them all that way. You like ‘em? I'll give you twofer. They're almost out dated."

Duo grinned at her in delight. ‘Thanks. Hey! What's your name? Mine's Duo."

"Natalie. Pleased t' meecha." She stuck out her hand and shook with Duo. "Rest of you boys have names?"

They all introduced themselves and got firm hand shakes from Natalie.

"You boys get your stuff and get ready to check out. We close early on Friday, and Saturday. I've been robbed twice and don't intend to go through that again. And as for juice vs. soda. I vote for cranberry juice and ginger ale. Best of both. But you get to gettin'."

They all hurried to finish their shopping and check out. In order to hurry things along Zechs told her to just check it all out together and they'd sort it out later.

She checked out things and smiled at the assortment of goodies.

Wufei had chosen sports drinks and fruit. Quatre had his desired soda and a snack pack of celery and carrot sticks with dip. Trowa had fruit juice and chips. Heero, being Heero, had nuri bars and a smoothie. While Duo had a little of everything, an apple, ginger ale, chips, and a candy bar. Zechs had a bottle of beer and pretzels.

"Got ID?"

"Yes, I do." Zechs fished his wallet out of his fanny pack and handed her his ID.

"Zechs . . . Meer qwise. Odd name."

It's pronounced ‘Mar key.' Old money and all that." Zechs put his nose in the air in an exaggeratedly haughty manner.

Natalie grinned at him. "Better get that nose out of the air like that. You'll drown if it starts to rain."

He grinned back and started helping her sack up the mass of snacks.