Part I: Rogues

AN / Warnings: As the prologue says, AU... oh, yeah. I'm going on a slight hiatus while I move into college and get myself situated, so think of this as a peice of candy I'm leaving you guys while I've got to be away. I'm still writing this and everything else, and still reading the book that goes with this, though I can't watch the movie for a while >.<.... oh well, blame it on me myself and I.
Pairings: Slight hints of 1+2
Rating: PG - PG-13 for war violence though nothing worse than in the series.
Anyone else wants to archive it, lemme know, otherwise, just dArK

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    It didn’t take long for the three pilots to catch up with the rogue group of rebels. Once they did, there was already a battle being waged on one of the breaking and crumbling cement highways. The three of them watch for a moment and converse between themselves.

    Two young men, astride horses, were towards the northwest of the group, while a unit wearing black wool coats and maroon embroidery fire at the encroaching rebels.

    “Blasted rebels!” one shouts, receiving a shot in the temple by the blond-haired leader herself.

    “Gather around!” shouts the woman near the two young men and a group of guards circles them. As she is about to relay orders, the first four fall with bullet wounds in various critical areas.

    “What should we do?” Trowa whispers, eyes glued to the pair of young men not wearing the uniforms of the soldiers. Heero makes a motion with his hand about a flanking procedure. Trowa to the left and Wufei to the right, and they move.

    From the position he remains in, Heero takes down two of the rebel fighters without moving a leg muscle, and then he springs to his feet, riffle over his shoulder with a pistol and his long knife in his hands.

    One of the two boys, with long warm brown hair tied back in a braid, catches Heero’s eye as he downs his fourth rebel. Half of the remaining Rogues turn and advance on the solitary Pilot holding his own at the end of their ranks. Two yells interrupt the angry cries of the Rogues and gunfire erupts from the trees sending most of the Rogues turned on Heero to the ground, bleeding.

    The other two Pilots rush out of the trees and the three of them dispatch the small group left confronting him easily. Heero notices, from the corner of his eye as he stabs one man in the chest, that the group being attacked is not fairing well against the remaining group and the blond haired leader. He looks over at his blood brother Trowa, and the taller young man nods. The two of them work quickly, heading straight for the two young men on horses.

    “Fire!” the dark haired woman cries, pointing her own pistol directly at the longhaired leader of the rogues. She ducks, however, and points her own gun straight at the blond boy.

    Trowa hits the tallish woman with a flying tackle, and Heero continues towards the two targets, cursing them for remaining on their horses, just as the longhaired one slides off his mount nimbly, and yanks the other blond boy down.

    Heero looks up at the sky momentarily, blessing the brown haired young man’s thoughtfulness. He comes up right beside the front three and uses both knife and handgun, taking them down almost simultaneously.

    Another shot fired zips past the blond boy’s head and he clings to the other, who glares furiously and throws something from a pocket at that particular gunman. Heero watches from the corner of his eye as the man falls to the ground with a small knife between his eyes.

    He nods to himself about his original assessment of the longhaired boy before shooting a Rogue aiming at Wufei, who follows another one towards the dark haired woman, who is now out of bullets. She pulls her sword and aims it at Wufei, but the shorter boy shouts, “No Noin!”

    Heero reaches them and yanks the sword away by the blade. He glares at her, an angered and yet not overtly hostile gesture, and shoves it into the dirt and turns back to the dying fray.

    The longhaired boy nods with a smile.

    The last scream dies out, is choked away by blood, and the three Pilots return. They stand in front of the dark haired lady, who is trying to block the two boys, one huddling, but the longhaired young man gets the two of them to their feet while holding the other boy in his arms protectively.

    “What were you doing with the Rogue leader?” Heero asks the woman before him. She stares blankly. Heero begins to feel his patience slipping from his grasp.

    “Whom do you mean?” she speaks up finally. “I don’t understand you.”

    “The blond girl, she’s the leader of the Rogues, they hate Oz and the alliance equally. So what were you doing with her?” Heero stares accusingly at the dark haired woman.

    “She was to be our guide.” Wufei snorts and looks over the fallen soldiers. “We were headed to the Luxemburg base when you arrived.”

    Heero looks at the other two, and Wufei darkens at the thought. Being the impromptu leader of the day since he found the footprints, the Japanese pilot shrugs so imperceptibly that only the other two pilots see him.

    “Why would she want to kill the blond boy?” Trowa asks, intrigued.

    “I… Quatre Kushrenada? I can’t say…” she turns her head to look at the two young men, but sees Quatre is in no condition to reply, shuddering in his brother’s arms. She moves to question him herself.

    “We’ll take you as far as the base.” Heero nods to his comrades. Their next target was inside that base, possibly, and if these three could get them inside… the Japanese pilot would do anything necessary to get them there. “Move out,” he says to them, turning to follow his two friends. None of them move to follow the three of them. “If you’re going with us, we’re going now. We’re walking, those horses will only get us killed before we get to the next clearing.”

    Without further prompting, Duo relinquishes his brother to the soft speaking Major and moves after the angry-looking man, who seems only slightly older than himself. “My name is Duo.”

    Very tempted to snap ‘so?’ Heero grinds out his own name. “Heero,” he nearly snaps anyway. The boy, now known as ‘Duo,’ grins. “What are you smiling at?” he does snap.

    “Go buy a sense of humor,” Duo replies, grin faded, he moves back towards his brother, taking Quatre’s hand and gets him moving as well while Heero continues forward with a scowl set on his face.

***

    “Take this, as fast as you can, to the Andorra base in the south.”

    “But sir…”

    “Don’t you ‘but sir…’ me, soldier. Get it there.”

    “Yes, sir!” the young man left the room without a further thought.

    Treize simply doesn’t understand. This would be the third courier he sent to his comrade for aide. ‘Pray it reaches its destination.’ Under his feet he can almost sense the treachery of the lower ranking ex-Alliance men. ‘I should have rather faced head on attack than this slow gnawing off of my foundations.’

    “We cannot loose now!”

***

    It had taken a long time to convince his brother to unglue himself from his side, but the tallest of their saviors had facilitated Duo’s independence by helping him across or around obstacles as they continued, allowing Duo to faze himself out of the close contact by developing some small rapport of trust with the shorter general’s son. Glad to have his own pace back, Duo had begun following the other two young men ahead of him, Heero and Wufei. Noin had forced introductions on them all when they had paused to drink from a brook an hour earlier. Each of the Pilots had simply stated their first names and then that word… ‘Pilot’. It puzzled Duo that they all looked so different and yet acted so well as a unit, each relatively selecting one of the three in passage to the Luxemburg base and aiding them along the route.

    It hadn’t made much difference until Quatre had allowed Trowa to help him along in his stubborn silence, but now that he had… Duo easily catches up to the young man at the head of the group and walks just in his wake, avoiding the same branches and roots as the sure-footed young man, leaving Wufei to deal with the Major.

    For a long while Heero remains indifferent to Duo’s presence, making no special movements to help him along or out, almost hindering the young man’s progress by moving as though he is alone.

    ‘Why and what am I taking out on this guy? He hasn’t done anything but help my objectives, and… he’s surprisingly agile at this, even if he lacks some of the necessary brawn for the movements he is performing.’ Heero feels a hand on his shoulder.

    “If you want me to walk back with Quatre that’s fine, but I just now got away from him so give me a little time to walk without him attached to me, ok?”

    Heero pauses in his movements and considers the other man’s point. “No, it’s fine, I’m just not used to having to look out for someone else.”

    “Well… a little advice. You could start by holding the branches long enough for me to either walk out of range or grab them myself. If I go blind it’ll make this a lot harder.”

    Mentally, Heero allows himself a light smile. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.” They move on a little more. “What’s your brother’s problem with us?”

    “I’m not sure. He’s probably just upset that the horses were loosed and we’ve got to go overland. It’s a lot of work and he doesn’t usually have to do it.”

    “Spoiled,” Heero mutters, holding the branches back for Duo to move. He does with a slight smile and a shake of his head.

    “He’s the baby of the family. Father still cares about him, it’s to be expected,” his voice is darker than moments before, and so Heero allows silence to fall between them again.

    The damp forest, affected by the constant induced rainfall to keep the flora alive, hinders only two of six travelers, Quatre and therefore Trowa. The other four forge ahead.

    The green eyed young man finds a certain fascination with the frail blond haired young man moving so retarded compared to his own progress. The boy doesn’t speak much, though Trowa can somehow sense something about him that is special, different from his actions, which would lead any on-looker to believe he was uncomfortable in Trowa’s presence and in the wilderness. Looking ahead he sees Heero casually yank the longhaired brother’s leg from between to rocks and continue onward, faux ignoring the other young man, who no longer wears his merry smile, but a look of intense concentration as he follows along.

    ‘So you know it too, eh Duo?’ Trowa asks in his mind as he catches a glimpse of Heero’s expression as he turns back to look over his blood brothers and their companions. ‘He’ll give in eventually, all Duo has to do is remain patient as he is right now.’

    Meanwhile, Quatre trips over a root and begins to fall. Trowa slings his riffle over his shoulder and catches the boy in his arms. “Are you all right, Quatre?”

    A flustered look appears on the blond boy’s face and he looks up at Trowa. For a moment the two sets of eyes stare right into each the other’s soul, and then the peace is broken by a call from Noin on what happened.

    Trowa sets the other young man upright and carefully dislodges his foot from beneath the protruding root, noting how similar this action is to Heero’s prior one. Quatre’s demeanor changes slightly as he notices the care the other young man is taking of him, but he forces himself to remain impartial to it.

    Heero and Duo are at the head of the group, Heero plodding ahead and Duo keeping at his heels diligently, the stronger of the two assisting finally the longhaired young man when necessary. Behind them follow Wufei and Lucrezia, guns in hands, waiting for any movement near the group. In the back of Duo’s pants a handgun is tucked, but it escapes outright notice beneath his swinging braid.

    The Major had protested the moving arrangements until she realized that neither of the young men in her charge were paying attention to her, or at the very least, showing any signs of compliance. She grudgingly accepted Quatre’s earlier statement only moments earlier when Duo had caught her staring at him and glared before yanking his foot free and heading after their ‘guide,’ of sorts.

    “Can’t we rest a moment?” Noin pleads, looking back at the struggling blond haired son in the muck below them.

    Heero turns to Duo, who looks back at his brother and smirks. “Does he need it?” the deeper voice of his companion asks.

    “He could probably use it,” Duo turns back towards their forward, expression sobering. “But he doesn’t need it all that desperately.”

    “You two are quite interesting,” Heero says, finally letting go of his reservations about talking to this pretty pale-skin and attempting to make up for his prior callousness, giving in to the part of his mind and body screaming at him to be friendly towards the only young man aside from his blood brothers that had, thus far, treated him with respect and consideration. The other young man, who had opted to remain close to him rather than move back down with his brother about his waist, as he had offered, or continue to listen to the pessimistic Major, gives him a querulous look. “Brothers, yet so different,” Heero clarifies at the querulous glance spared him by the struggling young man.

    “Probably from our mother’s,” Duo replies, contemplating the next incline, as the two of them pause, which is very precipitous. “Maybe I need a rest though.”

    “Why?” Heero asks, crouching atop the first rise and looking down at him.

    “That’s a little steep for me,” the pale skinned young man admits, allowing the personal blow to his pride rather than killing his body with its foolishness.

    The dark haired young man contemplates and comes to a solution, “What if I help you?”

    “You?” Heero offers his hand and leans backwards with his feet planted on a stone chest-high to the violet-eyed youth in preparation. “If you promise not to drop me.”

    “Promise made,” Heero replies, ‘Besides, I could never drop you. You’re… different.’

    “Or let me fall?”

    “I’ll try my best.”

    “All right.” Duo takes his hand. ‘I just hope I don’t weigh too much,’ a little voice in the back of his mind whispers aloud.

    Heero clasps his hand securely and pulls him along firmly. Duo follows, footing by step and handhold, behind the other young man. “You’re very light, Duo.” He blushes and hauls himself up to the next landing by Heero’s forearm.

    “Flattery will get you nowhere.”

    “Who said I want to get anywhere?” Heero retorts, almost angrily, ‘You’re a boy.’ Even as that thought passes his mind another takes its place, ‘A lovely and supple young man with disarming charm and a sharp wit, but still a boy, a man. Men don’t go for other men, do they?’

    “Daijobu desu ka?” an accented voice calls from below.

    “Hai, suki da.” Heero turns to look around briefly, and then surmises his companion’s physical state before saying, “We’ll rest here.”

    Afraid to show his joy, and anger abated at the tan skinned young man’s callous retort because of the respite for his tired limbs and strained body, Duo sinks down beside the small spring. “Can I drink from it?” he whispers the question to Heero, even his vocal cords having been exercised unusually while exercising more unused muscles.

    The brown haired young man kneels and takes a drink, then nods, swallowing. Duo, never a fool, through forced contact in recent years and by choice in those farther distant, when it comes to outdoor survival, cups his hands and drinks a little at a time as his body cools down. Soon after they both recline in the shade against the rocks, two more join them.

    “What about Quatre and Trowa?” Heero asks quickly in Japanese.

    “Fine on their own,” Wufei replies with a smug smile.

    “What are the two of you saying?” Noin snaps at the pair of Oriental youths. “Speak in English!” Wufei turns and smirks at her as well, while Heero just shrugs and moves to look down the edge of the mountain-like hill.

    Duo watches disinterestedly until Heero takes his seat back next to him. “He needs to rest now, yes?” the other boy seems sure of that fact.

    “He will.” Duo nods silently. “How is he?”

    “Trowa is taking care of him. Your brother is safe.”

    “Thank you.”

    “Not me, Trowa.”

    “I don’t believe that Trowa likes me very well, so since the two of you are friends,” mentally he adds, ‘and maybe more.’ “I thought you’d tell him… or something like that.”

    “If you don’t have the courage to tell him yourself…” Duo turns angrily away from Heero, a frown tugging on his lips.

    Heero stares at the young man, who has turned his chin away and towards the water and is back-dropped by the undersides of the leaves being pushed back in the wind. A smile graces the Japanese young man’s face as he looks at the longhaired young man, braid unraveling after several hours of sweaty climbing and hiking.

    “So, Duo, how is this lout keeping you company?”

    “Don’t say things like that about people you don’t know.”

    Noin’s eyebrow lifts haughtily. “So you know him horribly well?”

    “He’s a lot better company than you, Miss Noin, so I would thank you kindly to leave us to our conversation.” Duo folds his arms on his chest.

    “Your conversation most likely. No one talks to you, Duo, no one listens, no one but me.” Noin smiles and Heero’s eyes narrow slightly. “Yes, guide?”

    “Noin-!” Duo begins, but Heero cuts him off.

    “Yes, Oz bitch?” the Japanese young man smiles angrily at her, eyes daring her actions. And for a moment…

    … There is silence.

    And then the loud noise of flesh meeting flesh echoes in the trees, shaking Duo’s heart in the process. Just as Quatre reaches the edge and Trowa helps him towards the spring, he sees the scene standing before him.

    Everyone freezes. Surprisingly, the next slap is from a smooth, pale hand, “Why did you do that!” Duo shouts, face reddening.