Part III: Portage

***

    The roar of the river reaches them as they come around a bend in the dear path they’re following. Heero darts ahead to scout the area with Duo close behind him, and then Wufei follows and stops a little ahead of Heero and Duo. Noin keeps their vantage point in the brush with Quatre as Trowa hurries forward and disappears over the edge of the riverside.

    Heero aims his pistol at a shadow across the bank while Duo hurriedly puts the silencer end on the rifle and hands that over. Switching guns easily he hands the pistol back and Duo stows it in the bag. Wufei goes forward as well and the two make the all clear whistle and Noin and Quatre move forward past Heero and Duo, who are the last to move since Heero carries his sniper rifle. Two canoes are hauled together and they split into groups, Trowa Heero and Duo in one boat with Duo at the less crucial rear spot and Trowa guiding from the front while Heero continues to sight the far banks. Once they are across and Heero gets new high ground the other canoe starts. A shot fires and misses the second boat and then a shot leaps from Heero’s rifle and a small cry echoes through the woods and the other canoe reaches the shore.

    As one Heero and Trowa take hold of their charges and start quickly up the steep bank. Quatre stumbles after Trowa until the taller brunette yanks him along by putting an arm around his waist while Duo just hangs over Heero’s shoulder with his pistol ready. At the top of the hill Noin and Wufei join them and the group continues forward and splits off into pairs as they reach the first clearing.

    Continuing straight forward Heero pulls Duo forward and into his arms, placing the rifle across his lap. Listening for any noises, he clears a fallen tree and skids so that they are braced against it from behind. Duo lifts his head and sees two soldiers dressed in golden brown following them.

    He makes a two sign with his hands and a bullet zips past his head before Heero whirls the pistol around and blows the two pursuers away and then he sets Duo on his feet and hurries him into the trees and into a dense cluster before getting down to his knees and pushing Duo down as well. With a hand placed between his shoulder blades, Heero feels him shaking and puts the arm around him, precariously angling his own body in order to accomplish the task. Finally he squeezes once and then relents, merely grasping his shoulder.

    ‘So much for not being involved,’ Heero thinks as he rubs the other young man’s shoulder gently. ‘But if I have to get involved sometime, it might as well be with him.’

    A mocking bird whistle calls Heero’s attentions to the small glade opposite the one the two of them are hiding in and he shakes his head and motions with his free hand ‘2’ and Wufei nods and they both sink back down into the brush.

    Duo tenses as Heero moves higher up and tries to shift his weight but ends up twisting his leg in a bad way and collapses against the other young man. Concerned, Heero moves a little so that Duo’s body lies flat on the grass and hunches down over him to look him over for any wounds sustained other than the gunshot.

    “What hurts, Duo?” he asks in a low voice.

    “I’ll be fine.”

    “Enough with the bravado, Duo, where does it hurt?”

    Duo winces before indicating his wounded calf. Another noise alerts Heero that Trowa and Quatre have arrived on the other side. Heero takes one of Duo’s hands in his own as he lifts over his cover and relays the situation to his companions, then makes the signal for food to Wufei by cupping his hand and bringing it to his face.

    Wufei nods and responds with ‘two leagues,’ holding up the number and then an L but Heero shakes his head, ‘now,’ by moving his fist down violently. Trowa moves from his spot and steps between the trees, every now and again stopping behind one for cover, and over towards the other pair.

    Heero lifts his rifle and looks around warily as Trowa bends to feed Duo some of their rations. Wufei motions that he’ll take the other group ahead by pointing to himself and then further toward their goal. Heero nods and climbs up the closest tree to watch around the area the two sets of people are.

    Thankfully nothing happens and Trowa gives a whistle up to him that he’s completed the task. Heero nods and tosses the rifle down to Trowa before dropping neatly to the balls of his feet and then moving over he lifts Duo in his arms again.

    Much later they are all gathered around a campfire, and the scene is the same as the prior two nights. Three days have passed since the massacre that brought the group together, and the only problem lies in Duo’s injury. The slight shift in Heero’s demeanor from non-hostile to caring does not go unnoticed upon either of his brothers, nor Duo himself. Quatre’s wariness of the Pilots has lessened as his rapport with Trowa strengthened, leaving Noin the only member of their party angry at the situation.

    Trowa sits propped up against the wall of the small cave with Quatre leaning on his shoulder. Duo lies on his back with his head cushioned on a pile of leaves while Heero slowly undoes the knotted cloth around his left shin, back to the wall. Wufei leans on his forearms near the entrance to the cave free of Noin for the moment as she sleeps bundled with her coat over her closest him.

    “How bad is it?” Duo asks in a strained voice. Heero looks up and dabs his forehead with a wet cloth stripped from the boy’s long shirt that he then replaces in the small trickle of water coming up from the underground spring below them. Duo’s pale flesh is flushed and slightly warm even though he is shivering.

    “I think perhaps the stress of the situation is the cause because as far as I can see your wound isn’t infected at all, although you do have a fever.”

    “This doesn’t make any sense,” Duo protests feebly as Heero dabs his forehead again. “I never get sick. Why is this any different?”

    “How often are you hunted and running on a wounded leg?” Heero offers before he begins to wash the bandage out after carefully digging the water out. “You’ll be fine if I haven’t missed anything.”

    “So we’ll be able to move on tomorrow?”

    “We should be able to, but you’re going to take it easy.”

    “I won’t be a burden!” Duo insists in a loud whisper. “I will keep up with you, I’ll…”

    “You’re already doing quite a bit. You helped me all this midday and you’re protesting about not doing enough? You’re impossible, worse than that, you’re stupid.”

    “Look just wrap my leg back up then and I’ll leave, ok? You won’t even have to worry about me at all because I’ll let the Romefeller kill me!”

    “Don’t say stupid things,” Heero replies harshly. “You won’t make it out of the cave, if even to your feet with as worn out as you are right now. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard, so just lay off.”

    “I am not,” he whines in an angry voice.

    “Yes, you have been, so you need to get over whatever’s making you so jealous of Quatre being able to keep up better than you can.”

    Duo turns his face from Heero’s eyes that reflect accusation in the flickering firelight. “What would you know about it?” he says in a low mumble.

    “You never cease to amaze me. Why wouldn’t I understand jealousy? Competition?”

    ‘Because you’re perfect,’ Duo thinks to himself, eyes still averted from Heero’s. “The three of you work together so well, I guess I just thought…”

    “Well we’ve only been together for… ten years.” Heero carefully ties the bandage back around the other young man’s calf. “It’s to be expected that we work well together, we’ve reached a point of equilibrium with each other.” He pauses and looks at his hands, “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”

    Duo allows himself to relax a little under the care of the pseudo-leader of the Pilots and feels sleep calling to him. “You’re right.”

    “I’m right?” Heero asks, a small note of surprise in his voice.

    “Yes, I wouldn’t have made it to my feet, I am tired. Let’s just sleep, ok?”

    Heero looks up at Duo’s face and sees clarity in the violet-blue eyes. He nods and stretches out just beside him in the flickering darkness, assured of that much peace from his own thoughts and the world.

    “Just… here,” Duo says, shifting a little so that Heero is forced to move closer, he lifts the hem of his coat and offers to share body heat, which Heero hesitantly accepts. For a long breathless moment the two of them shift positions, and then they settle, not quite touching physically, but basking in each other’s souls.