A/N: I'm just updating all my fics as I go along. I usually have more inspiration when I'm holed up in my room and undercover. Makes stuff juicier. But I'm at my pop's and in the open range where I can type freely. You know, captivity works better in some places. Namely my room. My nice WARM room.

(Anyway) Here's chapter six. I didn't continue since the previous chapter was a little plot teetering and then… I had the plot but didn't know how I'd stretch this out. So here goes nothing.

And to those waiting on chapter six of Crossing the line, it is going to be a while yet before I get that up and running again. And as for Shini's Cross that's coming up either today while I've got the urge to write something or tomorrow.

Without further ado…

ON TO THE FIC!

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CHAPTER SIX

Duo sat silently in the passenger seat, silently stealing glances at his partner. Heero had been acting strange sine the day he'd 'fallen asleep' in the car on the way to their 'hideout'. Heero had a white knuckled grip on the steering wheel and kept dangerously focused on the road ahead, not even letting his eyes flick over briefly at the passing buildings as he usually does. Duo had tried striking up a conversation with the other Preventer and failed miserably. The guy didn't even answer with any of his customary grunts.

He blatantly ignored Duo since this morning. And Duo was not happy with that. Something had to be wrong with the former Wing pilot to make him act this way. All flustered and skittish. That wasn't Heero. Whenever he touched the other man, he'd shy away from the contact. If he cracked an 'innocent' sex joke, he looked as if he'd combust. It wasn't as if these made Heero embarrassed before. Why the sudden change now? Hell, the guy was afraid to even touch him (pat on the shoulder and nudge-wise). He was too tense for his own good. Heero was going to get a massage after this, Duo decided firmly. Both of them. Well, Heero needed it more. The one for him was just an added bonus.

But enough pondering. It would get in the way of the mission. The mission… Duo hoped he wouldn't have an episode during his part of the mission. That would royally suck.

The mission… What was it about again? Oh yeah. Infiltration and intelligence. He was supposed to get inside this heavily guarded former Oz base that was recently re-activated and used for what seemed to be drug and poison trafficking. Just how heavily guarded he didn't know. But he wasn't about to let Heero or the rest of the team down.

Just then he felt the force of the wind make the car sway, making him nauseous instantly. It was a heavy wave; he fought it down with all his self control. His eyelids had drooped slightly in his doubled effort not to throw up all over the dashboard. Heero couldn't know about this. No one could. He had to make it through this mission. It was all he could do to avoid the humiliation of Heero thinking him weak and helpless.

……………………..

Heero snuck a peek through his marginally longer yet still bushy bangs at the now suspiciously silent American beside him. He still hadn't gotten over his dilemma with Duo two nights ago. It still stirred heat in his loins whenever he thought of it, and had to squash it down forcefully with thoughts of Relena stripping for him. It's a torturous but handy way of diminishing a hard-on. Hallelujah for desperate and weird girls that turn guys off. If there weren't any he'd have to imagine Howard doing the same.

Heero's little pet went completely limp.

The half Japanese blinked and looked down to see the scared organ huddle deeper into his pants, almost as if it were trying to go back home. Wow. Do ALL old guys do that to people?

Prussian blue shifted to look discreetly at the uneasy movement to his right. Duo shifted uncomfortably in his seat, looking a little on the green side. He looked as if he were going to get sick right where he sat. Heero was about to summon his fast retreating courage to ask Duo if he was alright when the other took an inaudible deep breath and color returned to his face. He seemed to be fine although he still had a little of the sickly greenish tint to his visage. If Duo was sick then he shouldn't be here. He doubted the braided man would listen to reason, so he left the other alone until something drastic happened.

Heero felt his hands getting numb and looked to see that nearly all the blood had receded from his hands because of the grip he had on the steering wheel. He released the wheel completely to flex his fingers, using his knees to steer while he got the circulation going again. It wouldn't be long before they got to their destination to wait until dusk to get in. During the few hours they would have left, Heero would set up in clear view of Duo's escape route to snipe down anyone who proved to be hostile while Duo would be occupied by someone else.

He snuck another glance at the silent passenger. He felt bad about ignoring the other. He usually listened to the braided enigma no matter how much he found it annoying. It was actually a comfort at some times. He'd blatantly snuffed all of the other's attempts at engaging him in conversation to relieve both their tensions. Now he'd just have to live in fear of over-stepping his boundaries and really do something stupid and cost him his friendship with Duo.

…………………………..

Duo crept along the dimly lit corridors, careful to remain in the cameras' blind spots. His limbs felt weightless as he glided on, heading toward the room he was to get into. Along the way he either eluded or KO'd guards that stood in his way of getting in and out without a hitch. He'd just picked the lock and got inside when the alarm went off. He looked around frantically, locating the map and reports and hurried to get out. When he opened the door and ran out into the hall however, he found himself surrounded by at least twelve guards.

Shit…

He bull rushed his way through several of them, not even bothering to fight, and made his way hastily to the exit he'd planned to take; Heero should be able to gun down the rest of them. Only partway to his destination, though, and not entirely to his expectations, a dizzy spell enveloped him and caused his step to falter a bit.

Not now!

Duo quickened his pace and rounded a corner with so much speed, he nearly ran into the opposite wall. Dizziness decided to take advantage of his minor mishap and took over his mind. He stumbled on the stairs and held on to the railing to stop himself from falling. He shook his head and immediately regretted it. It send unpleasant messages to his stomach and brought a heavy wave of nausea over him. He forced it down, and continued down the steps, skipping as many steps as possible. When he rounded yet another corner, something caught him in the back of his head. It didn't catch him good enough to knock him out, but it was enough to give him a serious headache to compliment his nausea. Summoning what strength he had from the now crippling headache, he took down the soldier that had attacked. Two more emerged from the shadows, trying to corner him.

He so did not have time for this. He want—needed out of here before he totally loses it.

With that firmly planted in his mind he snatched the rifle from one of the soldiers and knocked him over the head with it, rendering him unconscious. The second managed to sock him good with a blow to the temple, causing spots to dance across his vision. He retaliated, ignoring the darkness creeping across his mind, and shot the guard, the gunshot alerting almost everyone else on the upcoming floors. He was going to have hell. Not feeling up to it, he gathered all the adrenaline he could find and pumped them to and through his arms, legs and lungs. He wasn't going to last much longer. This much he knew. But he also knew that Heero would kill him if he let him down; whether the headaches did it or not.

The braided Preventer continued down the seemingly deserted corridor when he heard Heero's voice over the comm.

"Status, Agent Night."

Duo did all he could to get air into his burning lungs so that he could reply. Apparently he was taking too long since Heero's voice came in a second time in an urgent tone. Finally he acquired the amount of necessary oxygen and replied.

"Discovered. Heading for designated exit. ETA…" Duo stopped when he thought he'd lost the guards for the moment to catch his breath.

"DUO!" Shit. He must be worried if he'd used his 'real' name.

"ETA," Duo repeated, panting. "Five minutes."

…………………..

Heero heard the alarms trip and guns going off in the building. He used his night vision goggles to zoom in and scan the external perimeter, all the while only one thought ran through his mind.

'What had Duo gotten himself into now?'

The shots had died down and he feared the worst. Not seeing Duo emerge from the building, he decided to bite the bullet and check on his closest friend. The link crackled to life and he could hear the sounds of guns hitting flesh and then silence; except heavy breathing. The half Japanese paled.

"Status, Agent Night."

There was nothing but raspy breathing meeting his ears for a few minutes and he got seriously worried.

"Discovered," Duo responded finally, sounding tired. "Heading for designated exit. ETA…"

Silence greeted him once more for a while. He waited a few seconds more and then decided that the other was not alright.

"DUO!"

Duo didn't respond for a few more seconds and he was contemplating going in after him when the other finally replied. His voice sounded strained; as if he'd been pushing himself too far.

"ETA," he repeated, apparently out of breath, " five minutes."

Heero watched and waited for Duo to emerge.

And emerge he did, a little after the five minutes he'd estimated. He'd managed to get followed and tried to fight back. Heero could see the significant lag in the other's movements and noticed that the blows were much weaker than they should've been. Heero saw this as the appropriate time to start busting some kneecaps. He took aim and fired. Each bullet landed in the knee of each of the fourteen men that had followed Duo out. When all were down, the braided agent stood unmoving for a bit and then seemed to sway on his feet.

Heero frowned. The other dropped to his knees and immediately started to vomit violently, after which he coughed and rasped. The Japanese made contact through the comm.

"Duo, are you alright?"

He got no answer as the other slumped to the ground unmoving.

…………………………………

Almeida: Here's the chapter. I'm no good without my human to come up with something actually directly plot related and I just threw this together for her. I tried my best to stretch it out as much as I could but then the empty stomach we shared and she was bitching about wouldn't have that. So this is it until the next chapter. I don't know if either of us is going to come up with something until at least two to three weeks from now. We have to get Shini's Cross on par with the rest of these. This has now got six chapters. Treading has nine, and Crossing The Line has six also. All that's left is Shinigami's Cross and then I can get to work on Love And Track and finish the Arc I was planning on with I Get A Kick Out of You.

'Till next time!

-Almeida.