misanagi

No Running Jumps

Fandom: Gundam Wing
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Quatre/Heero
Summary: Heero and Quatre show that Gundam pilots work well together, even when they are involved.
Words: 1163
Notes: Written for keitn, I hope you like it.

---

Over the noise of the helicopter Heero couldn't hear what Quatre was saying but he could read his lips and see the relaxation on Quatre's face.

"Trowa is alright, he says to watch for cameras on the stairwell," Quatre mouthed to him.

Heero nodded. They had known Trowa wasn't in any grave danger, the bullet had only graced him but the fact that he was talking already and giving them tactical advice was a good enough sign that there hadn't been any complications.

Quatre placed his phone in one of the pockets of his uniform and put on the headset.

"ETA, ten minutes," said the pilot, a woman named Caroline that was deemed competent enough to fly them to their destination.

"It'll be close," said Quatre, settling down on the bench next to Heero.

"We'll manage." Heero opened the PDA file with the blueprints of the building they were about to land on. It would be unpredictable at best.

"Er, can I ask you something?" Caroline's voice sounded on the headset. Before Heero could answer no she continued, "Aren't you two together?"

"We are," Quatre answered in his polite –let me see if you need to be dealt with- voice.

"I thought… isn't there a rule about people in a relationship working as partners?"

Heero considered taking his headset off. This conversation served no purpose right now.

"There is," Quatre answered patiently, the edge on his voice gone now. "I'm not Heero's partner but as his got shot and mine is not Earth-side right now we are handling this mission together."

"But, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, Captain Winner, but shouldn't you have partnered with someone else then?"

"The only other person capable of partnering with either of us is in his own mission," Heero said, sharply. He didn't even want to contemplate the possibility of Quatre partnering with any inefficient Preventer. That was just not an option.

"I can assure you this isn't our first mission as partners," Quatre said, more kindly. "We work well together."

"Yes, I'm sorry for my indiscretion, Captains," she apologized, sounding slightly put out.

Quatre gave him a look and then shook his head and revised his own files once more. Minutes later they both stood up, took off the headsets and strapped the drop lines to their belts.

"Six minutes, Walters, and we'll need a fast extraction," Quatre said into the mike and moved towards the door of the helicopter. Without another word he grabbed onto the cable and jumped down. Heero followed him immediately and unhooked the drop line as soon as he touched ground. The gun was in his hand immediately but so far they were on the clear. The roof was empty.

Quatre took point and Heero followed him effortlessly. They reached the stairs and rushed down. Heero took the time to fire at all the cameras he saw as they made their way to the eight floor. Trowa had done most of the work, he had located the samples they needed in the main lab and the information he had sent had allowed them to fabricate fake key cards for the laboratory doors. All they had to do now was gather the samples and leave. Simple enough.

The door to the eight floor was closed. There was no time to try and pick the look and as it was a simple steal door with no extra locking mechanism Quatre merely shot it and kicked the door open.

They took five steps before they were fired at. Just two guards. Quatre took one with a shot at the knee, Heero the other with one to the shoulder. No time to take their weapons, no time to tie them up. The alarm began to sound, loud and disturbing and red lights appeared on the ceiling, blinking and covering the hall in a red hue.

They were spotted. It was within mission parameters. After all, Trowa who had spent three weeks undercover had barely escaped just a few hours ago but the formula samples had been left behind. There was no time to request backup or go through the usual channels so Heero had asked Quatre and they had left, bent on retrieving the samples that could harm so many people if left on the wrong hands.

The laboratory doors were made of thick metal with a keylock on the side. Quatre quickly produced the card Trowa had given them and moments later the doors opened for them. Heero stayed by the door while Quatre went in and searched for the container with the samples they needed.

A group of men approached from the stairs. Five of them. Heero took cover inside the lab and a moment later he was firing. One of them went down. A bullet ricocheted on the doorframe, too close for Heero's comfort. He took another gun from his shoulder holster and fired with both. Two more men down.

"Ready to move," Quatre said, suddenly by his side, the sample's container in one hand, a gun in the other.

Heero nodded and stepped out of the lab, guns at the ready. The remaining two men went down.

They rushed down the corridor, heading again for the stairs. Heero took point, behind him he could hear Quatre's steps, keeping pace. Quatre fired. There were two men giving chase. Heero turned around and Quatre ducked. The bullets hit the mark and they were moving again.

Up the stairs. They heard shots from below but didn't look down. Up, up. The door was still opened and Heero ran into the roof, guns ready. It was empty.

The sound of an approaching helicopter was almost a roar. Heero looked up and could see the chopper was close, close but not there yet. They turned to the door and waited.

The first man that appeared didn't even make it through the door, neither the other two but the bullets were flying and unless they left now they would be hit.

The helicopter sound was closer. A drop line fell from the chopper and Quatre caught it quickly, bucking to his belt. Another one followed in a moment. Heero risked lowering one of his guns to buckle his own line and less than a second after the helicopter started to pull away. He fired two more rounds just in case as the helicopter pulled them away. He pressed the lift up button and felt himself rise, swaying with the wind.

Quatre climbed into the helicopter only seconds before him. A quick check showed that Quatre hadn't been hit. They were in the clear. Quatre sat down on the bench, the container still on his hand. Heero settled beside him and put on his headset. He handed Quatre another set and holstered his guns.

"You are alive," Caroline said, sounding impressed.

"I told you we worked well together," Quatre said into the headset and gave Heero a smile.

Heero allowed himself a self-satisfied smirk. They always did.