once again, the mind boggles...
May. 16th, 2006 08:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lavandarlizard2If you worked where I work, you'd be crazy too. O.O
More... uh... oh, yeah. More Relena, more Duo.
Does anyone happen to have a spare cabana boy? I think I need a drink... ^.o
Grabbing Relena’s hand, he pulled her into a run. “C’mon, girl; move those feet!” At least she was wearing flats; too bad they weren’t track shoes. Relena ran with the mincing steps and flapping hands of some delicate debutant. What the hell did she do in gym class, he wondered, and what century was she from?
They pounded down the alley and across a street, then a quick left took them into another alley. This part of the city was honeycombed with alleys, access ways and pedestrian paths between buildings; Duo doubted that the Oz soldiers would have any clue in this maze. He’d spent three of his five days here wandering the streets, scoping out those very alleys, access ways and pedestrian paths.
He yanked Relena around another corner. Crap! The soldier was gaining on them! Relena stumbled, recovered, stumbled again. She was already panting like a dog. Obviously, she would not be lettering in track this year...
Another corner; right, this time. The alley dead ended at a concrete block wall. Relena faltered and made a whimpering noise. A gunshot, almost deafening in the enclosed space; the bullet slammed into the wall ahead of them.
Relena suddenly dug in her heels, almost knocking Duo off his feet. She spun to face the soldier.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” she shrieked. “Don’t you know who I am?!”
Duo blinked. The Ozzie blinked. For a brief instant their eyes met; their unspoken astonishment a common ground.
“How *dare* you shoot at *me*!”
“Shit...”
He grabbed Relena’s arm and yanked her after him; the Ozzie’s second shot missed her by inches. Before she could get her jaw back in place and realize how close she’d come to dying, the boom of a BFG nearly shattered her eardrums and the Ozzie collapsed in an explosion of blood.
“God *damn* it, girl! This ain’t no fucking garden party!” yelled Duo.
“But...”
The sound of shouts and running feet in the distance reached them then. Duo growled and headed for the wall again.
“But shouldn’t we go the other way?”
“And run straight into them? C’mere; I’ll give you a boost.”
She stared at him. “What...?”
He shook his head wearily. Damn, but Heero better be right about her; if she turned out to be just another blithering debutant after all this, he’d hunt her down and shoot her himself.
He shoved her at the wall. “Climb, girl! I ain’t got time to argue!” He put his back against the wall and laced his fingers together. “Let’s go!”
She managed – much too slowly for the ticking clock in Duo’s head – to get her foot up into his hands, her hands clutching his shoulders.
“Up!” he snarled, and heaved. Of course, she didn’t manage to scramble over the wall by herself, but she at least had her hands on the top. He spun and grabbed her feet. “Tuck and roll! Over!” Again he heaved. This time she squawked as she shot up and over.
So help him, if she’d broken something falling wrong, he’d damn well leave her!
He swarmed up the wall, only to be nearly ventilated at the top. Oh, joy; the bad guys had arrived. Pricks. Did *any* of these guys know how to frigging shoot?! Bullets whizzed around him; he pulled out his own BFG, fired two precise shots and took down both soldiers. The second one fell backwards onto the sidewalk; someone on the street screamed.
What the hell? Hadn’t anyone heard the damn shooting going on for the past two minutes? What the hell was wrong with people? *Now* someone screams?!
Another uniform rounded the corner into the alley and Duo heard the distinctive sound of an APC approaching. He fired once at the new jackass, then threw himself backwards off the wall, to land as gracefully...
...As a snared rabbit. Concertina wire grabbed at him, ripped his shirt, stuck to his jeans, tangled around his legs, and tore into his exposed flesh, tossing him this way and that before finally flinging him hard onto the ground. Somehow, he’d kept hold of his gun without firing; that thought tried to hug him, as if knowing he was still armed would somehow make everything all better. Yeah. Right. Would’ve been even better if he hadn’t tried to grab the fuckin’ wire on the way down...
Before he managed to force air back into his lungs, he saw stars, planets and even a few comets, but didn’t actually black out. Holy damn shit... So this was what it felt like to fall into a cactus... He was sorry for all the times he’d laughed at cartoon characters in the same situation.... ...oh crap...
“Duo! Duo! What do we do now?” Relena was shaking him frantically.
“We... get... the... fuck... outta... here...” he panted, struggling to his feet. He took two steps and his left knee buckled, throwing him flat out on the ground again. Wow... Pretty stars...
Shit. Shitshitshit! So much for bounding away like a gazelle... Could he at least manage to stumble like a drunk?
He tried again. His knee and everything attached to it laughed derisively.
Relena had reached the point of hyperventilation, sucking air in between whimpers.
He rubbed his face one-handed and blood smeared over his skin. God *damn* it, Shinigami! You don’t want much from me, do you!
He grabbed Relena’s shoulder to lean on. “I think I tore something,” he muttered. “Let’s go.”
“But...!”
“Over there.” He pointed her toward a poor man’s condo. He lifted the lid with an effort. “Climb in.”
She stared at him in horror.
“They’re coming!” he hissed. The sound of boots scrabbling for purchase on the concrete blocks was as good as a cattle prod. The girl clambered awkwardly into the dumpster. Duo flung himself in after her, letting the plastic lid close silently.
“Dig in,” he whispered, burrowing into the garbage. He could see the whites of her eyes for an instant, and then she was gingerly pulling bits of paper and trash over herself. By the time the soldiers cleared the wall, they were both invisible to the casual observer.
Something rustled behind Relena; Duo put his hand over her mouth. “Shh...” he breathed. “Gotta wait for them to leave.” She nodded faintly, eyes wide as saucers in the almost-dark. Another rustle. Her eyes went even wider. He shook his head sharply.
Between them, a pointed and bewhiskered snout poked itself out of the trash. A pair of beady black eyes followed. Relena made a noise. “Shh! Or we’re dead!” he mouthed.
The lid of the dumpster creaked, opened. The rat and another of his kin hissed at the sudden increase in light to their domain.
“Fuck!” snapped a rough voice. “Rats!”
“Yeah, well; they gotta eat, too, Gudino! Let’s get moving; they can’t have gone very far.”
“Christ... I can’t believe a couple of kids...” The voice trailed away as they made their way down the passage.
Duo counted to thirty before taking his hand away from Relena’s mouth with a silent sigh. She stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then her eyes slid closed.
“Relena? Relena!” he hissed. Well, shit. She’d fainted. Huh. Over a couple of rats. He shook his head in wonder. Pretty well-fed rats; a couple of these would have been good eating back in the day. Oh, well. At least she wasn’t screaming, and it gave him a couple of minutes to feel around his knee and determine that yep; he sure as hell had done something. And now that his adrenalin was dropping, he noticed that his ankle didn’t feel any too good either. The palm of his hand burned like fire and was bleeding pretty good, too, along with all the little stings and zings that warned of other bites from the razor wire.
Shit. He really hated pink...
More... uh... oh, yeah. More Relena, more Duo.
Does anyone happen to have a spare cabana boy? I think I need a drink... ^.o
Grabbing Relena’s hand, he pulled her into a run. “C’mon, girl; move those feet!” At least she was wearing flats; too bad they weren’t track shoes. Relena ran with the mincing steps and flapping hands of some delicate debutant. What the hell did she do in gym class, he wondered, and what century was she from?
They pounded down the alley and across a street, then a quick left took them into another alley. This part of the city was honeycombed with alleys, access ways and pedestrian paths between buildings; Duo doubted that the Oz soldiers would have any clue in this maze. He’d spent three of his five days here wandering the streets, scoping out those very alleys, access ways and pedestrian paths.
He yanked Relena around another corner. Crap! The soldier was gaining on them! Relena stumbled, recovered, stumbled again. She was already panting like a dog. Obviously, she would not be lettering in track this year...
Another corner; right, this time. The alley dead ended at a concrete block wall. Relena faltered and made a whimpering noise. A gunshot, almost deafening in the enclosed space; the bullet slammed into the wall ahead of them.
Relena suddenly dug in her heels, almost knocking Duo off his feet. She spun to face the soldier.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” she shrieked. “Don’t you know who I am?!”
Duo blinked. The Ozzie blinked. For a brief instant their eyes met; their unspoken astonishment a common ground.
“How *dare* you shoot at *me*!”
“Shit...”
He grabbed Relena’s arm and yanked her after him; the Ozzie’s second shot missed her by inches. Before she could get her jaw back in place and realize how close she’d come to dying, the boom of a BFG nearly shattered her eardrums and the Ozzie collapsed in an explosion of blood.
“God *damn* it, girl! This ain’t no fucking garden party!” yelled Duo.
“But...”
The sound of shouts and running feet in the distance reached them then. Duo growled and headed for the wall again.
“But shouldn’t we go the other way?”
“And run straight into them? C’mere; I’ll give you a boost.”
She stared at him. “What...?”
He shook his head wearily. Damn, but Heero better be right about her; if she turned out to be just another blithering debutant after all this, he’d hunt her down and shoot her himself.
He shoved her at the wall. “Climb, girl! I ain’t got time to argue!” He put his back against the wall and laced his fingers together. “Let’s go!”
She managed – much too slowly for the ticking clock in Duo’s head – to get her foot up into his hands, her hands clutching his shoulders.
“Up!” he snarled, and heaved. Of course, she didn’t manage to scramble over the wall by herself, but she at least had her hands on the top. He spun and grabbed her feet. “Tuck and roll! Over!” Again he heaved. This time she squawked as she shot up and over.
So help him, if she’d broken something falling wrong, he’d damn well leave her!
He swarmed up the wall, only to be nearly ventilated at the top. Oh, joy; the bad guys had arrived. Pricks. Did *any* of these guys know how to frigging shoot?! Bullets whizzed around him; he pulled out his own BFG, fired two precise shots and took down both soldiers. The second one fell backwards onto the sidewalk; someone on the street screamed.
What the hell? Hadn’t anyone heard the damn shooting going on for the past two minutes? What the hell was wrong with people? *Now* someone screams?!
Another uniform rounded the corner into the alley and Duo heard the distinctive sound of an APC approaching. He fired once at the new jackass, then threw himself backwards off the wall, to land as gracefully...
...As a snared rabbit. Concertina wire grabbed at him, ripped his shirt, stuck to his jeans, tangled around his legs, and tore into his exposed flesh, tossing him this way and that before finally flinging him hard onto the ground. Somehow, he’d kept hold of his gun without firing; that thought tried to hug him, as if knowing he was still armed would somehow make everything all better. Yeah. Right. Would’ve been even better if he hadn’t tried to grab the fuckin’ wire on the way down...
Before he managed to force air back into his lungs, he saw stars, planets and even a few comets, but didn’t actually black out. Holy damn shit... So this was what it felt like to fall into a cactus... He was sorry for all the times he’d laughed at cartoon characters in the same situation.... ...oh crap...
“Duo! Duo! What do we do now?” Relena was shaking him frantically.
“We... get... the... fuck... outta... here...” he panted, struggling to his feet. He took two steps and his left knee buckled, throwing him flat out on the ground again. Wow... Pretty stars...
Shit. Shitshitshit! So much for bounding away like a gazelle... Could he at least manage to stumble like a drunk?
He tried again. His knee and everything attached to it laughed derisively.
Relena had reached the point of hyperventilation, sucking air in between whimpers.
He rubbed his face one-handed and blood smeared over his skin. God *damn* it, Shinigami! You don’t want much from me, do you!
He grabbed Relena’s shoulder to lean on. “I think I tore something,” he muttered. “Let’s go.”
“But...!”
“Over there.” He pointed her toward a poor man’s condo. He lifted the lid with an effort. “Climb in.”
She stared at him in horror.
“They’re coming!” he hissed. The sound of boots scrabbling for purchase on the concrete blocks was as good as a cattle prod. The girl clambered awkwardly into the dumpster. Duo flung himself in after her, letting the plastic lid close silently.
“Dig in,” he whispered, burrowing into the garbage. He could see the whites of her eyes for an instant, and then she was gingerly pulling bits of paper and trash over herself. By the time the soldiers cleared the wall, they were both invisible to the casual observer.
Something rustled behind Relena; Duo put his hand over her mouth. “Shh...” he breathed. “Gotta wait for them to leave.” She nodded faintly, eyes wide as saucers in the almost-dark. Another rustle. Her eyes went even wider. He shook his head sharply.
Between them, a pointed and bewhiskered snout poked itself out of the trash. A pair of beady black eyes followed. Relena made a noise. “Shh! Or we’re dead!” he mouthed.
The lid of the dumpster creaked, opened. The rat and another of his kin hissed at the sudden increase in light to their domain.
“Fuck!” snapped a rough voice. “Rats!”
“Yeah, well; they gotta eat, too, Gudino! Let’s get moving; they can’t have gone very far.”
“Christ... I can’t believe a couple of kids...” The voice trailed away as they made their way down the passage.
Duo counted to thirty before taking his hand away from Relena’s mouth with a silent sigh. She stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then her eyes slid closed.
“Relena? Relena!” he hissed. Well, shit. She’d fainted. Huh. Over a couple of rats. He shook his head in wonder. Pretty well-fed rats; a couple of these would have been good eating back in the day. Oh, well. At least she wasn’t screaming, and it gave him a couple of minutes to feel around his knee and determine that yep; he sure as hell had done something. And now that his adrenalin was dropping, he noticed that his ankle didn’t feel any too good either. The palm of his hand burned like fire and was bleeding pretty good, too, along with all the little stings and zings that warned of other bites from the razor wire.
Shit. He really hated pink...
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