The DD (Dislocated Disclaimer) : No. Don't insist. I don't own Gundam Wing. Shao is mine, but she's a pain, so I recommend to the people who would like to borrow her to think twice.
 
 

Trick riding
                          Chapter XI : Sea, confidences and dislocated thumbs.
 
 
 
 
 
 

"It stopped moving."

"..."

Midii's sentence was welcomed with an annoyed sigh that clearly said 'I noticed too' and both her and Wufei's ears pricked up at the sound of heavy footsteps resounding on the metallic upper deck. But was definitively caught their attention was a faint sound of lighter footsteps, following close. High heeled shoes, undoubtedly.

"I think she should try brogues instead." Midii remarked, as the daylight finally invaded the hold, for the first time in hours.

They both blinked at the figures they could guess, outlined by the light. After a few seconds of perplexity, they managed to make out five shapes. One, feminine was obviously Dorothy's, her trademark long platinum hair shimmering in the dim light, the second one proved to be a perfect nobody, as far as they were concerned, and the three remaining shapes, judging by the their build and the various welcome toys they carried, were probably the bodyguards. How sweet.

"I should have known that a woman like you would never change."

Midii turned to Wufei, who seemed absolutely irate, and wondered how long those two have been knowing each other. The more she discovered Trowa's "acquaintances", the more she realized that they were all somehow linked, and that she was probably just beginning to understand how much they had lived, and how their lives had intertwined. (1)
Dorothy merely smiled at the comment, and the man beside her coughed slightly, seemingly to introduce himself. He was a short and paunchy but extremely self-possessed man, probably in his mid sixties, with a perfectly trimmed moustache and a elegantly sober gray suit.

"Did you actually think that you would travel with us without us knowing it?" The man smiled warmly.

Midii and Wufei glanced at each other in slight surprise. Even if they had long ago learned not to judge by appearances, the calm and warm manners of the newcomer, his kind smile and his slight Italian accent made it hard to guess his intentions. Disconcerting, actually.
Dorothy, however, simply looked at Midii with something that could have been pity in her eyes. She bowed her head slightly, as the strange man talked again, still as gentle. "So. Maybe you would be interested in knowing that we had noticed you two ever since Miss Une entered the cold storage plant." The sentence was followed by a light chuckle and Midii was definitively starting to find him either nice or odd.

"We know everything." Wufei stated defiantly.

"Oh son... So many things that you don't know..." The man smiled.

"Your name for example." Midii retorted with insolence.

"Indeed. My name is Avigni, Orpheo Damian Avigni." He said gently. "Ah..." He suddenly sighed, "Time is flying! I wish we had more time to get to know each other, young people, but we must start with something, I'm afraid we have to bid adieu to Miss Une!"

Midii's eyes widened at the last statement and Wufei's eyes betrayed for a second his anxiety. "Bid adieu" to Midii? That was out of question if it was he feared it was. "What do you mean?" He murmured.

"I'm really sorry, but we never actually planned on letting Miss Une live. She won't suffer long, though." He explained with a sad smile.

Wufei lunged toward him at his words, only to be stopped by a gun pointed right between his eyes, he barely had the time to think as one of the hired men dragged Midii in out of the hold and he felt an indescribable pain in his whole body, starting from his neck. Electricity. He collapsed on the metallic floor his eyes catching one last time the blurred image of Midii being taken away. Trowa was going to implode on the spot if they killed her.

Midii struggled helplessly against the iron grip the man had on her wrist. Needless to say that seduction wouldn't work in this case and the impressive gun he carried prevented her from any ill-considered movement. She tried to memorize every wall, every corridor she saw, still hoping to escape somehow, but that was extremely jeopardized, right now.
She noticed that the whole basement seemed to be in a cave, near the sea, because she could hear a violent backwash hitting the stones. Finally, after a few minutes of painful walking, the man stopped in part of the cave that had been flooded by the water, and where she could guess a deep and dark pit, she noticed then that the water almost reached her ankles, now. He still squeezed her wrist so hard she thought he would crush it, and she winced as he effortlessly spun her and effectively locked her wrists with a pair of handcuff. Great. How she wished Shao had been here at the moment... They would have managed to get rid of that brute. But what worried her more was what exactly he intended to do. Or how he was going to kill her, to be utterly honest. An unexpected punch in the ribs cut all her thoughts, and she found herself lying on the damp floor, dizzy. The second she had collected her thoughts enough to open her eyes, she realized he had tied her feet. And she understood. Before she had the time to scream, he lifted her like a sack and threw her in the pit, the long fall interrupted by her dive in the icy water.

"Good bye love..." The man chuckled, before leaving.

Midii couldn't help but panic at the cold, the lack of air. No... She wasn't going to die here, like that, she wanted to live, she wanted to see Trowa again. She tried to keep moving, her mind whirling, searching for an idea, anything. She realized the coldness of the water was beginning to make her feel numb, and she fought the need to give up. She tasted the water forcing her lips. Salty. Like Trowa's skin, she tried desperately to keep struggling, thinking to everything she wanted to tell him, to everything she had lived. She could hear her heart in her ears, so fast and so slow. Something flashed in her mind, all the stupid things she had made with Shao, all the good times, Trowa, her, all the others. And suddenly, it hit her. Shaolin had taught her a trick, during a sunny afternoon in Johannesburg, it was hot, and they were bored, Shao had been playing with a pair of handcuff, and she had showed her, what was it she had showed her...
She heard her heart ready to explode, everything so dark, the water seeming to engulf her whole soul, and she heard it. she felt the joint of her thumb pop. Oh God, Shao had been right, it did hurt like hell, but her hand slid easily in the tight metal ring. She rolled on herself, pulling desperately on the rope tying her feet with her good her. Where the heck was the knot! She felt her chest constrict, and the rope loosened. Everything felt thick and black as she slowly approached the surface, she crawled on the stone floor panting. Her whole body hurt. She pressed the weight of her exhausted body on her thumb, until it went back in place, stifling a scream of pain, and attempted to get up, to no avail. Not now. So tired...

"Miss Catalonia, is something wrong?" Avigni said softly, breaking her rêverie.

Dorothy laid the still convalescent Matteo gently on the huge semi circular marble table that was used to reunite all their 'associates', and turned to him, trying to smile. "No, really, I'm just a bit tired, maybe."

"Don't lie to me. Please." He insisted, his warm tone covering perfectly his inner coldness and calculations.

"We had to kill her, hadn't we?" She sighed.

"I thought you disliked this young Miss." He replied.

"He will never forgive me." She said coldly, the tears refusing to come.

"If he joins us, he somehow will. And if he doesn't, he won't have to, because we can't let our enemies live, dear Dorothy."

Shaolin watched Duo snooze softly, his head leaning against the back of a seat, and a small pout of disdain, and maybe a twinge of amusement spread on her features. Heero and Trowa hadn't torn their eyes from the precious laptop since they had left Fromentines, hoping probably to find tourist information about their destination, and she was beginning to feel bored. ' This is what happens when you have strictly nothing to blow up during more than 72 hours.' She thought, kicking in a repetitive manner and half-heartedly the back of Quatre's seat. She wasn't even distracted by the prospect of annoying him. Soon enough, though, a quite sleepy Winner heir got enough of the incessant movements of his seat and huffed loudly.

"Miss Hao... Do you wish to talk?" He yawned.

She jumped out of her own seat and planted herself solidly in front of him, eyeing him as if he had turned into a stinkbug. "What makes you think that??" She hissed.

"I thought violence was your way of communication." He replied quietly, noticing Heero and Trowa's glances that clearly said 'All you have to do is say one word and we have her put down.'

She blinked momentarily, and her face softened. "And you? Would you talk with me? I'm bored."

"Why not..." He sighed, leaning back in his seat tiredly. "But I'm asking the first question."

She glared at him for good measure, but sat near him, proving her goodwill. "Okay. Just one."

He stared through the window in deep thought, pondering his words, and finally turned to her, with a piercing gaze. "Why did you and Midii choose such an occupation?"

Her eyes widened, but she composed herself and decided to reply honestly, should it be insolently. "We didn't choose. We didn't woke up one day and told ourselves 'I will be a thief, a hit man' or anything, we just kinda learn a few things while we were in jail, and she had learned a lot with the Alliance, so when the prison was destroyed and we were reported dead, well... We had no possibility and no actual reason to find a 'normal' and poorly paid job. You see, we never expected to live long anyway, so we didn't mind doing illegal stuff."

He cocked a surprised eyebrow. " 'didn't'? So I assume that now, you do mind doing illegal things?" He questioned.

"No. It's because we have you bugging us. If you weren't here, it would still be okay." She retorted sincerely. "But..." She went on, "Now that Midii has found her bangboy, I think she's dreaming about settling down." She huffed, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Oh. And you?" He asked, suddenly avid for confidences.

"Meeeeeeeeee? No. I'm gonna find myself all alone, now that's for certain, but I will find something. There are plenty more fish in the sea, if you see what I mean." She smiled.

"Do you actually think Preventers will let you disappear, knowing that you have no intent to stop?" He chuckled.

"That's okay, because I have you protecting me. Always." She smiled childishly.

He felt a strange sensation mixed with a certain wariness, hearing her say such uncommon words. "And why would I protect you?"

"Because you think I'm going to change, repent and all, like Midii will." She stated.

Quatre was momentarily silenced by her statement, which was far from being wrong, to be utterly honest. "Midii will?"

"She's dragging an anchor now, because she's obsessed with her psychotic clown." She groaned.

"Ah. And I suppose that somebody as perfect as you never falls for anyone." He smirked.

"You got it all wrong! This is not about falling, chatting up, having sex or anything! It's just that sometimes, you can't afford the burden, I mean, being linked to somebody, somehow. It sucks." She explained, extremely seriously, with a pout of concentration.

Quatre gazed at her serious expression with an amused look, feeling like a grandpa listening to a kid saying something stupid. "Certainly."

"I know you don't believe me. That's because you're not that clever." She stated almost scientifically. "Anyway! No my question! Mine mine mine!" She smiled evilly, clasping her hands, before snuggling in her seat and giving him a sly look. "Well... I noticed you seem to have a special relation with bangboy, always guessing each other thoughts and that sort of stuff, so..."

"So?" He asked, mildly surprised.

"Let's put Midii out of the picture. Who do you prefer then, super vixen or bangboy?" She purred.

"Miss Hao, one day, if Allah remains  merciful, you'll grow and learn that people, no matter what they do, have a name. I'd rather having you questioning me about my feelings for Miss Dorothy and Trowa." The blonde retorted sternly.

"Yeah, yeah... That's easy to lecture people. And it prevents from giving a decent answer." She spat. "I've been honest!"

"Fine. When I first met Trowa, it was during the war, I was young, I had very few real friends and no one had ever touched me like he did, then I met Dorothy, and she touched me too, but in a different way, not compatible with friendship, in the end..."He sighed, praying that neither Heero or Trowa, for that matter, had anything else on their mind than the various plans appearing on the laptop's screen.

Shaolin stared at him with wide eyes for a minute, then smirked and seized the occasion that was offered to embarrass him. She sprawled herself on the two seats, resting her head on his lap, and squirmed comically, batting her eyelashes. "And me? Do I touch you??"

She failed to notice the serious expression that suddenly clouded his blue green eyes, and when he spoke, it was too late. "The person you're trying to be doesn't touch me, she's despicable. But the person I sometimes feel underneath-"

"We're here."

Quatre stopped abruptly and realized that Duo, Heero and Trowa were respectively smirking, glaring and glowering at him and at the cherry-haired monster, whose position made it look as if they had interrupted something. Shaolin rolled on her seat hastily and got up, fighting an unbidden blush.

"Now that we have a suitable audience," Trowa began, glancing at Quatre, "Let me explain. Rule number one, the less victims there are, the better it is. Rule number two, however, keeping Wufei... And Midii alive must be our priority. Rule number three, there is no third rule: No holds barred." He stated, exposing simple ideas with few words, as usual.

"Do we even have a plan?" Duo yawned, "Or something along the lines of 'enter-search-find-and-destroy' ?"

His remark was welcomed by a wonderful... Silence. Eventually, after having feared that none of them would be able to stop the boat before it squishes the port, and debated for a long time to determine whether or not their prisoner should be allowed to wear a weapon or just her explosives, their entered a small and quite deserted village, where the main attraction seemed to be a grocery-hall-bar, located in dilapidated and brightly colored house.
The vitality of the place, which was already worrying, lessened even more when the four pilots and the young girl entered it and sat at the first table they saw. Duo didn't seemed to notice, though, and scanned the menu, his eyes falling on the buckwheat pancakes section.

"How are we supposed to question... That?" Trowa whispered, gesturing to the glowering fishermen, while Duo put his third pancake to death (2).

"Maybe with a bit of politeness, we could invite them to our table." Quatre murmured back, searching Heero's dark eyes for an answer, which would probably not come, given Heero's breath-taking social skills, that they had all come to know and appreciate.

"MwiiGNOww!!"

They all stared at Duo, who was trying to express himself with a egg-ham-cheese pancake in his mouth, and waited patiently for him to swallow.

"As I was saying, I know. Just lemme operate!" The braided pilot grinned.

Heero glared, but found no objection, and Trowa and Quatre simply prayed that they wouldn't regret this idea. Duo grabbed Shaolin by the arm, earning himself a death threat, and banged loudly on the table, to get his audience's attention. "Lad... Erm. Gentlemen and gentlemen! Attention please! We know that strangers recently settled on your lovely island for holidays, but we don't know where. So listen to me. The charming young lady here, will strip to the bare essential for the first one who tells us where to find our friends. For free!!" He yelled.

Shaolin punched him viciously in the ribs, and attempted to bite him, but he dodged the latter, and they all anxiously waited for an answer. It was a wrinkled and half bald man who reacted first. Under his companions bewildered and envious stares, he raised his hand. "No additional fees for the panties?"

The Cherry-haired girl almost fainted and kicked Duo in the knees but stay still as he replied, "None!! All we need is a little help in return."

"Ah." The man replied, obviously thinking hard. Then, without saying a word, he grabbed a sheet of paper and a blue pen, and began to draw nervously a mess, which intended to be a plan.
Duo stared at the 'plan', written in French, with more blots than the sheet itself could handle, and at the smiling face of the fisherman, who was already eyeing Shaolin up and down. Duo smiled back, took hastily the paper to give it to Trowa, hoping that he would be able to decipher something in it, and pushed Shaolin toward the euphoric man. She glared at the two for a long minute, and plastered a bright commercial smile on her face, faking a timid blush.

"I really can't wait..." She giggled, "But shouldn't we be alone?" She asked in her sweetest voice.

The man nodded eagerly and pulled in a room that seem to be the kitchen, his comrades following the scene with wide eyes, while Quatre was quietly muttering unnamable curses in arabic in the general direction of Duo. Four minutes later, the male assembly blinked as Shaolin reappeared, alone, and having visibly barely unbuttoned her cardigan. Ignoring the various interrogative stares, she made her way to the door, turning only to wave happily at their hosts.

"I don't know what happened, really. Maybe he was a virgin, he just passed out." She explained.

They left a discreetly as possible, given the situation, and once on the road, it was surprisingly Heero who talked first. "Did he... Actually-"

"No." She grinned.

"So?" Trowa asked, cocking a suspicious eyebrow.

"Frying pan."

"Oh."

"He didn't touch you, did he??" Quatre hissed, still planning a North African style barbecue starring Duo Maxwell.

"He wished!" She laughed, then glanced at Duo. "I could kill you for this... But it really was a find." She said, smiling gently.

"Thanks babe!" he grinned.

The rest of the way was extremely quiet, since Trowa's thoughts could be read on his face, and they were far from entertaining, and, whether they admit it or not, they were all a bit worried about Wufei too.

"Oooooooookay." Duo huffed, stopping in front of a restricted area of the cost, with a sign that clearly meant 'go away'. The cargo ship was visible from the cliff, letting no doubt concerning the place they had found."At least, his plan was reliable. If there is barbed wire, then there is something to hide."

"This says that we can access the cave by this small thing here." Shaolin said, gesturing to a blot on the plan, which could be an opening in the cliff.

"Probably guarded." Heero added.

"Too bad for the guards."

They all turned to a very decided Trowa, who seemed to have definitively stopped thinking with his head, and had already pulled out a gun.

"Anything at all for the-" (3)

"Thanks Duo, we already know this one." Quatre sighed.

"Well... We could use him to get rid of the guards while he is berserck." Shaolin suggested.

Twenty minutes later...

"Trowa Barton!! You said no killings!!" Quatre's outraged voice resounded in the cave.

"They resisted."

They made their way slowly in the natural corridor, slipping, cursing, stopping, slipping again, though one has to admit that the voice that makes itself hear the most was Shaolin's, who had decided that this was no touristy place.
Time seemed to disappear, as they made progress and the last rays of daylight died. Before they knew it, it felt like in the middle of the night, and the faintest sound alerted them. Suddenly, after almost two hours of walking in the dark, Heero stopped.

"Heero. What is it now??" Duo whined.

"A bat?! Again!" Shaolin shrieked.

"Shut up and listen."

They all stopped breathing, trying to hear something through the sound of running water, the backwash, and the strange moans the wind produced in the cave. Several seconds of religious silence passed, until Duo squealed. "Listen to this!!"

They could effectively guess the faint sound of something being dragged, maybe somebody walking, or an animal, piercing the silence with shorts pants and rustling noises. They stayed petrified, guns in hand, waiting for the 'creature' to appear, and progressively, a shadow detached itself from the dark stone, walking slowly, almost crawling. The figure collapsed with a choked sob, as four flashlights blinded it. They approached cautiously, until they saw strands of clay stained blonde hair flowing gently with the water's rivulets.

"Midii."

Trowa could have screamed. He rushed at her side, Heero helping him carrying her in a hidden cavity, a the sounds of footsteps. She looked so down... He couldn't stand the thought that she might die. They laid her carefully, searching for any wounds, and they all sighed in relief when they found none. Trowa, sat near her, caressing her face gently pleading her to stay awake...
Midii fought her body's numbness, something had changed. She wasn't walking anymore. She remembered the fear, the exhaustion, but it was all over. She was lying, there were voices around her and a warm presence near her touching her face, her hands. It felt like Trowa. maybe she was dreaming, maybe she had dremed everything, maybe she had actually died, back then.
Trowa stopped talking planning the next move with Duo as he felt a faint movement at his side.

"Trowa..."

The voice was barely above a whisper, but it filled him with a joy he wasn't even certain he could handle. "Midii, don't talk. Just rest. Quatre and your friend are going to stay with you, I'll be right back. Just rest and- Nothing. Just rest."

She felt tears overflowing her at what was left unsaid and tried to keep his hand in hers, not wanting him to leave. Trowa felt the weak grip on his fingers and bent over her, his lips brushing hers. "When this will be over..."

"Now." She sobbed.

"I... I love you." With that, he quickly got up before he couldn't leave her anymore and followed Heero and Duo, already debating who would keep the Gundam if they found it.

"That was so romantic!"

Quatre turned to Shaolin, who was covering Midii with her jacket and blinked, certain that his ears had betrayed him.

"What?" She growled.

"Oh. Uh. Nothing." He replied hastily.

"That's better." She said with a warning glare, "Now, I had this idea..." She smiled.

"Idea?" Quatre asked, already worried.

"Yes, you'll be really helpful, and I brought all my equipment!" She said happily, clasping her hands together.

"Me? I..."

"Okay, we have a few minutes. Take off your shirt." She commanded coldly.

"I... Uh... Shouldn't we wai-"

"Don't dream. Obey."

The last sentence having been pronounced with a tone that obviously brooked no discussion, Quatre complied silently, unbuttoning his shirt quickly, before shrugging it off. She immediately approached, with her laptop and various scary objects, which made him momentarily reconsider his decision. She stared at his chest with a little frown and took a small patch, some insignificant thing that could easily have been mistaken for an antismoking patch. But he knew it most likely wasn't. She frowned once again and pointed at something in his chest.

"Well... If you actually have one, it should be somewhere... Here!" She said triumphantly, as she laid her hand flat on the warm skin and felt a faint beating under her fingers.

Quatre blinked. "Did you doubt that I had a heart??"

"I can even say I'm surprised you have one." She replied quietly.

He watched in slight confusion, as she pressed the patch against his skin.

"It's beating quite fast. Are you scared?" She asked with a smirk.

"I'm not." He replied, vexed, and hoping that it wasn't a blush he felt in his cheeks.

Quatre observed her work silently, her deft fingers linking thin wires and a small mechanic device to the patch. He heard footsteps approach slowly, as countless lists of numbers appeared on the screen. A guard passed past them without noticing them, which most likely saved his life. He suddenly heard a muffled beeping sound and turned to the laptop, confusion written on his features. "What are you plotting??"

"Just wait... I'm almost done. Give me the gray container I took in the ship's gun room." She said quietly, still fiddling with the strange white patch.

"You're not setting a bomb, are you?" He asked, quite worried.

"So what if I am??" She huffed.

"But..."

"Here. Type a password. You'll be the only one to know it." Shaolin said, handing him the laptop.

"Why?"

"Type."

"Fine..." He sighed, entering his password.

She took the laptop away as soon as he was done and activated the device, before tugging once on the patch to test its resistance.

"Perfect. Look at that Midii-chan! He is now our human bomb."

"Pardon??!!"
 
 

(1) I assume that Midii doesn't know anything about the GW series timeline, that's why I pictured her so 'ignorant'.
(2) Literally! ^__^
(3) ... one you love! [Endless Waltz]