Title: Fourth of July
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Pairing: 1+2+1
Warnings: Military Violence
Song: Fourth of July by Mariah Carey
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, the characters within, or the song. No money is being made from this fic.
Author's Note: I've been meaning to write this for over 10 years, I just managed it today. Happy 4th of July!
Trembling
Starry eyed
As you put your hand in mine...
“I am not concussed,” he was trying to check my pupils. “Come on, you're supposed to be the serious one. Quit playing around.”
He wasn't smiling but somehow he still seemed intensely amused, at my expense. He swiped two fingers across my temple and I felt the sting so I knew what I would see even before he showed me the blood. “I am being serious.”
Huh, maybe I was more effected that I thought.
He cut me off before I could respond, “You're tracking. Come on, keep up,” and he pulled me along at a dead run.
It was twilight
On the Fourth of July
Sparkling colors were
Strewn across the sky
And we sat close enough
That we just barely touched
While roman candles
Went soaring above us and baby
We'd hit the base right at the shift change causing maximum confusion, at least that was the plan. The explosions had been timed to keep the remaining personnel off balance to give us the time to escape. We'd already been on site about 17 hours, collecting intelligence and planting the explosives for the big finale and all without being detected, not too bad. Everything had been going accordingly, until the barracks blew. There'd been more shrapnel from that than I'd anticipated; the whole building exploded instead of the planned roaring inferno. The Ozzies musta been keeping accelerant under their bunks, go figure. I'd been a little too close for that sort of explosion but at least I'd had cover and I hadn't gotten hit by any of the debris. Or so I thought.
Heero and I stood there and watched it for a while, there were a few smaller secondary explosions going off in odd colors like maybe there'd been a hidden chem. lab. in there too. It was quite a show, in atmosphere explosions had a glory that Space just couldn't match.
Then you put your hand in mine
And we wandered away
I was trembling inside
But I wanted to stay
Pressed against you there and leave the world behind
On that Fourth of July
Heero shook his head suddenly and dragged me further back into the recess we were supposed to be hiding in; all business with this one, no time to enjoy the finer things in life. Still, he pressed up against me more that was strictly necessary, not that I was complaining.
He leaned in further and whispered, “We need to extract, now.”
I shook my head (maybe I was a little dizzy as well, I ignored it) and stared at him surprised. “That's off the time table. There's still 278 seconds til the hanger and the mobile suit bay blow,” I whispered back sub-audibly as a half-squad marched past our spot at double time. “There's still too many soldiers on this side of the base, we need the distraction.”
“If it has a larger yield it will catch the fuel depot.”
I sucked in a sharp breath of the thought of that. If the fuel depot goes ahead of schedule it'll blow us all to Kingdom Come. “Let's go.”
So starry eyed
On the flowery hillside
Breathless and fervid
Amid the dandelions
As it swept over me
Like the wind through the trees
I felt you sigh with a
Sweet intensity and baby
He was right. A little over 4 and a half minutes later the Mobile Suit bay went up and a few moments after that the fuel depot went up too.
When we finally cleared the perimeter fence with seconds left we ran for it, across the 50 meter no man's land; there was no time left for subtlety. I heard a shout behind us but whoever spotted us didn't even have to start shooting before the explosion rocked the area. We had reached the edge of the flat area there was still a bit of a incline to run up before we had decent cover; tall grass and some wild flowers, nothing I wanted to run up with eyes on my back. So just as the first explosion sounded, I turned, sighted, and took three quick shot. I hit my targets, three goons toppled over on the top of the guard tower, which meant I happened to be looking in the right directions to see just how much larger the blast was than expected.
I'd only turned long enough shoot before I turned back to continue running with hardly a hitch in my step, but I'd already seen too much; my eyes were practically dazzled and I tried to clear my vision as quickly as I could. “Move!” I shouted, more to motivate myself than Heero, whom I could already hear breathing with efficiency. If he put on that extra burst of speed I knew he was capable of he'd leave me in the dust. We had to get out of there, I could already feel the heat from the first explosion wash over us and the sound the second explosion a moment later shook the ground.
Then you put your hand in mine
And we floated away
Delicately lay entwined
In an intimate daze
A crescent moon began to shine
And I wanted to stay
Tangled up with you among the fireflies
On that Fourth of July
Heero grabbed my hand pulled me along. The shock wave from the secondary explosion hit us just as we crested hill, it actually lifted us off our feet, or maybe Heero had just jumped. Either way we tumbled down the far side of the hill coming to a stop wrapped around each other like an intimate embrace with the embers from the blast drifting down around us like starlight.
It was nice and I would have liked to stay and catch my breath if not for the whine of Mobile Suits could hear approaching from the west. Heero picked his head up and looked down at me, “Are you OK?”
I huffed out a laugh, “Any landing you can walk away from.”
He eyed me like he was considering my sanity.
“I'm fine,” I clarified. “Not that I don't appreciate the concern, but--”
“We need to move,” he said rolling off of me and to his feet in a smooth motion. He came back to offer me a hand up; such a sweetheart.
Thunder cloud
Hung around
So threateningly
Ominously hovering
And the sky
Opened wide
Showering
Running through the forest was about the easiest part of the mission. There were about two more miles to go before we reached our Gundams but it was dark enough that trees were more than sufficient for cover but that wouldn't help us if they had infrared so we kept moving.
There were Leos over the canopy nearly directly overhead but their searchlights pointed in the wrong direction. Still Heero and I were well aware their canons were independent of their lights so we made sure to zigzag around the trees and take a more circuitous route than we might have otherwise. When one of the Leos finally opened fire it was well away from our position, seemed like one of the pilots was taking out their frustration on the foliage.
Then you put your hand in mine
And we ran from the rain
Tentatively kissed goodnight
And went our separate ways
And I've never truly felt the way that I
Felt that Fourth of July
“Duo,” Heero said. Just as I was about to climb up to the cockpit.
I turned to watch him stalk right into my personal space. I put my hands up in mock surrender; he wasn't going to hit me but I had to be ready to fend him off if he was planning to check me, we didn't have time.
Impatiently, he pushed my hands out of the way, grabbed me by the back of the neck and pulled me in for a kiss.
Time stopped; we may be on the clock but I'd always make time for this.
After a long moment he pulled back enough to look at me with a quirked eyebrow. “Check your mixtures.”
I burst out laughing, “It wasn't me!”
He turned and headed for Wing with a shrug that clearly screamed 'Whatever.'
I was still laughing as I climbed it to Deathscythe and finished my flight checks.
Truly I have never felt the same inside
Like that Fourth of July
Truly I could never feel the same as I
Felt that Fourth of July
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