[Fic] For Luck
May. 30th, 2008 06:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
misanagiYeah... turned out a bit longer than a drabble ^^;; Sorry...
For Luck
Quatre gen. Action. PG13
For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
_sapphiredreams
What sucked the most, Quatre Winner thought as he dragged himself through the cold, wet forest, was that his watch had broken. Granted, it was a relatively small thing compared to the fact that two of his ribs were also broken and hurting him quite a lot, or that he had cut his knee on a rock and was now both throbbing painfully and leaving a trail of blood for the dogs to follow, but he liked his watch.
It was lucky.
The other pilots could laugh and roll their eyes all they wanted but Quatre firmly believed that the watch brought him some luck and he had worn it in every mission since he'd joined up with Preventers and he found it hard to believe that he had been spotted sneaking out of the mercenary camp just as his watch had broken for no apparent reason.
Now what had followed hadn't been pretty. The guard that saw him jumped at Quatre, aimed his machinegun and if Quatre had reacted a second later he would now be dead and his body burned and buried in the jungle. Instead, he had been able to throw himself at the guard and after a long and painful scuffle he had knocked the guard down and taken the machinegun for himself.
Unfortunately, the rest of the camp had heard the shots and now Quatre was running through the jungle, at night, with a whole mercenary corps after him. And their dogs. He had to thank one of them for the fall down the cliff that had broken his ribs and bruised him more than he wanted to think about. Usually Quatre liked animals, but the Doberman that had been running towards him, teeth bared, hadn't seemed friendly at all.
All in all Quatre still believed that throwing himself down the cliff was the lesser of the two evils.
His knee gave up on him and Quatre tumbled to the ground. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes waiting for the worst of the pain to subside. Taking just a moment to adjust the makeshift bandage around his knee, he forced himself to stand up. He had barely taken two steps when he heard voices behind him.
He only had time to quickly squat behind a tree before the men appeared on the trail. There were seven of them, luckily the dogs weren't with them but hearing their barks in the distance Quatre knew they weren't far behind.
It took only seconds before Quatre made his decision. Taking careful aim he fired four quick shots, one after the other. Four of the men collapsed to the ground before any of the mercenaries reacted. One of them shot at him but missed. It had been a hurried shot, reacting instinctively instead of calculatingly, like Quatre was doing. The man who shot fell on the ground before his finger was completely off the trigger. The other two were slower but one of them managed to graze Quatre on the shoulder. They both fell to the ground an instant later. The whole thing hadn't lasted thirty seconds.
Quatre collected two guns from the fallen men and a comm device and started running again. Time wasn't on his side and those dogs were approaching quickly.
He hadn't aimed to kill but some of the wounds he had inflicted on the mercenaries would be deadly if left untreated. When the other men reached their comrades some would stay to take care of the wounded, which would give Quatre an advantage in case they caught up to him. By now the mercenaries would know that he had disabled the bombs they were planning to use in the nearby city. Their mission had failed. Even if he was caught, Quatre had destroyed the bombs triggers so an attack on Relena and her entourage the next day would be impossible.
Twigs and branches hit his face but Quatre kept a punishing pace, running as fast as he could. The small chopper he had flown in wasn't far away now. It had taken him two hours of hiking to get to the Mercenary camp earlier in the night. If he could just keep ahead of the dogs and reach the chopper he would be able to get away.
Une's instructions in the briefing had been to wait until he was airborne before contacting the ground teams to come into the mercenary camp and finish the mission. He understood her reasoning since unless he had made his escape he would be caught in the crossfire but seeing how the situation was now and that the threat of the bombs had been neutralized, Quatre activated the communicator for the ground team to come in.
No sooner he did that that he heard a bark behind him. Quatre had time to turn around before the weight of the dog threw him on his back, pushing the air out of him. Sharp angry teeth closed inches away from his face and the fear of the bite gave Quatre the strength necessary to push the dog away long enough shoot it. The dog fell with a whimper and Quatre continued his run.
With one last effort Quatre arrived at the small clearing where his chopper was waiting. He jumped in and started it immediately. A shot rang through the air and a window cracked. They had caught up to him.
Quatre initiated the weapons system of the chopper and fired a few rounds at the trees, taking off at the same time. The chopper took a couple more hits but still lifted off and seconds later Quatre was flying over the forest.
When he arrived at headquarters Sally was waiting for him in the heliport with Duo.
"You sent the teams in early," Duo said as greeting. "Afraid you wouldn't make it?"
"My watch broke." Quatre extended his hand to Duo so he could see for himself.
Duo gave him a look and Quatre just shook his head sadly and followed Sally to the medical bay. Through all the disinfecting, bandaging and stitching, Quatre kept his eyes fixed on his watch. The face had cracked, the handles weren't working and the wrist was shafted and dull. It really sucked.
He and Duo went to the cafeteria to wait for the others and Quatre was still sulking when Trowa, Wufei and Heero came in. The first two were wet and muddy but they hadn't been hurt. Heero, who had ran the whole operation from the van was dry and his uniform clean.
"You were foolish," Wufei said as he took a seat by Duo. "How bad is it?" he asked, looking at Quatre up and down.
Quatre shook his head. "I don't think I can fix it," he said sadly.
"His watch broke," Duo explained. "And he broke a couple of ribs, has a graze on his shoulder, banged his knee hard enough to need stitches and has other assorted bruises and cuts."
Trowa sat down beside Quatre. "How are you feeling?"
"I guess I can always buy another but it won't be the same." Quatre wouldn't tear his eyes away from his watch.
"He's not asking about the watch," Heero pointed out drily but he was smirking.
"Oh." Quatre blushed. "It's nothing. I'm more bummed about the watch."
"Really?" Duo asked sarcastically. "We hadn't noticed."
Quatre laughed. "I guess it isn't that important," he admitted. "But I need a new one before the next mission."
They all rolled their eyes but seconds later Quatre had four watches in front of him. He gave the other pilots a thankful smile.
Maybe he would wear them all next time… for luck.
For Luck
Quatre gen. Action. PG13
For
_sapphiredreamsWhat sucked the most, Quatre Winner thought as he dragged himself through the cold, wet forest, was that his watch had broken. Granted, it was a relatively small thing compared to the fact that two of his ribs were also broken and hurting him quite a lot, or that he had cut his knee on a rock and was now both throbbing painfully and leaving a trail of blood for the dogs to follow, but he liked his watch.
It was lucky.
The other pilots could laugh and roll their eyes all they wanted but Quatre firmly believed that the watch brought him some luck and he had worn it in every mission since he'd joined up with Preventers and he found it hard to believe that he had been spotted sneaking out of the mercenary camp just as his watch had broken for no apparent reason.
Now what had followed hadn't been pretty. The guard that saw him jumped at Quatre, aimed his machinegun and if Quatre had reacted a second later he would now be dead and his body burned and buried in the jungle. Instead, he had been able to throw himself at the guard and after a long and painful scuffle he had knocked the guard down and taken the machinegun for himself.
Unfortunately, the rest of the camp had heard the shots and now Quatre was running through the jungle, at night, with a whole mercenary corps after him. And their dogs. He had to thank one of them for the fall down the cliff that had broken his ribs and bruised him more than he wanted to think about. Usually Quatre liked animals, but the Doberman that had been running towards him, teeth bared, hadn't seemed friendly at all.
All in all Quatre still believed that throwing himself down the cliff was the lesser of the two evils.
His knee gave up on him and Quatre tumbled to the ground. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes waiting for the worst of the pain to subside. Taking just a moment to adjust the makeshift bandage around his knee, he forced himself to stand up. He had barely taken two steps when he heard voices behind him.
He only had time to quickly squat behind a tree before the men appeared on the trail. There were seven of them, luckily the dogs weren't with them but hearing their barks in the distance Quatre knew they weren't far behind.
It took only seconds before Quatre made his decision. Taking careful aim he fired four quick shots, one after the other. Four of the men collapsed to the ground before any of the mercenaries reacted. One of them shot at him but missed. It had been a hurried shot, reacting instinctively instead of calculatingly, like Quatre was doing. The man who shot fell on the ground before his finger was completely off the trigger. The other two were slower but one of them managed to graze Quatre on the shoulder. They both fell to the ground an instant later. The whole thing hadn't lasted thirty seconds.
Quatre collected two guns from the fallen men and a comm device and started running again. Time wasn't on his side and those dogs were approaching quickly.
He hadn't aimed to kill but some of the wounds he had inflicted on the mercenaries would be deadly if left untreated. When the other men reached their comrades some would stay to take care of the wounded, which would give Quatre an advantage in case they caught up to him. By now the mercenaries would know that he had disabled the bombs they were planning to use in the nearby city. Their mission had failed. Even if he was caught, Quatre had destroyed the bombs triggers so an attack on Relena and her entourage the next day would be impossible.
Twigs and branches hit his face but Quatre kept a punishing pace, running as fast as he could. The small chopper he had flown in wasn't far away now. It had taken him two hours of hiking to get to the Mercenary camp earlier in the night. If he could just keep ahead of the dogs and reach the chopper he would be able to get away.
Une's instructions in the briefing had been to wait until he was airborne before contacting the ground teams to come into the mercenary camp and finish the mission. He understood her reasoning since unless he had made his escape he would be caught in the crossfire but seeing how the situation was now and that the threat of the bombs had been neutralized, Quatre activated the communicator for the ground team to come in.
No sooner he did that that he heard a bark behind him. Quatre had time to turn around before the weight of the dog threw him on his back, pushing the air out of him. Sharp angry teeth closed inches away from his face and the fear of the bite gave Quatre the strength necessary to push the dog away long enough shoot it. The dog fell with a whimper and Quatre continued his run.
With one last effort Quatre arrived at the small clearing where his chopper was waiting. He jumped in and started it immediately. A shot rang through the air and a window cracked. They had caught up to him.
Quatre initiated the weapons system of the chopper and fired a few rounds at the trees, taking off at the same time. The chopper took a couple more hits but still lifted off and seconds later Quatre was flying over the forest.
When he arrived at headquarters Sally was waiting for him in the heliport with Duo.
"You sent the teams in early," Duo said as greeting. "Afraid you wouldn't make it?"
"My watch broke." Quatre extended his hand to Duo so he could see for himself.
Duo gave him a look and Quatre just shook his head sadly and followed Sally to the medical bay. Through all the disinfecting, bandaging and stitching, Quatre kept his eyes fixed on his watch. The face had cracked, the handles weren't working and the wrist was shafted and dull. It really sucked.
He and Duo went to the cafeteria to wait for the others and Quatre was still sulking when Trowa, Wufei and Heero came in. The first two were wet and muddy but they hadn't been hurt. Heero, who had ran the whole operation from the van was dry and his uniform clean.
"You were foolish," Wufei said as he took a seat by Duo. "How bad is it?" he asked, looking at Quatre up and down.
Quatre shook his head. "I don't think I can fix it," he said sadly.
"His watch broke," Duo explained. "And he broke a couple of ribs, has a graze on his shoulder, banged his knee hard enough to need stitches and has other assorted bruises and cuts."
Trowa sat down beside Quatre. "How are you feeling?"
"I guess I can always buy another but it won't be the same." Quatre wouldn't tear his eyes away from his watch.
"He's not asking about the watch," Heero pointed out drily but he was smirking.
"Oh." Quatre blushed. "It's nothing. I'm more bummed about the watch."
"Really?" Duo asked sarcastically. "We hadn't noticed."
Quatre laughed. "I guess it isn't that important," he admitted. "But I need a new one before the next mission."
They all rolled their eyes but seconds later Quatre had four watches in front of him. He gave the other pilots a thankful smile.
Maybe he would wear them all next time… for luck.
