well, here's the first part of this fic! XD and this one's already finished, so you dont have to worry about me never finishing it XD well yeah.... i dont have much to say. so there.

Mission Failure

Duo Maxwell bolted around the corner, back slamming into the wall. He took a deep, silent breath.

Did they see him?

No, of course not. He was too good to get caught.

He placed a hand on his chest, willing his racing heart to slow to a reasonable pace. In his other hand, he tightly grasped his Galil, index finger resting apprehensively on the trigger.

As his Galil was his best gun, he had carved the word 'Shinigami' into the side of its black surface. And somewhere on the other side, '01x02' was etched as well.

After a moment, Duo peeked around the corner, violet eyes scanning the shadows. The hallway was empty; those OZ soldiers were gone now…

It was then that he felt the muzzle of a standard-issue OZ rifle press up against his back. His body instantly tensed, a million escape ideas flashing across his vision.

"Drop your weapon and put your hands on the wall," ordered the soldier gruffly.

Body still stiff, Duo let the Galil fall from his hands; he had a plan.

A split second later, he spun on his heel, knocking the rifle from the guard's grasp. He then cupped his hand and hit the soldier over the ear, rupturing the man's eardrum.

With a pained cry, the guard sank to his knees, a hand over his ear.

In one fluid motion, the Deathscythe pilot then retrieved his Galil and used the end of the gun to land a solid blow to the top of the soldier's skull. The man was dead instantly.

Duo took a moment to pick up the dead guard's rifle, slinging the strap over his shoulder. It would come in handy if his Galil ran out of ammo later on.

He then took off down the hallway he had been hiding in. Duo knew for sure that that soldier's cry had alerted the other guards, so he had to get somewhere safe.

And sure enough, shouts and yells reached his ears as he rounded a corner into another hallway. This time, though, he quickly checked to make sure that no one would be sneaking up on him from behind.

Duo peeked around the corner, shooting at the soldiers; several of them went down. But more kept appearing every moment…

The Deathscythe pilot quickly pulled back as a barrage of bullets hit his hiding place, creating several holes in the wall and floor.

Not waiting for the soldiers to even finish their current attack, Duo bolted down the shady corridor, three-foot braid billowing in the air behind him. He rounded several more corners, not bothering to stay even remotely hidden.

'If only I could get to one of their mobile suit hangars…!' he thought as he took down yet another group of OZ soldiers. 'That would be one hell of an epic escape!'

Casting a quick glance behind him, Duo continued to run down the hallway.

After a few moments, the headset at his ear came to life, "Duo! What the hell did you do?! This is a stealth operation!!!" Heero's angry whisper crackled through the tiny speaker; this was the first time he had spoken the entire mission.

A huge grin spread across the Deathscythe pilot's features as he shot down four more soldiers, "Not anymore! And it's great to finally hear from you! If I didn't know you as well as I do, I'd say you went and got yourself killed!"

There were several moments of silence before Heero replied. It was obvious that he was trying to keep himself hidden.

"This mission is on the verge of failure…" his voice stopped again, no doubt to avoid getting caught, "We need to get out of here A-S-A-P."

"Roger that, love," grinned Duo as one of his bullets nailed an OZ soldier directly between the eyes.

The Deathscythe pilot made his way down several more halls, reloading his Galil as he went. It wasn't long until he found himself faced with three more guards.

"God, they never end!" he hissed as he took them out before they could even raise their guns. Despite the danger, he smirked at the carnage that he, Shinigami, had created. Damn, this was fun.

However, his smirk became a grimace of pain as he felt two bullets from behind wound his body. One created a deep gash in his side, while the other grazed the top of his shoulder, mere inches away from severing the carotid artery at his throat.

Of course, the one time he had managed to convince Heero that wearing a bulletproof vest was simply a nuisance, he got hit. Of course. Duo really hated his life right now…

Whirling around, he shot down the two soldiers that had managed to sneak up behind him.

He winced, putting a hand to the wound at his shoulder; he could already tell that it was going to leave a nasty scar once it healed… given he made it out alive.

No. Duo was going to meet up with Heero and get out of this place. Two little cuts were not the end of the world; he was a freaking Gundam pilot, Dammit!

That's what Duo said to himself as he continued to run down the halls. He figured that trying to stay hidden was a pretty good idea around now, not only because he couldn't afford to get shot again, but he was starting to run low on bullets…

The Deathscythe pilot pressed himself up against a wall in the shadows, willing himself to be invisible as a group of five soldiers ran down the adjoining hallway, passing him.

Duo then bolted down the corridor in the direction that those men had just come from. The speaker in his ear crackled to life again.

"Duo, where are you?! Find an exit and get the hell out of there already!"

What? Heero already got out? "Gimme a minute, will ya! I've got no clue how to get—AUGH!"

Duo was overcome by a barrage of bullets as he rounded another corner. He just barely made it back into the corridor he had come from without getting hit more than a few times.

Despite his best efforts, he sank to one knee, clutching the bullet wound in his shin; by the feel of it though, the bones weren't harmed. There was another shot in his stomach, while another had shattered one side of his collarbone, rendering his right arm useless.

Taking his bloodied hand from his leg with a grimace, Duo picked up his Galil and peeked around the corner.

The five soldiers were just starting to run towards his position. The Deathscythe pilot shot them down as fast as he could manage, as he was not used to firing a gun with his left hand.

"Duo! Are you alright?! What's your status?!" Heero's voice erupted in Duo's ear; there was a hint of worry entwined with his ever-present monotone.

The Deathscythe pilot didn't want to tell his lover that he was hurt; he couldn't have him worry about him… "I'm fine," he said, doing his best to keep the pain from his voice.

There was a moment's pause, "Alright. Well hurry up and get out of there!"

Duo didn't reply. Instead, he shakily pushed himself up and hurried down the hallway. It was much harder to run with that bullet in his leg…

Even more so than before, he tried to stay hidden.

He leaned against the wall of yet another corner, tightly grasping his Galil in his left hand. Wincing against the pain, he peeked into the adjoining corridor; it was empty.

Duo could tell, even though he was leaving a completely different way than he had come in, he was getting close to the outer edge of the building. Though there weren't many windows, the air was a bit clearer than it was deeper in the facility; he'd find a door out soon.

The gunshot wound in his stomach protested loudly as he ran down the hallway; it almost hurt as bad as the hole in his leg…

Duo made his way down the last corridor. He had seen one of those 'Exit' signs that that they had in case of an emergency or something of the like… it wouldn't be long before he was reunited with Heero.

"You there! Halt!"

'No…! Not again!' The Deathscythe pilot spun around, raising his gun. At least a dozen soldiers were crowding around the hallway behind him, and he heard several more blocking the other end of the corridor as well.

Duo knew he was in trouble; he had to call for help. But his right arm was hanging limply at his side, meaning that he couldn't reach up and turn on his headset to call Heero… unless he dropped his gun.

"Drop your weapon and put your hands up above your head," ordered a soldier from behind Duo.

The Deathscythe pilot glared at the guards before him, violet eyes deadly serious despite the pain. Once again, escape plans flashed through his head. But this time, they all ended in certain death… or worse.

Duo glanced behind him, gauging how outnumbered he was. About two dozen to one. If he set off one of the grenades at his belt, it would surely eliminate them all.

But he would die too.

He could never do that to Heero… he'd never be able to forgive himself for the anguish his demise would surely cause.

"I repeat: drop your weapon and put your hands up!" demanded one of the soldiers.

There was nothing he could do… If he tried to run, he would be shot. If he tried to use a grenade, he would die in the explosion. If he tried to…

Duo sighed, throwing his Galil to the floor. As he lifted his hands above his head, he inconspicuously switched on his mic, so that it would remain on without him constantly holding it.

"Put your hands on your head and do not move," ordered the same guard.

Amethyst eyes downcast, Duo complied.

As the soldiers swarmed around him, locking his hands behind his back, the Deathscythe pilot whispered four words into the mic…

"Heero, I blew it."

There was no reply, but Duo didn't really expect one. He knew Heero wouldn't speak at a time like this. Nonetheless, it still made him feel so alone… so… hopeless…

The Deathscythe pilot remained silent as a soldier shoved him to his knees. Even as his wounds screamed, Duo welcomed the blackness that came as the end of a gun was brought down heavily on the back of his head.

He never wanted to open his eyes again. Never. Not unless it meant waking up in the safety of Heero's strong arms…

well, there you go. kinda a cliffhanger. hehe :3

i'll prolly post ch 2 tomorrow sometime, so look foward to it!