Heero Yuy stared through the clear plastic window of the camouflaged tent as heavy rainfall cascaded down all sides of it, obscuring his view of the grey jungle outside.
Wufei Chang glanced at his distracted partner out of the corner of his eye as he pulled out the remaining bullets from the military-grade rifle in his lap, it being the last of the latest pile of illegal arms that they had confiscated to be officially decommissioned. He frowned at the thought of lugging all the various guns and explosives back to the base in the morning, only to repeat the process for what seemed the thousandth time afterwards; their work in the region had become tedious and, to some degree, redundant over the past few months.
It was all made worse by the fact that it was the rainy season in the Philippines; besides the inconvenience to their travel due to the muddy terrain, swarms of insects, and wet clothes and gear, it had also hampered their progress with capturing rebel soldiers and their weaponry. More often than not, Wufei found himself stuck in just such a shoddy, pitched tent as the one he currently occupied, brooding about one thing or another and unable to find the peace of mind necessary for proper meditation.
And yet, it had been evident to Agent Chang since he had been assigned to Manila that the mission would probably be fraught with frustration, mindless repetition of tasks, and lodgings and equipment that would be inadequate to deal with the problem at hand. Lieutenant Po had indicated as much when she originally gave him the briefing on the mission, expressing her private concerns to him that the Preventers were not well-established enough as an entity to tackle the numerous guerrilla forces—and their various factions—that had been sighted in conflict hotspots around the globe since the end of the war.
It didn't help that the rebels in Southeast Asia in particular had decided to camp out in the wilderness, as opposed to hiding in the densely-populated inner city of Manila as they would have in the past. Even with all that modern technology had to offer (although the technology that they had access to was not in any sense of the word 'modern'), the dense rainforests, mountainous terrain, humid climate, and spotty records of rebel encampments were proving serious obstacles to the mission's success.
(Of course, ESUN's insistence that no rebels be killed or maimed in the process was also a major hurdle, though he could hardly voice such thoughts without getting a lengthy lecture from Sally or Une about the merits of peaceful capture over more violent methods.)
But then, he thought, it probably could have all been at least bearable had he not found such an unwilling—and oftentimes disagreeable—partner in Heero Yuy.
Wufei had noticed as early as Heero's mere arrival in Manila that something was off about the usually stoic, unreadable pilot, and though it had caused him some consternation at the time, he had simply brushed it off, taking some contentment in the fact that he and Agent Yuy had a comfortable, silent rapport that lent itself well to their current partnership.
It was not until two months into the mission that he realised what, exactly, caused his fellow commanding officer to suddenly fall into long, obstinate bouts of angered silence, or to become irritated at the slightest interruption to his thoughts; and when Wufei discovered the source of this uncharacteristically irate behaviour, it irritated him to the point that whatever exchanges they may have casually had to become reduced to the absolute minimum interaction that was necessary in order to get their work done.
He had known of Heero's brief employment as Relena Peacecraft's personal bodyguard through Sally, and though he had thought little of the assignment—as he rarely gave a thought to the possibility that Heero would do something in any way unrelated to the immediate mission at hand—Lieutenant Commander Po's sly grins and smiles when she spoke of the two had always hinted at something more.
YOU ARE READING
Slow Burn
Fanfiction[Gundam Wing A/C; a 1xR series of vignettes post-Endless Waltz.] He had always been conscious of the fact that she—Relena Darlian Peacecraft, Queen of the World—loved him, and him alone. And yet that was the problem, since he could never give her wh...
