But Magic Doesn't Exist!

A/N: This fic contains SLASH! So, no flames please. I want to stress this bit, here: Criticisms will be accepted (and if it pertains to how I can write better, welcomed); flames will not be. If you can't bother to be polite, why should I bother to listen? 's'at simple. Now on with fic!

Legend:

... = times passing, same POV, same scene

* = change of scene/change of POV

But Magic Doesn't Exist! -Prologue

Darkness. Blessed sleep. Then...

BLINDING GLARE- lights... who turned on the...

"Get up, Maxwell, we move out in five." Oh.

Disorienting movement. Getting up on... feet. Nevermind, sitting again. Damn legs, collapsing on me.

"...coffee. Need caffeine." Pleading. Can't... focus. Where...?

"No time, baka. We move out in five." Fuck you too, Heero.

Standing again. Light... too bright. Squint. Make out...

"... where's my pants?"

"We don't have time, just put these on." Cloth against skin, rough. Okay now, focus.

Sort out shirt from pants. One hole at a time now. Pull shirt over head. Too small...! Tearing. God, whose is this?

"Just put them on!" Must've said that out loud...

Pants next. So... whoopee, they fit. One leg, next leg. On.

"Belt...?"

A growl. Then, "here." Thread it... carefully... carefully.

Click! "All done, Hee-man."

"Hn. Get moving. 03, 04, and 05 are already in the jeep."

"... Right."

...

Fog clearing. All right! Mission! Finally! Three weeks of waiting, and staking out, and generally going out of my mind with boredom pays off! But why'd'we have to make our move in the middle of the night...?

"Because Maxwell, this is our only chance to get the enemy before they receive reinforcements, and there's a five minute gap we can use to infiltrate at three am. If you hadn't been napping, you wouldn't be tired."

"...I said that out loud didn't I?"

"Yes, Maxwell, you did."

"Wufei... we're supposed to refer to them as suspects. Not 'enemies'."

"They're enemies of the peace that's been established. Therefore, they are my enemies as well."

"Still..."

"Heh heh. Quat does not sound happy, Wu."

"Don't call me that, Maxwell."

"Whatever you say, 'Fei-babe." God, I love doing this to him...!

"Maxwell...!"

"Chang, Duo, stop."

"Yes sir! Mr Hee-bear sir!" Wufei snorts.

Stretch. The wind is doing me good. I'm waking up, even without coffee! "Okay. So what's'e game plan?"

"Duo, you go in, and secure the control room. Chang, Barton, Winner, and I will attack from the outside, and make our way in." He hands me a gun. I'm not sure whose, it could be Trowa's or Wufei's maybe, but I know it's not mine. Still, it'll work well enough, and I don't think we have time to swap. "Shoot to disarm, or maim. Do not kill."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We know." I lean over to Trowa, sitting on the other side of me, in the back seat. "Jesus. You'd think we hadn't done this before." The bastard blinks at me, and then smiles slightly. God. If I'd known the stick-up-the-asses I'd be working with- I don't care that I worked with'em during the war, they're still just as bad- I'd'a stayed with Hilde at the junkyard.

...Or maybe not. She could get so creepy sometimes. But at least she realized her face wouldn't shatter if she laughed. I yawn.

"'Kay, I can do this."

"I should hope so. Our lives depend on you, as soon as we get inside. If you can't hack the system and shut down the security measures..." Jesus, that's sounds like a threat.

"Yeah, I know. All of us go mushy mushy bye bye."

"'Mushy mushy bye bye'?"

GRINDING HALT THROWN FORWARD HEAD PAIN OW!! A not quite screeching halt. "We're here."

No kidding.

"Move out. Duo, we'll give you a fifteen minute head start."

"Right-o, boss."

...

Sidle sidle sidle, jump! Sidle sidle sidle jump! Avoid guard! Hide hide hide run-to-next-shadow! Hide hide hide jump! Freeze!

-noises. 'Hey! D'you hear that?' 'No.' 'Huh. Must'a been imagining things. Damn late shifts. You know, I've been thinking of asking for morning... ifts.... ead..."-

Move. Scale wall. Perch on window sill. Wait for control room guards to turn away... use credit card to open window latch. Hide. Freeze. Wait. Guards move again. And again. They're all not looking again. heh. Amateurs. Quick. Open window, in! Use gun like club. Smash guard-o numero uno.

SPIN. There's another RIGHT BEHIND ME! KICK! Shit! Think I hit his temple, there. Guard-o numero deux-o (or whatever) collapses. One more. Gun up. Trained on him. Whisper.

"Get on the floor."

"Aw man, don't shoot me!"

"Get on the floor." He does. "Head to the ground." He does. I crash my foot into the back of his head. The tension in his body disappears. He's gonna wake up with one nasty headache. And one nasty case of being in Preventer custody!

Okay, boot up the systems. Wait. Hack file. Find... security measures. Shut'em down. Shut'em all down... Now why do I feel like I'm quoting someone...? Focus, doofus!

Shutting down, one by one. Override security locks. Bust open one safety measure at a time...! Where did I get that quote from? No, focus! Last one.

Huh. It's a strange one. Look at all those clause algorithms. Complex. Still, even Gundams had an 'off' switch. Just gotta find this machine's. Ah hah!

Last one down. We're good.

FLASHING LIGHT BRIGHT YELLOW- Zero...?- ALARMS BLARING - Oh Jesus, I shoulda looked at all those clauses, shit I've probably brought hell down on us all! Shit!

Stumbling. Door... where...? There! Open... run. Run for all you're worth! Down, left, left, right. Crazy pattern. How could I let this go to shit? Just random turns, keep pursuit away. Right, left, straight, straight, left. Door. Open. In.

...

My heart's pounding. So's my head. Fuck Quat's driving skills anyway. Looks like I'm in... a house? That can't be right... quarter's then. Must be, like... officer's quarters. A couch. Fuck I'm tired.

Falling. Rushing air, falling. Oh right. Star Wars. C-3P0. "Shut them down, shut them all down"...! Heh. Horrible graphics. Comfy couch. Falling. Still air, falling. Then... Darkness.

Blessed sleep.