Chapter 7
Wufei was sitting in a shuttle heading toward Earth. {Damn Bounty Hunters. I cannot stand those riffraff.} The flight attendant passed by, taking away trash or unfinished beverages. Predictably, as she finished the pilot’s voice came over the loud speaker. Wufei took the last mouthful of his drink.
"Folks, we’re coming in on Dublin and should be landing here in about ten minutes. The local time is 4:00 PM and they are expecting light showers later in the evening. Please put you seat backs and tray tables in their full upright and locked position. We thank you for flying Khushrenada Airways."
Wufei promptly spit out what he had in his mouth.
"Are you all right?" The perky blonde next to him asked.
"Fine." He responded without looking at her. {Une and her damn practical jokes. GRR.} As promised, ten minutes later the plane pulled into the gate. Wufei got up and stretched his weary limbs. It had been a long flight. He pulled his carry on out of the overhead compartment and exited the plane.
There was a woman in a driver’s uniform that stood at the gate and held a sign that said plainly: Chang Wufei. He moved towards her with an acute feeling that he knew her. "That’s me." He bluntly stated. It began to bother him that he couldn’t see her eyes, but he was to tired to bother asking her who she was. They walked in silence to the baggage claim to get his things.
After going through the usual fuss about finding bags and getting successfully through the overly complicated terminal systems, Wufei and his driver managed to make it to the limousine that would take him to Thea’s place of residence. She held the door open for him and he sat down inside with a silent groan. {More sitting. Fabulous.}
The drive through the terminal was predictably slow. Finally, they made it to the main road. Wufei was slouched in the back seat with his hand over his eyes. He didn’t notice the windows were blacked out and that he could see nothing but the stocked mini bar and small TV screen. The driver glanced into her rearview mirror and saw that her passenger was lost in his thoughts. A minuscule smile curled her lips as the window between the front and back of the limo closed. Her foot slowly depressed the gas pedal.
At first, he barely noticed the change in speed. Not enough to look up anyway. As the pace climbed to a speed that was most certainly way past the suggested limit, Wufei finally came back into the real world. He could see nothing but black (as the driver had turned off lights in his section). Panic slowly seeped into his mind as he heard the loud roar of two motorcycles go past, one on either side. They were obviously being followed. Sweat beaded on his forehead; his breath came out in short, ragged gasps. "Hey!" He called to the driver. "Hey! Why the hell are we going so fast?" No answer came. (AN: Naturally.)
His throat began to tighten. "Who are you?!" He demanded, pounding on the window. "Where are you taking me?!" There was a sharp jerk to the left as the vehicle barreled around a corner. Wufei was thrown violently against the wall. Now he was really panicked. {Damn them! Damn them and their stupid mission!} He was left with no choice but to cling desperately to the seat and wait out the ride. The car swerved sharply to the right and then back to the left again. His breath came quicker and the sweat started to trickle down the back of his neck.
In the midst of all the hullabaloo, it registered to Wufei that they were heading through the switchbacks of a mountain road. Tears started to well in the back of his eyes as panic overtook his being. The speed continued to climb, his heartbeat rose, everything around him was spinning. And then the car came to a screaming halt. Wufei was thrown against the back of the limo and landed in a boneless thud. He willed himself not to vomit.
The door suddenly opened and someone offered him a hand. Not really knowing where he was, or even if he was, he took it and was helped into a slightly overcast afternoon. Duo was acting as a steadying post with a slight smirk on his face.
"Hey Wu-man! Good trip?" He looked up with a start to see his old comrade.
"Maxwell?"
"You all right man? You look pale." Confused he forced himself to stand and looked at his surroundings. The driver was getting his luggage out of the trunk. The motorcycles he had heard were stopped a short way behind them. The riders where dressed from head to toe in black and still had their helmets on, blocking Wufei’s view of their faces. The panic swelled in his head once more. The house he stood in front of was very large, and obviously very old. Everyone was closing in on him. He spun around trying to find an escape. Then the motorcycle riders took off their helmets.
"Damn Thea! Where was the fuckin’ fire?" Ara exclaimed, her helmet still in hand.
"Yeah!" Blitz spoke. "We had all sorts of trouble keeping up!"
"What?!" The driver countered. "He’s alive! Mostly." She took of her hat and shook out her hair. Wufei glanced back and forth in a panicked manner. Anger swiftly replaced the panic. He gave Duo a violent shove backwards.
“I hate you all.” He bluntly stated. Turning, he grabbed his bags and stomped up the front steps. Heero opened the door just as he got there. “Not a word Yuy. Just show me to my room.” Heero humored him for once. Blitz turned to roll her eyes at Thea.
"Ya know, all you had to do was get him here. Not scare the shit out of him in the process. If you had gotten him killed, Une would have shit a brick."
Ara had been watching the empty doorway. Finally, she turned to the two and said, "Who shoved a pole up his ass?" Thea and Blitz turned to look at her and laughed.
“Yup.” Thea said to Blitz. “Same ol’ Wufei.”
“He’s a Preventer. We’ve known him for a while. Unfortunately.” Blitz explained to Ara. “We’re not sure who shoved the pole up his ass, but it’s been there for a really long time.”
“And you brought him here?” Ara asked, sounding as if it had been the single-most stupid idea the two had ever come up with.
“Yes.” Blitz acknowledged.
As they were standing there, a stream of incoherent words could be heard from above their heads. The three looked up at the open window.
“It’s gonna be a long week.” Thea stated, still staring upwards.
Blitz and Ara nodded.
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