Hero

Songfic: Shrek 2. You know the one. Well, time to rescue Nagase, again. Pause where the story text starts, I guess.

C minor, put it in C minor

Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the Gods?

Where's the street wise Hercules to fight the rising odds?

They left her. A helicopter was on its way to pick her up but Blaze warned against it. The wind was just too strong.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Chopper basically screamed into the radio.

"No. Not until this storm clears up." Blaze replied, glumly.

"DAMN IT!"

'I'm coming for you Kei. I promise.' Blaze thought out loud. Somehow against all the other chatter, Kei heard it.

'I know.'

That was ten minutes ago and the storm isn't showing signs of letting up. She was lucky enough to find a small cave that was large enough kept the wind away from her without being too big and keep the warmth inside if she was able to make a fire. She was alone with her thoughts, in a dark cave, deep in enemy territory. She could really use a hero right about now.

Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?

Several hours later in Sand Island, Garret stared out of his window. He was upset to say the least and to keep it civil. Perrault was on his case, again. He dissed Kei to his face, saying, amongst many things, that she deserved to be shot down. It took all his strength for him not to put the fat man's lights out, for good. Sleep, he wouldn't allow to come. Yeah, he was tired, but he wouldn't sleep or rest until Kei was back at Sand Island with the squad. Back with him. It was time to turn on her distress beacon.

'He will come. I know it.'

Late at night, I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need

In her cave, there was a fire going, small, but it was going. It gave a warm glow to her rocky surroundings. The only bit of peace in this Glubina wilderness. The storm died off a couple hours ago but the cold was still biting. Kei fed the fire another bit of dried moss to give it more life. It did. Her thoughts led her back to SI, to her squad mates, to her missing Captain, and to her current flight lead. And there, on him they stayed. He was handsome. Not Brad Pitt, or Orlando Bloom. She didn't need a guy like that. He was quirky when bored, unpredictable in combat, and could just make you feel at peace with a small smile. Yep, he was the one, alright.

*Interlude*

There was a knock on his door.

"Come in."

"Hey Kid?"

"Yeah, Chopper?"

"Nagase activated he beacon."

Garret nodded. He looked at the clock. 0455. He smiled.

'I'm coming Kei.' He could almost hear her respond.

'I need you.'

I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night!

Kei worked her way up the snow capped mountain. She activated her beacon a couple hours before dawn. And the Yuktobanian army descended on Glubina like vultures. Evading capture was not going to be easy. She knew her luck was running out.

He's gotta be strong and he's gotta fast. And he's gotta be fresh from the fight.

"Ok, Wardog. Spread out and find out. Stay glued to that sensor."

"What about any ground forces, Captain?"

"Take 'em out."

"What about the fighters, Kid?"

"We'll deal with them accordingly. For now, we gotta at least have the path clear of anything on the ground."

"ROGER!"

I need a HERO! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light. He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon. And's gotta be larger than life. Larger than life.

*instruments*

Somewhere after midnight, in my wildest fantasies

Somewhere just beyond my reach
There's someone reaching back for me

Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet

As she trekked up the mountain, she couldn't help but once again get lost in her thoughts. It seems to be happening a lot. She couldn't help but feel like she wasn't alone last. Almost as if she was also on his mind too. That put a smile to her face and kept her going.

Garret was looking over every inch of the mass of land that he flew over for any sign of human life. He did see a snowman though. How that survived the storm from the other, he will never know. Suddenly his missile warning system went off. He looked up to see a AH-64 shoot at him. He dodged with ease, righted his plane, circled back for the helicopter and removed it from the sky. Now he was facing away from Kei and pulled a banked, left u-turn. Chopper and Grimm were dealing with anything related to light-heavy enemy ground movement, while joined in with them and was also clearing the sky.

Up where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I could swear that there's someone somewhere
Watching me

She managed to somehow stay hidden from several groups of foot soldiers but her tracks were always found. They were herding her up the slope, either out into the open or to a point where she was just surrounded. But she could feel another set of eyes. Coming in from the east, moving very fast.

Through the wind and the chill and the rain
And the storm and the flood
I can feel his approach
Like the fire in my blood(like a fire in my blood x4)

White. Just white. With the occasional speck of green and unmoving, ever present black or gray, depending on what color the rocks decided to take up. Garret kept moving. Following the signal he kept moving, shooting at whatever was in his way. But something felt off. He was being led to a very large clearing.

Kei heard the sound of an approaching jet. Sure, there were jets and helicopters all over, but this one was different. It made the hairs on her neck stand on end, and it sent a pleasurable chill down her back.

Garret! She witnessed an F-15 moving very fast past the hill she was on. It didn't circle back. Then it dawned on her, they were being jammed.

*music*

The signal was going crazy. She had to be here... but in a field, or whatever this is? This was insane. Then he saw it. An E-767.

"That's a jammer craft!"

Garret let out a roar and punched rounds into the cockpit and fired missiles into the frame, breaking it in half. He turned north as the signal started again. He knew he was being followed, he didn't care. He was on a mission. Then as he flew over a hill…

HERO!

"Blaze!"

"EDGE! I found her! Sea Goblin, mover your asses!"

"On our way! You got good eyes!"

i need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
and he's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life

*music*

Garret turned back into the fray, ripping apart whatever came his way. MiG-31's, F-20's, helicopters, mobile SAM and AA guns, he didn't care. If he saw it, he was gunning for it.

Kei could only watch at the aerial dance until a bullet whizzed by her head. She had been spotted, again. She ran over to trees and found a few broken branches. Some bigger than she was, some too small to do any damage, but there were a couple that could be of use. She overheard an enemy pilot call out that their captain had arrived only for two explosions to follow. She remembered what she was doing and waited until the following patrol got enough and she chucked a branch at one of the soldiers, hitting him in the head, knocking him out.

*puss in boots scene music starts here*

She smiled and looked up to see gun pointed at her. But she also saw a plane heading for them. The soldiers realized it too late before the plane let loose a barrage of bullets. She pushed the one holding her at gun point, disarming him in the process and just booked it.

Hero!

She looked up to see the F-15 barrel roll.

"Edge?"

"Blaze."

"You ok?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

and He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero

She noticed the sound of an approaching helicopter and it hovered near her position and Osean Marines popped out.

"Blaze?"

"Yeah?"

"You're my hero."

No answer.

"Edge?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't get shot down ever again."

"Ok. Anything else?"

"I love you." There was hint of a laugh and released, contented sigh.

"I know."