The Quest

By Bashfulglowfly

Chapter Two: Wildfire

Rei ran.

She didn't look back but she felt it behind her.

Roaring for her life.

She cursed the fact that she'd left her Crystal with Usagi when she left for this stupid vacation. If she had her Crystal with her she could transform and outrun it or fight fire with fire.

"I am NEVER going camping by myself again." She thought for a moment. "I am NEVER going camping again PERIOD!" She had no idea what possessed her to do this.

Rei coughed as thick, choking smoke rolled over her. She took a chance and looked over her shoulder. She could see the flames. They were taller than the trees.

She turned and started running again.

She was yanked to a halt. She stared numbly at the hand gripping her arm. Then she looked into the face of the man who had stopped her.

"NO!"

Rei tore her arm from his grasp and turned to run. But she was tackled to the ground. The blood in her ears roared as loud as the fire and she couldn't hear what was being shouted at her. She managed to twist onto her back and kicked the man away from her.

Rolling to her feet, she grabbed a thick branch that was smoldering and swung it at the man. She bared her teeth at him. "I won't let you kill me!"

The man before her held out his hands to her. The yellow clothing he wore highlighted his blue eyes. "Lady, I'm not going to hurt you. Okay? I'm here to help."

"Help?" Rei barked a laugh. "I remember your "help"! Trying to destroy my home, my grandfather's reputation. Oh and let's not forget the airplanes!"

The puzzlement in the blue eyes made her scream and she attacked him, swinging the branch wildly. He continued to dodge her as he tried to talk to her. "I don't know what you are talking about. But I do know you are scared. It's okay. I'm a firefighter. I help people. I want to help you. All you have to do is put the branch down. I'll get you out of here safe and sound. I promise."

Rei kept swinging and he kept dodging.

Suddenly from behind, "HEY!" Rei turned and her vision was filled with a brown fist.

"…duct taped her!"

Rei didn't open her eyes and tried to keep her breathing steady.

Her face hurt.

"Hell yes I duct taped the crazy bitch! You didn't see how she was attacking Jay!"

"She was scared. Fear makes people do crazy things." His voice was the same as before: Deep and charming. She fought against its spell.

"You take that tape off, Jay, I'll have you brought up on charges! I'm not going to have my throat cut in the middle of the night by some psycho broad!"

Rei nearly shook with the need to tell the man calling her crazy what she thought about him. But she continued to keep her body still and her breathing steady.

"How are we going to get her out of her, Boss?"

"We'll use the portable stretcher and get her out that way. Then when we get back to Base, we'll turn her over to the Medics and suggest that she has a psych eval."

Rei couldn't take it anymore. Her eyes flew open and she tried to sit up but she couldn't. "I'm not crazy!" she yelled…or tried to yell. Her voice was barely a whisper.

Blond hair and blue eyes filled her vision. "Don't try to speak. You've breathed in a lot of smoke." He held up a water bottle. She watched as he untwisted the cap, she heard the seal break on it. "Water, just for you. You're the only one who has used it." He slid an arm under her shoulders and lifted her upright. He rested her head against his shoulder and put the bottle to her lips. "Slowly. Slowly." Rei stopped trying to gulp the water. "That's it. Small sips so you don't get sick." He continued until half the bottle was gone and she turned her face away.

He carefully lowered her to the ground. She could feel the blanket beneath her head. Looking down her body, she could see that her hands were duct taped together and her arms were duct taped to her body. Her ankles were also duct taped together. She looked up at the man, violet eyes blazing.

He had the audacity to smile at her. "Sorry about all the duct tape. It wasn't my idea. My boss was pretty pissed off about you attacking me."

Her eyes narrowed. "Was he the one who hit me?"

"Yeah. Which surprised me. He's usually pretty protective about women." The man smiled at her as he brushed hair away from her face. "I'm Junjie King. What's your name?"

"Hino Rei." She was reluctant to give her name but he had given her his name. It was the polite thing to do.

"Pretty." He looked her up and down. "Other than your face, do you hurt anywhere?"

"No."

"Were you by yourself or where you camping with someone?"

"I was by myself."

Junjie tilted his head then scooted his body down until their bodies were side by side and they were face to face, his head resting on his arm. "Why would you want to go camping by yourself? You aren't even from Australia, are you?"

"I'm from Japan. And what's wrong with camping alone? Maybe I like being alone!" Rei conveniently forgot that she had sworn that she would never go camping again.

"You don't strike me as much of a camper. City girl, yes. Camper, no."

Rei just glared. Junjie laughed and kissed her nose. He laughed again as she tried to bite him. "Stay there. I'll get you something to eat." He rose to his feet and walked off.

Rei looked around. It was a small and primitive set up. No fire – she wasn't surprised about that. But all she saw where backpacks, bedrolls and tools. She looked down at her body and tried to force the duct tape to stretch from her wrists and arms.

"You'll just hurt yourself. Albert, my boss, wrapped that around you pretty good. So you won't get free since you don't have any way to transform."

Rei gaped at him.

He smiled. "Yeah, I know who you are. Sailor Mars, Senshi of Fire." He frowned at her. "What were you thinking going around without the ability to transform?"

"I didn't think that I needed it." Rei gritted out.

"Well, you thought wrong." He tilted his head at her. "But I have to say that I'm glad that you left it behind. Otherwise I wouldn't have found you."

"Jadeite!" Her tone, while hoarse, was angry.

"Ah! Not at the moment. Call me Junjie or Jay."

The look in her eyes said that she'd rather call him "Dead Meat."

He set a brown packet on the ground and once again pulled her body until it was resting against his. Picking up the packet, he held it in front of them pulling out a spoon. "This is chicken with rice. Not too bad. I put some Tabasco in it to add a little flavor." He scooped up a small spoonful. "Open wide."

Rei thought about refusing the food but realized that she needed the energy. She opened her mouth and Junjei neatly popped the food inside. Rei chewed, swallowed and opened her mouth for another mouthful. Neither said anything to each other as he quietly fed her and gave her water.

Rei could see the looks that they were getting from Junjei's fellow firefighters.

"Get some sleep, guys. It's late and dawn will come quickly. Scotty, you take first watch." The orders came from a man that appeared to be Aboriginal. His voice identified him as the one referred to as "Albert."

Junjei shook out a foil blanket and tucked it around Rei. "This will keep you warm." He laid down next to her, covering himself with his own blanket and resting his head on his backpack. "Just say my name if you need anything."

"Which one?" Rei said waspishly.

He grinned at her. "Whichever one you think of."

Dawn came too soon. Rei quickly found herself on a portable stretcher, jolting across the terrain. She cursed the fact that her vanity and embarrassment of peeing in the bushes around these men made her deny that she had to go. Her bladder was letting her know that it was overly full with every jolt. She prayed that they would get somewhere with some sort of toilet soon.

Junjei held the handles of the stretcher at her head and as they walked along he talked to her. He told her about how his Chinese mother met his Australian father, his brothers and sisters, his schooling, what he liked to do when he wasn't fighting fires and whatever else that seemed to come to his mind.

His fellows snickered and shook their heads. Albert looked at Junjei in amazement at what he was telling Rei. "She tried to kill you and you're telling her about your family?"

Rei could feel Junjei shrug. "Yeah, why not? I'm going to marry her."

"Jay. She tried to KILL you!" Albert spoke slowly as if he was trying to communicate with the Village Idiot.

Junjei shrugged again. "Wouldn't be the first time. Actually, she succeeded once."

Albert blinked at him. "What?"

"She killed me." Junjei smiled at him. "In a previous lifetime."

"You are strange."

888888

Finally the group reached the command post and Rei was turned over to the medics. Fortunately for the sake of her bladder, the medics removed the duct tape and directed her to a bathroom. Rei nearly cried in relief as the pressure went away. I'll get even with him for this! She ignored the fact that her full bladder was her fault.

She was made to sit down and talk with someone about why she attacked Junjei. With judicious lying and channeling Minako, she managed to convince them that she was harmless.

After a shower and a change of clothes, she felt human once again. Then it hit her.

She lost everything in the fire. Her passport. Her money. And her return ticket home.

Junjei came upon her as she sat on a bench staring numbly into the distance, wondering what she was going to do. "What's wrong, firebird?"

She stared at him. Part of her wanted to trust him but she had been through so much with him, her father, Kaidou…then she felt something in her hand. Looking down, she saw that it was her Crystal. It flared into her eyes and when she could see again, Junjei was still there. Waiting for her.

She slapped him.

Then she crawled into his lap and cried against his neck. He wrapped his arms tight about her, kissing her gently. "I'll kill you if you leave me again." She whispered.

Junjei gave a small laugh. "Okay."

"I lost everything in the fire. My passport. Money. My ticket. Everything."

Junjei tilted her head up so that he could look into her eyes. "You can stay with me until everything is fixed. I'll take you to the Japanese Embassy. I'm sure that they have ways to help people in your sort of situation."

"Thank you." She kissed him. Not caring about the wolf whistles that started.

She felt rather than heard his "You're welcome."

Author's Note: Junjie means "Handsome Hero"