At long last, they were on the road. In actuality, they had been on the road since before sunrise the day after their arrival, but that long, somewhat cramped night on makeshift beds of cushions and blankets didn't make for the best sleep. While Uryu trusted these particular shinigami, his father did not, and his tossing and turning made the night no less easy to bear.
The fact that they were on the move more than made up for the lingering fatigue, however.
The young Quincy would have honestly preferred to ride along with the shinigami and their friend, but the reasons to stay with his father outnumbered the ones to part company. Not only were there appearances to keep up, and his father's later wrath to consider, but also Ryuken's irritated reactions to whatever the American said to him through the earpieces the two wore to easily keep in touch with each other.
"For the last time," his father snapped into the blue-tooth, "I would not make an ideal cow-boy. Quincy have nothing to do with horses!"
Apparently, Diana had taken a liking to Ryuken bating.
Uryu bit off a laugh when color rose to his father's cheeks at the woman's apparently base reply.
Ryuuken scowled through the windshield at the other car, grip gone tight on the steering wheel. "That is none of your business." The man switched to the German he and his son had been raised speaking as a second language, "Crude American." The pink splashed across the ordinarily unflappable man's cheeks deepened, but his voice remained flat when he returned to the Japanese. "You speak German, too? Wonderful."
The younger Ishida covered his snicker with a cough and purely innocent look. He couldn't help but enjoy watching a little of his father's karma catch up with him.
A brief glance at Renji's sharp grin reflected in the passenger side rearview mirror of the car in front of them told him he wasn't the only one getting a kick out of the teasing. The junior Ishida had no doubt that Abarai and Kyoraku were helping her come up with ideas, too.
With a smirk, the young man shifted in his seat and leaned back. Sapphire eyes closed as he reached for the spider-silk tether between him and Meg. Once they were away from the crowded city, the young Quincy had found it far easier to find that bond again and concentrate on the unlikely youth on the other end.
Sure enough, when he reached, the slender silver cord was right there for him to touch. He allowed his breathing to slow, like his grandfather had taught him all those years ago, and traced the shimmering line through the ether.
Random little thoughts would pop up from time to time, like 'Is this how she sees the world?' and 'Does America have a different Seireitei?', but he'd learned long ago to simply acknowledge these and let them go in order to maintain the trance. If he lingered upon them, he would lose his grip on that tenuous strand. Regaining that touch with any sort of speed was nearly impossible when lost.
So, he let his father make acidic comments to the fiery woman driving before them and the naked winter trees pass by without notice.
At long last, the tether stopped. He couldn't sense anything on the other end.
Dark brows knit behind rectangular frames as he concentrated harder.
The strand was still there, unchanged, but he still couldn't sense the girl anchoring the other side.
His heart kicked its rate up a few notches and he flared his reiatsu in an attempt to strengthen the bond. That slip in control was his undoing.
With a sharp gasp, his eyes snapped open and flitted around the interior of the car in a frantic attempt to gain his bearings again.
"…to pull over," his father was just saying soberly into the earpiece. The man divided his attention between his son and the road in front of them.
Uryu slumped back into his seat and removed his glasses to rub his eyes as they followed the other vehicle onto the next exit. Within a few minutes, the two Grand Vics were parked side by side in the rest stop's parking lot.
The young man swung his door open and pulled himself free of the car. A lungful of cold air cleared the rattled archer's mind.
The other door slammed just before his father's head and shoulders appeared over the roof of the car. By this point, the others had also risen from their auto and Uryu found himself face to face with the tattooed soul reaper.
"You ok? What'd you do?" Renji blurted.
Annoyed, the youth rolled his eyes. "I'm fine." He stepped away from the car and slammed the door a little harder than he had intended. "I tried finding Meg through our link, but…" he trailed off.
"Yes?" His father prompted, coming to a halt on the woman's side not taken by Shunsui.
Uryu drew a steadying breath. "She wasn't there."
Stunned looks met him from all around.
"But, wouldn't that mean," Abarai started with a frown.
"She's not dead," the younger Quincy snapped vehemently in reply.
"Ok," Di raised a hand placatingly before shoving it back into her pocket for warmth. "How about we talk this over inside," they all braced against an icy gust of wind, "where it's hopefully a little less chilly?"
Over a small meal in the small diner attached to the rest stop, Uryu told them what had happened.
"So," his father began when he'd finished talking, "just how precisely can you follow this link?" The man plucked the atlas sitting by Di and opened it, flipping to their location.
The teen pushed his glasses up his nose as he looked to the lined page and shook his head. "At this point? Not very. I just know she's somewhere to the south."
There was a quiet scraping sound as Diana scooted her chair closer to Ryuken's and pulled the atlas closer. "In that case, let's just stay on course for Naw 'Lins," she drawled the last word playfully.
His father shook his head at her foolishness, but still bowed his head over the wire-bound booklet. "I still don't understand why you don't just trust the GPS."
Di snorted. "Please. That lady's way too finicky to trust."
It took Uryu a second to realize that she was referring to the voice setting on the directional devices mounted on their dashboards.
"You do realize this is an inanimate object we're talking about here." The taller man didn't bother gifting the woman at his side with a look to match his dry tone of voice.
"Yeah," she however smirked at him, "but that doesn't mean it's any less satisfying to call her names when she screws up…"
All five heads snapped up before Ryuken could respond. Unexpected heaviness had filled the diner.
"Go," Di told them, suddenly serious as the grave. "I'll take care of this."
The Shinigami and Quincy didn't need to be told twice.
If any of you have ever used a GPS in an unfamiliar area, you'll understand Di's irritation.
I had so much fun with this! Poor Ryuken.
Also, I'm so sorry for delay in responses and posts (for like, all of my stories). I've barely had a chance to breath around here, and when I do get the chance to write, I'm either too beat to do anything of quality, or it gets cut short. *facepalms* I swear I'll reply to comments, notes, etc as soon as I can! I love getting them, have no doubt of that!
