AN: Sorry for the longer than usual wait on this one, guys. Wufei's just being difficult. So, here's chapter nine in all it's glory.
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Chapter Nine
Finding Loralei
Wufei was having a pleasant dream; well, more than pleasant, really. He was pinned against the hard floor with Duo on top of him, kissing him. Duo's fingers ghosted along his sides, teasing him. They'd given kisses freely, but nothing like this. This was hot, passionate. He could feel the long lines of Duo pressing down against him. It was a wonderful feeling. He'd thought that taking their relationship further might be awkward, but dreams rarely follow what you think, or what is real. So it only seemed purely natural when Duo's hands slipped under the waistband of his pants, when they traveled further down.
"Forgetting something?" Duo asked.
"Hun?"
Wufei's less than articulate answer didn't phase the dream Duo. Instead, Dream-Duo feathered kisses along his jaw. "Wake up, Wufei. You've gotta keep an eye on my daughter. She needs you."
"Wh... what?" Wufei was finding it very hard to think with Duo doing very naughty things to him.
""Fei... wake up."
Wufei startled awake, sitting up with eyes wide open. The lighting around him was dimmed, he had a horrible headache, and he took a moment to recollect what happened.
The space port. The shuttle... Trinity. Trinity!
'Great,' he thought. 'I got kidnapped by a kid. Une's gonna love this.'
"I'm sorry," came a sheepish voice. Wufei looked, Trinity was sitting in the pilots seat, looking at him. Her feet dangled, not reaching the floor, and she kicked them back and forth, refusing to look at him, concentrating instead on a very, very interesting speck of dust on the skirt of her dress.
"I'm so sorry, 'Fei. I had to," she cried. "You would have stopped me."
He waved her off, knowing she was right. He was thinking to himself. He should have known that Duo's daughter wouldn't give in so easy. It was his fault- he should have known she was up to something. Hadn't she proved by now that she wasn't your average six year old?
"How long was I out?"
"Going on two hours," she said, looking up at him. "It won't be much long until our long range scanners can pick them up."
"Shit," he muttered, standing up. "Any idea what we're heading into?"
"No," she said, blinking a little. She had been expecting him to be angry, or at least reprimand her. This acceptance was sort of shocking. "I've got the long-range scanners on. And I was fixing to activate the cloaking device."
Wufei blinked, wondering if he was still asleep. He walked over towards her, sliding into the vacant seat.
"This shuttle has a stealth mode?" he asked.
Trinity grinned. "My daddy's a genius," she shrugged.
"That he is," Wufei muttered. "I don't know whether to praise him... or shoot him for raising such a smart kid."
Trinity glowed with pride. "There's some food packets in the back, if you're hungry. I already had one. Once we get there, there's no telling when we'll be able to eat."
"She's got common sense, too," Wufei said to no one. "What's next? Astro-physics?"
"Not 'til next year," she said, completely serious. "Daddy said I have to finish the Advanced Calculus and Colonial History books first."
"You're studying Advanced Calculus?" Wufei almost didn't believe her. Almost, because she'd shown herself to be quite the little genius.
"I'm about half-way through the book," she nodded. "Math comes easy for me.
"Alot of things come easy for you, don't they?" he asked. She shrugged, and then Wufei had a sudden thought.
"Trinity... What makes you think that you know what those numbers mean?"
"Isn't that how you used to write directions when you were all fighting in the war?"
Wufei thought for a moment, before realizing that yes, they had written coordinates like that. Why hadn't he or Duo noticed it before? And how had Trinity noticed that?
"How did you know that?" he asked. Trinity shrugged again.
"I know lots of things that I shouldn't."
"Explain."
"Can you keep a secret?"
He nodded.
"Even from Daddy and Uncle Quatre?" she asked, utterly serious.
He nodded again.
"I know things. I saw Uncle Quatre programing the message. I heard him talking to Mr. Heero," she confided. "He explained about what it meant."
"You saw Quatre." Wufei's tone said that he really didn't believe her.
Her eyes narrowed at him. "You don't believe me. But I did. In a dream. I also knew that something bad would happen to him if he left. And look! Something bad did happen." She leaned forward. "Sometimes I dream things, and sometimes, those thing have already happened... somewhere else. And sometimes it hasn't happened yet at all. I don't know what's going on with me. This never happened to Quatre," she confided.
Wufei sat and thought. She had a few valid points. He remembered his first conversation with Duo and Trinity- the one about Quatre. And if this new theory of hers was correct, and Quatre was at the end of this journey... then she may very well be onto something. He'd certainly never heard of Quatre having premonitions, at any rate. Maybe empathy was just the begining. Maybe Trinity was a new breed of new-types. A completely new grace never before seen.
The possibilities... were endless.
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"That's Quatre's personal shuttle?" Wufei asked incredulously. It looked more like a small luxury cruise liner. Except for the fact that it was adrift in a rather empty section of space far from the traveled paths... it could have been a cruise liner. Well, that and the name blazoned across the side was clearly 'Loralei'... the name of Quatre's shuttle.
Trinity nodded. It really was no wonder that the ship had been hi-jacked... most likely either by kidnappers or space pirates. "That's 'Loralei'. Quatre dosen't like her much- too pretentious, he says. But the other Winner family shuttles are even bigger. No one would let him travel on anything smaller. They say it poses a risk of being pirated." She then made a 'hmpf' noise to prove what she thought of that particular thought. Wufei had to agree.
He'd spent most of the time since he'd woken up thinking about what Trinity had told him, about 'seeing' things. That was interesting, but there was no way to test the theory out right now. Not until after this crusade of hers was over. And since Quatre's shuttle was sitting right in front of them, Wufei knew he'd trust her judgement on anything now. And he'd unconsciously decided that he would help her; he'd never actually made a decision... he'd just sort of fell into it. And now, it was pretty much a sure thing. Because that was Quatre's shuttle. And Quatre was his friend. He would save him.
There was still a while to go before they were within range of the other vessel, and Wufei found his thoughts turning slowly from the girl beside him to her father. Wufei found it disconcerting that he was missing Duo. Not just already, but at all. Two weeks ago, Wufei would have laughed if anyone told him he'd be missing Duo. But now... Wufei wanted Duo here.
Wufei was used to solo missions- used to solo missions where some body's life was on the line. But that life had never been two of his friends. And he'd never had a six year old for a partner, either. He was out of his element, and truth be known, he was a little scared.
Not for him, or for Quatre or Heero. For Trinity. She was so young, going into such an unknown situation for her. He knew what mercenaries, pirates, kidnappers were like. She didn't.
Duo would kill him if anything happened to Trinity. Speaking of which... why hadn't Duo tried contacting them. He was surprised he hadn't thought of this before, but he'd been so lost in thought.
"Trinity?"
"Hm?" She was behind him now, packing a small backpack.
"Why hasn't your father tried contacting us?"
"He has," she said.
"And..." he prompted. Really. Like father, like daughter.
"And I haven't answered," she replied. "I blocked all transmissions. We are in stealth mode, Wufei," she added in a sarcastic tone just like Duo's. "What good would the cloaking device be if the enemy saw we were receiving messages?"
Damn. Smart girl. He knew that of course... but that she did... that was surprising. She just kept surprising him.
What must life be like for Duo... living with her always?
Wufei looked from her, to the viewport, and the dangerous mission that lay ahead of them. He didn't really know the answer to that question. But he was determined to see that Duo had many, many more years to spend with his daughter.
He would keep her safe.
TBC...
